Unit 9

Stress, Illness, and Well-Being

Objectives

• Introduce students to the stress response and the positive and negative impact of stressors.
• Students should understand the physiological changes caused by the stress response
• Students should be able to analyze the factors in their own lives that make them susceptible to various stressors
• Students should be able to maximize stress buffers and take actions to control or modify individual responses to known stressors.

Focus Questions

• What affects do stress have on your personal environment……
  • …in the short term?
  • …in the long term?
• What are the three main things causing stress in your life?
• What mechanisms do you apply in your life to reduce stress?

Concepts

• Defining stress
• Homeostasis
• Reactions to stress
• Factors that increase individual susceptibility to stressors
• Managing stress

Readings

Chapter 10

Wellness: Choices for Health and Fitness

Study Guide

Link opens new browser window.

How to Stay Stressed

From John Pinto of Standford University. Link opens new browser window.

Introduction

We hear the term "stressed-out" every day. Every day we could complain of being stressed by our families, roommates, jobs, relationships, finances, grades, and a host of other trials and tribulations. It's something we can't run from, hide from, or just ignore, and o matter how much we'd like to get rid of it, it is actually an essential part of human life. In this chapter, we examine what stress is, how it can affect your health and well-being, and, most important, what you can do to reduce your risks for the negative influences of stress.