Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body produces physical and mental responses. That’s stress. Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations.  Stress can be positive, keeping us alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger. For example, if you have an important test coming up, a stress response might help your body work harder and stay awake longer. But stress becomes a problem when stressors continue without relief or periods of relaxation. Stress is the non specific response of the body to any kind of demand made upon it. -Hans Selye, 1956 Stress is the arousal of mind and body in response to demands made upon them. -Schafer, 2000 A stressor is any event, experience, or environmental stimulus that causes stress in an individual. These events or experiences are perceived as threats or challenges to the individual and can be either physical or psychological. Researchers have found that stressors can make individuals more prone to both physical and psychological problems, including heart disease and anxiety. In psychology, researchers generally classify the different types of stressors into four categories: Crises/Catastrophes, Major Life Events, Daily Hassles/Micro Stressors, And Ambient Stressors.  Crises/Catastrophes This type of stressor is unforeseen and unpredictable and, as such, is completely out of the control of the individual. Examples of crises and catastrophes include: devastating natural disasters, such as major floods, earthquakes, wars, pandemics etc…. Though rare in occurrence, this type of stressor typically causes a great deal of stress in a person's life.  Major life events Common examples of major life events include: marriage, going to college, death of a loved one, birth of a child, divorce, moving houses etc…  These events, either positive or negative, can create a sense of uncertainty and fear, which will ultimately lead to stress. For instance, research has found the elevation of stress during the transition from high school to university, with college freshmen being about two times more likely to be stressed than final year students.  Research has found major life events are somewhat rare to be major causes of stress, due to its rare occurrences. Daily Hassles/Microstressors This category includes daily annoyances and minor hassles.  Examples include: making decisions, meeting deadlines at work or school, traffic jams, encounters with irritating personalities, etc. Often, this type of stressor includes conflicts with other people.  Daily stressors, however, are different for each individual, as not everyone perceives a certain event as stressful. For example, most people find public speaking to be stressful, nevertheless, a seasoned politician most likely will not. Daily hassles are the most frequently occurring.

1. N A M E : M I S S V E D A N T I PAT E L
D E S I G N AT I O N : A S S I . P R O F E S S O R
STRESS

2. Introduction
 Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to
everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience
stress and react to it.
 When you experience changes or challenges (stressors),
your body produces physical and mental responses. That’s
stress.
 Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations.

3. Introduction
 Stress can be positive, keeping us alert, motivated and
ready to avoid danger.
 For example, if you have an important test coming up, a
stress response might help your body work harder and stay
awake longer.
 But stress becomes a problem when stressors continue
without relief or periods of relaxation.

4. Definition
 Stress is the non specific response of the body to any
kind of demand made upon it.
-Hans Selye, 1956
 Stress is the arousal of mind and body in response to
demands made upon them.
-Schafer, 2000

5. Stressors
 A stressor is any event, experience, or environmental
stimulus that causes stress in an individual.
 These events or experiences are perceived as threats or
challenges to the individual and can be either physical or
psychological.
 Researchers have found that stressors can make individuals
more prone to both physical and psychological problems,
including heart disease and anxiety.

6. Stressors
 In psychology, researchers generally classify the
different types of stressors into four categories:
1. Crises/Catastrophes,
2. Major Life Events,
3. Daily Hassles/Micro Stressors, And
4. Ambient Stressors.

7. Stressors
Crises/Catastrophes
 This type of stressor is unforeseen and unpredictable and,
as such, is completely out of the control of the individual.
 Examples of crises and catastrophes include: devastating
natural disasters, such as major floods, earthquakes, wars,
pandemics etc….
 Though rare in occurrence, this type of stressor typically
causes a great deal of stress in a person's life.

8. Stressors
Major life events
 Common examples of major life events include: marriage,
going to college, death of a loved one, birth of a child,
divorce, moving houses etc…
 These events, either positive or negative, can create a sense
of uncertainty and fear, which will ultimately lead to stress.

