心理卫生学Chapter3.pdfVIP

Chapter 3 Stress and Its Effects The Nature of Stress • Stress is “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities”. • Stress has several characteristics. 1. Stress is a common, everyday event. • Both major and minor problems can be stressful. • Even daily “hassles” can have negative effects on our well-being. • Stressful events have a cumulative impact. The Nature of Stress, continued 2. Stress is subjective. Not everyone feels the same degree of stress from the same event. • The difference may depend on how we appraise events (see Figure 3.2). • We first make a primary appraisal , or initial evaluation of the relevance, level of threat, and degree of stress the event brings. • If viewed as stressful, we make a secondary appraisal, or an evaluation of our ability to cope. Figure 3.2 Primary and secondary appraisal of stress. Primary appraisal is an initial evaluation of whether an event is (1) irrelevant to you, (2) relevant, but not threatening, or (3) stressful. When you view an event as stressful, you are likely to make a secondary appraisal, which is an evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with the stress. (Based on Lazarus Folkman, 1994) The Nature of Stress, continued 3. Ambient stress – refers to chronic negative conditions embedded in the environment. • Certain types have been associated with elevated stress hormones (see Figure 3.3). 4. Stress is influenced by culture. • Culture affects which types of stress we experience. • Cultural change is a major source of stress in most cultures. Figure 3.3 Excessive noise and stress hormones. Evans, Hygge, and Bullinger (1995)