CHAPTER 3: MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES

WEIGHTAGE - 9 MARKS

Concept of Stress
- Stress : Pattern of responses an organism makes to a stimulus event which disturbs the equilibrium
state of an individual and hinders the person’s ability to cope.
- Stress comes from the Latin word ‘strictus’ (noun) and ‘stringere’ (verb) reflecting the internal
feelings of tightness and contradiction of the muscles and breathing reported by many people under
stress.

- Stress is further of two types:

○ Eustress is good for the individual and keeps a person motivated. Eustress is instrumental in
attaining peak performance in an important task.
○ Distress is not good for the individual as this level of stress definitely hinders the person’s
ability to cope and distress exhausts an individual emotionally, mentally and physically.

Nature of Stress
● All the challenges, problems and difficult circumstances put us to stress.
● If stress is handled properly, stress increases the probability of one’s survival.
● Stress is like electricity. It gives energy, increases human arousal and affects performance.

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However, high stress can produce unpleasant effects and cause our performance to deteriorate.

Alternately, little stress may cause one to feel somewhat listless and low on motivation which may lead us
to perform slowly and less sufficiently.

● STRESSOR - they are events that cause our body to give the stress response.
● Eg- noise, crowding, bad relationships, etc.
● The reaction to external stressors is called STRAIN.
● Stress is a dynamic mental/cognitive state.
● It is a disruption in homeostasis or an imbalance that gives rise to a requirement for resolution of
that imbalance or restoration of homeostasis.

HANS SELYE
Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the non-specific response of the body
to any demand” that is, regardless of the cause of the threat, the individual will respond with the same
physiological pattern of reactions.

Many researchers do not agree with this definition as they feel that the stress response is not nearly as
general and non-specific as Selye suggests.

Different stressors may produce somewhat different patterns of stress reaction, and different individuals
may have different characteristic modes of response.

Stress is not a factor that resides in the individual or the environment, instead it is embedded in an ongoing
process that involves individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals
(estimate / evaluation) of those encounters and attempting to cope with the issues that arise.

Stress is a dynamic mental/cognitive state.

It is a disruption in homeostasis or an imbalance that gives rise to a requirement for resolution of that
imbalance or restoration of homeostasis.

Cognitive Theory of Stress

Cognitive theory of stress along its nature is explained below-

1. Cognitive theory of stress was proposed by Lazarus and his colleagues.

2. According to the cognitive theory of stress, perception of stress is dependent upon the cognitive
appraisal of the situation along with the resources available to deal with it.

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 3. An individual’s response to a stressful situation largely depends upon the perceived events and how
they are interpreted or appraised.

TYPES OF APPRAISALS

A. Primary Appraisal - Primary appraisal refers to the perception of the new or challenging
environment as positive, negative, or neutral.

● Negative events in life are appraised on three basis-

- Threat - it is defined as possible future damage which can happen due to stress.
- Harm - the damage that has already been done in the past.
- Challenge - Viewing major changes in life positively and with confident expectations to
face and overcome them and even profit from the event.

B. Secondary Appraisal - It is defined as the assessment of the availability of resources and potential
to deal with the situation and these resources can be -
● Physical
● Mental
● Social
● Financial.

- This two-level appraisal process determines our cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physiological
responses to external events.

- These appraisals are very subjective and will depend on many factors.
a. Past experience- One factor is the past experience of dealing with such a stressful condition.
If one has handled similar situations very successfully in the past, they would be less
threatening for her/him.
b. Controllable- Another factor is whether the stressful event is perceived as controllable, i.e.,
whether one has mastery or control over a situation. A person who believes that s/he can
control the onset of a negative situation or its adverse consequences will experience less
amount of stress than those who have no such sense of personal control.

Thus, the experience and outcome of a stressor may vary from individual to individual.

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 1) PHYSIOLOGICAL LEVEL
a) Arousal plays a key role in stress-related behaviours. The hypothalamus initiates action
along two pathways.
b) The first pathway involves the autonomic nervous system. The adrenal gland releases large
amount of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the blood stream. This
leads to physiological changes seen in fight-or-flight response.
c) The second pathway involves the pituitary gland, which secretes the corticosteroid (cortisol)
which provides energy.