9. Stressors
Major life events
 For instance, research has found the elevation of stress
during the transition from high school to university, with
college freshmen being about two times more likely to be
stressed than final year students.
 Research has found major life events are somewhat rare to
be major causes of stress, due to its rare occurrences.

10. Stressors
Daily Hassles/Microstressors
 This category includes daily annoyances and minor hassles.
 Examples include: making decisions, meeting deadlines at
work or school, traffic jams, encounters with irritating
personalities, etc.
 Often, this type of stressor includes conflicts with other
people.

11. Stressors
Daily Hassles/Microstressors
 Daily stressors, however, are different for each individual,
as not everyone perceives a certain event as stressful.
 For example, most people find public speaking to be
stressful, nevertheless, a seasoned politician most likely
will not.
 Daily hassles are the most frequently occurring type of
stressor in most adults.

12. Stressors
Ambient stressors
 As their name implies, these are global (as opposed to
individual) low-grade stressors that are a part of the
background environment.
 Typical examples of ambient stressors are pollution, noise,
crowding, and traffic. Unlike the other three types of
stressor, ambient stressors can (but do not necessarily have
to) negatively impact stress without conscious awareness.

13. Types of Stress
 Not all types of stress are harmful or even negative. Some of
the different types of stress that you might experience
include:
 Acute stress: Acute stress is a very short-term type of
stress that can either be positive or more distressing; this is
the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day
life.

14. Types of Stress
 Chronic stress: Chronic stress is stress that seems never-
ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or
an extremely taxing job; chronic stress can also stem from
traumatic experiences and childhood trauma.
 Episodic acute stress: Episodic acute stress is acute stress
that seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a
life of ongoing distress.

15. Types of Stress
 Eustress: Eustress is fun and exciting. It's known as a
positive type of stress that can keep you energized. It's
associated with surges of adrenaline, such as when you are
skiing or racing to meet a deadline.

16. Types of Stress
 Eustress: Eustress is fun and exciting. It's known as a
positive type of stress that can keep you energized. It's
associated with surges of adrenaline, such as when you are
skiing or racing to meet a deadline.

17. Types of Stress

18. Stress Cycle
Stressor:
 Any stimulus that causes individual to experience stress.
 Ex. Death, Divorce, New Job, Marriage
 Way to reduce stress: Avoiding or managing stress,
Choosing what is important in life, Simple living, Time
Management

19. Stress Cycle
Reaction to Stress:
 When the person feels stressed from stressor, the body
begins to release chemicals to confront the stressor.
 Reducing the reactions to stress: Asking God for help,
Spiritual practices, Cognitive behviour therapy

20. Stress Cycle
Wear & Tear on the Body and Organ system:
 When the stressor is not corrected, the body worn out.
 Remedies: Improving diet, Regular exercises, Yoga,
Meditation

21. Stress Cycle
Reduced Optimal Health:
 Once the stress is present for long time, the body become
prone to develop the serious health problems.
 Remedies: Consulting allopathic or homeopathy doctor or
acupuncturist

22. Stress Cycle
Increased Sensitivity to Stress:
 Once the body is worn down and emotions worn and
exhausted, sensitivity to stress increases.
 Remedies: Deep breathing exercises or meditation, Taking
walks or talking an objective friend

25. General Adaptation Syndrome
 Homeostasis is a state of physiological calmness or
balance, and occurs when our bodily functions are running
smoothly in conjunction with low stress levels.
 When exposed to stressors, this causes an imbalance to
occur as the body responds to the perceived threat, and
then tries to return to normal functioning.
 Hans Selye, a medical doctor and researcher, came up with
the theory of GAS.

26. General Adaptation Syndrome
 GAS is the three-stage process that describes the
physiological changes the body goes through when under
stress.
 Selye identified these stages as alarm, resistance, and
exhaustion.
 Understanding these different responses and how they
relate to each other may help you cope with stress.

