Stress is a process by which we appraise and cope with environmental threats and challenges. It arises less from the events than from how we appraise them (Lazarus, 1998). Noises at night alone are a lot different than noises at night with company! Stressors are good because they can motivate us to excel and take care of problems. They can also threaten us and even harm us.
The Stress Response System is part of a unified mind-body system (Cannon, 1929). When the mind and body are alerted by a number of neurons, the sympathetic nervous system activates to prepare the body for a fight or flight response. The activation of the sympathetic nervous system increases heart rate, directs blood to muscles, releases sugar in blood, increases breathing, etc...
Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome: The body has a natural, even general response to stress. This response occurs in three stages. The first is the alarm stage, which one experiences an alarm reaction due to the sudden activation of the sympathetic nervous system. The second stage, known as the resistance stage begins the adaptation to stress. Your physiological responses are still high, but the body has relaesed hormones to maintain bodily comfort (homeostasis). The third and final stage is the exhaustion stage. This occurs when the body depletes itself of its natural reserves causing vulnerability to illness, collapse, and even death.
Social Cognitive Perspective
Our stress is shaped by beliefs and habits acquired through each individuals unique experiences in the social environment. These beliefs and habits are so ingrained and automatic that they exert their influence without us ever knowing it. One's evaluation of a stressor and one's self-talk is of grave importance to the social cognitivist. There are three habits of thinking that have an impact on our lives. Locus of control, self-efficacy, and optimism.
Locus of Control: We learn at an early age that some things you can control and others you can't. If you learn that you control your own fate-internal locus of control. If you learn that life is a crapshoot-external locus of control.
Self-efficacy: How you believe your ability can perform a particular task. Remember the little engine that could?
Optimism: In certain times, you expect the best. Remember Chicken Little the classic pessimist?
Coping Strategies
I honestly have no clue what they are going to ask for here because there are so many different ways to relieve stress from relaxation to virtual reality therapy. I suppose the two basic strategies will work.
Problem-focused coping: deal directly with the stressor. Works best when stressor is controllable.
Emotion-focused coping: the goal is to change the way you feel and think about the stressor. Best when you cannot control the stressor.
Personality and Cardiovascular Disease
Friedman and Rosenman split several thousand men into two groups: type a and type b. The Type A were hard-driving, ambitious, competetive, easily angered, perfectionist, while their Type B counterparts were relaxed, easy-going, understanding, and not easily angered. At onset of 9 year study all the men were 35 to 39 and in good health. At the end of the 9 year study 257 suffered a heart attack. 70% of which were Type A's.