2) BEHAVIOURAL LEVEL - The behavioural responses are virtually limitless, depending on the nature
of the stressful event

Two general categories of behavioural responses are-

● Confrontative action against the stressor (fight)

● Withdrawal from the threatening event (flight)

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 3) COGNITIVE LEVEL -
a) Cognitive responses include -
● beliefs about the harm or
● threat an event poses and
● beliefs about its causes or controllability.
b) These include responses such as inability to concentrate, and intrusive, repetitive, or morbid
(unpleasant) thoughts.

4) EMOTIONAL LEVEL - The emotional reactions to experience of stress include negative emotions
such as fear, anxiety, embarrassment, anger, depression or even denial.

VARIATIONS IN EXPERIENCE OF STRESS

1) The stresses which people experience vary in terms of (dimensions):

● Intensity (low intensity vs. high intensity)
● Duration (short-term vs. long- term)
● Complexity (less complex vs. more complex)
● Predictability (unexpected vs. predictable)

Usually more intense, prolonged or chronic, complex and unanticipated stresses have more negative
consequences than have less intense, short-term, less complex and expected stresses.

Person’s characteristics:

2) Physiological characteristics- Individuals with poor physical health and weak constitution would be
more vulnerable than would be those who enjoy good health and strong constitution.

3) Psychological characteristics like mental health, temperament, and self-concept are relevant to the
experience of stress.

4) Cultural characteristics- The cultural context in which we live determines the meaning of any event
and defines the nature of response that is expected under various conditions.

Resources:

5) The stress experience will be determined by the resources of the person, such as
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 ● Physical- money and medical care
● personal- skills, coping style
● social- support networks and professional help

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF STRESS IN INDIVIDUALS

The way we respond to stress varies depending upon our personality, early upbringing and life experiences.
Everyone has their own pattern of stress response. So the warning signs and their intensity may vary.

Symptoms of stress can be -

- Physical
- Emotional
- Behavioural.

Any of the symptoms can indicate a degree of stress which, if left unresolved, might have serious
implications.

Types of Stress
The three major types of stress are physical and environmental, psychological, and social:

1. Physical and Environmental Stress

○ Physical stress happens when we feel physically exhausted and strained due to overreaction,
lack of sound sleep and a nutritious diet.
○ Environmental stress includes noise and air pollution, and dirty surroundings which make us
feel stressed.

2. Psychological Stress
○ Stress generated by us from our minds is called psychological stress and it is subjective in
nature.
○ Various sources of psychological stress are-

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 Definition Example

Frustration Frustration results from the There could be a number of

blocking of needs and motives by causes of frustration such as
something or someone that social discrimination,
hinders us from achieving a interpersonal hurt, low grades in
desired goal. school, etc.

Conflicts Conflicts may occur between two There may be a conflict of values
or more incompatible needs or when I am pressurised to take
motives. any action that may be against
the values held by me.

Internal pressures Internal pressures stem from Many of us drive ourselves

beliefs based upon expectations ruthlessly towards achieving
from inside us to ourselves which unrealistically high standards in
can lead to disappointment. achieving our goals. Eg. I must
be perfect.

Social pressures a) Social pressures may be Eg. The peer pressure to try
brought about from people who alcohol or smoking.
make excessive demands on us.
This can cause even greater
pressure when we have to work
with them.

b) There are people with whom

we face interpersonal difficulties,
‘a personality clash’ of sorts.

3. Social Stress
○ It results from our interpersonal relationships and interactions with other people.
○ For example, Break up with a friend, death of a close family member
○ These social stresses vary widely from person to person.
○ Eg - Attending parties may be stressful for a person who likes to spend quiet evenings at
home while an outgoing person may find staying at home in the evenings stressful.

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Sources of Stress
1. Life Events
○ Changes, both big and small, sudden and gradual affect our life.
○ We learn to cope with small, everyday changes but major life events can be stressful,
because they disturb our routine and cause upheaval.
○ If several of these life events that are planned (e.g. moving into a new house) or unpredicted
(e.g. break-up of a long-term relationship) occur within a short period of time, we find it
difficult to cope with them and will be more prone to the symptoms of stress.

2. Hassles
○ These are the personal stresses we go through as individuals, due to the happenings in our
Electric life, such as noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and
water shortage, traffic snarls, and so on.
○ These daily hassles may sometimes have devastating consequences for the individual who
is often the one coping alone with them as others may not even be aware of them as
outsiders.
○ The more stress people report as a result of daily hassles, the poorer is their psychological
well-being.

