What personality trait is associated with an exaggerated stress response to everyday hassles Quizlet
|
- Highest when wake up, gets lower as the day progresses, highest again during REM. Low during NREM, high in REM Show Levels of stress hormones related to sleep pattern Sleep deprivation Sleep Problems Recommended textbook solutions
Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, Being13th EditionMichael R Solomon 449 solutions  HDEV56th EditionSpencer A. Rathus 380 solutions Myers' Psychology for the AP Course3rd EditionC. Nathan DeWall, David G Myers 955 solutions Social Psychology10th EditionElliot Aronson, Robin M. Akert, Timothy D. Wilson 525 solutions Recommended textbook solutions
Myers' Psychology for the AP Course3rd EditionC. Nathan DeWall, David G Myers 955 solutions HDEV56th EditionSpencer A. Rathus 380 solutions Social Psychology10th EditionElliot Aronson, Robin M. Akert, Samuel R. Sommers, Timothy D. Wilson 525 solutions Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, Being13th EditionMichael R Solomon 449 solutions MANAGING STRESS Shore up your support system. The effort required for stress management is well worth the time. People who manage stress effectively not only are healthier but also have more time to enjoy life and accomplish goals. Social Support Having the support of friends and family members contributes to the well-being of body and mind. Research supports this conclusion and demonstrates the value of affiliation or connectedness, as the following examples demonstrate: A study of college students living in overcrowded apartments revealed that those
with a strong social support Page 42system were less distressed by their cramped quarters than were the loners who navigated life's challenges on their own. QUICK STATS 53% of adults say they feel good about themselves after exercising, 35% say it puts them in a good mood, and 30% say they feel less stressed. —American Psychological Association, 2014 Studies show that not all giving is the same—for example, donating money does not have the same beneficial health effects as volunteering that involves personal contact. A few simple guidelines can help you get the most out of giving: Choose a volunteer activity that puts you in contact with people. Communicating in an assertive way that respects the rights of others—while protecting your own rights—can prevent stressful situations from getting out of control. Some people have trouble either telling others what they need or saying no to the needs of others. They may suppress their feelings of anger, frustration, and resentment, and they may end up feeling taken advantage of or suffering in unhealthy relationships. At the other extreme are people who express anger openly and directly by being verbally or physically aggressive or indirectly by making critical, hurtful comments to others. Because their abusive behavior pushes away other people, they also have problems with relationships. Better communication skills can help everyone form and maintain healthy relationships. Chapter 3 includes a discussion of anger and its impact on health and relationships. Chapter 4 discusses communication techniques for building healthy relationships. Exercise Exercise helps maintain a healthy body and mind and even stimulates the birth of new brain cells. Regular physical activity can also reduce many of the negative effects of stress. Consider the following examples: Taking a long
walk can decrease anxiety and blood pressure. Couple is raking leaves. A healthful diet gives you an energy bank to draw from whenever you experience stress. Eating wisely also can enhance your feelings of self-control and self-esteem. Learning the principles of sound nutrition is easy, and sensible eating habits rapidly become second nature when practiced regularly. (For information about nutrition and healthy eating habits, see Chapter 12.) For managing stress, limit or avoid caffeine. Although one or two cups of coffee a day probably won't hurt you, caffeine is a mildly addictive stimulant that leaves some people jittery, irritable, and unable to sleep. Consuming caffeine during stressful situations can raise blood pressure and increase levels of cortisol. Although your diet affects the way your body handles stress, the reverse is also true. Excess stress can negatively affect the way you eat. Many people, for example, respond to stress by overeating; other people skip meals or stop eating altogether during stressful periods. Not only are both responses ineffective (they don't address the causes of stress), but they are also potentially unhealthy. Time Management Learning to manage your time can be crucial to coping with everyday stressors. Overcommitment, procrastination, and even boredom are significant stressors for many people. Try these strategies for improving your time management skills: Set priorities. Divide your tasks into three groups: essential, important, and trivial. Focus on the first two, and ignore the third. Managing the many commitments of adult life—including work, school, and parenthood—can produce a great deal of stress. Time management skills, including careful scheduling with a date book, smartphone, or tablet, can help people cope with busy days. Spiritual wellness is associated with more effective coping skills and higher levels of overall wellness. It is a very personal wellness component, and there are many ways to develop it. Researchers have linked spiritual wellness to longer life expectancy, reduced risk of disease, faster recovery, and improved emotional health. Although spirituality is difficult to study, and researchers aren't sure how or why spirituality seems to improve health, several explanations have been offered: Social support. Attending religious services or joining a weekly meditation group as well as investing time participating in volunteer organizations
