How does stress affect our lives?
Do now: Respond to the following scenarios:
You just arrived home from school to discover that your family is moving to Australia. What is your reaction? How do you feel? What do you say or do?
You study hard for a test and you end up failing. What is your reaction? How do you feel? What do you say or do?
You come home from school. Your parents tell you they are getting a divorce. What is your reaction? How do you feel? What do you say or do?
Some of you may have had positive response to these situations. Others may have had a negative response. What you are reacting to is change. Humans experience change from the moment of birth until the moment of death. We are constantly adjusting to physical and emotional changes in life. These changes are known as stressors.
Class notes:
Stress: A complex series of psychological and physical reactions that occur in response to a situation
Stressor: anything that brings about change, or causes stress in our lives that we have to adjust to.
Eustress: positive stress (can motivate us to achieve)
Distress: negative stress (can wear us out emotionally and physically)
To build good emotional health you need to learn how to cope with stress. Stressors are any changes we experience in life. They can be positive change such as getting an A on a test or a negative change such as getting an F.
Although you may not have control over the changes you experience, you always have control over how you choose to respond to these changes. Your responses can be positive or negative.
Why do you think it is important to respond to stressors in a positive manner?
In order to be able to properly cope with stress, it is important to recognize the changes that occur in your life so that you can respond properly.
Continual or ongoing change can be stressful. To maintain good emotional health, you must develop strategies to successfully manage the stress that change can bring. It is also important to understand the effects that prolonged stress can have on the body.
Some reactions may include: headache, stomach ache, crying, sweating, overeating, lump in throat, rush of blood/adrenaline, loss of energy, problems in school, yelling and losing control, not being able to sleep, fighting, crankiness, depression, weight loss
These are many common ways our body responds to stress. What it is doing is trying to put our body and mind back into a state of homeostasis- or balance.
Class notes: Homeostasis: balance.
When stress occurs, our body and mind are thrown out of homeostasis, and our body works to restore it. This is called the stress response, or general adaptation syndrome.
Class notes- General Adaptation Syndrome
Stage 1: Alarm Stage: Fight or Flight- body’s immediate response to stress: heart and breathing rate increase, sweating, adrenaline rush, lump in throat (esophagus widens), pale skin, butterflies in stomach (decrease in blood flow to digestive system and surface of skin to increase blood flow to muscles), headaches (increase in blood flow to brain so person may be more alert, pupils dilate).
During this stage, the body is energized to deal with the stress. It is also more susceptible to illness and injury. People may experience headaches, indigestion, anxiety and sleep disturbances.
Stage 2: Resistance Stage: Body attempts to return to normal (homeostasis- internal balance). Body is resistant to stress in order to cope but still functions at an elevated state. In fact, a new level of homeostasis is established so that the body can be resistant to disease and injury.
Stage 3: Exhaustion Stage: Ongoing stress eventually prevents a return to homeostasis; body continues to function at elevated state, lowered resistance leads to illness, or in severe cases, organ failure and possible death. Lifelong illnesses and possible mental illnesses (such as depression or anxiety disorders) can occur as a result of prolonged stress that is not properly managed.
The body becomes so taxed from consistent stress the body becomes physically ill. A person may also become emotionally tired, and may make rash or impulsive decisions that may result in further stress.
Summarize: Short term and long term effects of stress can be dangerous and even life threatening. Over 50% of the illnesses in our country are stress related. Consistent or long-term stress can lead to depression, physical health ailments such as indigestion, drug abuse, and even heart disease, cancer or stroke.
If you can recognize the signs and symptoms of stress, you can take positive steps to deal with stressors and protect your physical and mental health.