3. Traumatic Events
○ These include being involved in a variety of extreme events such as a fire, train or road
accident, robbery, earthquake, tsunami, etc.
○ The effects of these events may occur after some lapse of time and sometimes persist as
symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreams and intrusive thoughts, etc.
○ Severe trauma can also strain relationships.
○ Professional help will be needed to cope with them especially if they persist for many months
after the event is over.

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Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health
The effects of stress on psychological functioning are explained as follows-

EFFECTS OF Signs Effects Examples

STRESS

Those who suffer from This can start a vicious Feelings of anxiety and
stress are far more likely to circle of decreasing depression, increased
experience mood swings, confidence, leading to physical tension,
EMOTIONAL and show erratic behaviour more serious emotional increased psychological
that may alienate them problems. tension and mood
from family and friends. swings.

When the human body is Although, this physical Release of

placed under physical or reaction will help us to - Epinephrine and
PHYSIOLOGICAL psychological stress, it function more effectively - Nor-epinephrine,
increases the production of when we are under
certain hormones, such as pressure for short periods slowing down of the
adrenaline and cortisol. of time, it can be extremely digestive system,
damaging to the body in expansion of air
These hormones produce the long-term effects. passages in the lungs,
marked changes in heart increased heart rate, and
rate, blood pressure levels, constriction of blood
metabolism and physical vessels.
activity.

If pressures due to stress This suffering from high Faulty decisions may
continue, one may suffer level of stress can rapidly lead to arguments,
from mental overload. cause individuals to lose failure, financial loss or
COGNITIVE their ability to make sound even loss of job.
decisions.
Cognitive effects of
stress are poor
concentration, and
reduced short- term
memory capacity.

Stress affects our behaviour Tranquillisers can be Some of the typical

in the form of eating less addictive and have side behavioural effects of
nutritional food, increasing effects such as loss of stress seen are
intake of stimulants such as concentration, poor disrupted sleep patterns,
BEHAVIOURAL caffeine, excessive coordination, and increased absenteeism,
consumption of cigarettes, dizziness. and reduced work
alcohol and other drugs performance.
such as tranquillisers etc.

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Stress and Health
1. Chronic daily stress can divert an individual’s attention from caring for herself or himself. When
stress is prolonged, it affects physical health and impairs psychological functioning.

2. People experience exhaustion and attitudinal problems when the stress due to demands from the
environment and constraints are too high and little support is available.

3.

● The physical exhaustion is seen in the signs of chronic fatigue, weakness and low energy.
● The mental exhaustion appears in the form of irritability, anxiety, feelings of helplessness
and hopelessness.

4. This state of physical, emotional and psychological exhaustion is known as burnout.

5. There is also convincing evidence to show that stress can produce changes in the immune system
and increase the chances of someone becoming ill.
6. Stress plays an important role in 50-70% of all physical illnesses. Studies also reveal that 60% of
medical visits are primarily for stress-related symptoms.
7. Stress has been implicated in the development of cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure, as
well as psychosomatic disorders including ulcers, asthma, allergies and headaches.

GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME (GAS)

➔ Hans Selye studied what happens to the body when stress is prolonged by subjecting animals to a
variety of stressors such as high temperature, X-rays and insulin injections, in the laboratory over a
long period of time.
➔ He also observed patients with various injuries and illnesses in hospitals.
➔ Selye noticed a similar pattern of bodily response in all of them.
➔ He called this pattern the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). According to him, GAS involves
three stages:
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 a. Alarm reaction stage:
● The presence of a noxious stimulus or stressor leads to activation of the adrenal-
pituitary-cortex system.
● This triggers the release of hormones producing the stress response.
● Now the individual is ready for fight or flight.

b. Resistance stage:
● If stress is prolonged, the resistance stage begins.
● The para-sympathetic nervous system (PNS) calls for more cautious use of the body’s
resources.

c. Exhaustion stage:
● Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its
resources and leads to the third stage of exhaustion.
● The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction and resistance become
ineffective and susceptibility to stress-related diseases such as high blood pressure
becomes more likely.

GAS CRITICISMS

a) Selye’s model has been criticised for assigning a very limited role to psychological factors in stress.