helps people feel that they are part of a community with similar values and promotes social connectedness and caring. Spiritual wellness can make you more aware of your personal values and can help clarify them. Living according to values means considering your options carefully before making a choice, choosing between options without succumbing to outside pressures that oppose your values, and making a choice and acting on it rather than doing nothing. Confiding in Yourself through Writing Keeping a diary is analogous to confiding in others, except that you are confiding in and becoming more attuned to yourself. This form of coping with severe stress may be especially helpful for those who find it difficult to open up to others. Although writing about traumatic and stressful events may have a short-term negative effect on mood, over the long term, stress is reduced and positive changes in health occur. A key to promoting health and well-being through journaling is to write about your emotional responses to stressful events. Set aside a special time each day or week to write down your feelings about stressful events in your life. Cognitive Techniques Some stressors arise in your own mind. Ideas, beliefs, perceptions, and patterns of thinking can add to your stress level. Each of the following techniques can help you change unhealthy thought patterns to ones that will help you cope with stress (also see the box "Mindfulness Meditation"). As with any skill, mastering these techniques takes practice and patience. TAKE CHARGE: Mindfulness Meditation Mindfulness meditation is a powerful way to manage stress and has been the topic of an enormous body of medical research since 1979. At the center of this research is mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which as a program continues to be the mindfulness intervention most intensively researched to this day. This research demonstrates that when it comes to stress and its influence on health, you can do far more for yourself than anyone else can. MBSR was founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and is now offered in over 800 medical centers, hospitals, and clinics around the United States and many more hospitals and medical centers around the world, such as the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, Duke Integrative Medicine, and the Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Jefferson. MBSR classes are taught by physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors, and psychologists as well as other non-health professionals who have invested themselves in becoming MBSR teachers. At the core of this model is a philosophy of health based on the inherent wholeness and interconnectedness of everyone and an understanding that in a very real way, no matter what health condition you are coping with, "there is more right with you than there is wrong with you." In practice, this program facilitates an active partnership in which patients or clients seeking help with stress take on significant responsibility for doing interior work to tap into their own deepest inner resources for learning, growing, and healing. Mindfulness is both a mental state and the practices that cultivate this mental state. We cultivate this mental state by paying attention in a kind way to our mental, physical, and behavioral activities as they happen. By investing this kind of attention in ourselves and our lives, we soon discover that we all create most of our own stress, and that we can each do more than anyone else can to reduce that stress and take better care of ourselves. Here are two practices to use for stress reduction. Mindful Breathing Sitting comfortably where you are right now, bring your body into a posture that is upright and supported, with a sense of balance and dignity. See if you can align your head, neck, and body in a way that is neither too rigid nor too relaxed, but somewhere in between. The intention is to be wakeful and alert, yet not tense; at ease, but not sleeping. Bring attention to your breathing, wherever you feel it most prominently and notice the sensations of your breath coming and going as it will, in its own way and with its own pace. If your mind wanders from your breath, return to it by feeling the sensations of the breath as they come and go. Use these sensations as your way to be present, here and now, in each successive moment for the time you have set aside. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that extending this practice to 30 or 45 minutes on a regular basis significantly reduces stress and stress-related illnesses and conditions. Walking Meditation The principal instruction is to be fully present in each moment you are walking rather than consumed with mind chatter or destination. Be open to the experience of your environment and notice, for example, the way clouds move or how the sunlight glistens in the trees and foliage around you. Turn toward whatever calls your attention and be with it as long as you like, stopping if you want to take a close look at a bug or flowers or to listen to the rustling of leaves. Remember, the overarching intention is to be mindful, to be in this experience of the now. In other words, shift to experiential presence and away from the usual conceptual and discursive activities of mind. As you become more skilled in mindful awareness practice, you will be able to do this anywhere, even on a bustling college campus. If you want to pick up the speed or duration of your walk, you can make this walking practice part of a regular exercise program, and you will grow in strength and cardiovascular health as well as mindfulness. Mindfulness is a lifetime
engagement—not to get somewhere else, but to be where and as you are in this very moment, whether the experience is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. The more you invest in the practice, the more you draw forth and nourish the mental state of mindfulness with which you were born. Think back to the worries you had last week. How many of them were needless? By growing more aware of the ways you habitually think and feel, you can learn to recognize habits of mind that create distress and divest from them before they overwhelm you. Think about things you can control, particularly your way of looking at things. Try to stand aside from the problem, consider more effective steps you can take to solve it, and then carry them out. Remember that between a stimulus and a response there is a space, and in that space lies your freedom and power. In other words, if you can successfully recognize that a stressor is occurring, you can better control your response to it. In the evening, invest energy in considering how you may better promote the things you want individually or socially. This may mean reflecting on how you may better deal with an unpleasant person or stay focused in a class you find boring. By taking a constructive approach, you can prevent stressors from becoming negative events and perhaps even turn them into