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Flashcards in AOS 2;STRESS Deck (50)
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1
Q

Define stress

A

Stress refers to the automatic physiological and physical arousal(or tension) a person feels in response to a change in their internal or external environment, that challenges them or causes them to feel that they don’t have the resources to cope

2
Q

Define stressor

A

A stressor is any person, object or event that challenges or threatens the person. There are two types internal and external

3
Q

What is an internal stressor?

A

Pain or disturbing thoughts

4
Q

What is an external stressor?

A

Loud noice, breakup

5
Q

What is eustress?

A

Eustress is when we engage in stressors which we enjoy our sympathetic nervous system is activated and releases a cascade of hormones into our blood stream that cause the same response as stress due to our positive perception it becomes a motivator as well as an energiser

6
Q

What is distress?

A

Distress is when we perceive a stress to be a threat or view in. Negative manner. Due to distress we experience a negative stress response, characterised by anxiety, depression and fear

7
Q

What is meant by daily pressures?

A

Daily pressures refer to frequently experienced stressors consisting of relatively minor events which require adjustments in behaviour

8
Q

What is meant by life events?

A

Life events are stressors that consist of significant but relatively rare events that require adjustments in behaviour within a relatively short time

9
Q

Use one word to describe stress

A

psychobiological

10
Q

What effects the type of stress we experience?

A

the type of stress we experience depend on each individuals evaluation of the stressor. The perception of a stressor is influences by past experiences, personality, culture and genetic factors

11
Q

Define chronic stress

A

a state of prolonged physiological arousal in response to a persistent stressor that negatively effects an individuals health and wellbeing

12
Q

Define acute stress

A

A state of brief but intense physiological arousal in response to an immediate perceived stressor that normally has no negative effects on health and wellbeing

13
Q

How can eustress effect our ability to perform?

A

Eustress can motivate individuals to perform at their optimal level

14
Q

How can distress effect our ability to perform?

A

Depletes and energy and reduces performance

15
Q

What is the Yerkes Dodson curve?

A

Is a graph which demonstrates the relationship between arousal and performance levels. It states that when low level stress occurs it does not motivate, at slightly higher levels than normal we are motivated and energised and at excessive levels our performance is impaired

16
Q

What is the relationship between stress and illness?

A

stress does not cause stress, but if we are exposed for a prolonged amount of time to a stressor, our immune system becomes weaker due to the hormones being released due to stress making it more likely to become ill

17
Q

What is the fight,flight or freeze response?

A

It occurs due to the arousal of our sympathetic nervous system when we are exposed to a stressor. it is an adaptive response to increase chances of survival

18
Q

What is the simplified biological response of stress?

A

initially our flight, fight or freeze response is activated by the instantaneous release of hormones. Then the HPA axis step occurs. This is the second wave response where slower longer lasting release of cortisol occurs

19
Q

What is the role of cortisol?

A

Cortisol aims to energise the body by increasing the availability of blood glucose and enhance metabolism

20
Q

What happens to the body wen cortisol remains at high levels for a long period of time?

A

Our immune system becomes impaired therefor we have an increased vulnerability to disease

21
Q

What does HPA stand for?

A

Hypothalamus, Pituitary gland, and adrenal gland

22
Q

How does the HPA axis work?

A

the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland which then releases ACTH into the blood stream which then prompts the adrenal glands to release the cortisol a feedback look occurs between the cortisol levels and hypothalamus

23
Q

What is Selye’s GAS model?

A

it stands for general adaption syndrome. according to selye the models the typical pattern in terms of resistance to stress over time. There are three major stages some of which are broken up, alarm reacting, resistance ad exhaustion

24
Q

The first stage of GAS has to sub section what are they?

A

The first stage; alarm reaction is broken into shock and counter shock

25
Q

What occurs during the shock stage of the GAS model?

A

this is when the individual first perceives a threat, when this happens our resistance levels go below normal and our body its as if its injured. our body temp decreases, blood pressure drops ad muscles lose tone

26
Q

What occurs during counter shock?

A

counter shock is characterised by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and a higher than normal arousal level which increases our resistance to stress. a flood of hormones such as adrenaline , noradrenalin and cortisone is released into the blood stream. speeding up our bodily processes and slowing down others to conserve energy for elsewhere. hr increases, respiration increases and glucose supply to muscle increases

27
Q

What occurs during the resistance stage?

