Shared Flashcard Set

Details

Happiness, Wellbeing and Positive Psychology Chapter 6
Dealing with Stressors
53
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
03/11/2013

Additional Psychology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Factors that determine responses to stress
Definition
1. What the stressor is
2. The environmental context
3. Personal meaning
4. Motives
5. Individual Strength
Term
Primary Appraisal Process
Definition
Control of immediate stress reactions before trying to deal with the source of the stress.
Dealing with the reactions before dealing with the stress itself
Term
How are unlearned strain-relief mechanisms helpful?
Definition
1. Reduce tension and anxiety
2. Repairs psychological damage
3. Restores psychological equilibrium
Term
Crying
Definition
Common natural reaction to frustration and hurt among adult men and women, helps restore inner equilibrium.
Important part of "grief work" or bereavement
Term
Humor and Laughter
Definition
Effective way of reducing tension
Term
Sleep and Dreams
Definition
When possible under stress, has a healing function.
Often can produce nightmares of serious incidents
Can be used as an escape if nothing else will help.
Term
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Definition
Memory recalls of the original trauma keep repeating persistently along with the terrible emotions that were experienced.
Term
Talking about problems
Definition
"Venting"
Repetitively talking about an experience helps a person to becomes desensitized to it and cope more readily to it.
Term
Deep Relaxation
Definition
If people were to relax their muscles they would report feeling relaxed as well.
Term
Aspects of Deep Relaxation
Definition
1. A learned skill, not learned casually
2. Relaxation brought on by our own efforts is both longer lasting and more beneficial
3. Relaxation training can increase a person's awareness of stressor situations.
Term
Coping with Ulcers
Definition
The best long-term treatment for this issue is reducing the level of stress
Term
Coping with Tension Headaches
Definition
Learn to control the muscle tension in the head and neck by methods of relaxation training.
Term
Coping with Migraine Headaches
Definition
Maintaining regular schedules of eating sleeping and exercise are helpful for those who suffer with this frequently
Term
Hypertension
Definition
A dangerous increase in blood pressure
Changes in diet, weight loss, medication, or stress reduction techniques may help.
Most effective solution = eliminate stress
Term
Cognitive-defense Mechanisms
Definition
Unconscious protective thought reactions
Occur without thinking
Can provide immediate short term relief from stress, but should not be used as a substitute for long-term solutions
Term
Denial
Definition
Unwillingness to admit an unpleasant reality in order to not face anxiety
Term
Repression
Definition
A mental process of pressing or pushing out of consciousness threatening or painful thoughts often by re-interpreting them into more favorable ones or by conveniently forgetting them
Term
Regression
Definition
Use of earlier behavior patterns that have been long outgrown
Term
Co-dependency
Definition
When a person is so uncertain of themself that they leave their most important decisions to another person
Term
Compensation
Definition
Used to defend against feelings of inadequacy.
Term
Emotional Insulation
Definition
Reduces the degree of personal emotional involvement in potentially hurtful situations
Term
Fear
Definition
Refers to a real and usually present source of danger
Term
Anxiety
Definition
Refers to an event in the future that can be threatening
Term
Steps to deal with Fear and Anxiety
Definition
1. Recognize these as normal psychophysiological reactions to dangerous and threatening situations
2. Distinguish between realistic and unrealistic
3. A person can begin to deal with these emotions
Term
Anger and Hostility
Definition
May offer a "gut-level" satisfaction but overall ineffective.
You may resort to ego-defense mechanisms if feeling hostile
Term
Methods of dealing with Anger and Hostility
Definition
1. Responding in a way incompatible with anger
2. Empathizing with the person causing the anger
3. Downgrading the importance of the situation
Term
Guilt
Definition
Normal feelings of this arise when we have knowingly broken a moral or ethical standard which we have agreed to follow
Term
Shame
Definition
Feeling felt after having been caught by someone when we were doing something wrong
Term
Three stages of Grief Work
Definition
1 Shock or numbness, often accompanied by a strong tendency to deny or screen out the reality of what happened
2. Anxiety, depression, or "pangs of grief"
3. Giving up hope of recovering what has been lost and beginning to make the necessary readjustments to life

