STUDY NOTES

PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 2.1. THE PHYSICAL SELF

Physical Self - refers to natural, material aspect of the

entire person

- denotes what is perceivable, tangible and

concrete

Adolescence - period that lies between childhood and

adulthood

Body Image - body satisfaction; important component of

self-esteem; highly dependent on BMI
especially for college-aged population

Self-esteem - self-worth or self-image; global

evaluative dimension of the self;
determined by how much we like our self

Self-concept - refers to domain-specific evaluations of

the self, academic, athletic, physical
appearance, etc.

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 2.2. THE SEXUAL SELF

Testosterone - dominant male hormone

Estrogen & Progesterone - dominant female hormones

Maturation - refers to the development of secondary

sexual characteristics

Puberty - the ovaries for girls and testes for boys

become active leading to the increased
production of the sex hormones

- girls experience puberty by a year or two

earlier than the boys

Menarche - first menstruation; initiates on puberty

for girls

Nocturnal Emission - wet dreams; initiates on puberty for boys

Primary Sexual Characteristics

- sexual organs; develop during the fetal
development of an organism

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

- other changes that occur in relation with
the development of the organism; develop
around the pubertal age

Female Secondary SC - includes deposition of fat, predominantly

in the breasts and hips, breast development,
and broadening of the pelvis and growth of
axillary and pubic hair

Male Secondary SC - includes increased larynx size and

deepening of voice, increased muscular
development, growth of facial, axillary,
and pubic hair, and increased growth of body
hair

Human Sexuality - complex phenomenon which involves the

interaction of a person’s biological sex,

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 core gender identity, and gender role
behavior

Erogenous Zones - primarily receptive and increase sexual

arousal when touched in a sexual manner

Sexual Activity - any activity that induces sexual arousal

Socio-sexual - taking place between two persons or in a

group; persons involved may be petting,
necking or engage in coitus

Human Sexual Response Cycle

- refers to the sequence of physical and
emotional changes that occur as a person
becomes sexually aroused and participates
in sexually stimulating activities

Excitement Phase - increase in pulse and blood pressure,

resulting in increased skin
temperature, flushing, and swelling of
all distensible body parts, more rapid
breathing, secretion of genital
fluids, vaginal expansion, and general
increase in muscle tension

Plateau Phase - generally of brief duration; if

stimulation is continued, orgasm
usually occurs

Sexual climax - marked by feeling of abrupt, intense

pleasure, rapid increase in pulse rate
and blood pressure, and spasms of the
pelvic muscles causing contractions of
the female reproductive organ and
ejaculation by the male

Resolution Phase - refers to the return to normal or

subnormal physiologic state

Three Stages of Love- Helen Fisher identified three stages

Lust - characterized by the desire for

sexual gratification which is inherent
to every living organism

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 Attraction - characterized by the intense
attention given to a desired partner

Driven by chemicals and hormones:

Adrenaline - released by the body for “fight”
or “flight”

Dopamine - ignites an intense rush of

pleasure when released

Serotonin - attributed to “falling in

love”; makes a person think of his
or her desired partner at most
times

Attachment - characterized by the desire of

couples to stay together

Driven by major hormones:

Oxytocin - cuddle hormone, released during
orgasm

Vasopressin - anti-diuretic hormone, released

after intercourse

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 STUDY NOTES

PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 2.3. THE MATERIAL SELF

William James - Harvard psychologist, wrote The

Principles of Psychology

Understanding the self can be examined through three components:

1. Constituents
2. The feelings and emotions they arouse – self-feelings
3. Actions to which they prompt – self-seeking and self-
preservation

Material Self - according to James, primarily about our

bodies, clothes, immediate family and home

Material Self Investment Diagram

Body - innermost layer of the material self; we

are directly attached to it, and we strive
hard to make sure that the body functions
well and is healthy

Clothes - essential part of the material self; the

fabric and style of the clothes bring
sensations to the body which directly
affects attitude and behavior

Hermann Lotzer - German philosopher, stipulates in

his book Microcosmus, that any time we
bring an object into the surface of our
body, we invest that object into the
consciousness of our personal
existence taking its contours to be our
own and making it a part of the self

