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Moderators of the Stress Experience. Outline s. Introduction. Stress & Illness. Coping with Stress. Social Support. Coping Outcomes. Management of Stress. Introduction. Los Angeles earthquake ( Jan. 1994). [ The response of 4 different families].
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Outline s • Introduction. • Stress & Illness. • Coping with Stress. • Social Support. • Coping Outcomes. • Management of Stress.
Introduction • Los Angeles earthquake ( Jan. 1994). [ The response of 4 different families]. • Stress is moderated by individual and circumstantial factors. • Stress Moderators: are the factors that modify; • The way of stress experience, and • The effects of stress.
Stress & Illness • Stress has effects on at least 4 systems of the body: • To the extent that stress affects these pathways, illness may result.
Stress & Illness-cont. • Factors influencing illness development: • Initial Vulnerability. • Health Behavior.
Coping with Stress • People respond very differently to stress. • Coping is influenced by: • Primary Appraisal: “is the event harmful, threatening, or challenging?” • Secondary Appraisal: “what are my coping resources and how adequate are they?”.
Coping with Stress-cont. • Coping: is the process of managing demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person.
Coping with Stress-cont. • Selection of coping efforts is guided by; • Internal Resources: [A] personality factors, and [B] preferred coping style. • External Resources: including time, money, social support,…etc.
(1)Internal Resources[A] Personality & Coping: • Personalities that exacerbate stress & its relation to illness: • Negative Affectivity. • Pessimistic Explanatory Style.
(1)Internal Resources[A] Personality & Coping-cont. : • Personalities that enhance the ability to cope with stress effectively: • Hardiness. • Optimism. • Psychological Control
(1)Internal Resources[B] Preferred Coping Style: • Consists of predisposition to cope with stressful situations in a particular way. • Coping Styles are more specific than Personality Traits.
(1)Internal Resources[B] Preferred Coping Style-cont. : • Avoidant Vs. Confrontation Style: • Neither style is more effective in managing stress.
(1)Internal Resources[B] Preferred Coping Style-cont. : (2) Disclosure Style: • Examples of Disclosure: • Talking with others about the stressful event. • Writing about the stressful event.
(1)Internal Resources[B] Preferred Coping Style-cont. : • In the absence of Disclosure: Traumatic Event Inhibition of thoughts, emotions, behaviors Physiological Activity.
(1)Internal Resources[B] Preferred Coping Style-cont. : • Disclosure; • Allows to gain information about the event, • Elicits +ve reinforcement, and • Elicits emotional support from others.
External Resources include: Individuals with greater resources cope with stressful events better. Coping and External Resources
Social Support • Definition: information from others that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication & mutual obligations from community contacts.
Social Support-cont. • Takes several forms: • Appraisal Support, • Tangible Assistance, • Informational Support, • Emotional Support.
Social Support-cont. • Effects of Social Support: • Reduces the Psychological Distress, • Reduces Physiological & Neuro-endocrine responses, • Lowers the likelihood of illness.
Coping Outcomes • Coping efforts center on “5” main tasks; • Reducing harmful environmental conditions, • Enhancing the adjustment process, • Tolerating & adjusting to –ve events, • Maintaining a +ve self-image, • Maintaining a +ve emotional equilibrium & continuing satisfying relations with others.
Coping Outcomes-cont. • Properties of a successful coping: • Reducing physiological indicators of arousal, • Enable the person to return to pre-stress activities, and • Free the individual from psychological distress.
Management of Stress • For those who need aid in developing their coping skills. i.e. for people who suffer from or are at risk for illness that are aggravated by stress.
Management of Stress-cont. • Basic techniques of Stress Management: • Identify sources of stress in life, • Develop coping skills to deal with stressors, • Practice employing stress management skills & monitor their effectiveness,like relaxation
Form of treatment and management of stress conditions • There are a bewildering variety of technique used in combating the effect of stress . • It is necessary to indicate the range of these technique and to classify them so that the professional can use such technique in a meaningful way .
The a available technique in stress management appear to fall in to the following categories : 1- Commonsense –type methods of intervention. 2- Methods developed from clinical. psychology. 3- Alternative technique in stress control .
Commonsense –type methods of intervention • A. The existence of good exercise program It is becoming fairly well established that physical fitness improves the individual’s emotional state. Clearly an exercise program for particular individuals will depend upon their existing level of fitness & their individual interests in that area. Counseling in this instance could assist clients in working out a suitable program for themselves.
