STRESSED BRAINS’ DON’T LEARN THE SAME WAYBy: Paige Keister

WHAT IS STRESS

Stress is a negative emotional state occurring in response to events that are perceived as taxing or exceeding a person’s resources or ability to cope.

This emphasizes the important role played by a person’s perception or appraisal of events in the experience of stress.

Whether we experience stress depends largely on our cognitive appraisal of an event and the resources we have to deal with the event.

LONG TERM AND SHORT TERM STRESS

Some types of stress are good for the brain—but long-term stress is bad.

The brain is designed to handle stress that lasts seconds not years.

The brain is built to deal with stress that lasts about 30 seconds, it is not designed for long-term stress the kind where you feel like you have no control.

THE DAMAGES OF STRESS

When the brain is stressed you can actually watch the brain shrink.

Stress damages virtually every kind of cognition that exists.

It damages memory and executive function. It can hurt your motor skills when you are

stressed out over a long period of time. It disrupts your immune response.

THE DAMAGES OF STRESS CONT’

You get sick more often. It disrupts your ability to sleep. You get depressed. Stress that is prolonged or intense can

adversely affect both our physical and psychological well-being.

Stress that’s chronic eventually deregulates sleep, weakens your immune system, and – depending on your individual tolerance for stress – can lead to disorders such as depression.

EMOTIONAL STABILITY OF THE HOME

The emotional stability of the home is the single greatest predictor of academic success.

You have one brain, the same brain you have at home is the same brain you have at work or school.

The stress you are experiencing at home will affect your performance at work and vice versa.

Marital satisfaction plummets 70% by the time a baby is 1, and a couples hostile interactions jump.

SOURCES OF STRESS

Life is filled with potential stressors. Stressors are events or situations that are perceived as harmful, threatening, or challenging.

Life events and change: most people withstand major life events without developing serious physical or psychological problems.

The life events approach assumes that change in itself, whether good or bad, produces stress.

Daily Hassles: Every day minor events that annoy and upset people.

SOURCES OF STRESS CONT’

Social and cultural sources of stress: Racism and discrimination, whether real or suspected, can create stress. Crowding, crime, unemployment, poverty, inadequate health care, and substandard housing are all associated with increased stress.

Conflict: A situation in which a person feels pulled between two or more opposing desires, motives, or goals.

COPING WITH STRESS

Coping is behavioral and cognitive responses used to deal with stressors; involves our efforts to change circumstances, or our interpretation of circumstances, to make them more favorable and less threatening.

People rely on different coping strategies at different times in dealing with the same stressor. When people use aggressive or risky efforts to change the situation, they are engaging in confrontive coping.

When you shift your attention away from the stressor and towards other activities, you’re engaging in the emotion-focused coping strategies called escape-avoidance.

MORE INFORMATION

Seeking social support is the coping strategies that involves turning to friends, relatives, or other people for emotional, tangible, or informational support.

Culture seems to play an important role in the choice of coping strategies.

From national tragedies and major life events to the minor hassles and annoyances of daily life, stressors come in all sizes and shapes.

Any way you look at it, stress is an unavoidable part of life.

CITATIONS

Hockenbury, Don H. & Sandra E. (2010 ). Psychology . New York, New York : Worth Publishers .

(My book source) Medina , John (2009 ). Stress rule #8

Stressed brains don't learn the same way. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from Brain Rules Web site: http://brainrules.net/

(My internet source) Carpi, John (1996, January 1 ). Stress: It's

worse than you think . 36, 8. (My journal source)