Stress and Health

1 AP Batisstini, Alessa Banaga, Paola Paras, Marion Rivera, Carl Joseph Rustia, Dan Jeric Sevilla, Russel Dr. Lito S. Maranan PSY 1 (General Psychology)

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Accomplishment Report

Name Batisstini, Alessa

Contributions Book-binding and editing of the research. Also helped in collecting data needed and made individual research as additional information. Input of data collected and paraphrased long text selections. Conducted an individual research to gather more data. Collected data and searched for references necessary for the research. Provided the bibliographic entries. Organized the data needed and relevant to the research. Provided the introduction. Also summarized and simplified complicated texts. Helped in proofreading and editing of the research also with paraphrasing. Organized the research lay-out and outline. Scheduled meetings for the research group. Helped with the book-binding and conducted an individual research regarding the people who contributed to the research topic.

Banaga, Paola

Paras, Marion

Rivera, Carl Joseph

Rustia, Dan Jeric (leader)

Sevilla, Russel

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Table of Contents

Stress and Health

What is Stress? How was stress discovered? Major types of Stress Responding to stress What are stressors?
External sources of stress Internal sources of stress

6-8 8-11 12-14

Coping with stress Psychological defense mechanisms Personality factors in Stress Other factors that affect stress
Conclusion References

15-17 18-23 23-25 25-28

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III.

Introduction Stress is basic to life.

Life is like a game of minesweeper; at one point you will step on a mine and start all over again. Stress is that mine that will keep popping in your life. Stress is so common that almost everybody is intimate with it, at varying degrees. Simple stresses such as deciding what to wear to school or, where to eat impacts a persons life. This kind of stress that a person experiences each day calls for a response or reaction. Some people take simple downfalls as challenges that they must overcome. Some succumb to these downfalls and become very physically or psychologically ill. This is the reason why certain people say that minute amounts of stress can be very healthy. Forcing a person to break out of his comfort zone and discover a new side of him. Exposure to too much stress can be very dangerous; often resulting to selfimmolation.

Stress can come from many sources, but the most common source is from daily stressors. Stressors are environmental circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, individuals daily functioning and cause them to make adjustments. These stressors are from environmental calamities, daily activities and common hassles. An example of this is noise. Think about when people sleep and find themselves awake because of too much blabbering and noise. Another is when you try to study and someones talking too loudly nearby. These daily stressors stack up and eventually an event or something bigger than the ordinary irritation people experience will trigger them into an outburst. But there are also stress related diseases that can cause a person to experience stress due to irritation. Some examples are Ulcer, and High Blood Pressure or Hypertension. All these contribute to each persons stress bar.

As the latter and former suggests, stress is everywhere. People must learn to live life hand-in-hand with it lest they fall victim to its poison. Poison being numerous illnesses and psychological disorders. Even though stress is, well stressful, it is manageable. With the right support structure and knowledge, you can cast stress with the wind and start anew.
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IV.

Body

What is Stress?

Stress is a very vague concept which many people use every day. One may opt use it as reference to an event or a person. He may say that his job is stressing him out. It may also give reference to a physical response or reaction. Furthermore, stress is very objective; to the point wherein it is dependent on the interpretation of the person of the situation. In response to all these complications, definitions of stress have emerged left and right. Below are only some of the numerous definitions of stress.

Stress, as defined by Bernstein, is the negative emotional and psychological process that occurs as individuals try to adjust to or deal with stressors, which are environmental that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, individuals daily functioning and cause people to make adjustments. In other words, stress involves transaction between people and environment. A similar definition was given by Claudette (2011); stress is the term used to describe the physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses to events that are appraised as threatening or challenging.

A concept that intertwined with stress is distress. Distress is the internal state of physical and mental pain or suffering. Distress comes about when the stress one experiences is to a level where it taxes their ability to cope with it (Nevid, 2007).

How was Stress discovered?

Stress was discovered by Hans Hugo Bruno Selye (Jan. 26, 1907 - Oct. 16, 1982) an Austrian-born Canadian endocrinologist. In early work on the effects of stress, he injected ovarian hormones into rats; this stimulated the adrenal glands, causing deterioration of the thymus gland, ulcers, and finally death. He later showed that physical injury, environmental
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stress, and toxins could have similar effects. Extending his theory to humans, he proved that a stress-induced hormonal system breakdown could lead to so-called "diseases of adaptation," including heart disease and hypertension. He was president of the International Institute of Stress and wrote 33 books, including Stress Without Distress (1974).