Family - parents are siblings are another important

part of the self, what they do or become
affects us, we place huge investment in our
family because we see them as the nearest
replica to our self

Home - extension of the self, it is where the

heart is; non-living witness to many of
experiences; earliest nest of childhood

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Credit Cards - have brought convenience, security, and
comfort in the way people engage in the
consumption of goods and services in society

- changed consumer culture and its role in

how individuals function as part of the
process of production and consumption

Advertising - lets individuals relate to particular

goods and services in order to convince or
compel them to purchase these

Advertisements - further emphasizes his or her identity as

a consumer with the ability to avail of
goods and services

Materialism - value system that is preoccupied with

possessions and the social image they
project is both socially destructive and
self-destructive

- forces into comparison with the

possessions of others

Needs - important for survival; food, clothing,

and shelter are basic needs

Wants - synonymous with luxuries; people buy them

for reasons that do not warrant necessity

Material Possessions- tell something of the personality and

social values of those who own them;
extended versions of oneself

Impulse Buyers - buying anything without giving much

thought to what they buy and the
consequences that may come later on

Conscious Consumption
- practicing responsible buying habits

Utility - concerned with how things serve a

practical purpose

Significance - concerned with the meaning assigned to the

object

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 2.4. THE POLITICAL SELF

Filipino Citizens - according to 1987 Constitution, those are

whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the
Philippines, born before Jan. 17, 1973, of
Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine
citizenship, and are naturalized in
accordance with law

Values - standards of behavior which subscribe to

the conceptions of what is “good, true,
beautiful, and desirable”

Filipino values - best be seen from the aspects of personal

and social relationships

SIR - (Smooth Interpersonal Relationship)

getting along with others with minimum
conflict; silence or mere approvals
are the individual’s effort of
avoiding to hurt the feelings of others

Reciprocity - serves as an exchange for a favor

granted and is attached with the sense
of obligation to repay

Hospitality - done by people who welcome visitors

with warmth and enthusiasm and that it
promotes goodwill and cooperation

Respect for elders - Filipino greet their elders while

saying “Mano Po!” and constantly using
“Po” and “Opo” in conversations

Close Family Ties - Filipinos maintain a tight

relationship with their families;
solidifying the existence of extended
family system

Cheerful - Filipinos have a habit of smiling and

laughing a lot

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 Self-Sacrifice - Filipinos go out of their way to
extend help to their friends, families
and loved ones

Bayanihan - the spirit of communal unity and

cooperation of Filipinos

“Bahala Na” - kind of fatalism in which a person

leaves everything to fate

Colonial Mentality - lack of patriotism and the attitude

where Filipinos favor foreign products
more than their own

“Manana” Habit - procrastination or the tomorrow-

attitude, derived from Filipino phrase
“Mamaya na”

“Ningas Kugon” - refers to enthusiasm that is intense

only at the start but gradually dies
down

Pride - Filipinos hold on to their pride as

if they are more precious than keeping
a good relationship with family and
loved ones

Crab Mentality - one resents the achievement of

another, instead of feeling happy for
that person

Filipino Time - common attitude of arriving late at

commitments, dinner or parties

Hallmarks of Being a Filipino and the Constant Reminders of our

Nationality

Proverbs/Salawikain - sayings that convey a lesson and

reflection on Filipino practices,
belief, and traditions

Superstitions - known as pamahiin or beliefs to the

unknown; passed down from generation
to generation

Myths and Legends - stories that are beyond one’s

imagination and aimed to explain the

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 origin of things, at the same time,
teach a valuable lesson

Heroes and Icons - serve as a reminder of true

patriotism and nationalism

How to be a Good Filipino

1. Cherishes the Filipino culture
2. Understand and respects the history of Filipinos
3. Be an active Filipino citizen
4. Upholds Filipino values and traits
5. Support local products
6. Speak the Filipino language
7. Sees himself as one with his fellow Filipinos, regardless
of wealth, class, appearance, religion, or gender

