Describe what psychologists have learned about the control and management of stress

Meera Pankhania

Describe what psychologists have learned about the control and management of stress

Psychologists have defined stress in many different ways. Lazarus and Launier (1978), regarded stress as a transaction between people and the environment. They have also differentiated between stress as being harmful and damaging (distress) and positive and beneficial (eustress).

Psychologist Kelly’s (1967, 1972) attributional theory examines the control of stress in terms of attributions for casualty. If applied to a stressor, the cause of a stressful event would be understood in terms of whether the cause was controllable by the individual or not.

Bandura in 1977 discussed self-efficiency and control of stress as individual confidence. Self-efficiency refers to an individual’s confidence to carry out a particular behaviour.

Categories of control, these are five different types of control on stress defined by Thompson (1986). Behavioural control (avoidance), cognitive control (reappraisal of coping strategies), decisional control (choice of possible outcome), informational control (the ability to access information about the stressor) and retrospective control (could I have prevented that event from happening)

Direct coping strategy is way of eliminating the stressor or to harden you you’re your hassles.

Edmund Jacobson (1921) introduced the concept psychosomatic illness, an illness brought on by stress and tension. He later developed a treatment for this, progressive relaxation.

Other management of stress learned by psychologists are, yogic therapy, meditation, biofeedback, cognitive therapy and psychopharmachology.

Psychologists have concentrated on training people to cope directly with their stress, as the management and control of stress has to be learned, since it does not come naturally.

Evaluate what psychologists have learned about the ...

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Direct coping strategy is way of eliminating the stressor or to harden you you’re your hassles.

Edmund Jacobson (1921) introduced the concept psychosomatic illness, an illness brought on by stress and tension. He later developed a treatment for this, progressive relaxation.

Other management of stress learned by psychologists are, yogic therapy, meditation, biofeedback, cognitive therapy and psychopharmachology.

Psychologists have concentrated on training people to cope directly with their stress, as the management and control of stress has to be learned, since it does not come naturally.

Evaluate what psychologists have learned about the control and management of stress (16)

Psychologists suggest that stress management involves teaching individuals about the theories of stress, encouraging them to be aware of the factors that can trigger stress and teaching them a range of strategies to reduce stress, such as ‘self-talk’, relaxation techniques and general life management approaches, such as time management and problem solving.

This is a good method to treat stress in the right way so it can be diffused, rather than undertaking more stress to deal with it. However, in order to learn the theories of stress and how to manage it, the individual must be willing to make the effort.

Progressive relaxation is a method where over many sessions a subject is taught to pay attention to individual muscles. This is an ideal technique for an individual to recognise which muscles they are feeling tense in. This therapy, learned by psychologists, helps to lessen muscle tension.

Biofeedback is a common method learned by psychologist to manage stress; it uses equipment that amplifies body temperature, muscle tension or other physiological measures and provides people with feedback about their biological activity. This can aid people to regulate their biological activity.

Cognitive therapy focuses on the individual’s own cognitive appraisal. Their stressful ideas, thought and perceptions are directly examined and tested to determine their validity. Psychologists have learned that the individual’s thinking must be restructured, so that situations or circumstances that were once perceived as extremely stressful are viewed in a less stressful and more realistic way. The validity of all these techniques is vital, as the individual will need feedback on how their stress management and control is altered in order to diffuse their stress.

However, all of these methods need to be learned, as it is unethical to situate an individual in stress, just to control and manage it. Psychologists have learned that ethics is a sensitive factor when managing stress.

Giving reasons for your answer, suggest a psychological strategy for reducing road rage (8)

A psychological strategy to reduce road rage would be meditation. Where individuals learn relaxation, deep breathing and concentration on one particular sound or area. This technique reduces blood pressure and may help reduce anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, mild depression and irritability.

Whenever the individual feels that they are approaching road rage they can use what they have learnt through meditation and assess the situation that they are in and begin to breathe deeply and try focusing their mind on something other than the road rage.

I believe this an ideal method to relax when driving, to avoid road rage. It can easily be learned and has no side effects that will cause the individual discomfort.