Distinguish between cataclysmic events, personal stressors, and background stressors. Discuss the various effects on stress and well-being associated with these different types of events. Illustrate your answer with references to specific events you have experienced.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Students' answers may vary.

The answer should include the following points:

Cataclysmic events: These are strong stressors that occur suddenly and affect many people at once. Disasters such as tornadoes and plane crashes as well as terrorist attacks are examples of cataclysmic events that can affect hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously. Although it might seem that cataclysmic events would produce potent, lingering stress, in many cases they do not. In fact, cataclysmic events involving natural disasters may produce less stress in the long run than events that initially are not as devastating. One reason is that natural disasters have a clear resolution. Once they are over, people can look to the future knowing that the worst is behind them. Moreover, others who also experienced the disaster share the stress induced by cataclysmic events. Such sharing permits people to offer one another social support and a firsthand understanding of the difficulties others are going through.

Personal stressors: These are major life events, such as going off to college, losing a job, getting married, or experiencing the death of a family member. The stressors produce a major immediate reaction that soon tapers off. For example, stress arising from the death of a loved one tends to be greatest just after the time of death, but people begin to feel less stress and are better able to cope with the loss after the passage of time.

Background stressors: Sometimes called daily hassles, these are the minor irritations of life that we all face all the time. Waiting in line at the supermarket is one example of a background stressor. These stressors do not usually require much in the way of coping, but the negative emotions associated with them tend to add up. The more hassles a person experiences, the more psychological and health problems they experience. In fact, the number of daily hassles people face is associated with psychological symptoms and health problems such as flu, sore throat, and backaches.