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 2.5. THE SPIRITUAL SELF

Spiritual Self - most intimate, inner subjective part of

self

- the ability to use moral sensibility and

conscience may be seen through the
expressions of religion, its beliefs, and
practices

Spirituality - defined broadly as a sense of connection

something higher than our selves

- talks about meaning and purpose that go

beyond the physical realities of life

- talks about the sacred and transcendent

Sacred - refers to a feeling or reverence and awe

Transcendent - moments filled with peace, awe, and

contentment – emotional and spiritual
wellbeing overlap

Religion - set of cultural beliefs and practices that

usually includes some or all of basic
characteristics

Characteristics:
1. Belief in anthropomorphic supernatural being, such as
spirit and gods
2. Focus of the sacred supernatural
3. Presence of a supernatural
4. Performance of ritual activities
5. Articulation of worldview and moral codes
6. Provide the creation and maintenance of social bonds and
mechanism of social control within a community

Ritual - performance of ceremonial acts prescribed

by a tradition or sacred law

Characteristics:
1. Feeling or emotion of respect, awe, fascination, or dread
in relation to the sacred

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 2. Dependence upon a belief system that is usually expressed
in the language of myth
3. Symbolic in relation to its references

Major World Religions

Buddhism - teaches that life is unsatisfactory; when

experience is unsatisfying, we tend to crave
pleasant experiences and avoid
disappointing ones

- Buddha taught that a way to break this

cycle is to practice ethics and meditation,
and to cultivate wisdom

Christianity - Christians believe that God became fully

present in the world in the person of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth

- Christians believe that Jesus Christ’s

dying on the cross, made Him a sacrifice to
reconcile all humanity with their Creator

Hinduism - term coined on 19th century to cover a wide

range of ancient creeds, textual
traditions, and religious groups

- best understood as a complete way of life,

path of sanctification, and discipline that
leads to a higher level of consciousness

- Hindus revere a body of texts as sacred

scriptures known as the Vedas

Islam - Arabic word meaning willing submission to

God; the root word comes from a word meaning
peace and Muslims believe it is the way of
peace as laid down in the Quran or Koran

- The Arabic word Allah means one God

Judaism - Jewish people believe themselves to be

descended from a Semitic tribe that
originated in the land of Canaan in the
Middle East

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 - Jews believes of the coming of the
Messiah, the Savior

- Study and interpretation of Torah is an

integral part of Jewish life

Dr. Viktor Frankl - author of the bestseller Man’s Search for

Meaning; psychiatrist and neurologist

Logotherapy - term derived from “logos”, a Greek word

that translates as “meaning”, and therapy,
which is defined as treatment of a condition
or illness

Components of Franklian Philosophy

1. Each person has a healthy core
2. The primary focus is to enlighten a person to their own
internal resources and provide them with the tools to use
their inner core
3. Life offers you purpose and meaning; it does not owe you a
sense of fulfillment or happiness

Logotherapy Assumptions
1. The human being is an entity consisting of body (soma),
mind (psyche), and spirit (noos)
2. Life has meaning under all circumstances, even the most
miserable
3. People have a will to meaning
4. People have freedom under all circumstances to activate the
will to find meaning
5. Life has a demand quality to which people must respond if
decisions are to be meaningful
6. The individual is unique

Finding Meaning with Logotherapy

1. Purposeful work. To find the meaning of life starts with
holding a future goal
2. Courage in the face of difficulty. To find meaning of life
is to recognize suffering, pain, and death as part of life
and to have the courage to face these life difficulties
3. Love. It is the only way to grasp another human being the
innermost core of his personality

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UNIT 2.6. THE DIGITAL SELF

Social Media - defined as forms of electronic

communication through which users create
online communities to share information,
ideas, personal messages, and other content

Online Identity - social identity that an Internet user

establishes in online communities and
websites

Self-presentation - process of controlling how one is

perceived by other people

- process of creating a digital artifact

which is a carefully chosen representation
or expression of one’s real-world self

- refers specifically to information about

the self

Impression Management - refers to the controlled

presentation of information about all
sorts of things, including information
about other people or events