May last from a few weeks to several months
Term
Coping with Depression
Definition
Most effective way: Realizing any situation there are choices of action, some which are more adaptive and effective than others.
Term
Coping with Lonliness
Definition
1. Accept the fact that everyone feels lonely at some point in their life
2. Use this experience as an opportunity to explore yourself and get to know yourself better
3. Learn to build meaningful, loving, enduring relationships
Term
Social support
Definition
Can provide a strong buffer against stress.
Term
Social Isolation
Definition
Can be as great a threat to our health as cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Those with few relationships are more likely to become ill or die over a 10 - 12 year period.
Term
Three parts of Stress-inoculation Training
Definition
Education
Rehearsal
Application
Term
Education in Stress-inoculation training
Definition
Knowing what to expect can help alter the usual response
Emphasis is placed on awareness of personal reactions and experiences that occur during a stress respnse
Term
Rehearsal in Stress-inoculation training
Definition
In this stage a person learns how to use cognitive self-statements to control reactions to stress.
Internal dialogue of self-statements can also be useful in a way of monitoring stress reactions and shifting to a more effective coping strategy
Term
Application in Stress-inoculation training
Definition
What is learned in the previous steps is applied in these ways
1. People are trained to use these skills in relatively low stress situations
2. Applications are evaluated for their effectiveness
3. Self statements are modified if necessary or new statements developed
4. The new skills are applied to increasingly stressful situations
Term
4 Ways of Application in Stress-inoculation training
Definition
1. People are trained to use these skills in relatively low stress situations
2. Applications are evaluated for their effectiveness
3. Self statements are modified if necessary or new statements developed
4. The new skills are applied to increasingly stressful situations
Term
Primary Appraisal
Definition
Two step evaluation to figure out if an event is relevant or irrelevant
If irrelevant = ignore
if relevant = further assessment
Harmless-positive or stressful
Term
3 ways of assessing Stressful situations using Primary Appraisal
Definition
1. Presently harmful
2. Threatening
3. A challenge
Term
Secondary Appraisal: Selection
Definition
Evaluation of coping strategies then election of an appropriate strategy for maximum effectiveness.
Term
Secondary Appraisal: Evaluation
Definition
Examine the effectiveness of the strategy chosen. If it is deemed ineffective, we must choose a different coping strategy
Term
Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources (COR) Loss Reduction
Definition
Deals with loss, threat of potential loss, or no gain of resources.
1. Ranking of resources
2. Developing surplus of resources
Term
Tough-minded
Definition
Realistic and practical people who were willing to admit and take steps to solve problems in their life
Term
Tender-minded
Definition
Overly optimistic people who do not want to admit they have/will have problems
Tend to use denial
Term
Evaluating a Stressful Situation
Definition
1. Define the Situation accurately
- appraise it as harmless or potentially harmful
2. Categorize the experience in order to deal with it using the right coping strategy
Term
Oversimplification
Definition
The natural tendency to categorize beforehand
also known as "prejudice"
Solution: increase the accuracy and complexity of our views of the world.
Term
Attack
Definition
Attempt to overcome the situation
Under the appropriate conditions, this is the most effective method to deal with stress
Term
Withdraw
Definition
Remove oneself from the location of the stressor either physically or via defense mechanism
Gives us
1. Time to evaluate possible responses
2. Opportunity to evaluate the significance of the event
3. Review of assumptions about ourself in relation to the event
4. Possible suggestions for ways to deal with it if it occurs again.
Term
Vacillation
Definition
Waver or hesitate in decision in an attempt to select the best possible way to handle it
Term
Concession
Definition
Accepting somewhat less than originally wanted by substitution or compromise
Term
Compromise
Definition
The persons are willing to settle for part of what was wanted.
Term
Creative Problem Solving
Definition
Constructing a new solution
Supporting users have an ad free experience!