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 b) Researchers have reported that the psychological appraisal of events is important for the
determination of stress.
c) How people respond to stress is substantially influenced by their perceptions, personalities and
biological constitutions.

PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY
Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the brain and the immune system.
It studies the effects of stress on the immune system.

EFFECTS OF STRESS ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

● The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside. Stress can
cause illness by impairing the workings of this system.

HOW DOES THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WORK?

1. The white blood cells (leucocytes) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign
bodies (antigens) such as viruses. It also leads to the production of antibodies. There are
several kinds of white blood cells or leucocytes within the immune system, including T cells, B
cells and natural killer cells. T cells destroy invaders, and T-helper cells increase
immunological activity.

2. It is these T-helper cells that are attacked by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV), the
virus causing Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

3. B cells produce antibodies. Natural killer cells are involved in the fight against both viruses
and tumours.

4. Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in the defence
against various infections and cancer.
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 5. Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly
stressed.

● Immune functioning is better in individuals receiving social support.

● Also, changes in the immune system will have more effect on health among those whose immune
systems are already weakened.
● Negative emotions like (hostility and anger) and release of stress hormones leads to weakening of
the immune system, thereby affecting mental and physical health.

NEGATIVE EMOTIONS

➔ Psychological stress is accompanied by negative emotions and associated behaviours, including

depression, hostility, anger and aggression.
➔ Negative emotion states are of particular concern to the study of effects of stress on health.
➔ The incidence of psychological disorders, such as panic attacks and obsessive behaviour increases
with the build-up of long-term stress. Worries can reach such a level that they surface as a
frightening, painful physical sensation, which can be mistaken for a heart attack.
➔ People under prolonged stress are more prone to irrational fears, mood swings and phobias, and
may experience fits of depression, anger and irritability.
➔ These negative emotions appear to be related to the function of the immune system.
➔ Feelings of hopelessness are related to worsening of disease, increased risk of injury and death due
to various causes.

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LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle is the overall pattern of decisions and behaviours that determine a person’s health and
quality of life.

STRESS AND LIFESTYLE

➔ Stressed individuals may be more likely to expose themselves to pathogens, which are agents
causing physical illness.
➔ People who are stressed have poor nutritional habits, sleep less and are likely to engage in other
health risking behaviours like smoking and alcohol abuse.
➔ The modern lifestyle of excesses in eating, drinking and the so called fast-paced good life has led to
violation of basic principles of health in some of us, as to what we eat, think or do with our lives.
➔ Such health impairing behaviours develop gradually and are accompanied by pleasant experiences
temporarily. However, we tend to ignore their long-term damaging effects and underestimate the
risk they pose to our lives.

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
● Balanced diet
● Regular exercise and activity
● Family support
● Positive thinking

COPING WITH STRESS

It is how we cope with stress and not the stress one experiences that influences our psychological
well-being, social functioning and health.

● Coping is a dynamic situation-specific reaction to stress.

● It is a set of concrete responses to stressful situations or events that are intended to resolve the
problem and reduce stress.
● The way we cope with stress often depends on rigid deep-seated beliefs, based on experience, e.g.
when caught in a traffic jam we feel angry, because we believe that the traffic ‘should’ move faster.

ENDLER AND PARKER COPING STRATEGIES

● People who cope poorly with stress have an impaired immune response and diminished activity of
natural killer cells.
● Individuals show consistent individual differences in the coping strategies they use to handle
stressful situations.
● The three coping strategies given by Endler and Parker are:

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 STRATEGY PROCESS EXAMPLE

a) This involves obtaining information

about the stressful situation and
about alternative courses of action
Task-oriented strategy and their probable outcome. I will schedule my time better.

b) It also involves deciding priorities

and acting so as to deal directly
with the stressful situation.

a) This can involve efforts to

maintain hope and to control one’s
emotions.
Emotion-oriented strategy Tell myself that it is not really
b) It can also involve venting feelings happening to me, or worry about
of anger and frustration, or what I am going to do.
deciding that nothing can be done
to change things.

a) This involves denying or minimising

the seriousness of the situation.
Avoidance-oriented Watching TV, phone up a
strategy b) It also involves conscious friend, etc.
suppression of stressful thoughts
and their replacement by
self-protective thoughts.

