Page 444 - Understanding Psychology

Coping With Stress
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
How Do You View Life?
There were two women who had rose gardens. One would awaken every morn- ing, look out into the garden and groan: “Oh, there are so many weeds in my gar- den. It is going to take me forever to get rid of them!”
The other woman calmly put on her gardening gloves and hummed to herself as she methodically removed the weeds surrounding her roses.
“Oh, my beautiful roses,” she said. “How lovely you look and smell!”
—from Natural Stress-Busters for the Whole Family by Lynn Allison, 1993
s Main Idea
People deal with stress by employing defensive and active coping strategies.
s Vocabulary
• cognitive appraisal
• denial
• intellectualization
• progressive relaxation
• meditation
• biofeedback
s Objectives
• Explain defensive strategies of coping
with stress.
• Describe active strategies of coping
with stress.
430 Chapter 15 / Stress and Health
Stress, like those weeds in the women’s rose gardens, can spring up and choke you—if you let it. Stress can smother your enjoyment of life and make you miserable. If you focus on the positive, however— the delightful blooming roses—the weeds need not be a source of stress but instead may be merely obstacles to overcome. Coping with stress is an attempt to gain control over a part of one’s life. It is an attempt to mas- ter, control, reduce, and tolerate the stressors in one’s life. People cope with stress in many ways. There is not just one way that is best for all people in all situations. People also have individualized coping styles. People know what works best for them. They have come to rely on what has worked in the past. What is your way of handling difficult situations?
Coping strategies may not always be healthy ways to adapt. Sometimes when we are under stress, we act in ways that are not in our best interests. There are methods that people use that hurt or harm oth- ers. These are known as maladaptive ways of coping.