Helpful in making concepts clearer. :)

1. CHAPTER 3
MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES

2. CHAPTER AT A GLANCE
 Stress is the process that occurs in response to situations or events (stressors) that
disrupt our physical or psychological functioning.
 The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) first reported by Hans Selye, describes
how are bodies to react to the effects of stress and include 3 distinct stages:
alarm, resistance and exhaustion.
 Stressors can be major life events, such as death of spouse or daily hassles of
everyday life, such as receiving a minor traffic ticket or having to wait in line at a
grocery store.
 Sources of work related stress include work overload and under load, role conflict
and performance appraisals. Even relatively low levels of stress may interfere with
task performance.
 Prolonged exposure to high levels of stress may lead to illness. Regular,
moderately intense exercise promotes both physical and psychological health.

3. NATURE, TYPE AND SOURCES OF
STRESS

4. Nature of stress
 Stress is described as the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus
event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person’s ability to cope.
 Eustress is the level of stress that is good for you and is one of a person’s best
assets for achieving peak performance and managing minor crises.
 Distress is latter manifestation of stress that causes our body’s wear and tear.
 Strain is reaction to external stressors.
 Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the non
specific response to any demand” that is, regardless of the cause of the threat, the
individual will respond with the same physiological pattern of reactions.

5. CAUSE
• External or internal stressor
INTERNAL STATE
• Biological and psychological
reactions leading to stress
experience (coping, defense)
RESULT (STRESS
REACTION)
• Challenge to be overcome or
illness/stress
PSYCHOLOGICAL MEANING OF STRESS

6. COGNITIVE THEORY OF STRESS
 An individual’s response to
a stressful situation largely
depends upon the
perceived events and hoe
they are interpreted or
appraised.
 Lazarus has distinguished
between two types of
appraisals:-
 Primary appraisal and
Secondary appraisal.

7.  Suppose a non-stop heavy rain suddenly pours at your place. You might think that the
heavy rain is not important, since you don’t have any plans of going somewhere today.
Or, you might say that the heavy rain is good, because now you don’t have to wake up
early and go to school since classes are suspended. Or, you might see the heavy rain as
stressful because you have scheduled a group outing with your friends.
 After answering these two questions, the second part of primary cognitive appraisal is
to classify whether the stressor or the situation is a threat, a challenge or a harm-loss.
When you see the stressor as a threat, you view it as something that will cause future
harm, such as failure in exams or getting fired from job. When you look at it as a
challenge, you develop a positive stress response because you expect the stressor to
lead you to a higher class ranking, or a better employment.
 On the other hand, seeing the stressor as a “harm-loss” means that the damage has
already been experiences, such as when a person underwent a recent leg amputation,
or encountered a car accident
Primary Appraisal

8. Secondary appraisals
 Secondary appraisals involve those feelings related to dealing with the stressor or
the stress it produces. Uttering statements like, “I can do it if I do my best”, and “If
this way fails, I can always try another method” indicates positive secondary
appraisal.
 In contrast to these, statements like, “I can’t do it; I know I will fail”, “I will not do it
because no one believes I can” and, “I won’t try because my chances are
low” indicate negative secondary appraisal.
 Although primary and secondary appraisals are often a result of an encounter with
a stressor, stress doesn’t always happen with cognitive appraisal.

9. Signs and Symptoms of Stress
 Response to stress varies depending upon personality
of an individual. Every person has his or her own
pattern of stress response.
 Warning signs of stress vary from individual to
individual depending upon intensity.
 Physical symptoms of stress can be palpitation or
sweating, emotional symptoms can be confusion and
irritability which are manifested in behavioral
symptoms such as withdrawal or restlessness.
 If any of these symptoms are left unresolved, they
may lead to suicide, burn out, a psychological
disorder or a medical disease.

11. TYPES OF
STRESSES
PHYSICAL AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
STRTESS

12.  Physical and Environmental Stress: Physical stresses are caused when we overexert
ourselves physically, lack a nutritional diet, suffer an injury or fail to get enough
Environmental stresses are caused by air pollution, crowding, noise, heat of the
summer, winter cold or disasters such as fire, or natural disasters such as earthquake,
floods, draughts, land-slides, volcanic eruption etc.
 Psychological Stress: This is caused by
a) Frustration
b) Conflicts
c) Internal Pressures
d) Social Pressures
 Social Stress: These result from our interaction with other people, such as death or
illness in the family, strained relationship, trouble with neighbor etc. for example
attending a party could be stressful for a person who is introvert and staying at
for a person who is party lover.