Selye discovered and documented that stress differs from other physical responses in that stress is stressful whether one receives good or bad news, whether the impulse is positive or negative. He called negative stress "distress" and positive stress "eustress". The system whereby the body copes with stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) system, was also first described by Selye. He also pointed to an "alarm state", a "resistance state", and an "exhaustion state", largely referring to glandular states. Later he developed the idea of two "reservoirs" of stress resistance, or alternatively stress energy.

As he coined the term stress, it was accepted into the lexicon of other languages. To cite an example, stress is a word derived from the Latin word stringere, meaning to draw tight, and was used in the seventeenth century to describe hardship and affliction. During the late eighteenth century, stress denoted force, pressure, strain, or strong effort, referring primarily to an individual, or to the individual's organs or mental powers.

Major types of stress

An enormous variety of events can be stressful for one person or another. Although they are not entirely independent the four principal types of stress are the following:

a) Frustration b) Conflict c) Change d) Pressure

A. Frustration Frustration is experienced whenever the pursuit of some goal is thwarted. People experience frustration when they want something and they can't have it. Most frustrations are brief and insignificant. You may be quite upset when you go to a repair shop to pick up ailing laptop and find that it hasn't been fixed as promised, however a week later you'll probably have your laptop back and the frustration will be forgotten.

B. Conflict Like frustration, conflict is an unavoidable feature of everyday life. Conflict occurs when two or more are incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression. Conflict comes in three types. The three basic conflicts are the following:

a) Approach-approach Choice must be made between two attractive goals. The problem is that you can choose one of the two goals. The approach-approach type tends to be the least stressful. Nonetheless, approach-approach conflicts over important issues may sometimes be troublesome. For example, you can't afford both the blue sweater and the gray jacket which should you buy you may find the decision making process quite stressful.

b) Avoidance-avoidance Choice must be made between two unattractive goals. You are forced to choose between two repellent alternatives, you are, as they say, "Caught between a rock and a hard place" Obviously, avoidance-avoidance conflicts are most unpleasant and highly stressful. For example suppose you have painful back aches should you submit to surgery that you dread or should you continue to live with the pain?

c) Approach-avoidance A choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects. Approach-Avoidance conflicts are common and can be quite stressful.
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Anytime you have to take a risk to pursue some desirable outcome, you are likely to find yourself in an approach-avoidance conflict. It often produces vaccillation. That is, you go back and forth, be set by indecision. You decide to go ahead, then you decide not to, and then you decide to go ahead again.

C. Change Change are any noticeable alterations in one's living circumstances that require readjustment.

D. Pressure Pressure involve expectation or demands that one behave in a certain way. Although widely discussed by the general public, the concept of pressure has received scant attention from researchers. For example, Professors at research institutions are often under pressure to publish in respected journals.

You are under pressure to perform when you are expected to execute tasks and responsibilities quickly, efficiently and successfully.

Responding to stress The human response to stress is complex and multi-dimensional. Stress affects the individual at several levels.

We can analyze a person's reactions to stress in three levels: a) Emotional Responses b) Physiological Responses and c) Behavioral responses.

A. Emotional Responses Studies that have tracked stress and mood on a daily basis have found intimate relationships between the two. When people are under stress they are often emotional. Emotional responses are a natural and normal part of life. Even unpleasant emotions serve important purposes like physical pain, painful emotions can serve as warnings that one needs to take action. Researchers have begun to uncover some strongly links between specific cognitive reactions to stress and specific emotions. Although many emotions can be evoked by stressful events, some are certainly more likely than others. Common emotional responses to stress include the following:

a) annoyance, anger and rage b) apprehension, anxiety and fear c) dejection, sadness and grief

Researchers have found that people experience a diverse array of pleasant emotions even while enduring the most dire of circumstances. For example, self-blame tends to lead to guilt, Helplessness to sadness, and so forth. Susan Folkman and Judith Moskowitz argue that positive emotions experienced while under stress have important adaptive significance. They review evidence that suggests that positive emotions can promote creativity and flexibility in problem solving, facilitate the processing of important information about oneself and reduce the adverse physiological effects of stress. The research suggests that poitive emotions my reduce vulnerability to heart disease in older adults.

B. Physiological Responses The General Adaptation Syndrome is a model of the body's stress responses, consisting of three stages: alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

Alarm reaction occurs when an organism first recognizes the existence of a threat: physiological arousal occurs as the body musters its resources to combat the challenge. As stress continues, the organism may progress to the second phase of general adaptation syndrome, the stage of resistance. During this phase, physiological changes stabilize as coping efforts get under way. Typically, physiological arousal continues to be higher than normal, It may level off somewhat as the organism becomes accustomed to the threat.