COPING ACCORDING TO LAZARUS AND FOLKMAN

● Lazarus and Folkman has conceptualised coping as a dynamic process rather than an individual
trait.
● Coping refers to constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to master, reduce or tolerate
the internal or external demands that are created by the stressful transaction.
● Coping serves to allow the individual to manage or alter a problem and regulate the emotional
response to that problem.

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 ● People generally tend to use problem focused responses more.

Emotional Response Definition Example

a) Problem-focused strategies attack the problem For example “I made a plan

itself, with behaviours designed to gain of action and followed it”.
Problem-focused information, to alter the event, and to alter
belief and commitments.

b) They increase the person’s awareness, level of

knowledge, and range of behavioural and
cognitive coping options.

c) They can act to reduce the threat value of the

event.

Emotion-focused strategies call for psychological For example “I did some

Emotion-focused changes designed primarily to limit the degree of things to let it out of my
emotional disruption caused by an event, with system”
minimal effort to alter the event itself.

GENERAL STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUES DEFINITION PROCESS

It is an active skill that reduces a) Usually relaxation starts from the lower part of
symptoms of stress and the body and progresses up to the facial muscles
Relaxation decreases the incidence of in such a way that the whole body is relaxed.
Techniques illnesses such as high blood
pressure and heart disease. b) Deep breathing is used along with muscle
relaxation to calm the mind and relax the body.

The yogic method of meditation It involves such a thorough concentration that the
consists of a sequence of meditator becomes unaware of any outside
Meditation learned techniques for stimulation and reaches a different state of
Procedures refocusing of attention that consciousness.
brings about an altered state of
consciousness.

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 It is a procedure to monitor and Biofeedback training involves three stages:
reduce the physiological
aspects of stress by providing a) Developing an awareness of the particular
Biofeedback feedback about current physiological response, e.g. heart rate,
physiological activity.
b) Learning ways of controlling that physiological
response in quiet conditions.

c) Transferring that control into the conditions of

everyday life.

Creative visualisation is a a) Before visualising one must set oneself a realistic

Creative subjective experience that uses goal, as it helps build confidence. It is easier to
visualisation imagery and imagination. visualise if one’s mind is quiet, body relaxed and
eyes are closed.

b) This reduces the risk of interference from

unbidden thoughts and provides the creative
energy needed for turning an imagined scene into
reality.

Cognitive These techniques aim to There are three main phases in this:
behavioural inoculate people against stress.
techniques Stress inoculation training is a) Assessment involves discussing the nature of the
one effective method developed problem and seeing it from the viewpoint of the
by Meichenbaum. person/client.

The essence of this approach is b) Stress reduction involves learning the techniques
to replace negative and of reducing stress such as relaxation and
irrational thoughts with positive self-instruction.
and rational ones.
c) Follow- through.

Exercise Exercise can provide an active a) Regular exercise improves the efficiency of the
outlet for the physiological heart, enhances the function of the lungs,
arousal experienced in maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure,
response to stress. reduces fat in the blood and improves the body’s
immune system.

b) Swimming, walking, running, cycling, skipping, etc.

help to reduce stress.

c) Each exercise session must have a warm-up,

exercise and cool down phases.

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 PROMOTING POSITIVE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

STRESS RESISTANT PERSONALITY / HARDINESS

1) It is unlikely that we will go through life without some experience of personal crises causing acute
pressure for a while. Many people sail through and rebuild their lives very positively and
constructively. But, many of us have to relearn specific life skills in areas such as rational thinking,
and assertiveness to equip ourselves better to cope with the demands of everyday life, etc.

2) Recent studies by Kobasa have shown that people with high levels of stress but low levels of illness
share three characteristics, which are referred to as the personality traits of hardiness. Hardiness is
a set of beliefs about oneself, the world, and how they interact.

3) It consists of ‘the three Cs’, i.e. commitment, control, and challenge. Hardiness takes shape as a
sense of personal commitment to what one is doing, a sense of control over one’s life, and a feeling
of challenge.

4) Stress resistant personalities have control which is a sense of purpose and direction in life;
commitment to work, family, hobbies and social life; and challenge, that is, they see changes in life
as normal and positive rather than as a threat.

LIFE SKILLS

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with
the demands and challenges of everyday life.

Our ability to cope depends on how well we are prepared to deal with and counterbalance everyday
demands and keep equilibrium in our lives.