27. General Adaptation Syndrome
1. Alarm reaction stage
 The alarm reaction stage refers to the initial symptoms the
body experiences when under stress.
 You may be familiar with the “fight-or-flight” response,
which is a physiological response to stress.
 This natural reaction prepares you to either flee or protect
yourself in dangerous situations.

28. General Adaptation Syndrome
1. Alarm reaction stage
 Your heart rate increases, your adrenal gland releases
cortisol (a stress hormone), and you receive a boost of
adrenaline, which increases energy.
 This fight-or-flight response occurs in the alarm reaction
stage.

30. General Adaptation Syndrome
2. Resistance stage
 After the initial shock of a stressful event and having a fight-
or-flight response, the body begins to repair itself.
 It releases a lower amount of cortisol, and your heart rate
and blood pressure begin to normalize.
 Although your body enters this recovery phase, it remains
on high alert for a while.

31. General Adaptation Syndrome

32. General Adaptation Syndrome
2. Resistance stage
 If you overcome stress and the situation is no longer an
issue, your body continues to repair itself until your
hormone levels, heart rate, and blood pressure reach a pre-
stress state.
 Some stressful situations continue for extended periods of
time.

33. General Adaptation Syndrome
2. Resistance stage
 If you don’t resolve the stress and your body remains on
high alert, it eventually adapts and learns how to live with a
higher stress level.
 In this stage, the body goes through changes that you’re
unaware of in an attempt to cope with stress.
 If the resistance stage continues for too long of a period
without pauses to offset the effects of stress, this can lead to
the exhaustion stage.

34. General Adaptation Syndrome
3. Exhaustion
 Prolonged exposure to the stressor will result in the
depletion of the body’s resources, and the resulting wear
and tear will suppress the immune system and cause bodily
functions to deteriorate.
 This can lead to a variety of health issues and illnesses,
including heart disease, digestive problems, depression,
and diabetes.

35. General Adaptation Syndrome

37. Coping with Stress
 Coping is the process of spending conscious effort and
energy to solve personal and interpersonal problems.
 In the case of stress, coping mechanisms seek to master,
minimize, or tolerate stress and stressors that occur in
everyday life.
 These mechanisms are commonly called coping
skills or coping strategies.

38. Coping with Stress
 All coping strategies have the adaptive goal of reducing or
dealing with stress, but some strategies can actually be
maladaptive (unhealthy) or merely ineffective.
 Maladaptive behaviors are those that inhibit a person’s
ability to adjust to particular situations.
 This type of behavior is often used to reduce one’s anxiety,
but the result is dysfunctional and non-productive.

39. Coping with Stress
Coping Strategies
 While psychologists disagree on the specific classification
of the hundreds of coping strategies available today,
distinctions are often made among various contrasting
strategies.
 The three most common distinctions are appraisal-focused,
problem-focused, and emotion-focused coping strategies.

40. Coping with Stress
Emotion-Focused Strategies :
 Emotion-focused strategies address the feelings associated
with the stressor. People modify the emotions that
accompany stress perception by releasing, distracting, or
managing their mental state.
 A typical person will employ a mixture of all of these
strategies when attempting to cope with stress. Skill or
prowess at employing these strategies changes over time.

41. Coping with Stress
Problem-Focused Strategies :
 Problem-focused strategies aim to deal with the cause of
the problem or stressor.
 People try to change or eliminate the source of stress by
researching the problem and learning management skills to
solve it.

42. Coping with Stress
Appraisal-Focused Strategies :
 Appraisal-focused strategies attempt to modify thought
processes associated with stress.
 People alter the way they think about a problem by
approaching it differently or altering their goals and values.

43. Coping with Stress
Adaptive Style:
 It involves appropriate adjustment to the environment and
gaining from experience.
Maladaptive Style:
 It involves failing to adjust to environment, experiencing
misery and unhappiness as a result.