A

after the alarm reaction stage the body enters the resistance stage in attempt to stabilise internal systems and fight the stressor. the body is able to cope normally as the physiological arousal remains higher than normal although lower than the countercheck stage. Cortisol levels will remain high which will compromise immune system. This is because our body is putting al resources into fighting stressor therefor unable to withhold other pressures.

28
Q

What occurs in the exhaustion stage?

A

Is what occurs when we cannot defeat the stressor in the resistance stage.It wen our bodies resources have all been drained and all the hormones which cause our fight, flight or freeze have depleted. Because of this our immune system becomes weakened due to the prolonged release of hormones such as cortisol and adrenalin therefor we are more susceptible to infection and disease

29
Q

What are some strengths of The GAS Model?

A
  • it measures a predictable pattern which can be measured in individuals
  • If stress is not prolonged stages are still experienced therefor it tracks the biological pattern of different types of stress
  • it found that the greater the intensity of the stressor the greater the physiological response
30
Q

What are daily uplifts?

A

daily uplifts counteract daily pressures and are minor positive experiences

31
Q

What is Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of coping and stress?

A

It is a model which proposes that stressful experiences are a transaction between a person and their environment . If demands exceed resources than stress is the likely result.

32
Q

What is involved in the primary appraisal of Lazarus and Folkman’s model of comping and stress?

A

In the initial stage the person evaluates the severity of the stressors impact on their situation and if it poses a threat. An individual may judge it to be insignificant, benign (positive) or stressful ( threat, challenge, him/loss)

33
Q

According to Lazarus and Folkman, what happens if in the first appraisal stressful is the chosen evaluation?

A

If the event is considered stressful then we go through a secondary appraisal where we assess what internal and external resources we have available to help us cope. If we believe we don’t have the resources to cope we will make a negative secondary appraisal. Alternatively, if we believe we have the necessary coping resources we will make a positive secondary appraisal. we will not feel overwhelmed and may re-apprasise the stressor as less significant.

34
Q

Define acculturative stress

A

reduction in health status caused by the stress of attempting to adapt to the demands and values of a foreign culture psychologically and socially

35
Q

What can prolonged acculturative stress lead to?

A

long term psychological and behavioural problems such as anxiety, low self esteem, depression, confusion of identity, subside abuse and alienation

36
Q

Define catastrophe?

A

a Suden, unpredictable, uncontrollable intense event that is out of control of an individual and causes intense and prolonged suffering

37
Q

Natural catastrophe vs Man made catastrophe

A

n- cyclone, tsunami, earthquake

m-war car crash

38
Q

Define PTSD

A

PTSD is a pattern of symptoms following exposure to a stressful life event that sets of clinically significant distress or impairment of human functioning.

39
Q

symptoms of PTSD?

A
  • re experiencing the event via vivid flashbacks
  • avoiding specific places
  • sleeping difficulties
  • long periods of increased autonomic arousal
40
Q

What are some weaknesses on the GAS model?

A
  • research was not conducted on humans

- does not take into account individuals differences an psychological factors

41
Q

Define coping strategy

A

is a specific method, behavioural or psychological, that people use to manage or reduce stress.

42
Q

What is emotion focused coping?

A

Refers to how the individual can change there mind set or evaluation to see the stressors in a more positive way

43
Q

What is problem focused coping?

A

refers to the strategies we can use to fix the problem or manage the stressor

44
Q

Strengths of Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model

A
  • it distinguishes between eustress and distress

- it acknowledges that stress is a subjective experience

45
Q

Weaknesses ofof Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model

A
  • does not consider automatic physical responses the body has to stress it is deemed to simplistic
  • difficult to conduct experimental research on as it is subjective
46
Q

Define coping flexibility

A

refers to an individual ability to be able to evaluate their coping process and implement an alternative coping strategy if the first is ineffective

47
Q

Define coping effectiveness

A

refers. to the degree which a coping strategy or multiple is successfully alleviating stress

48
Q

Define avoidant coping strategy

A

effort to evade the stressor and deal indirectly with the effects e.g drug and alcohol abuse, over sleeping

49
Q

Define approach coping strategy

A

effort to confront the stressor and deal directly with it

50
Q

Benefits of physical exercise

A

-depletes the body of excess stress hormones
-promotes the release of serotonin and endorphins
-improves alertness and fatigue
-