Q 1.____________is the term used to describe the level of stress that is good for you.

Ans:Eustress

Q 2.Define Stress.

Ans:
The pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person’s ability to cope is called as stress.

Q 3.Explain social stress as a type of stress.

Ans:

• Social stress is induced externally and result from our interaction with other people.
• Death , illness in family, issues with neighbours are examples of social stress.
• Stress differs from person to person.For example a quiet person will find it stressful to attend parties who is more interested is spending a quiet evening at home, whereas for an outgoing person staying at home will be very stressful.

Q 4.Discuss Biofeedback as a stress management technique.

Ans:
Biofeedback is an effective stress management technique.
The procedure of biofeedback is to monitor and reduce physiological aspects of stress by giving feedback about the current physiological activities.
If often involves relaxation training.
Biofeedback training has three stages
a)to develop an awareness of the particular physiological response for example heart rate.
b) to learn different ways to control the physiological response in quiet conditions.
c) making use of the control into conditions of everyday life.

Q 5.The strategy which involves denying or minimising the seriousness of the situation while coping with stress is called _________ .
(a)Task-oriented strategy
(b)Emotion-oriented strategy
(c)Avoidance-oriented strategy
(d)Assertiveness

Ans:(c) Avoidance-oriented strategy

................................ Advertisement ................................

Q 6.Explain how life events can generate stress.

Ans:

• Changes either big or small effect our lives right from the moment we are born.
• We learn to cope up with small changes happening in our life but major life events can be very stressful because they destroy our routine and cause sudden change.
• If several life events that are planned ie moving in a new house or unplanned events like break up of marriage occur in a short span of time , we find it difficult to manage and cause a lot of stress in our life.

Q 7.Discuss Life events and Hassles as sources of stress.

Ans:
Life Events:

• Changes either big or small effect our lives right from the moment we are born.
• We learn to cope up with small changes happening in our life but major life events can be very stressful because they destroy our routine and cause sudden change.
• If several life events that are planned ie moving in a new house or unplanned events like break up of marriage occur in a short span of time , we find it difficult to manage and cause a lot of stress in our life.

Hassles:

• Hassles mainly refer to daily happenings in our life that cause stress example crowded environment, electricity issues, water shortage, quarrelsome neighbours, noisy surroundings, traffic jams etc.
• Attending to various emergencies are hassles to a house wife.
• These daily hassles may have damaging consequences for the individual who is often the one coping alone with them as others may not even be aware of them as outsiders.
• The more stress people report as a result of daily hassles, the poorer is their psychological well-being.

Q 8. 8.Describe the three types of social support which are related to psychological well-being.

Ans:
Social support is defined as the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely upon, people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us.
Social support is divided into
Tangible support : involves assistance in terms of material aid like money, goods,services for example a child in school gives her notes to her friend as she was absent due to sickness.
Informational support : An example of informational support is like a student facing difficulties in board exam, so in such case if a friend who already have an idea gives the detail information will help to plan for the exam in an effective manner. During times of stress, one may experience sadness, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem.
Emotional support : Friends , family provide emotional support making the individual feel loved, valued and cared for.

................................ Advertisement ................................

Q 9.How does social support helps in psychological well-being.

Ans:
Social support is defined as the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely upon, people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us. People who are connected to a social network mostly experience social support. Perceived support, i.e. the quality of social support is positively related to health and wellbeing, but to maintain the social network can be time consuming and hectic. Studies have shown that women exposed to life stresses and has a close friend can cope well with stress. People with high level of social support from family and friends may experience less stress when they come across a stressful experience.
Social support is divided into
Tangible support : involves assistance in terms of material aid like money, goods,services for example a child in school gives her notes to her friend as she was absent due to sickness.
Informational support : An example of informational support is like a student facing difficulties in board exam, so in such case if a friend who already have an idea gives the detail information will help to plan for the exam in an effective manner. During times of stress, one may experience sadness, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem.
Emotional support : Friends , family provide emotional support making the individual feel loved, valued and cared for.
Research has signified that social support effectively reduces psychological distress such as depression or anxiety, during times of stress. These proves that social support is positively related to psychological well-being.

Q 10.Describe the sources of psychological stress.

