Psychology Research Paper

Psychology Research Paper

Psychology Research Paper

Stress is a necessary and unavoidable concomitant of daily living--necessary because without some stress we would be listless and apathetic creatures, and unavoidable because it relates to any external event, be it pleasurable or anxiety-producing. Severe stress has been correlated with coronary disease, respiratory problems, backaches, high blood pressure, and other psychosomatic illnesses, to the extent that for most people stress is a loaded term that connotes unhealthy or harmful conditions, i.e., a dis-ease or illness. In truth, however, stress can also motivate and invigorate and enable people to achieve far more than they thought themselves capable of doing.

Generalizations Regarding Stress

--Stress is connected with life changes, personal and/or work-related; and too many changes at one time, either positive or negative, can overload an individual's capacity to adapt successfully and result in illness of one sort or another.

--What may be distressful to one person may be excitingly challenging (positively stressful) to another.

--The same event can be distressful at one time and stimulating or non-stressful at another.

--Whether an event causes distress depends upon the individual's perception of the situation.

--How a person responds to stress depends upon the environment, the magnitude of the stressor, what has gone before, the person's self-perceived ability to handle the stressor, the person's physical condition, and just plain habit.

--Stress can be self-imposed--e.g., setting too high standards or having unrealistic expectations regarding one's abilities; or situational--e.g., time constraints, lack of resources, threats to emotional or physical well-being, challenges beyond one's ability to respond, conflicts between one's personal values and the values of others.

Faculty methods of coping with stress may be classified into two major categories: primarily preventive strategies and primarily combative strategies ("Stress Counseling," 1986). Preventive strategies include the following:

Avoiding stressors through appropriate life adjustments-- ...