- Coping with stress is more important than the stress itself for maintaining mental and physical health.
- Coping is a dynamic and situation-specific response aimed at reducing stress or solving the problem.
- Endler and Parker identified three coping strategies: task-oriented (dealing directly with the problem), emotion-oriented (managing feelings), and avoidance-oriented (ignoring or avoiding the stressor).
- Lazarus and Folkman divided coping into problem-focused (changing the situation) and emotion-focused (controlling emotional reaction) strategies.
- Effective coping improves well-being, while poor coping can weaken the immune system and overall health.
Definitions [3]
Definition: Stress
Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.”
Give the definition of stress.
The word stress is derived from the Latin word ‘Stringi’ which means ‘to be drawn tight’. According to Richard Lazarus ‘stress is a feeling experienced when an individual feels that the demands exceed the personal and social resource that he/she is able to mobilize.’
Definition: Coping
“Coping refers to constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the internal or external demands that are created by the stressful transaction.” - Lazarus and Folkman
Key Points
Key Points: Concept of Stress
- Stress is a state of mental and physical tension when demands exceed coping ability.
- Stressors are internal or external events (like exams, conflict, loss) that disturb balance and block goals.
- Modern life increases stress due to competition, pollution, insecurity, and disasters.
- Moderate stress improves alertness and performance, but too much stress harms health and efficiency.
- Eustress is positive stress, while distress is harmful and long-lasting stress.
Key Points: Types of Stress
- Stress is commonly grouped into three types: physical and environmental, psychological, and social.
- Physical and environmental stress comes from bodily strain and surrounding conditions (including natural disasters).
- Psychological stress arises from internal thoughts, feelings, and mental conflicts, such as frustration and internal pressures.
- Social stress arises from social events, relationships, and everyday interactions with others.
- In real life, these types of stress often occur together and influence each other.
Key Points: Coping with Stress
Key Points: Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality
- Freud’s theory says our mind has three parts—the id, the ego, and the superego—that shape our personality.
- The iceberg model shows three levels of awareness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
- The id is the selfish part that wants instant pleasure (e.g., “I want cake now!”).
- The ego balances desires and reality (e.g., “Let’s eat cake after lunch.”).
- The superego is the moral voice that judges right and wrong (e.g., “Cake now is wrong.”).