- process in which people attempt to

influence the perceptions of other
people about a person, object or event

Generation Z Characteristics
1. Technologically advanced and know how to use a smart phone
2. Never seen the world without the Internet
3. Absorb tons of new information every day
4. Perceives information visually
5. Being independent, self-confident and autonomous

Ways to Combat Social Media Depression

1. Watch your thoughts. Be mindful of the thoughts as they
happen
2. Speak to others about the way you are feeling.
3. Focus on what you have. Starting a gratitude practice is a
wonderful way to remind yourself of the things you have

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Digital Citizenship - refers to the norms of appropriate and
responsible behavior towards technology use

- anchored on three general principles:

respecting, educating, and protecting
oneself and others

Online Disinhibition – lack of restraint one feels when

communicating online in comparison to
communicating in person

Anonymity - provides a comfort zone for individuals

to communicate what they want to express,
without censure and punishment

Guidelines for Proper Sharing

- Stick to safer sites
- Guard your passwords
- Limit what you share
- Remember that anything you put online or post on a site is
there forever, even if you try to delete it
- Do not be mean or embarrass other people online
- Always tell if you see strange or bad online behavior
- Be choosy about your online friends
- Be patient

What Not to Post Online

1. Sexy or revealing pictures
2. Pictures or videos showing private moments with loved ones
3. Pictures or videos showing bad habits
4. Negative comments on another person’s attitudes
5. Posts announcing conflicts with other people
6. Posts of the results of a particular competition with the
names of defeated participants
7. Comments showing strong opposition to certain issues
8. Comments with foul, vulgar, indecent, and offensive words
9. Pictures or videos revealing one’s financial status
10. Pictures or videos showing family trips
11. Pictures or videos displaying one doing good deeds
12. Pictures or videos in hospitals
13. Posts of every single thing you do

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 STUDY NOTES

PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 3.1. LEARNING TO BE A BETTER STUDENT

Learning - acquisition of knowledge and skills

through experience

Characteristics
Purposeful - for learning to take place,
there has to be intentionally; a
student brings his or her goals
into the classroom and this is of
major importance in the act of
learning

A result of experience - learning is derived from the

experiences a learner encounters
inside and outside of the
classroom

Multifaceted - learning is a complex process

and would be of different kinds
and different mechanisms of the
learner are involved

An active process - for learning to take place, the

person has to take an active part
being a thinking and feeling
person

Study Habits

1. Find a Place to Study Regularly

2. Keep Track of Deadlines and Important Dates
3. Don’t Cram for your Course Requirements
4. Organize a Study Group
5. Review, Revise, Repeat
6. Ask for Help
7. Participate in Online Discussions
8. Sleep or Take a Rest
9. Pray

Metacognition - “thinking about thinking”, introduced as

a concept by John Flavell; the knowledge you
have of your own cognitive processes

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 - ability to control your thinking processes
through various strategies, such as
organizing, monitoring, and adapting

Three Components:

Metacognitive Knowledge
- involves learning processes, task of
learning, and strategies

Kinds:
Declarative Knowledge - pertains about yourself as a
learner, factors that influence
learning and memory, and the
skills, strategies, and resources
needed to perform a task

Procedural Knowledge - knowing how use the strategies

Self-regulatory - to ensure the completion of the

tasks – knowing the conditions,
when and why, to apply the
procedures and strategies

Metacognitive Experience
- internal response to learning; feelings
and emotions serve as a feedback system to
help you understand your progress and
expectations

Metacognitive Strategies
- what you design to monitor your progress
related to your learning and tasks at hand

Types of Metacognitive Learners:

Tacit Learners - unaware of their metacognitive knowledge;

do not think about any strategies for
learning

Aware Learners - know about some of the kinds of thinking

that they do such as generating ideas,
finding evidence, etc. However, thinking is
not necessarily deliberate or planned

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Strategic Learners - organize their thinking by using problem-
solving, grouping and classifying,
evidence-seeking and decision-making, etc.

