BY: Dr:Hassan Sonbol Lecturer of psychiatry Stress and Coping BY: Dr:Hassan Sonbol Lecturer of psychiatry

Def : The internal processes that occur as people try to adjust to events and situations, especially those that they perceive to be beyond their coping capacity.

The Process of Stress

Psychological Stressors Def: Any event that forces people to adjust or change. Catastrophic events: are sudden, unexpecte potentially life-threatening experience or traumas, such as physical or sexual assault, military combat. Disasters Chronic problems—: those that continue over a long period of time—include circumstances such as living in a high-crime neighborhood or under the threat of terrorism, having a serious illness. Daily hassles are irritations, pressures, and annoyances that may not be significan stressors by themselves but whose cumulative effects can be significant.

Stress Responses: Physical and psychological responses to stress oft en occur together. Physical Responses: The General Adaptation Syndrome: A three-stage pattern of responses triggered by the effort to adapt to any stressor. 1-the alarm reaction: which involves some version of the fight-or flight syndrome. Alarm reactions are controlled by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) through organs and glands that make up the sympatho- adreno-medullary pathway

2-the resistance stage: obvious signs of the initial alarm reaction fade as the body settles in to resist the stressor on a long-term basis. 3-exhaustion. In extreme cases, such as prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, the result is death. More commonly, the exhaustion stage brings signs of physical wear and tear.

Psychological responses: changes in emotions , thoughts (cognitions) and behavior. Emotional Changes: Anger and frusteration . Emotional disequilibrium Feeling tense, irritable, sad, or anxious Generalized anxiety disorder Major depressive disorder Or other stress-related problems.

Cognitive stress reactions : ruminative thinking catastrophizing disruptions in the ability to think clearly, remember accurately, and solve problems efficiently. Behavioral stress reactions Irritability aggression, suicide attempts Extreme or chronic stressors can lead to burnout or posttraumatic stress disorder

stress mediators : The fact that different individuals react to the same stressors in different ways can be explained in part by stress mediators cognitive appraisal: two part mental process during which decisions are made about stressful stimuli a)primary appraisal: that deals with determination of an event either -eustress: useful state produce optimum arousal to take performance. -distress : harmful state produce higher arousal leads to deterioration of performance.

b)secondary appraisal: that deals with deterioration of one's coping resources sufficient: successful coping insufficient/;vulnerability

Predictability and Control Locus of control : Internal: take responsibility for his succsess External: belive that outside forces ,luck control their life.  

Coping Resources and Coping Methods: Problem-focused coping involves efforts to alter or eliminate a source of stress, emotion-focused techniques are aimed at regulating the negative emotional consequences of the stressor. coping: the cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific demands that people perceive.

Problem-focused coping Coping skills example Problem-focused coping Confronting “I stood my ground and fought for what I wanted   Seeking social support “I talked to someone to fi nd out more about the Situation Planful problem solving “I made a plan of action, and I followed Emotion-focused coping Self-controlling “I tried to keep my feelings to myself.” Distancing “I didn’t let it get to me; I tried not to think about it too much. ” Positive reappraisal “I changed my mind about myself.” Accepting responsibility “I realized I brought the problem on myself.” Escape/avoidance (wishful thinking) “I wished that the situation would go away or somehow be over with .”

Social support: The network of friends and social contacts on whom one can depend for help in dealing with stressors

Stress and Personality. The impact of stress on health appears to depend not only on how people think about particular stressors but also to some extent on how they think about and react to the world in general. stress-related health problems tend to be especially common among people whose “disease-prone” personalities lead them to try to ignore stressors when possible perceive stressors as long- term, catastrophic threats that they brought on themselves; and be pessimistic about their ability to overcome stressors.   Other cognitive styles, such as those characteristic of “disease- resistant” personalities

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