Stress
What are the definitions of stressors, stress, and coping strategies?
Stressor
- external demands
Stress
- challenges to our well-being that exceed our coping resources
- the effects stressors have on us
Coping strategies
- efforts to deal with stress
What is adjustment disorder?
- undergoing severe stress that exceeds coping resources
- symptoms must begin within 3 months of the onset of the stressor, & the person must experience more distress than would be expected given the circumstances or be unable to function as usual
- symptoms lessen or disappear when the stressor ends or when the person learns to adapt to the stressor
- if the symptoms continue beyond 6 months, the diagnosis is usually changed to some other mental disorder.
What is stress tolerance?
a person’s ability to withstand stress without becoming seriously impaired
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
stress doesn’t go away even though the traumatic event has passed and the danger is over
event is re-experienced involuntarily, with the same full emotional force as the original experience
symptoms present for 1 month +
What is resilience?
healthy psychological & physical functioning after a potentially traumatic event
What is acute stress disorder?
PTSD symptoms for less than 1 month
What is allostatic load?
the biological cost of adapting to stress
when we are relaxed and not experiencing stress, our allostatic load is low
when we are stressed and feeling pressured, our allostatic load is higher
What are the symptom categories for PTSD?
Intrusion
Avoidance
Negative alterations in cognitions and mood
Arousal and reactivity
One of the most effective treatment options for PTSD is a CBT technique of modifying negative appraisals. What does this mean?
re-wire negative patterns of thinking