Lesson Notes

Lesson 3.1a  Sources of Stress: Seven Major Stressors

Can you define “stress”? Do you know that there are different types of stress? As mentioned in the chapter overview, most people have experienced some level of stress in their lives, but they have experienced it for different reasons. Before we talk about the different types of stressors, it is important to know that not all stress is bad. Some stresses are pleasant (eustress), while others are more harmful (distress). In this lesson we are going to look at the seven main categories of stress that are harmful. These include:

Life Changes: This type of stress affects all of us at one point in our lives or another. What kinds of life changes do you think could cause stress? When psychologists talk about a “life change” they will be quick to point out that this will be different for different people. Some examples can include changing schools, moving to a new city or country, graduation, going to college, getting married, and having kids. While some of these may seem like happy, exciting times (which they are) for many people these situations bring a certain amount of stress. 

Chronic Stress: Probably one of the most damaging types of stress. Chronic stress occurs when people have a stressor that continues for extended periods of time. Examples of chronic stressors can include having enough money to pay for rent, fighting with friends, or even the constant push to achieve A’s in school.

Job Stress: Unfortunately, many people work in jobs they hate. This can be due to conflicts with the boss or co-workers, being over-worked (too many hours or demands), as well as simply not enjoying coming to work each day. For example, my friend who works in New York sometimes does 100 hours a week! This amount of work can lead to burnout (exhaustion), to the point that he needs to take a day off work because he gets sick.

Hassles: Hassles are nothing more than the little daily problems that happen each day. When we don’t learn to cope with these everyday stressors, they can pile up to the point that it is unhealthy. A great book called “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” teaches us how to deal with these daily hassles.

Frustration: We have all felt frustrated at one point in our lives. Typically frustration occurs because of an inability to achieve a goal. This can happen if you get stuck in rush hour traffic, try to figure out how to solve a puzzle, or even trying to teach your dog to go potty outside.

Conflict: Like frustration, we will all experience conflicts in our lives. Whether we have a disagreement with our parents, or we need to choose between which movie to see, these are all conflicts. This lesson will introduce you to the three different types of conflict – approach-approach, approach-avoidance, avoidance-avoidance.

Cataclysmic Events: These stressors are the result of drastic events that happen to us or someone we know. These can include earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and plane crashes.

Lesson 3.1b Effects if Stress: How the Body Responds

This lesson explores how stress affects from a biological perspective. Understanding how stress affects our bodies provides you with the information to see the correlation between stress and illness.

SAM and HPA Axis: These two models outline how stress is responded to by our bodies and brains. The SAM model explains how our bodies deal with immediate stressors. In this model, the body releases norepinephrine and epinephrine, two neurotransmitters most associated with fight or flight. The HPA Axis helps explain how we deal with chronic stressors. The key within this model is that the neurotransmitter cortisol is released into our blood streams, which can lead to Depression, PTSD, and hypertension.

Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS):  This model was developed with the belief that most people deal with stress in a similar pattern. The key to this theory is the exhaustion stage. It is during this stage that we are most susceptible to illnesses.

Go through the activity on page 104 to identify the level of stress you are feeling at work (change that to school).