If the stress continues over a substantial period of time, the organism may enter the third stage, the stage of exhaustion. If the stress can't be overcome, the body's resources may be depleted and physiological arousal will decrease.

Eventually, the organism may collapse from exhaustion. During this phase, the organism's resistance declines. It's becoming clear that physiological responses to stress extend into all parts of the body.

C. Behavioral Responses Coping refers to efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the demands created by the stress. The term implies that coping is inherently healthful or handled effectively. In reality, however, coping responses may be adaptive or maladaptive.

For example, if you were flunking a biology course at preliminaries, you might cope with this stress by doing the following:

1. Increasing your study efforts 2. Seeking help from a tutor 3. Blaming your professor 4. Giving up the class without really trying.

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Clearly, the first two of these coping responses would be more adaptive than the last two. People cope with stress in many ways, but most individual exhibit certain styles of coping that are fairly consistent across situations. Given the immense variety in coping strategies, we can only highlight some of the some of the more common patterns of coping.

Giving Up and Blaming Oneself

When confronted with stress, people sometimes simply give up and withdraw from the battle. Some people routinely respond to stress with fatalism and resignation, passively accepting setbacks that might be dealt with effectively. This symptom is referred to as Learned Helplessness. Learned Helplessness is a passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events. Learned helplessness seems to occur when individuals come to believe that events are beyond their control. People know that giving up is not a highly regarded method of coping. Blaming oneself is another common response when people are confronted by stressful difficulties.

The tendency to become highly self-critical in response to stress has been noted by a number of influential theorists.

Cognitive Appraisal To feel stress, it is necessary to perceive there is some kind of demand or threat present and conclude that you may not have adequate resources available to deal with that threat. This idea that our stress reaction depends on the cognitive appraisal of the situations is reminiscent of what we know about the experience of emotions. The same physiological reaction can lead to different emotional experiences, depending on how we interpret the arousal experienced. The same is true for stress. Identical environment events can lead to two different stress reactions, depending on how the event is interpreted.

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What are Stressors? Stressor is a chemical or biological agent, environmental condition, an external stimulus or an event that causes stress to an organism. There are also two classifications of stressors: the external and internal. A. External Sources of Stress We can never predict how everyone will react to an environmental event, even though it may seem clearly stressful to the majority. All we can do is catalogue external situations or life events that induce stress reactions in most individuals. 3 Major Classes of External Stressors: a. Significant Life Events We can all agree that something such as death of loved one or getting fired from a job is likely to lead to an extended stress reaction in most people. On a larger scale, natural disaster or catastrophes such as terrorist attacks and earthquakes unquestionably produce stress that is prolonged and widespread. Over the years researchers have tried to compile lists of external life stressors. The best known example is the social readjustment rating scale, which was put together by researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. They interviewed thousands of people who were suffering from health problems and then tried to determine whether there were certain kinds of events that preceded the onset of the health problems. There are two things to notice about the result of their research. First, most of these life events are connected with some kind of change in day-to-day activities. People get stressed, in part, because something happens that requires them to alter their ways or lifestyle. Second, the events are actually quite positive. This is not really too surprising if you think about it because each is associated with some kind of temporary or long lasting change or disruption of normal routines. You cant actually assume that if one of these events happens you, you will feel stress. Remember, it is how you appraise

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the event that is really important, along with your assessment of whether you have adequate resources to deal with the life change when it occurs. b. Daily Hassles The little things, the daily irritations and hassle of life, also contribute significantly to the experience of stress. Some psychologists believe the cumulative effect of these daily hassles may actually be more important in creating long lasting stress than the significant life events. The more hassles you experienced in your daily life, the more likely youll experience stress. c. Environmental Factor We are also subjected to stress by our environment. Noise is a good example. Apparently, it is not the loudness of the noise that really matters; we are bothered most by noises that are new, intermittent, or unpredictable. Another environmental factor that has been linked to stress is crowding. The larger the number of people who lived and worked around you, the more likely youll experience stress reaction. B. Internal Sources of Stress Stressors are very much in the eye of the beholder which means we need to know something about the internal characteristics of the individual before we can predict whether he or she will experience stress. Stress arises out of an interaction between individuals and events in the worldneither alone is sufficient to predict the reaction. 3 Major Classes of Internal Stressors a. Perceived Control It turns out that perceived control significantly affects the amount of stress youll experience. If you perceive with arousal, the release of stress hormones, and there will be changes in the activities of your immune system. If the situation continues for a prolonged period, negative physical and psychological consequences are likely to result. b. Explanatory Style
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The results of the cognitive appraisal process, and therefore susceptible to stress, are also influenced by ones general style of thinking. People offer different kind of explanations for the positive and negative events that occur in their world. Explanatory style has also been linked to physical health and susceptible to stress. People who consistently make internal, stable and global attributions for negative events have been found to suffer from increased stress-related health problems in midlife as well as later in life. c. Personality Characteristics Explanatory style may be linked to a personality as the set of unique psychological characteristics such as optimism, which some psychologists have argued is a relatively enduring trait that changes little over a life time. An optimistic view of life can clearly reduce stress We defined personality as the set of psychological characteristics that differentiate us from others that lead us to act consistently across situations.

