extendd essay on stress文章对扩展应力.docVIP

Introduction The mind and body relationship is an issue that has been acknowledged since ancient times. The mind-brain problem poses the question of whether the mind is no more than a nuisance to our brain processes or whether the mind can, to some extent, influences our behaviour. ‘Dualism’ is the approach in psychology, which stresses the mind and body as being two existing and interconnected entities. According to one of the first dualists, Descartes, the mind influences the body and not vice versa, whereas the ‘interactionists’ claimed that both the mind and body have influence on one another. Hence, by the means of applying the interactionist point of view, the psychophysiological correlates of stress and illness can be studied. How psychological factors such as stress can lead to psychophysiological effects has been and will continue to be a fundamental topic of research in psychology. It is interesting to investigate the issue of stress and its causes and effects on humans, since stress is copious in our modern society. Therefore this essay intends to deal with following research question: What?do we know about the relationship between?stress and physiological illness and can we use that knowledge to cope with stress? Stress, according to physicists, stress would simply be defined as ‘the pressure or force that is exerted to a body.’ However, according to psychologists, stress is a more complex factor, which is looked upon in terms of ‘the demands it possesses on an organism and how the organism attempts to adapt or cope with the specific demands’. A definition of stress that has been widely accepted was established by Lazarus and Folkman (1984). According to these researchers, stress is ‘a pattern of negative physiological states and psychological responses occurring in situations where individuals perceive threats to their well-being, which they may be unable to meet.’ Whether stressors are harmful or not depends solely on individuals appraise the stressor