Idiots are invincible. Dr Ro
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Название: Idiots are invincible
Автор: Dr Ro
Издательство: Eksmo Digital
Жанр: О бизнесе популярно
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Certain individuals among us tend to seek intense experiences. They perceive stressful, for the average person, events as vaguely threatening, risky, or distressing. As a result, they report lower stress levels and fewer psychosomatic symptoms.
Cons include that, at a young age, these individuals find it difficult to join organized groups (school, sports teams) and socialise with their colleagues. Following their instincts, later they may adopt various unhealthy habits (such as smoking, drinking, driving at excessive speed) to satisfy their need for excitement.
Autonomic nervous system response
Individuals with an over-reactive autonomic nervous system are more susceptible and have reduced tolerance to stress, as they easily mobilise biological resources during “fight or flight” responses to stimuli they perceive as threatening.
The response of the autonomous nervous system depends on genetic construction and genes and differs from person to person. Men are predisposed to respond to stress immediately and with a higher intensity than women do, because their bodies secrete stress-related hormones and elevate their cardiovascular activity. Similarly, people who use stimulants such as coffee have lower tolerance and experience increased reactions to stressors. On the other hand, under similar conditions, individuals who exercise and are in good physical condition display lower responses and changes in their nervous system.
Type-A behaviour
As you have probably realised by now, there are different types of people in this life: rabbits or racehorses and turtles or snails. The first would consider merely lying on the beach or listening to music under a shady umbrella and having nothing to do as torture. A slow pace of life, peace, and tranquillity satisfies the latter.
According to Friedman and Rosenman (1974), Type-A individuals exhibit the following behaviour characteristics:
– They are competitive, impatient, aggressive, negative, and perfectionists.
– They pursue challenges.
– They feel pressured by time; they are always watching the clock.
– They eat, talk, and walk quickly.
– They dominate group discussions.
– They do not share power and responsibility with anyone and do not delegate jurisdiction to others.
Several instruments have been developed to assess perceived levels of stress. Some measure state or situational anxiety. Others measure trait anxiety, which is a stable tendency to respond with anxiety across different situations.
Questionnaires developed to assess Type-A behaviour include items such as:
If you have an appointment, you tend to: Be casual about when you arrive – Show up early.
You would say that you are: Not a very competitive person – A very competitive person.
You always tend to feel a bit rushed and under pressure: False – True.
You tend to: Take on as many tasks as you can handle – Do one task as a time.
If you are frustrated, you: Should not be provoked – Are likely to withdraw a little.
Imagine you are ready to go but have to wait for people in your group to be ready: It’s not that big of a deal, you’ll amuse yourself in the meantime – You are probably going crazy with impatience.
Do you typically wear a watch? Yes – No.
You: Have trouble falling asleep – Sleep like a baby.
When someone takes a long time to express his or her thoughts, you: Get frustrated – Listen patiently.
According to older studies, Type-A behaviour individuals are twice as likely to suffer cardiovascular problems. It appears, however, that Type-A behaviour does not tend to be a strong predictor of coronary heart disease. Later research (Smith, 1992; Williams, 2001) has shown that sarcasm and aggressiveness in response to frustration and failure are the only behaviours that relate to cardiovascular disease.26 Yet Type-A is only one of the factors associated with the development of heart diseases; others include heredity, diet, exercise, and smoking.
Hardy Type-A individuals do not seem to be at any greater risk from stress than Type-B individuals. In other words, you may be running around all day doing chores. If you are enjoying it, you should not worry that much about the potential negative health effects associated to Type-A behaviour.
OTHER MEDIATORS
Social support
There is a lot of evidence confirming the buffering effects of social support. Social scientists consider it best “medicine” for divorcees, for instance, significantly reducing the impact of the stress involved in a separation.
Research has indicated that people who have good social support networks are less likely to suffer from genital herpes and AIDS. In addition, female cancer patients with a social support group live two years longer than those who do not receive any social support (Spiegel et al., 1989).
According to other research27 on patients diagnosed with leukaemia, 54 percent of those with social support were still alive two years later, compared to only 20 percent of those without social support.
Why and how does social support reduce stress? The following pathways have been proposed to explicate the buffering effect of social support:
– It offers emotional support, by providing a sense of being listened to and understood.
– It involves material resources and practical assistance with pending issues.
– It provides information and/or advice (e.g., brainstorming in the direction of problem resolution).
– It supplies necessary feedback, reflections on the question “how am I doing?”
– It meets a social need, the need for company.
– It increases the production of a type of antibodies (immunoglobin-a) that help combat gastric, urinary, and respiratory system infections.
Sense of humour
A good sense of humour relates to better health and less stress (Anderson & Arnoult, 1989). By contrast, people with aggressive or derogatory humour are less healthy (Caroll, 1990). Even the babies of cheerful mothers suffer fewer respiratory system infections, possibly because they receive more antibodies through their mothers’ milk (Dillon & Totten, 1989).
Humour is thought to buffer stress in the following ways:
– It can mitigate the impact of stress either through the secretion of endorphins or by diverting attention (Martin & Lefcourt, 1983).
– It short-circuits negative events and makes dire circumstances appear less threatening.
– It attracts social support (Nezu et al., 1988).
Apparently, large USA companies send their top executives to laughter therapy clinics. A sense of humour is difficult to teach СКАЧАТЬ