Reflective Learners - not only strategic about their thinking

but they also reflect upon their learning
while it is happening

Ideas how to Engage in Metacognition when Studying

1. Use your course outline or syllabus as a roadmap
2. Summon your prior knowledge
3. Think aloud
4. Ask yourself questions
5. Use writing
6. Organize your thoughts
7. Take notes from memory
8. Review your exams
9. Take a timeout
10. Test yourself
11. Figure out how you learn

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 STUDY NOTES

PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

UNIT 3.2. SETTING GOALS FOR SUCCESS

Goal - the end toward which effort is directed;

can either be of a short-term or long-term

How important are goals?

Provide Direction - gives a clear set of actions to
follow

Give Focus - by setting goals, you are able to

focus your attention on a target

Create Order - when we have established goals, we

are able to prioritize and organize our
lives better

Saves Time - when you have a goal, you don’t waste

time going in circles and arriving
nowhere

Provide Motivation - when you set goals, you give yourself

something to aim for and get excited
about

Beat Procrastination
– once you set a goal for yourself, you
make yourself accountable to finish
the task

Create a Better Version of Yourself

- goals help you achieve your highest
potential

How do you set your goals? Five Golden Rules

1. Set Goals That Motivate You

- When you set goals for yourself, it is important that

they motivate you: this means making sure that they are
important to you, and that there is value in achieving them

2. Set SMART Goals

Specific - goal must be clear and well defined

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 Measurable - include precise amounts, dates, and
so on in your goals so you can measure
your degree of success

Attainable - make sure it is possible to achieve

the goals you set

Relevant - goals should be relevant to the

direction you want you life and career
to take

Time Bound - goals must have a deadline

3. Set Goals in Writing

- The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and

tangible

4. Make an Action Plan

- By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing

each one off as you complete it, you’ll realize that you
are making progress towards your ultimate goal

5. Stick With It!

- Goal setting is an ongoing activity, not just a means to

an end. Have reminders to keep yourself on track, and make
regular time-slots available to review your goals

Albert Bandura - influential social cognitive psychologist

who is perhaps best known for his concept
of self-efficacy

Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

- stressed the importance of observational
learning, imitation, and modeling;
emphasizes the importance of social
influences, but also a belief in personal
control

Self-efficacy - belief in one’s ability to influence

events that effect one’s life and control
over the way these events are experienced

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 Sources:
Mastery Experiences - refers to experiencing the results
of self-efficacy firsthand; the key is
approaching life with dedicated
efforts

Social Modeling - people choose role-models who

demonstrate their self-efficacy;
motivation can be found by observing
those

Role Models - have a vital role to play in

building self-efficacy; those are
people we follow, admire, and
want to replicate

Vicarious Experience – source of efficacy roots from seeing

others around us, especially people
who we can relate to

Emotional and Physical Experiences

- emotions, moods and physical states
all the functional aspects of human
functioning

4 Ways to Increase Self-Efficacy

1. Stay in the stretch zone.

- Three personal zones of achievement: the comfort zone,

the stretch zone, and the panic zone

- Highly productive people lie at the stretch zone where

they can make the most of their abilities.

- In the stretch zone, we are more willing to take

reasonable chances and are resilient to failures and
setbacks

2. Set simple goals

- Set goals reasonably and approach them one by one. We can

break the goals into smaller subgoals and work on achieving
them one at a time

3. Look at the bigger picture

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 - We have higher goals to achieve, and sticking to this
perspective helps in maintaining a high self-efficacy

4. Reframe obstacles

- Identify obstacles, thought blocks, and reframe or

replace them with positive interventions. Reconstructing
the way we look at failures and feel about them helps a lot
in changing the way we think of ourselves.

Persons with Persons with

high self-efficacy low self-efficacy
A. Approach difficult tasks as A. Shy away from tasks they
challenges to be mastered view as personal threats
B. Set challenging goals and B. Have low aspirations and
maintain strong commitment weak commitment to goals
to them they choose to pursue
C. Heighten or sustain efforts C. Dwell on personal
in the face of failures or deficiencies, obstacles
setbacks they will encounter, and all
D. Attribute failure to kinds of adverse outcomes,
insufficient effort or rather than on concentrating
deficient knowledge and on how to perform
skills which are acquirable successfully;
E. Approach threatening D. Slacken their efforts and
situations with assurance give up quickly in the face
that they can exercise of difficulties;
control over them E. Are slow to recover their
sense of efficacy following
failure or setbacks; and
F. Fall easy victim to stress
and depression.

