Demonstration: Acute Vs Chronic stress

This is Anna and this is Michael. They are the Jones twins they are just your average college students. Lately their life has been changing. Their parents recently went through a nasty divorce that put a significant financial strain on the family both Anna and Michael are now struggling to balance school with a part-time job to pay for their schooling. The twins are both enrolled in the same program and are pursuing the same career.

Anna really enjoys her program this motivates her to do well on her assignments and projects. She was genuinely excited about everything that she is learning.

Michael on the other hand was pressured to go to university and followed Kelly into the program because he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life after high school. Unlike Anna, he struggles with his assignments simply because he has no motivation to do them.

1.       Justify your opinion on whether Anna and Michael suffer from stress. If so, what type of stress they suffer?

Answer: Anna is an example of eustress which is a positive form of stress that has beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being. Michael is an example of distress which is a negative form of stress that has negative effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.

Although, Anna had Michael’s best intentions at heart, Michael should not have listened to Kelly. As time passes he has a harder and harder time falling asleep, his headaches are getting worse and he continues to gain weight. He slowly becomes less and less motivated to point where he no longer participates in activities and has lost interest in his hobbies. He’s also noticed that he’s been getting quite sick more frequently and for longer periods of time.

At the doctor’s office

What are the symptoms of stress you identify in this story?

1.       Does he suffer from Acute or Chronic stress?

Answer: He suffers from chronic stress. Symptoms:

-          Lack of sleep

-          Headaches

-          Changes in appetite

-          Decrease in immune system function

-          Loss of interest in hobbies