C800 Psychology ; Encyclopedia Of Assessment Answers

Answer:

a) Define stress 

Stress is one of the most common mental disorders that are caused due to high level of pressure and tension. During the period of stress an individual encounters emotional constrain that can hamper both physical and mental health condition of an individual. Stress can also be the result of failure to achieve the individual level of expectation (Selye 2013).

b) Cause of Stress linked with acute chronic stress 

General Adaptation Theory (GAS) by Hans Selye explains the scientific reason for the biological stress. The chronic stress is linked to the aging and disease as explained in the GAS theory. Chronic stress is caused by through long-term attrition of the stress condition where a person is not able to come out of the miserable situation that results in trauma. This stress gives rise to unrelenting pressures and demands for interminable time periods and there is no hope in the person and they keep searching for solutions. Acute stress is the on the spot stress and when it occur for a prolonged time, it results in chronic stress (Fink 2016).

c) Physiological effects of stress using the theory of Seyle 

As explained in GAS theory, there are physiological effects of stress on the individual. It has long and short-term physical and emotional effects on the health. The emotional effects of stress are difficulty in making decisions, increased forgetfulness, increased moodiness or irritability, poor concentration, negative thinking and constant worry. The physical effects of stress are headache, migraine, indigestion, tiredness or feeling sweaty or faint ass explained in the resistance phase of GAS theory. In the exhaustion phase, the body loses the capacity to fight against stress and there is requirement of rest before the next strike of the stressor (Jansen and Potters 2017).

d) Physiological theory for stress reduction that can be applied in the case study 

In the given cases, the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) theory has been applied to identify the cause of the stress and also evaluate proper intervention methods. With the help of the first stage of the theory, this helps to identify the stressor and also its immediate effects (Campbell et al. 2013). In case of Pat, not getting proper care from the parents and also indulging himself in long duration of TV and computer video games has lowered his learning skills and hence, he has to encounter the stress due to the fact that he is not able to cope up with the pressure of academic life. On the other hand, in case of the Jennifer, poor behavior of nurse is the main stressor that has resulted Jenifer to lose her temper.

In the second stage, the body of an individual resist due to the effects of the stress. In case of Pat, he resisted the effects of stress by poor mode of communication that has compromised his relationship with friends and other people of the society. Jenifer has resisted to stressor by staying longer in the hospital.

Not able to manage the stress, Pat has struggled to deal with the numerical problems and struggled with the educational lessons. Jenifer has not been able to control her frustration and anger and decided to stay longer in the hospital.

Reference: 

Campbell, T.S., Johnson, J.A. and Zernicke, K.A., 2013. General Adaptation Syndrome. In Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine (pp. 842-844). Springer New York.

Fink, G., 2016. In retrospect: Eighty years of stress. Nature, 539(7628), pp.175-176.

Jansen, M.A. and Potters, G., 2017. Stress: The Way of Life. Plant Stress Physiology.

Selye, H., 2013. Stress in health and disease. Butterworth-Heinemann.