Carol Dweck - psychologist who has done extensive

research over the last 30 years on the cause
and effect of how one’s thoughts catapult
them into success or inadequacy

Mindset - collection of thoughts and beliefs that

shape your thought habits which affect how
you think, what you feel, and what you do

Characteristics of People with Fixed Mindset

- People believe their qualities are fixed traits and
therefore cannot change
- People document their intelligence and talents rather than
working to develop and improve them

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 - Believe that talent alone leads to success, and effort is
not required
- Their goals end up becoming about looking smart all the
time and to never appear incompetent

Characteristics of People with Growth Mindset

- Believe that their most basic abilities can be developed
and grow through dedication and hard work
- This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that
is essential for great accomplishment
- People have an underlying belief that their learning and
intelligence can grow with time and experience

Strategies to Develop Growth Mindset

1. Acknowledge and embrace your weaknesses
2. View challenges as opportunities
3. Know your learning style and use the right learning
strategies
4. Remember that the brain has the ability to change
throughout life
5. Prioritize learning over seeking approval
6. Focus on the process instead of the end result
7. Cultivate a sense of purpose
8. Choose learning well over learning fast
9. Reward effort and actions, not traits
10. Learn to give and receive constructive criticism
11. Need for improvement does not mean failure
12. Reflect on your learning every day
13. Learn from the mistakes of others
14. Think of learning as “brain training”
15. Cultivate grit
16. Never stop learning. Set a new goal for everyone you
accomplished
17. Remember that it takes time to learn

Angela Duckworth - completed her PhD in Psychology as a

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow
at the University of Pennsylvania

Grit - passion and sustained persistence applied

toward long-term achievement, with no
particular concern for rewards or
recognition along the way

Characteristics:

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 Courage - not the absence of fear, but the
triumph over it

Conscientiousness - personality trait of being thorough,

careful, or vigilant

Perseverance - to start and continue steadfastly on

the path towards any goal you set and
frequently this factor alone is the
difference between failure and success

Resilience - the capacity to recover quickly from

difficulties

Passion - creates excellence when mediocrity

will do

How to Develop GRIT?

1. Pursue your interests
2. Practice, practice, practice
3. Connect to a higher purpose
4. Cultivate hope
5. Surround yourself with gritty people

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UNIT 3.3. TAKING CHARGE OF ONE’S HEALTH

Fitness - refers to the quality of being able and

suitable to do a certain task or demand

Health - state of complete physical, mental and

social well-being and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity

Stressors - events or circumstances that trigger a

stress response

- events which our bodies were evolutionary

trained to respond accordingly to our safety

Stress - feeling of emotional or physical tension

- body’s reaction to any change that

requires an adjustment or response

- serves as a stimulus to act and grow,

which helps you adapt to ever-changing and
ever-demanding environments

Types of Stress

Eustress - positive stressors, interpreted as being

beneficial for the experience; refers to a
positive response one has to a stressor

Distress - negative form of stress

Types of Distress
Acute Stress - comes from demands and pressures of
the recent past and anticipated
demands and pressures of the near
future

Episodic Acute - comes from ceaseless worry; sees

disaster around every corner and
pessimistically forecast catastrophe
in every situation

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 Chronic Stress - stress of unrelenting demands and
pressures; destroys bodies, minds and
lives; wreaks havoc through long-term
attrition

Common Stressors in the General Population

a. Any change that upsets the accustomed pattern of life
b. Advances in science and technology
c. Long hours of work, heavy workload, in conducive working
conditions
d. Wide range of choices and demands
e. Overcrowding, different kinds of pollution, environmental
issues
f. Separation from loved ones for economic reasons
g. Social, political, and economic landscape of the country