Coping With Stress As it was said earlier, stress is an inescapable part of a persons life. It is almost impossible to get rid of it. That is why numerous ways to control or cope with stress has emerged. These ways can range from talking to a friend or forgetting about the stressor to monitor ones breathing. Generally, stress coping is divided into two categories, Problemfocused coping and Emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping (PFC) strategies attempt to confront and directly deal with the demands of the situation or to change the situation so that it is no longer stressful (Passer & Smith, 2007). Essentially, problem-focused coping aims to find ways to eliminate the situation. It attempts to face the problem with a solution. Examples of problem-focused coping are studying for a test, direct confrontation, or signing up for a course that improves ones timemanagement skills.

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Emotion-focused coping (EFC) is quite different than problem-focused coping. It attempts to manage the emotional responses that result from it (Passer et al, 2007). In comparison, EFC aims to make the situation more bearable; while PFC aims to eliminate the problem. EFC will attempts to ready the persons emotions for the situation. It will make the stressful situation seem a little lighter. Examples of EFC are to accept the situation or just deny that the situation ever existed. Many terminally ill use these methods. Some just accept their unfortunate faith; some just deny or forget that they have such conditions. Even though the above are the general categories, there is one more kind of coping strategy that would be to seek social support. This strategy uses the people around the person in question to provide assistance and emotional support. Examples of this would be a student joining a study group, or a terminally ill person to seek support groups. Effectiveness of Coping Strategies Which of these three strategies would be the most efficient? Many people would say that problem-focused coping is the most beneficial. This response is understandable, particularly for Western cultures, approach problems with the attitude that if something needs fixing, it should be fixed. Research literature has a different story to tell. According to Charles Holahan and Rudolf Moos (1990) study of coping patterns that used 400 California adults and spanned for a year; PFC and seeking social support yielded the most favorable adjustment to stressors. In contrast, EFC strategies that involved avoiding feelings or taking things out on other people predicted depression and poorer adjustment. In light with this, there are other studies that claim that other EFC strategies that reduce stress responses without avoiding or distorting reality. These are identifying and changing irrational negative thinking. When one denies or does not recognize their current situation as reality, they would be more likely to be stressed. They often find ways to escape into their version of reality. Where their stressors do not exist and where only blissful happiness exists. But once they come back to

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realization that their reality is not true; this great emotional stress might cause more harm than good.

Controllability and Coping Efficacy Despite the evidence generally favoring PFC, attempting to change the situation is not always the most adaptive way to cope with a stressor. PFC works best when the stressor is controllable. However, not all situations have stressors that can be controlled. In these situations, PFC will do more harm than good. EFC will be the most adaptive approach, for while we cannot control the situation, we can control maladaptive emotional response to it. Thomas Strentz and Stephen Auerbach (1988) demonstrated the effectiveness of EFC in adapting to a stressful situation with limited personal control. Airport employees were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. In one experimental group, the employees were taught PFC. They were taught how to maintain faades of dignity and to communicate with prisoner-of-war tap code. The other experimental group was taught EFC strategies; deep breathing, muscle relaxation stopping unwanted thoughts and generating pleasant thoughts. The control group was not taught any stress coping strategy. A week after the employees training, they were unexpectedly abducted by FBI agents posing as terrorists for four days. The conclusion was a bit staggering. The control group fared the highest in the maladaptive behaviors test. The two experimental groups fared less compared to the control group. But, contrary to popular belief, EFC fared the least compared to PFC. The most important conclusion from this study was that there is no superior coping strategy. All three strategies-PFC, EFC, and seeking social support-have its own pros and cons. Effectiveness of these strategies depend on the situation. People are likely to adapt to stressful

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situations when they have mastered a variety of coping strategies and can apply them correctly and effectively.

