Concept of Stressors

• Stress is the strain or pressure a person feels.
• Stressors are events, situations, or conditions that activate or trigger stress.
• A stressor can be:
• External/environmental (outside the person)
• Psychological (within the mind)
• Social/interpersonal (from relationships)
• Stressors produce physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural reactions.

(a) Environmental stressors

• Come from the physical environment.
• Examples: noise, air pollution, excessive heat, overcrowding.

(b) Psychological stressors

• Come from inner experiences such as thoughts and feelings.
• Examples: conflict, frustration, guilt, too much pressure, sudden shock (e.g., death of a loved one).

(c) Social/interpersonal stressors

• Arise from relationships and social life.
• Examples:
• Break in a relationship with an intimate friend.
• Lack of friendship with neighbours.
• Loneliness and social isolation.

Psychological and social stressors can appear in many areas:

1.Conjugal (marital) stressors:

• Engagement, marriage, marital discord, separation, and the death of a spouse.

2. Parenting stressors:

• Becoming a parent, friction with the child, and illness of the child.

3. Interpersonal stressors:

• Problems with friends, neighbours, associates, co‑workers, or non‑conjugal family members; illness of a best friend; discordant relationship with a boss.

4. Occupational/academic stressors:

• Work problems, unemployment, retirement, school/college/office problems.

5. Living‑circumstance stressors:

• Change of residence, threat to personal safety, immigration.

6. Financial stressors:

• Inadequate finances, a change in financial status.

7. Legal stressors:

• Arrest, imprisonment, lawsuit, trial.

8. Developmental stressors:

• Normal life‑cycle phases such as puberty, transition to adulthood, menopause, and becoming 50.

9. Physical illness or injury:

• Illness, accident, surgery, abortion.

10. Other and miscellaneous stressors:

• Natural or man‑made disasters: drought, cyclone, tsunami, flood, persecution, unwanted pregnancy, child to unwed mother.
• Cold, hostile, abusive, or inconsistent parenting; family member with physical or mental illness; lack of parental guidance; confusing discipline; complex custody, foster care, institutional rearing, or loss of nuclear family.

Some events are especially powerful stressors:

• Breakup with boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Change of school or expulsion from school.
• Birth of a sibling.
• Divorce of parents.
• Unwanted pregnancy.
• Arrest and legal problems.
• Sexual and physical abuse.
• Death of one or both parents.
• Overcrowded living quarters.
• Family arguments and chronic parental discord.
• Chronic disabling or life‑threatening illness in parents.
• Harsh, rejecting, unaffectionate parenting.
• Multiple foster home placements.
• Recurrent sexual or physical abuse.

One or more such negative stressors can lead to adjustment disorders.

The same stressor does not affect everyone equally.

Example: loss of a mother is experienced very differently by a 10‑year‑old child and a 45‑year‑old adult.

Psychoanalytic view:

• Constitutional factors (inborn traits, basic personality)
• Interact with life experiences
• To create fixations and vulnerabilities, so some people fall ill under stress, while others cope better.

Early rearing environment is important:

• Winnicott’s “good enough mother” adapts to the infant’s needs and provides enough support.
• Such care helps the child develop the capacity to tolerate frustration and later life stress.

• An adjustment disorder is caused by a stressor, but may not become visible immediately.
• If the stressor stops, the disorder may also reduce or stop.
• If the stressor continues, the disorder may continue, sometimes lifelong.
• Reactions to stressors can be:
• Physiological – changes in body functions
• Emotional – feelings like fear, sadness, anger
• Cognitive – changes in thinking, attention, beliefs
• Behavioural – changes in actions and habits

• Stress is the pressure a person feels; stressors are events (environmental, psychological, social) that cause stress.
• Stressors may arise from relationships, work, finances, illness, legal issues, or disasters.
• Severe events like abuse, parental divorce, death, or chronic conflict strongly affect adjustment.
• People react differently to the same stressor due to personality, age, and early upbringing.
• Stress can lead to adjustment problems and cause physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioural changes.