Effects of Stress
The body responds to stress on three levels:

Alarm - the body initial reaction to any

potentially harmful demand is to prepare for
action; gets ready to face danger (fight)
or run away (flight)

Resistance - the body adapts to stressors; while the

body remains alert to them, its defenses may
have become weaker on this level

Exhaustion - When the body is subjected to stress over

a long period of time, blood pressure is
permanently raised, continuing muscular
tension leads to aches and pains, and the
body’s resistance to disease remains
suppressed

Stress Impact on Health

Depression - marked by chemical imbalances that

can be triggered by stressful life
events

General Anxiety Disorder

- characterized by visible physical
symptoms such as muscle tension and
shaking

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
 Sleep Disorder - includes insomnia (inability to
sleep), apnea (temporary cessation of
breathing while sleeping), and
narcolepsy (excessive sleepiness
during the day)

Cardiovascular Disease
- those who are feeling constantly
under strain and unable to cope, among
other symptoms of chronic stress, are
likelier to die of cardiovascular
disease

Digestive Disorder - the “brain-gut” connection has a two-

way effect: digestive disorders can
cause stress, and the negative effects
of stress can cause and aggravate
digestive disorders

Accelerated Aging - people with chronic stress in their

lives have markedly shortened
telomeres

Decreased Immune Functioning

- one cause of stress that might be
linked to immune function is
loneliness

Impact on Relationships
- the anger, irritation, and
frustration can easily influence the
things we say and how we treat one
another

Impact on School Performance

- the fight-or-flight response
reserved for true threats can often be
triggered by a demanding parent or
teacher or an upcoming deadline

Some Suggestion on How to Cope with Stress

1. Be honest with yourself about all the things that are going
on in your life
2. When you are feeling hassled and little things readily
upset you take a deep breath, count to 100 and then just
put everything in perspective when you are aware of stress

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
 3. Manage your time. Keep a list of your priorities for the
day
4. Develop healthy lifestyle
5. Listen to good music. Read good books
6. Keep a diary of things. Get organized
7. Adjust your attitude. If you approach a situation as a
challenge, rather than a threat, you don’t trigger stress
responses that can damage health.
Here is one way to understand this.
A is for “activating event” (or stressor)
B is for your “belief system”
C is for your “consequent emotion”
8. Accept the fact that you cannot control everything and that
there are events you cannot control
9. Focus on the pleasant aspects of your life
10. Do not procrastinate

Taking Care of the Self

A. Muscle to Mind Techniques

Progressive relaxation - involves alternatively
tensing and relaxing the
muscles

Massage induces relaxation - conveys reassurance and

calms down anxiety

Biofeedback therapy - trains patients to become

aware of and control some
physiological processes

B. Mind to Muscle Techniques

Imagery - used as a means of relaxation to cope with
stressful situations

Meditation - uses mind-focusing exercises to control

or concentrate one’s attention

Yoga - uses several positions for the body

through which the practitioner may
progress, beginning with the simplest and
moving to the more complex

Other Stress Busters

Sleep - reduce stress and help your body recover
from stress

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
 Aromatherapy - uses your sense of smell to trigger areas
in your brain that affect mood

Laugh - can reduce stress hormones, boost your

immune system and lower your blood pressure

Getting a Haircut

Reduce Stress with Touching, Kissing, Hugging

- activities that stimulate the brain’s
release of the hormone oxytocin

Reduce Stress by Gardening

- having plants and flowers can elicit a
positive mood and reduce stress levels

Reduce Stress by Rubbing your Hoku

- an acupressure spot related to upper body
tension that when squeezed can minimize
stress by up to 39%

Reduce Stress by Eating Chocolate

- dark chocolate has filled with antioxidant
flavonoids which can minimize your risk of
heart disease and reduce blood pressure

Reinvent Your Vocabulary

- words have a powerful influence over our
mind; think positive thoughts and use
positive words

Retrain Your Mind to Better You

- by doing daily affirmation; as soon as you
wake up in the morning, face the mirror and
recite the positive affirmation

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PSY 110 – UNDERSTANDING THE SELF