Trauma Disclosure and Emotional Release Many studies have been conducted regarding trauma and the overall health of a person. Like the study of Sloan and Marx (2004) that used college students that reported to have experienced traumatic events in their lives. The students stress levels, depression and their number of sick days have been recorded. The experimental group was asked to write about their traumatic experience while the control group did an unrelated task. The effects of the experiment were not eminent immediately. The results were more obvious after a months time. Those of the experimental group had less sick days and looked physically and psychologically healthier. The researchers concluded that writing or talking about traumatic events affords exposure to the situational cues that accompanied the trauma and now functions as conditioned stimuli that trigger distress. Exposure allows extinction to occur, thus reducing the stimulis emotional impact.

Bottling-Up Feelings: The Hidden Costs of Emotional Constraint Suppressed negative feelings will take its toll on a persons body. This has been a topic of debate of many scientists. A study done by Eysenck (1994) has linked emotional restraints and its effect on cancer development. It was said that people who were experiencing high stress levels but were too emotionally restrained to express negative feelings, even when appropriate, had a significantly higher likelihood of developing cancer that did highly stressed people who were not so emotionally restrained. The program focuses on teaching people how to express their emotions in an adaptive fashion and to build stress-coping skills to manage their feelings without bottling them up. Thirteen years later, a follow-up study revealed that 90 percent of the trained participants were still alive, whereas 62 percent of the control group participants had died for cancer and other ailments.
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As in the earlier discussion of coping strategies, the best outcomes may occur if we have the flexibility to do either.

Psychological Defense Mechanisms According to Freud and his followers, our psyche is a battlefield between instinctual urges and drives (the id), the constraints imposed by reality on the gratification of these impulses (the ego), and the norms of society (the superego). This constant infighting generates what Freud called "neurotic anxiety" (fear of losing control) and "moral anxiety" (guilt and shame). But these are not the only types of anxiety. "Reality anxiety" is the fear of genuine threats and it combines with the other two to yield a morbid and surrealistic inner landscape. These multiple, recurrent, "mini-panics" are potentially intolerable, overwhelming, and destructive. Hence the need to defend against them. There are dozens of defense mechanisms. The most common among them are the following: 1. Acting Out - When an inner conflict (most often, frustration) translates into aggression. It involves acting with little or no insight or reflection and in order to attract attention and disrupt other people's cozy lives. 2. Denial - Perhaps the most primitive and best known defense mechanism. People simply ignore unpleasant facts, they filter out data and content that contravene their selfimage, prejudices, and preconceived notions of others and of the world. 3. Devaluation - Attributing negative or inferior traits or qualifiers to self or others. This is done in order to punish the person devalued and to mitigate his or her impact on and importance to the devaluer. When the self is devalued, it is a self-defeating and selfdestructive act. 4. Displacement -When we cannot confront the real sources of our frustration, pain, and envy, we tend to pick a fight with someone weaker or irrelevant and, thus, less
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menacing. Children often do it because they perceive conflicts with parents and caregivers as life-threatening. Instead, they go out and torment the cat or bully someone at school or lash out at their siblings. 5. Dissociation - Our mental existence is continuous. We maintain a seamless flow of memories, consciousness, perception, and representation of both inner and external worlds. When we face horrors and unbearable truths, we sometimes "disengage". We lose track of space, time, and the continuum of our identity. We become "someone else" with minimal awareness of our surroundings, of incoming information, and of circumstances. In extreme cases, some people develop a permanently rent personality and this is known as "Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)". 6. Fantasy - Everyone fantasizes now and then. It helps to fend off the dreariness and drabness of everyday life and to plan for an uncertain future. But when fantasy becomes a central feature of grappling with conflict, it is pathological. Seeking gratification - the satisfaction of drives or desires - mainly by fantasizing is an unhealthy defense. Narcissists, for instance, often indulge in grandiose fantasies which are incommensurate with their accomplishments and abilities. Such fantasy life retards personal growth and development because it substitutes for true coping. 7. Idealization - Another defense mechanism in the arsenal of the narcissist (and, to lesser degree, the Borderline and Histrionic) is the attribution of positive, glowing, and superior traits to self and (more commonly) to others. Again, what differentiates the healthy from the pathological is the reality test. Imputing positive characteristics to self or others is good, but only if the attributed qualities are real and grounded in a firm grasp of what's true and what's not. 8. Isolation of Affect - Cognition (thoughts, concepts, ideas) is never divorced from emotion. Conflict can be avoided by separating the cognitive content (for instance, a disturbing or depressing idea) from its emotional correlate. The subject is fully aware of the facts or of the intellectual dimensions of a problematic situation but feels numb. Casting away threatening and discomfiting feelings is a potent way of coping with

