So how do we cope with stress? Pt2
Secondary appraisal
This assesses your resources for coping with your situation. Again using past experiences. Belief about self, environment, circumstances and personal resources are considered. For example: have you coped in the past with similar, do you have the confidence and problem solving skills to cope. Is physical strength needed and is it available. You need to know how much control you have over the stressor, if you have none, the situation will be threatening for you; this is where the psychological/ physical stresses arise. For example, if you are driving along and you hit ice, the initial reaction is fear, but soon the brain reacts, if you have experienced it before, and tells you to steer into it.
Coping
This is where you put into action the primary and secondary appraisals; whether it is an outward action or internalization which brings about prolonged stress if not reassessed. Sometimes the fight or flight reaction is kicked into action here if it is needed. However in some situations then that is not an option, because the primary and secondary appraisals tell you to. If at work you are told by a supervisor something that you disagree with, you sometimes have to internalize the reaction, which if not released at a later stage can result in burnout.
So in effect you need to look at the event and how it affected you, you need to ask yourself if what you did was right for you, nobody else. It can be applied to all walks of life.
There are several factors that allow us to cope, experience, better training, and support to name a few. Humour is the best after sex! We may have to internalize certain things, that because if we told the boss what we thought, we would then possibly have the greater stress after picking up a p45 notice. But there are other resources that are there to help an individual deal with the stress that may have to be put aside at the time of the coping phase. There are 3 main ones.