Some life skills that help meet the challenges of life:

ASSERTIVENESS Assertiveness is It is the ability to say no to a If you are assertive, you feel
a behaviour or request, to state an opinion without confident, and have high
skill that helps to being self-conscious, or to express self-esteem and a solid
communicate, emotions such as love, anger, etc. sense of your own identity.
clearly and openly.
confidently, our
feelings, needs,
wants, and
thoughts.

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TIME The way one The major way to reduce time It depends on being
MANAGEMENT spends time stress is to change one’s realistic about what you
determines the perception of time. The central know and that you must do
quality of one’s principle of time management is to it within a certain time
life. Learning spend your time doing the things period, knowing what you
how to plan time that you value, or that help you to want to do, and organising
and delegate can achieve your goals. your life to achieve a
help to relieve balance between the two.
the pressure.

RATIONAL Many The way one thinks and feels are Some of the principles of
THINKING stress-related closely connected. When we are rational thinking are:
problems occur stressed, we have - Challenging your
as a result of an inbuilt selective bias to attend to distorted thinking and
distorted negative thoughts and images from irrational beliefs
thinking. the past, which affect our - Driving out potentially
perception of the present and the intrusive negative
future. anxiety-provoking
thoughts
- Making positive
statements

IMPROVING key to a sound This consists of three essential It also requires us to avoid
RELATIONSHIPS lasting skills: misplaced jealousy and
relationship is - Listening to what the other sulking behaviour.
communication. person is saying
- Expressing how you feel and
what you think
- Accepting the other person’s
opinions and feelings, even if
they are different from one’s
own.

SELF-CARE If we keep Environmental stresses like noise, Our breathing patterns

ourselves pollution, space, light, colour, etc. reflect our state of mind
healthy, fit and can all exert an influence on our and emotions.
relaxed, we are mood. These have a noticeable a) When we are stressed
better prepared effect on our ability to cope with or anxious, we tend
physically and stress, and well-being. towards rapid and
emotionally to shallow breathing from
tackle the high in the chest, with
stresses of frequent sighs.
everyday life. b) The most relaxed
breathing is slow,
stomach-centred
breathing from the
diaphragm.

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 Unhelpful habits a) Perfectionists are persons who Such unhelpful habits are
such as have to get everything just right. unproductive in the long
OVERCOMING perfectionism, They are more likely to feel term.
UNHELPFUL avoidance, tense and find it difficult to
HABITS procrastination, relax, are critical of self and
etc. are others, and may become
strategies that inclined to avoid challenges.
help to cope in b) Avoidance is to put the issue
the short-term under the carpet and refuse to
but which make accept or face it.
one more c) Procrastination means putting
vulnerable to off what we know we need to
stress. do. People who procrastinate
are deliberately avoiding
confronting their fears of
failure or rejection.

POSITIVE HEALTH AND ITS REALISATION

● Health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.
● Positive health comprises the following constructs:
- A healthy body
- High quality of personal relationships
- A sense of purpose in life
- Self-regard, mastery of life’s tasks
- Resilience to stress, trauma, and change

● Factors that act as stress buffers and facilitate positive health are:

a. Diet :

How much nutrition one needs depends on one’s activity level, genetic make-up, climate, and health
history.

What people eat, and how much do they weigh involve behavioural processes. Some people are able
to maintain a healthy diet and weight while others become obese. When we are stressed, we seek
‘comfort foods’ which are high in fats, salt and sugar.

The key to healthy living is to eat three main meals a day, and eat a varied well-balanced diet.
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 BENEFITS - A balanced diet can lift one’s mood, give more energy, feed muscles, improve circulation,
prevent illness, strengthen the immune system and make one feel better to cope with stresses of
life.

b. Exercise :

A large number of studies confirm positive relationship between physical fitness and health.

Physical exercises that are essential for good health are stretching exercises such as yogic asanas
and aerobic exercises such as jogging, swimming, cycling, etc. Whereas stretching exercises have a
calming effect, aerobic exercises increase the arousal level of the body.

BENEFITS - Regular exercise plays an important role in managing weight and stress, and is shown
to have a positive effect on reducing tension, anxiety and depression and also permit individuals to
maintain general mental and physical well- being even in the face of negative life events

c. Positive Attitude :

Positive health and well-being can be realised by having a positive attitude.