Ans:
Psychological stress are the ones we generate in our minds and they are like worrying about problems, anxiety, or getting depressed. These problems are unique to the person experiencing it.
Some of the important sources of psychological stress are frustration, conflicts,internal and social pressures.
Frustration: is resulted when we block our needs and motives from something or someone that comes in between achieving our desired goal.There could be a number of causes of frustration such as social discrimination, interpersonal hurt, low grades in school, etc.
Conflicts:can occur between two or more incompatible needs or motives for example whether to study dance or pshychology.You may want to take up a job or study further. There may be conflict when you are pressurized to take any action which is against your values.
Internal Pressures:they come up from beliefs based upon expectations from inside us to ourselves such as, "I must do everything perfectly". Such expectations can only lead to disappointment. Many of us drive ourselves ruthlessly towards achieving unrealistically high standards in achieving our goals.
Social Pressures:can come up from people who make excessive demands on us. This can cause even greater pressure when we have to work with them. Also, there are people with whom we face interpersonal difficulties, "a personality clash".

................................ Advertisement ................................

Q 11.Describe life skills which you think will help you in meeting the challenges in life.
OR
Describe any FOUR life skills which you think will help you in meeting the challenges of school life.

Ans:
Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
Our ability to cope up with any problem depends on how well we are prepared to deal with it , counterbalance everyday needs and maintain peace in life.
Here are some of the important life skills that can help us to meet the challenges of life. Assertiveness, time management, rational thinking, improving relationships, self-care, and overcoming unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, procrastination.
Assertiveness

• It is a behaviour or skill which helps us to communicate our wants , feelings, thoughts clearly and confidently.
• It is the ability to say no to a request, to state one’s opinion without any hesitation, or to express love, anger or emotions openly.
• If you are assertive, you feel confident, and have high self-esteem and a solid sense of your own identity.

Time Management

• The way you spend your time depends on the quality of your life.
• Learning how to plan your time and delegate can help to relieve the pressure.
• The major way to reduce time stress is to change one’s perception of time.
• The important thing in time management is to spend your time doing things that you value most , or that will help you achieve your goals.
• You need to be realistic about what you know ,what you want and do the things in a certain time period and organize your life so that there is a balance between the two.

Rational Thinking

• The way you think and feel are closely related to stress.
• When we are stressed we focus more on negative thoughts and images from the past which affect our present and future.
• Some of the principles of rational thinking are: challenging your distorted thinking and irrational beliefs, driving out potentially intrusive negative anxiety-provoking thoughts, and making positive statements.

Improving Relationships

• The key to a sound lasting relationship is communication.
• The most important three essential skills in communication are : listening to what the other person is saying, expressing how you feel and what you think, and accepting the other person’s opinions and feelings, even if they are different from your own.
• It also requires us to avoid misplaced jealousy and sulking behaviour.

Self-care

• If we keep ourselves healthy, fit and relaxed, we are better prepared physically and emotionally to tackle the stresses of everyday life.
• Our breathing patterns reflect our state of mind and emotions.
• When we are stressed or anxious, we tend towards rapid and shallow breathing from high in the chest, with frequent sighs.
• The most relaxed breathing is slow, stomach-centred breathing from the diaphragm, i.e. a dome like muscle between the chest and the abdominal cavity.
• Environmental stresses like noise, pollution, space, light, colour, etc. can have influence on our mood and can show effect on our ability to cope with stress, and well-being.

Overcoming Unhelpful Habits

• Unhelpful habits such as perfectionism, avoidance, procrastination, etc. are strategies that help to cope in the short-term but which make one more vulnerable to stress.
• Perfectionists are people who feel everything should be done in a perfect manner.They are more likely to feel tense and find it difficult to relax, are critical of self and others, and may become inclined to avoid challenges.
• Avoidance is to put the issue under the carpet and refuse to accept or face it.
• Procrastination means putting off what we know we need to do. We all are guilty of saying "I will do it later". People who procrastinate are purposely avoiding to tackle their fears of failure or rejection.

................................ Advertisement ................................

Q 12. What is positive health? Describe the stress buffers that facilitate positive health.
OR
Explain briefly four factors which facilitate the development of positive health.

