Managing meaning

Managing meaning

1. The stress paradox; Poll of 125,000 people from 121 different countries to 2005 to 2006 showed that 33% of the population said they had felt a great deal of stress the previous day.

2. Stress is related to meaning; 2013, US adults aged 18 to 70 asked to rate how much they felt their lives were meaningful. Ever measure of stress predicted a greater sense of meaning in life. Digest source of stress; work parenting, relationships, caregiving and health. Stress can trigger a desire to find meaning, often experiences as part of a biological stress response in form of rumination, spiritual inquiry and soul searching. Over 9000 adults, reported high meaning full lives had a 30% reduction in mortality, reduced risk was evident when controlling factors e.g. wealth, education, depression and health.

3. Placebo to mindset; placebo effect, told how stress would affect them and produced expected repose. Mindset effect, having a preconceived point of view that biases thoughts, feelings and actions, usually based on therapy about how the world works that shape how experiences are interpreted and decisions are made. Stress mindset, shoes emotions felt during stressful situations and the situations are dealt with, which can determined whether the stress is enhancing or deliberating.

4. Summary; the meaning you give something can unconsciously influence you (e.g. placebo effect). Mindset are meaningful beliefs people have about aspects of life and stress, mindsets can be positive or negative.

5. Mindset over matter; 1300 men reported 2 types of stress; major life events and daily hassles, those who reported the most daily hassles were 3X more likely to have died than those who reported fewest hassles. It may not be the presence of the stress but the mens attitudes towards ti. The power of writing about values is that is transforms the way we think about stressful experiences (increases likelihood of believing that situations can be improved through effort and social support)

6. PTSD and stress hormones post trauma; New therapies to prevent and treat PTSD is administrating doses of stress hormones. E.g. stress hormones reversed 5 years of PTSD in a 50 year old man, took 10mg of cortisol a day for 3 months and symptoms of distress decreased. Administrating stress hormones to patients about to undergo traumatic cardiac surgery, reduce time in intensive care, minimise stress symptoms and improve quality of life 6 months later.

7. Fear of pre-performance Jutters is rooted in negative beliefs about stress but; students who have greater increases in adrenaline during exams outperform their calmer peers.

8. Threat vs Challenge response; Both prepare for action, during a challenge response blood vessels remain relaxed and heart rate is faster and stronger, increase blood flow and energy. Middle aged and older men who have a challenge response rather than a threat responses are less likely to be diagnoses with metallic syndrome. During a threat response, emotions; fear, anger, self doubt or shame, creates a cycle, increased attention to negative signs increases fear and self doubt. During a challenge response, emotions; anxiety, excitement, energised, enthusiasm and confidence. Attention is more open and ready to engage with the evnironemt. Threat; connections in areas of the brain that detect threats and trigger survival cooping are strengthen. Challenge; connections between the prefrontal cortex that suppers fear and enhances positive motivation are strengthen, increase in relate of resilience boosting hormones e.g. DHEA.

9. What is threat or challenge; What determines stress response is who ability to handle the stress is perceived, unconscious evaluation of demands and resources assesses coping ability. If the demands exceed resources= a threat response, if the recourses available are fine= a challenge response. Some effective strategies for focusing on recourses and encouragine a challenge response, including knowing personal strengths, preparations for particular challenge etc.

10. Stress gives you energy to rise to a challenge; Challenge response differs from fight or flight as it increases feelings of focus not fear, releasing high levels of DHEA to help recover and learn from stress.

11. Stress and social connection; Driven by hormone oxytocin which fine tunes the brains social instincts, builds and strengthens social bonds, creates craving for social contact and increases understanding of other thoughts and feelings, increasing empathy and intuition. The tend and befriend response motivates to protect the people and communities you care about and gives you the courage to do so, oxytocin is good for cardiovascular health.

12. Self v bigger than self goals; the consequences of self-focuses versus bigger than self goals for academic success, workplace stress, personal relationships and well being, studied in the US and Japan. People connected to bigger than self goals felt better, more helpful, curious, caring grateful, inspirited and excited. When operating from self focuses goals more likely to feel confused, anxious, angry, envious and lonely.

13. How caring creates resilience; instinct to help during personal suffering helps to prevent a defeat response- a biological response that lead to loss of appetite, social, isolation, depression and even suicide. Examples; volunteering after a natural disaster= more optimistic, less anxious etc after death of spout, taking care of others reduced depression.

14. Shift and persist mindset; Cultivating a growth mindset, view setbacks as inevitable and understand that obstacles mean it is time to drawn on resources. Shift and persist is a coping style that seems to protect people from the typical health risks associated with having grown up in poor or unsafe environments. Shifting is a combination of accepting stress and changing the way you think about it source persisting is about maintaining the optimism need to pursue meaning. Shift and persist approach to stress area heathier- blood pressure, cholesterol levels obesity and inflammation.

15. Post traumatic growth; suffering that inspires positive change, some of the most commonly reported forms of growth; stronger than i thought, greater appreciation for value of my own life, stronger religious faith, established new path for life.

16. Choosing to see the upside of adversity; Seeing a benefit to a stressful situation whilst currently in those circumstances lead to a better outcome, upside of heart attack=greater appreciation for like, better relationships. looking for the good in stress helps most when there is an ability to also realistically acknowledge and vicarious growth, often reported by mental health professionals who are inspired by their clients recovery and resilience.

17. Growth and resilience contagious; post- traumatic growth can also be experienced through others suffering- vicarious resilience and vicarious growth, often report by mental health professional who are inspired by their clients recovery and resilience.

18. Strengths and values, values; a value is an enduring belief that some gaols are preferable to others. Bol (1995) throughout history people must endorse three sets of values; positive duties of mutual care/ reciprocity. Negative disciplinary code against violence, deceit and betrayal. Norms of rudimental fairness and procedural justice (for conflict resolution). Societies also have maximised values (usually specific to a culture and extensive/ elaborate.

19. Values give your life direction; values are ideas, often cannot be obtained or completed. Values give consistency to behaviour. Help you know what to and not to make time for.

20. Human strengths; A strength can be defined as a capacity for feeling, thinking and behaving in a way that allows optimal functioning in the pursuit of valued outcomes. 3 classifications and measures of human strengths that have been disseminated in the last decade, The clifton strength finder, The VIA inventory of strengths, and the search institute profiles of student life; attitudes and behaviours. Value in action inventory of strength; VIA classification of strengths was originally developed with two purposes in mind. As a way to assess youth development program, to define the concept of strength. Peterson and Seligman, 24 strengths organised under 6 over reacting virtues;wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance.

21. Human strengths; these virtues are thought to emerge across cultures and throughout time. The VIA-IS was designed to describe individual differences in characters strengths on the continuum and is sensitive to change. Factor analysis suggest 5 not 6 virtues, those factors are strengths of restraint, intellectual strengths, interpersonal strengths, emotional strengths and theological strengths.

22. Similarities and differences among the classification system; Assess human strengths, The VIA-IS is the only measure that is free.