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conflict in the short-term. It is only when it becomes habitual that it rendered selfdefeating. 9. Omnipotence - When one has a pervading sense and image of oneself as incredibly powerful, superior, irresistible, intelligent, or influential. This is not an adopted affectation but an ingrained, ineradicable inner conviction which borders on magical thinking. It is intended to fend off expected hurt in having to acknowledge one's shortcomings, inadequacies, or limitations. 10. Projection - We all have an image of how we "should be". Freud called it the "Ego Ideal". But sometimes we experience emotions and drives or have personal qualities which don't sit well with this idealized construct. Projection is when we attribute to others these unacceptable, discomfiting, and ill-fitting feelings and traits that we possess. This way we disown these discordant features and secure the right to criticize and chastise others for having or displaying them. When entire collectives (nations, groups, organizations, firms) project, Freud calls it the Narcissism of Small Differences. 11. Projective Identification - Projection is unconscious. People are rarely aware that they are projecting onto others their own ego-dystonic and unpleasant characteristics and feelings. But, sometimes, the projected content is retained in the subject's awareness. This creates a conflict. On the one hand, the patient cannot admit that the emotions, traits, reactions, and behaviors that he so condemns in others are really his. On the other hand, he can't help but being self-aware. He fails to erase from his consciousness the painful realization that he is merely projecting. So, instead of denying it, the subject explains unpleasant emotions and unacceptable conduct as reactions to the recipient's behavior. "She made me do it!" is the battle cry of projective identification. We all have expectations regarding the world and its denizens. Some people expect to be loved and appreciated - others to be feared and abused. The latter behave obnoxiously and thus force their nearest and dearest to hate, fear, and "abuse" them. Thus vindicated, their expectations fulfilled, they calm down. The world is rendered

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once more familiar by making other people behave the way they expect them to. "I knew you would cheat on me! It was clear I couldn't trust you!". 12. Rationalization or Intellectualization - To cast one's behavior after the fact in a favorable light. To justify and explain one's conduct or, more often, misconduct by resorting to ":rational, logical, socially-acceptable" explications and excuses. Rationalization is also used to re-establish ego-syntony (inner peace and selfacceptance). Though not strictly a defense mechanism, cognitive dissonance may be considered a variant of rationalization. It involves the devaluation of things and people very much desired but frustratingly out of one's reach and control. In a famous fable, a fox, unable to snag the luscious grapes he covets, says: "these grapes are probably sour anyhow!". This is an example of cognitive dissonance in action. 13. Reaction Formation - Adopting a position and mode of conduct that defy personally unacceptable thoughts or impulses by expressing diametrically opposed sentiments and convictions. Example: a latent (closet) homosexual finds his sexual preference deplorable and acutely shameful (ego-dystonic). He resorts to homophobia. He public berates, taunts, and baits homosexuals. Additionally, he may flaunt his heterosexuality by emphasizing his sexual prowess, or by prowling singles bars for easy pick-ups and conquests. This way he contains and avoids his unwelcome homosexuality. 14. Repression - The removal from consciousness of forbidden thoughts and wishes. The removed content does not vanish and it remains as potent as ever, fermenting in one's unconscious. It is liable to create inner conflicts and anxiety and provoke other defense mechanisms to cope with these. 15. Splitting - This is a "primitive" defense mechanism. In other words, it begins to operate in very early infancy. It involves the inability to integrate contradictory qualities of the same object into a coherent picture. Mother has good qualities and bad, sometimes she is attentive and caring and sometimes distracted and cold. The baby is unable to grasp the complexities of her personality. Instead, the infant invents two constructs (entities), "Bad Mother" and "Good Mother". It relegates everything likable about mother to the
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"Good Mother" and contrasts it with "Bad Mother", the repository of everything it dislikes about her. This means that whenever mother acts nicely, the baby relates to the idealized "Good Mother" and whenever mother fails the test, the baby devalues her by interacting, in its mind, with "Bad Mother". These cycles of idealization followed by devaluation are common in some personality disorders, notably the Narcissistic and Borderline. Splitting can also apply to one's self. Patients with personality disorders often idealize themselves fantastically and grandiosely, only to harshly devalue, hate, and even harm themselves when they fail or are otherwise frustrated. 16. Sublimation - The conversion and channeling of unacceptable emotions into sociallycondoned behavior. Freud described how sexual desires and urges are transformed into creative pursuits or politics. 17. Undoing - Trying to rid oneself of gnawing feelings of guilt by compensating the injured party either symbolically or actually.