Ans:

• A positive health is a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• Positive health comprises of :"a healthy body; high quality of personal relationships; a sense of purpose in life;self-regard, mastery of life’s tasks; and resilience to stress, trauma, and change".

Factors that act as stress buffers and facilitate positive health are : diet, exercise, positive attitude, positive thinking, and social support.
Diet

• A balanced diet gives us energy, feed muscles, improves circulation , protects us from illness, makes our immune system strong and helps us to cope with the stress of life.
• The key to healthy living is to eat three main meals a day, and eat a varied well-balanced diet.
• Some people are able to maintain a healthy diet and weight while others become obese.
• When we are stressed, we seek ‘comfort foods’ which are high in fats, salt and sugar.

Exercise

• Regular exercise plays an important role in managing weight and stress, and is shown to have a positive effect on reducing tension, anxiety and depression.
• Physical exercises that are essential for good health are stretching exercises such as yogic asanas and aerobic exercises such as jogging, swimming, cycling, etc.
• The health benefits of exercise work as a stress buffer.
• Studies suggest that fitness permits individuals to maintain general mental and physical well being even in the face of negative life events.

Positive Attitude

• Some of the important factors leading to a positive attitude are: having a fairly accurate perception of reality; a sense of purpose in life and responsibility; acceptance and tolerance for different viewpoints of others; and taking credit for success and accepting blame for failure.
• Being open to new ideas and having a sense of humour with the ability to laugh at oneself helps us to remain centred, and see things in a proper perspective.

Positive Thinking

• The power of positive thinking has been increasingly recognised in reducing and coping with stress.
• Optimistic approach of having favourable life outcomes, has been linked to psychological and physical wellbeing. For example, optimists tend to assume that adversity can be handled successfully whereas pessimists anticipate disasters.
• Optimists use more problem focused coping strategies, and seek advice and help from others. Pessimists ignore the problem or source of stress, and use strategies such as giving up the goal.

Social Support

• Social support is defined as the existence and availability of people on whom we can rely upon, people who let us know that they care about, value, and love us.
• Social support is divided into :
  • Tangible support : involves assistance in terms of material aid like money, goods,services, for example a child in school gives her notes to her friend as she was absent due to sickness.
  • Informational support : An example of informational support is like a student facing difficulties in board exam, so in such a case if a friend who already have an idea gives the detail information will help to plan for the exam in an effective manner. During times of stress, one may experience sadness, anxiety, and loss of self-esteem.
  • Emotional support : Friends , family provide emotional support making the individual feel loved, valued and cared for.
• Research has signified that social support effectively reduces psychological distress such as depression or anxiety, during times of stress. These proves that social support is positively related to psychological well-being.

................................ Advertisement ................................

Q 13.Explain the concept of stress-resistant personality. Give suitable examples.

Ans:
As per studies by Kobasa it is shown that people with high level of stress and low level illness share three characteristics which are called personality traits of hardiness. The three characteristics ie the three C's are commitment , control and challenge. Hardiness is a set of beliefs about oneself, the world, and how they interact.
Commitment: It takes shape as a sense of what you are doing. For example a sense of control over your life, and a feeling of challenge.
Control: Control on purpose and direction in life. Example commitment to work, family, hobbies and social life.
Challenge: they see changes in life as normal and positive rather than as a threat.

Q 14.Analyse the role of the following techniques to manage stress :
(a)Creative visualization
(b)Exercise

Ans:
(a)Creative Visualization

• Creative Visualization is an effective technique for dealing with stress.
• Creative visualisation is a subjective experience that uses imagery and imagination.
• Before visualizing one must set a realistic goal,as it helps build the confidence.
• It is easier to visualise if one’s mind is quiet, body relaxed and eyes are closed.
• This reduces the risk of interference from unbidden thoughts and provides the creative energy needed for turning an imagined scene into reality.

(b)Exercise

• Exercise can provide an active outlet for the physiological arousal experienced in response to stress.
• Regular exercise improves heart , lungs functioning, maintains blood pressure, reduces fat and improves immune system.
• Exercise like swimming, walking, running, cycling, skipping, etc. help to reduce stress.
• Exercise should be done with commitment at least 4 times a week for 30 minutes.
• Each session must have a warm-up, exercise and cool down phases.