positive experiences. Take Control A situation often feels more stressful if you feel you're not in control of it. Time may seem to be slipping away before a big exam, for example. Unexpected obstacles may appear in your path, throwing you off course. When you feel your environment is controlling you instead of the other way around, take charge! Concentrate on what you can control rather than what you cannot, and set realistic goals. Be confident of your ability to succeed. Problem-Solve Students with greater problem-solving abilities report easier adjustment to university life, higher motivation levels, lower stress levels, and higher grades.Page 46 When you find yourself stewing over a problem, sit down with a piece of paper and try this approach: Define the problem in one or two sentences. Expectations are exhausting and restricting. The fewer expectations you have, the more you can live spontaneously and joyfully. The more you expect from others, the more often you will feel let down. And trying to meet the expectations others have of you is often futile. Stay Positive If you tend to beat up on yourself—"Late for class again! You can't even cope with college! How do you expect to ever hold down a real job?"—try being kind to yourself instead. Talk to yourself as you would to a child you love: "You're a smart, capable person. You've solved other problems; you'll handle this one. Tomorrow you'll simply schedule things so you get to class with a few minutes to spare." Practice Affirmations One way of cultivating the positive is to systematically repeat positive thoughts, or affirmations, to yourself. For example, if you react to stress with low self-esteem, you might repeat sentences such as "I accept myself completely" and "It doesn't matter what others say, but what I believe." Say kinder and more loving things to yourself every day to promote more responding and less reacting. Cultivate Your Sense of Humor When it comes to stress, laughter may be the best medicine. It is said, "He who can laugh at himself will never cease to be amused!" Even a fleeting smile produces changes in your autonomic nervous system that can lift your spirits. A few minutes of belly laughing can be as invigorating as brisk exercise. Hearty laughter elevates your heart rate, aids digestion, eases pain, and triggers the release of endorphins and other pleasurable and stimulating chemicals in the brain. After a good laugh, your muscles go slack; your pulse and blood pressure dip below normal. You are relaxed. Cultivate the ability to laugh at yourself, and you'll have a handy and instantly effective stress reliever. Focus on What's Important A major source of stress is trying to store too much data. Forget unimportant details (they will usually be self-evident) and organize important information. One technique you can try is to "chunk" important material into categories. If your next exam covers three chapters from your textbook, consider each chapter a chunk of information. Then break down each chunk into its three or four most important features. Create a mental outline that allows you to trace your way from the most general category down to the most specific details. This technique can be applied to managing daily responsibilities as well. Body Awareness Techniques Research conducted by neuroscientist Richard Davidson suggests that practicing mindfulness promotes stronger connections between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala areas of the brain. This connection has been demonstrated to facilitate greater problem-solving skills, emotional self-regulation, and resilience. In a recent University of California study, researchers reported that schoolteachers who took an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction course were less anxious and depressed and had a greater ability to face a stressor than those in a control group. Similarly, a 2009 Massachusetts General Hospital study involving before-and-after magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans showed the program reduced the gray matter density in the amygdala, which correlated with participants feeling less stressed. Practicing mindfulness has been shown to be particularly effective in devaluing bothersome thoughts and enabling presence and emotional balance to occur at their own pace. Yoga Hatha yoga, the most common yoga style practiced in the United States, emphasizes physical balance and breath control. It integrates components of flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and muscle relaxation; it also sometimes serves as a preliminary to meditation. A session of yoga typically involves a series of postures, each held for a few seconds to several minutes, which involve stretching and balance and coordinated breathing. Yoga can be a powerful way to cultivate body awareness, ease, and flexibility. If you are interested in trying yoga, take a class with an experienced instructor. Tai Chi This martial art (in Chinese, taijiquan) is a system of self-defense that incorporates philosophical concepts from Taoism and Confucianism. In addition to self-defense, tai chi aims to bring the body into balance and harmony to promote health and spiritual growth. It teaches practitioners to remain calm and centered, to conserve and concentrate energy, and to manipulate force by becoming part of it—by "going with the flow." Tai chi is considered the gentlest of the martial arts. Instead of quick and powerful movements, tai chi consists of a series of slow, fluid, elegant movements, which reinforce the idea of moving with rather than against the stressors of everyday life. As with yoga, it's best to start tai chi with a class led by an experienced instructor.Page 47 Qigong Qigong (pronounced "chee-gung") originates in China and has as its goal the restoration of energy and balance to the body. It is used to relieve stress and chronic pain through various exercises of flowing movements, visualization, and breathing while assuming postures. Although its popularity is rising, there is no scientific evidence so far that it helps relieve stress or pain. Counterproductive Coping Strategies College is a time when you'll learn to adapt to new and challenging situations and gain skills that will last a lifetime. It is also a time when many people develop counterproductive and unhealthy habits in response to stress. Such habits can last well beyond graduation. Tobacco Use Many young adults who never smoked in high school smoke their first cigarette in college, usually at a party or in a dorm with friends. Many smokers report that smoking helps them cope with stress by providing a feeling of relaxation, giving them something to do with their hands in social situations, or breaking up monotony and routine. Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain nicotine, a chemical that enhances the actions of neurotransmitters. Nicotine can make you feel relaxed and even increase your ability to concentrate, but it is highly addictive. In fact, nicotine dependence itself is considered a psychological disorder. Cigarette smoke also contains substances that cause heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and emphysema. These negative consequences far outweigh any beneficial effects, and tobacco use should be avoided. The easiest way to avoid the habit is to not start. See Chapter 11 for more about the health effects of tobacco use and for tips on how to quit. QUICK STATS 37.7% of college-age Americans binge-drink. —Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2015 Like nicotine, alcohol is addictive, and many alcoholics find it hard to relax without a drink. Having a few drinks might make you feel temporarily at ease, and drinking until you're intoxicated may help you forget your current stressors. However, using alcohol to deal with stress places you at risk for all the short- and long-term problems associated with alcohol abuse. It also does nothing to address the causes of stress in your life. Although limited alcohol consumption may have potential health benefits for some people, many college students have patterns of drinking that detract from wellness. For more about the responsible use of alcohol, refer to Chapter 10. Using other psychoactive drugs to cope with stress is also usually counterproductive: Stimulants, such as amphetamines, can activate the stress response. They also affect the same areas of
the brain that are involved in regulating the stress response. Unhealthy Eating Habits The nutrients in the food you eat provide energy and substances needed to maintain your body. Eating is also psychologically rewarding. The feelings of satiation and sedation that follow eating produce a relaxed state. However, regular use of eating as a means of coping with stress may lead to unhealthy eating habits. In fact, a survey by the American Psychological Association revealed that about 25% of Americans use food as a means of coping with stress or anxiety. These "comfort eaters" are twice as likely to be obese as average Americans. Certain foods and supplements are sometimes thought to fight stress. Carbohydrates may reduce the stress response by promoting activity of the parasympathetic nervous system; however, a high-carbohydrate diet can lead to weight gain in sedentary people and is not recommended as a strategy for coping with stressors. In addition, some evidence suggests that greater ingestion of carbohydrates, simple sugars, and fatty foods may be a predisposing factor for psychological distress. Many dietary supplements are marketed for stress reduction, but supplements are not required to meet the same standards as medications in terms of safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing (see Chapters 12 and 20). Getting Help What are the most important sources of stress in your life? Are you coping successfully with them? No single strategy or program for managing stress will work for everyone. The most important starting point for a successful stress management plan is to learn to listen to your body. When you Page 48recognize the stress response and the emotions and thoughts that accompany it, you'll be in a position to take charge of that crucial moment and handle it in a healthy way. If the techniques discussed so far don't provide you with enough relief, you might need to look further. Excellent self-help guides can be found in bookstores or the library. Additional resources are listed in the "For More Information" section at the end of the chapter. Your student health center or student affairs office can tell you whether your campus has a mindfulness-based stress-reduction program. If you are seeking social support, see if your campus offers a peer counseling program. Such programs are usually staffed by volunteer students with special training that emphasizes maintaining confidentiality. Peer counselors can guide you to other campus or community resources or can simply provide understanding. Support groups are typically organized around a particular issue or problem. In your area, you might find a support group for first-year students; for reentering students; for single parents; for students of your race or ethnicity, religion, or national origin; for people with eating disorders; or for rape survivors. The number of such groups has increased in recent years as more and more people discover how therapeutic it can be to talk with others who share the same situation. Short-term psychotherapy can also be tremendously helpful in dealing with stress-related problems. Your student health center may offer psychotherapy on a sliding-fee scale; the county mental health center in your area may do the same. If you belong to any type of religious organization, check to see whether pastoral counseling is available. Your physician can refer you to psychotherapists in your community. Not all therapists are right for all people, so be prepared to have initial sessions with several. Choose the one with whom you feel most comfortable. Which describes a person with type B personality?Type B personality is characterized by a relaxed, patient, and easy-going nature. Individuals with a Type B personality work steadily, enjoying achievements, but do not tend to become stress when goals are not achieved.
Which personality type is characterized by higher feelings of despair and difficulty expressing emotions?Type C personality traits have been linked to depression and feelings of hopelessness. Difficulty expressing emotions can play into depression.
Which describes a person with a Type B personality quizlet?Type B: People with this personality is relaxed and contemplative. These people are less frustrated by daily events and more tolerant of the behavior of others.
What is the stress response quizlet?Define stress response. A generalized, systemic response to a stressor (internal/external, physical/psychological, short-term/long-term.
|
