This document looks at what stress is, how we cope with stress and the difference in the way that men and women cope with stress. We also look at the biopsychosocial model and positive psychology
The healthy mind
What is stress?
Stress is an unpleasant emotional state caused by perceived threat or danger
A stressor is a stimulus that can cause stress
Some major losses, danger, and life changes can be a threat
No one set of stressors reliably produces stress in everyone. One person’s perceived stressor
could be another something desirable or enjoyable for someone else.
General adaptation syndrome
Hans Selye came up with a three stage model for an organism’s response to stress:
Alarm: initial reaction against the presence of a stress. The central nervous system mobilises
and then stress hormones are released. Characterised by sympathetic arousal and mental
clarity.
Resistance: after prolonged exposure to stressors, the body stays mobilised and stress
hormones are secreted but immune functioning is partially suppressed by stress hormones
and resources are being depleted
Exhaustion: if stressor persists, the body will become exhausted and vulnerable or collapse.
Complete depletion of resources
Sources of stress
Stressors are in the eye of the beholder. Stressing over an exam is reasonable to some and silly to
others. Holmes and Rahe compiled a list of life events that can cause people stress and surveyed
individuals about the level of adjustment that each event would require. Researchers used their
scale to predict the vulnerability to physical illnesses and psychological disorders.
What are the biological correlates of stress?
Gender differences in the stress response
Men typically have a “fight-or-flight” response to stress. Women typically have a tend and befriend
approach, which is a response characterised by soothing and building social connections. This is
associated with the release of oxytocin.
The epigenetics of stress
Epigenetics is the influence on traits by factors that determine how genes perform. Severe stress
early in life produces lasting challenges, including reduced volume in hippocampus and heightened
responses by the amygdala to threat stimuli.
How does stress affect our health?
Responding to stress requires a lot of energy, and in the resistance stage, you do a less efficient job
of storing nutrients and giving your body the rest and repair it needs. The immune system is the
body system that defends against infection and cancer. The immune system is weakened by stress.
We become more vulnerable to illness, bacteria, viruses when we’re under stress. Stress can affect
your sleep. Which in turn causes you to lose weight. But you’re actually losing muscle and bone
tissue instead of body fat. A Type A personality is a competitive workaholic, and in some cases, a
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