Some of the factors leading to a positive attitude are:

- having a fairly accurate perception of reality

- a sense of purpose in life and responsibility
- acceptance and tolerance for different viewpoints of others
- taking credit for success and accepting blame for failure.
- Being open to new ideas and having a sense of humour with the ability to laugh at oneself

These help us to remain centred, and see things in a proper perspective.

d. Positive Thinking :

People differ in the manner in which they cope.

For example, optimists tend to assume that adversity can be handled successfully whereas
pessimists anticipate disasters.

Optimists use more problem- focused coping strategies, and seek advice and help from others.

Pessimists ignore the problem or source of stress, and use strategies such as giving up the goal
with which stress is interfering or denying that stress exists.

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 BENEFITS - The power of positive thinking has been increasingly recognised in reducing and coping
with stress.

Optimism, which is the inclination to expect favourable life outcomes, has been linked to
psychological and physical well- being.

e. Social Support :

Social support is defined as the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely upon,
people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us.

Someone who believes that s/he belongs to a social network of communication and mutual
obligation experiences social support.

Studies have revealed that women exposed to life event stresses, who had a close friend, were less
likely to be depressed and had lesser medical complications during pregnancy.

TYPES OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

1) TANGIBLE SUPPORT
● Social support may be in the form of tangible support or assistance involving material aid, such as
money, goods, services, etc.
● For example, a child gives notes to her/his friend, since s/he was absent from school due to
sickness.

2) INFORMATIONAL SUPPORT
● Family and friends also provide informational support about stressful events.
● For example, a student facing a stressful event such as a difficult board examination, if provided
information by a friend who has faced a similar one, would not only be able to identify the exact
procedures involved, but also it would facilitate in determining what resources and coping strategies
could be useful to successfully pass the examination.

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 3) EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

● During times of stress, one may experience sadness, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem.
● Supportive friends and family provide emotional support by reassuring the individual that she/he is
loved, valued, and cared for.

PERCEIVED SUPPORT V/S SOCIAL NETWORK

Perceived Support - the quality of social Social Network - the quantity of social support
support

Perceived support, is positively related to Social network is unrelated to well-being, because

health and well- being it is very time- consuming and demanding to
maintain a large social network.

BENEFITS - Social support can help to provide protection against stress. People with high levels of
social support from family and friends may experience less stress when they confront a stressful
experience, and they may cope with it more successfully.

A Measure of Stressful Life Events - BOX 3.1

1. Holmes and Rahe developed a life event measure of stress.

2. A measure of stressful life events based on the above scale known as the Presumptive Stressful
Life Events Scale has been developed for the Indian population by Singh, Kaur and Kaur.

3. It is a self-rating questionnaire made up of fifty-one life changes, which a person may have
experienced.

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 Examination Anxiety - BOX 3.2

1. Examination anxiety is a fairly common phenomenon that involves feelings of tension or

uneasiness that occur before, during, or after an examination.

2. Many people experience feelings of anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways,
as it can be motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s
performance.

3. However, stress of formal examination results in such high degrees of anxiety in some students
that they are unable to perform at a level which matches the potential they have shown in less
stressful classroom situations.

4. Examination stress has been characterised as “evaluative apprehension” or “evaluative stress”

and produces debilitating behavioural, cognitive, and physiological effects no different from those
produced by any other stressor. High stress can interfere with the student’s preparation,
concentration, and performance.

5. While preparing for examinations, one must spend enough time for study, overview and weigh
one’s strengths and weaknesses, discuss difficulties with teachers and classmates, plan a
revision timetable, condense notes, space out revision periods, and most importantly on the
examination day concentrate on staying calm.

Resilience and Health - BOX 3.3

Resilience is a dynamic developmental process referring to the maintenance of positive adjustment

under challenging life conditions.

It has been described as the capacity to ‘bounce back’ in the face of stress and adversity. Resilient
individuals are able to overcome the effects of trauma, stress and adversity and learn to live
psychologically healthy and meaningful lives.

Resilience has recently been defined in terms of three resources:

● I HAVE (social and interpersonal strengths), i.e. ‘people around me I trust and who love me no
matter what’
● I AM (inner strengths), i.e. ‘respectful of myself and others’
● I CAN (interpersonal and problem solving skills), i.e. ‘find ways to solve problems I face’

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