Additional facts: After gathering these definitions, our group conducted a research to identify the Top 3 defense mechanisms that we commonly do by random interviews with 10 students roaming in the campus. Here are the following:

1. Denial (5 out of 10) 2. Fantasy (3 out of 10) 3. Idealization (2 out of 10)

Denial, which is noted as the most popular defense mechanism, is really common to the youth. It is especially when you have problems at home, you tend to become cheerful inside the class but deep inside, you want to scream your heart out because of your problems. It is also mainly the reason why they smile even though they encounter stress especially now in college.
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The second is fantasy or the act of fantasizing. Its because in our everyday life, people use to dream about the future and long for a good and prosperous life. As students, its one of the undeniable fact that even us, who conducted the research, accept with our guiltless mind.

Lastly, idealization gives a positive outlook for everyone. It is what they call think positive! which is also a famous quotation among the youth. It is said that they use this because they want to be happy and forget the problems they encounter every day.

Personality factors in Stress People may vary depending on their personalities. They act out of their own will and express their feelings with their own consent. To identify those personalities, it was classified into these behavioral patterns:

Type A Behavior Pattern Youre familiar with Type A personality: hard-driving, ambitious, easily annoyed and impatient. Those with type A personality seem to be immersed in a sea of perpetual selfimposed stress; they are too busy to notice or enjoy the things around them because theyre engaged in a relentless pursuit of success.

Type B Behavior Pattern Type B personality types are essentially people who lack the type A attributesthey put themselves under less pressure and appear more relaxed. Type B people are more likely to take a book to the beach to cover up their face that to actually read the book. In this type of behavior pattern, people are not that competitive or driven, tend to be easy going and slow to anger, and seem relaxed and at peace.

Type C Behavior Pattern

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In this type of personality, people tend to be very pleasant and try to keep the peace but find it difficult to express emotions, especially negative ones. These personality characteristics are strongly associated with cancer, and people who have cancer and this personality type often have thicker cancerous tumors as well. The Internalized negative emotions of the type C personality may increase the levels of harmful stress hormones, weaken the immune system, and slow recovery.

Additional facts: With another similar attempt with defense mechanisms, we had a random interview with 10 students roaming in the campus to know the most common behavioral patter among the students in UST.

1. Type B (5 out of 10) 2. Type C (3 out of 10) 3. Type A (2 out of 10)

Type B, the happy go lucky patter, ranked the highest because of the reason that they wanted to hide their problems just like in the defense mechanisms, denial is one of the most common among them. One of the respondents we had even reasoned out that he tends to play computer games with his friends at lunch breaks just to forget his problems at school. Its mainly a way to relieve yourself from stress.

Type C, ranked second because of the fact that they wanted to play safe in order to avoid stress. They tend to keep quiet and neglect the stress that may arise.

Type A, the serious people ranked last because they are strong willed and conscious of their images. They wanted to work hard for their parents in order to meet their expectations. This response even came from students mainly from the College of Science which is known to have a hard curriculum to ride on.
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Other factors that affect stress Childhood Factors Children are frequent victims of stress because they are often unable to communicate their feelings accurately. They also have trouble communicating their responses to events over which they have no control. Certain physical symptoms, notably repeated abdominal pain without a known cause, may be indicators of stress in children. Various conditions can affect their susceptibility to stress. Parental Stress. Parental stress, especially in mothers, is a particularly powerful source of stress in children, even more important than poverty or overcrowding. Young children of mothers who are highly stressed (particularly if they were depressed) tend to be at high risk for developing stress-related problems. This may be especially true if the mothers were stressed during both the child's infancy and early years. Some evidence even supports the old idea that stress during pregnancy can have adverse effects on the infant's mood and behavior. Older children with stressed mothers may become aggressive and anti-social. Another study suggested that stress-reduction techniques in parents may improve their children's behavior. Gender Differences in Adolescent Stress. Adolescent boys and girls experience equal amounts of stress, but the source and effects may differ. Girls tend to become stressed from interpersonal situations, and stress is more likely to lead to depression in girls than in boys. For boys, however, specific events, such as changing schools or getting poor grades, appear to be the major sources of stress. A report issued in October 2006 by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends more unstructured play time for children. The report notes that todays overscheduled, hurried lifestyle that many children experience is a source of stress and anxiety in some children. Work and Stress
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In a study of 46,000 workers, health care costs were 147% higher in workers who were stressed or depressed than in others who were not. Furthermore, according to one survey, 40% of American workers describe their jobs as very stressful, making job-related stress an important and preventable health hazard. Several studies are now suggesting that job-related stress is as great a threat to health as smoking or not exercising. Stress impairs concentration, causes sleeplessness, and increases the risk for illness, back problems, accidents, and lost time from work. Work stress can lead to harassment or even violence while on the job. At its most extreme, chronic stress places a burden on the heart and circulation that in some cases may be fatal. The Japanese even have a word for sudden death due to overwork, karoushi. Not all work stress is harmful. However, studies suggest the following job-related stressors may increase people's -- particularly men's -- health risks:

Having no say in decisions that affect one's responsibilities Unrelenting and unreasonable performance demands Lack of effective communication and conflict-resolution methods among workers and employers

Lack of job security Night-shift work, long hours, or both Too much time spent away from home and family Wages not matching levels of responsibility

Reducing Stress on the Job. Many institutions within the current culture, while paying lip service to stress reduction, put intense pressure on individuals to behave in ways that increase tension. Yet, there are numerous effective management tools and techniques available to reduce stress. Furthermore, treatment for work-related stress has proven benefits for both the employee and employer. In one study, at the end of 2 years, a company that instituted a stress management program saved nearly $150,000 in workers compensations costs (the cost of the program was only $6,000). Other studies have reported specific health benefits resulting from workplace
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stress-management programs. In one of the studies, workers with hypertension experienced reduced blood pressure after even a brief (16-hour) program that helped them manage stress behaviorally. In general, however, few workplaces offer stress management programs, and it is usually up to the employee to find their own ways to reduce stress. Here are some suggestions:

Seek out someone in the Human Resources department or a sympathetic manager and communicate concerns about job stress. Work with them in a non-confrontational way to improve working conditions, letting them know that productivity can be improved if some of the pressure is off.

Establish or reinforce a network of friends at work and at home. Restructure priorities and eliminate unnecessary tasks. Learn to focus on positive outcomes. If the job is unendurable, plan and execute a career change. Send out resumes or work on transfers within the company.

If this isn't possible, be sure to schedule daily pleasant activities and physical exercise during free time.

It may be helpful to keep in mind that bosses are also victimized by the same stressful conditions they are imposing. For example, in one study of male managers in three Swedish companies, those who worked in a bureaucracy had greater stress-related heart risks than those who worked in companies with social supports.

Anxiety Disorders People who are less emotionally stable or have high anxiety levels tend to experience specific events as more stressful than others. Some doctors describe an exaggerated negative response to stress as "catastrophizing" the event (turning it into a catastrophe). Nevertheless, a 2003
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study of patients with anxiety disorder did not find any differences in actual physical response to stress (heart rate, blood pressure, release of stress hormones) compared to people without anxiety. Lacking a Social Network The lack of an established network of family and friends predisposes one to stress disorders and stress-related health problems, including heart disease and infections. A study, meanwhile, reported that older people who maintain active relationships with their adult children are buffered against the adverse health effects of chronic stress-inducing situations, such as low income or lower social class. Another study suggested this may be because people who live alone are unable to discuss negative feelings as a means to relieve their stress. Studies of people who remain happy and healthy despite many life stresses conclude that most have very good networks of social support. One study indicated that support even from strangers reduced blood pressure surges in people undergoing a stressful event. Many studies suggest that having a pet helps reduce medical problems aggravated by stress, including heart disease and high blood pressure.

Conclusion

Stress is a common phenomenon among students. It is also a stepping stone to success because as you overcome stress, you learn and improve your personality. It is something people must understand fully in order to identify and learn how to cope up with it.

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V.

References

Bernstein, D., Penner, L., Stewart, A., and Roy, E. (2006). Psychology. Houghton Mifflin: USA. pp. 507-538. Claudette, A. (2011). Introduction to psychology. Pearson Custom Publishing: Singapore.

Nairne, J. (2003). Psychology the adaptive mind. Thomson Wadsworth: USA. pp. 559-587.

Nevid, J. (2007). Essentials of psychology: concepts and applications. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: USA. pp. 456-485.

Passer, M., and Smith, R. (2008) Psychology the science of mind and behavior. Mc Graw Hill: USA. pp. 497-538.

Weiten, W. (2005) Psychology themes & variations. Thomson Wadsworth: USA. pp. 360-387.

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