B- Maintain good nutrition In many susceptible individuals it may be important to avoid “junk” foods & to substitute more accepted healthy ones.
C- Having a definite purpose in life Although this statement is easy to make, it is clearly much more difficult to implement in practice. In the stress management context, however, a useful guide has been developed by Cooper, Cooper & Eaker. In this exercise the individual is asked what he/she wants to achieve in three main life areas, that is, • work, • personal life & • personal fulfillment’ .
Achievements in each areas might be: for • work ‘ I want to retrain as a teacher’ , • in personal life.’ I want to spend more time with my ageing mother’,& • in the area of personal fulfillment ‘ I want to study modern fiction at evening educational classes’. • Each of these statements is then assigned a priority value, for example 4 = highest importance to 1 = little importance.
The final step is to combine all these desired achievement in order into one overall list. Such a list will then enable the individual to perceive the main goals more clearly & also to see how each of the three main areas is represented amongst his/her main goals.
D- Meeting social and moral obligations. Many people have guilt feeling about their relationships with others. Counseling can assist here with understanding the reality of the circumstance that is concerning the client & enabling the client to deal with problems in a rational manner. Guilt may be relieved by taking an appropriate step to make amends for situations the client feels responsible for in the past.
E- Developing adequate communication skills . Adequate social skills are vital in society. Counselling can aim at improving the individual’s skills.
F- Relieving boredom. Boredom is a great demolisher of mental health & each individual must find ways to combat this enemy. We all face monotonous tasks, & it takes skill to develop ways of getting through these whilst still maintaining a feeling of interest in the task in hand.
G- helping other worse off . Those who work in professional or voluntary helping capacities have little time to worry about themselves. Such work may assist those suffering from stress to develop a sense of proportion about life’s problems.
Methods developed from clinical psychology A- Progressive relaxation . B- Behavioral modification techniques. C- Cognitive technique .
A . Progressive relaxation • This technique was developed by jacobsen in 1938 , and represent one of the earliest stress- management methods in the modern period . • The procedure involves tightening and relaxing the various muscle groups throught the body in a progressive manner .
For example : starting with the facial muscle and working downwards throughout the body. whilst this method work perfect for a number of people , other like to combine the relaxation with a form of pleasant visualised scene for example a sunny day by a quiet seaside.
B. Behavioral modification technique • It become the mainstay of stress –management technique . Amongst the many style of approach that can be conduct by using this technique . • One of the favorites is the construction of a stress hierarchy by the client . • The task is to list in order of rising concern the degree of stress felt with each step in the perceived event.
For example : the client may be asked to list the stresses felt in coping with a public speaking engagement . This may commence with the anticipation of the engagement and followed through in sequence until the speech is finished . Seeing the steps in imagination can be used in therapy . This approach is usually combined with progressive relaxation . So client can master stressful event in imagination at least .
C. Cognitive technique • Montgomery (1989) provide a detailed approach to this technique by initially establishing basic beliefs that are irrational and then opposing these by rational ones :
I must be loved, or at least liked, & approved by every significant person I meet.
I want to be loved or liked & approved of by some of the people in my life. I will feel disappointed or lonely when that does not happen, but I can cope with those feeling, & I can take constructive steps to make & keep better relationships.
2. I must be completely competent, make no mistakes, & achieve in every possible way, if I am to be worthwhile.
I want to do some things well, most of the time. Like everybody, I will occasionally fail or make a mistake. Then I will feel bad, but I can cope with that , & I can take constructive steps to do better next time.
3. Some people are bad, wicked, or evil, & they should be blamed & punished for this. • It is said that most of us do some bad things from time to time, & some people do a lot of bad things. But making myself upset will not change that.
4. It is dreadful, nearly the end of the world, when things are not how I would like them to be. • It is disappointing when things are not how I would like them to be, but I can cope with that. Usually I can take constructive steps to make things more as I would like them to be, but, if I cannot, it does not help me to exaggerate my disappointment.
5. Human unhappiness, including mine, is caused by factors outside of my control, so little can be done about it. • My problem(s) may be influenced by factors outside my control, but my thoughts & actions also influence my problem(s), & they are under my control.
6. If something might be dangerous, unpleasant, or frightening, I should worry about it a great deal. • Worrying about something that might go wrong will not stop it from happening, it just makes me unhappy now! I can take constructive steps to prepare for possible problems, & that is as much as anyone can do. So I will not dwell on the future now.