13. Sources of Stress
The various sources are:
• Life events – changes due to life events such as
moving into new house, break up of a long
term relationship cause stress.
• Hassles – happenings in our daily lives such as
noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome
neighbors cause stress.
• Traumatic events – Effects of extreme events
such as fire, train, or road accident, robbery,
earthquake persist as symptoms of anxiety,
flashbacks, dreams and intrusive thoughts.

14. STRESSORS
TYPES
Environmental,
Psychological and Social
DIMENSIONS
Intensity, Duration,
Complexity, Predictability
RESOURCES
PHYSICAL
Money, medical care, etc.
PERSONAL
Skills and Coping styles
SOCIAL
Support networks,
Professional help
PERSON
CHARACTERISTICS
PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CULTURAL
STRESS
APPRAISALS
PHYSIOLOGICA
L RESPONSE
BEHAVIOURAL
RESPONSE
EMOTIONAL
RESPONSE
COGNITIVE
RESPONSE

15. EFFECTS OF STRESS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL
FUNCTIONING AND HEALTH

16. Emotional effects
 Those suffering from stress experience mood
swings, show decreasing confidence, suffer from
feelings anxiety, depression or increased physical
and psychological tension.

17. Physiological effects
 Under stress there is an increased production of
hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Those
hormones produce marked changes in heart rate,
blood pressure levels, metabolism and physical
activity.
 Changes such as release of epinephrine or non –
epinephrine, slowing down of the digestive system,
expansion of air passages in the lungs and constriction
of blood vessels also occur.

18. Cognitive effects
 Cognitive effects of stress are poor
concentration and reduced short term
memory capacity.
Behavioral effects
 These include disrupted sleep patterns,
increase absenteeism and reduced
work performance.

19. GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME
 Alarm reaction : The presence of a stressor leads to
activation of the adrenal pituitary- cortex system. This
triggers the release of hormones producing the stress
response. Now the individual is ready for flight or
flight.
 Resistance stage : Under prolonged stress, the para-
sympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious
use of the body’s resources in which the organism
makes efforts to cope with the threat.
 Exhaustion stage : Continued exposure to the same
stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its
resources and leads to the third stage of exhaustion.
The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction
and resistance become ineffective and susceptibility to
stress–related diseases increase.

20. Stress and Immune system
 Release of stress hormones results in weakening of our immune system thus
affecting mental and physical health. Weakened immune system has a serious
effect on the individual's’ health.
 Stress can affect natural killer cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the
defense against various infections and cancer.
 Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are
highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, bereaved
persons and those who are severely depressed.
 Individuals may have panic attacks or show obsessive behaviors, mood swings or
phobias.
 These individuals have feelings of hopelessness which is worsened by injury or
disease.

22. COPING WITH STRESS
 Three coping strategies given by Endler and Parker are:-
• Task-oriented strategy– This involves using alternative courses of action for
coping. For example, scheduling your time better or using better methods to
solve problems.
• Emotion-oriented strategy– This involves venting feelings of anger and frustration
or deciding that nothing can be done to change things. For example, to stop
worrying.
• Avoidance-oriented strategy– This involves denying or minimizing the
seriousness of the situation. It involves conscious suppression of stressful thoughts
and their replacement by self–protective thoughts. Examples of this are watching
TV, phone up a friend or try to be with other people.

24. RELAXATION
TECHNIQUES
MEDITATION
PROCEDURES
BIOFEEDBACK
CREATIVE
VISUALISATION
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL
TECHNIQUES
EXERCISE
TECHNIQUES THAT CAN HELP MANAGE STRESS IN
LIFE

25. ASSERTIVENESS
Assertiveness is a
behavior or skill
that helps to
communicate
clearly and
confidently, our
feelings needs,
wants and
thoughts.
TIME
MANAGEMENT
Managing time
helps to relieve
pressure,
organizing our life
and thus leading a
balance life.
RATIONAL
THINKING
This involves
challenging your
distorted thinking
and irrational
beliefs, driving out
potentially
intrusive negative
anxiety-provoking
thoughts and
making positive
statements.
SELF CARE
This involves
keeping
ourselves
healthy and
relaxed which
prepares us
physically
and
emotionally
to tackle the
stress of
everyday life
LIFE SKILLS WHICH HELP IN MEETING TH CHALLENGES OF SCHOOOL
LIFE

26. THANK YOU
BY- BHAWNA MAURYA