Personal Reactions to Stress

Why do individuals have different reactions to stressful events? Some people seem easy going about stressful events Others may have an outburst or emotional breakdown Examples -Waiting in lines -Traffic -Health problems -Work -Relationships Why might influence how individuals handle stressful events?

-Three factors have shown to influence the way a person handles a stressful event 1.Personality type Explain how this can influence. -Depending on behavior patterns, thoughts, feelings, etc. people can be classified in to one of two types. Type A -driven to achieve goals -speed up mental and physical tasks -are more critical and demanding Type B -Relaxed and patient -Not as easily angered *Type A personalities are generally more prone to stress

Another characteristic that can influence how we handle stress? 2.Perceived control What might this mean? -Most people want to believe that they have some degree of control over the stressors in their lives -This gives us the confidence to handle stressful events and situations What are some of the ways that this perception develops? -Predictability of stress -Feedback from others

Last factor influencing our personal reaction to stress? 3.Social Support -These are the people around us and in our lives that help us deal with stress Who are the social support groups we have? -Family -Friends -Co-workers How do these people help? -Listening -providing feedback -Advice -Give us confidence to handle Do these groups always help ease our stress? -No -Sometimes these people can indeed cause more stress or strain in our lives -But it is probably healthier to have them than not