Stress

1. Stress

2. Stress and Health • A person’s feeling of being unable to meet a certain expectation • The event or situation that causes stress is a stressor. • Not all stressors are equal. I am not stressed by backpacking in the wilderness, but you might be. • I am, however, stressed by ice-skating, a situation where I fall on my backside often and cling to my wife for stability. • Harmful stress that causes us anxiety is called distress

3. Stress and Health • Increased stress impacts our immune system • Can cause a build up of steroids in our body and sucks away energy that would normally be used fight off disease • Headaches are often caused by prolonged tension of the muscles in our neck, shoulders & scalp • Migraines are more rare and more severe: can have physical or stress-related triggers

4. Stress and Health • Cancer: stress can impact developing & fighting cancer • Our body normally develops cancerous cells but destroys them easily • Genetics, lifestyle patterns and other factors play into a person’s cancer experiences as well.

5. Conflict Situations • Many times, stress comes from situations in which we must make a decision. • Conflict Situation: when a person must choose between two or more options, usually with opposing motives

6. Conflict Situations • Approach-Approach: must choose between two attractive options. • Ex. Do you order the lobster or the steak? • Typically, this type of “conflict” generates low-stress • Avoid-Avoid: must make a decision between two disagreeable options • Ex. Your brakes stop working; do you smash into a tree or into the median wall? • Stress tends to be higher, often stuck picking “between the lesser of two evils”

7. Conflict Situations • Approach-Avoid: situation that has both enjoyable and disagreeable consequences • Ex. Do I go ask my boss for a raise? Do I ask that cute girl out on a date? • Double Approach-Avoid: you must choose between options that have both enjoyable and disagreeable consequences • Ex. Pick up dinner from Wendy’s? fast, “delicious”, makes you fat • Or make broiled salmon & steamed broccoli at home? Takes time and may be “less” delicious, but none of the “Wendy’s guilt”

8. Conflict Situations • Deciding between waiting for your boyfriend to get off of work and just heading out with your friends w/o him. • Double Approach-Avoid: both options will have positive & negative consequences • Deciding between two puppies. • Approach-Approach: either way, you get a puppy!

9. Conflict Situations • Deciding between studying for Chem. or for Govt. • Avoid-Avoid: unless you really enjoy studying for one • Do you choose to meet your biological father? • Approach-Avoid: could lead to a healthy resolution of feelings of guilt or anger, could lead you to be even more uncomfortable with the past.

10. Conflict Situations • The chess player’s decision to make a strange move that puts his king more at risk. • Approach-Avoid: She is more open to an attack, but he might also get her opponent to make a hasty decision. • Just about any round in the game “Would you rather…” • Avoid-Avoid: Between burning or freezing to death, I’d rather not make the decision. • Choosing between Cleveland State and OU main campus • Double Approach-Avoid: ClevelandState would be cheaper & you wouldn’t have to leave your fwiends (that also stay…), but OU Main would be a great opportunity for you to really stretch your wings.