Stress and Wellness
Steven Goldsmith
PS370- Health Psychology
Professor- Leon DeSecottier
March 18, 2015

A person’s overall being is dependent on a various number of factors. One of the most important factors I feel is how we handle the daily obstacles that disrupt the normal flow of life. The stress that people put on themselves to either fit-in, excel in their jobs, raise a family, develop properly, etc… has a major effect on how we feel and how we focus in general. There are many different triggers to stress that Nancy faces in the case study and I also intend to show another set of triggers for stress. “Psychological factors both influence and are influenced by physical functioning. Stressors (or stresses) include psychological factors, such as examinations in school and problems in social relationships, and life changes, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or a job termination. They also include daily hassles, such as traffic jams, and physical environmental factors, such as exposure to extreme temperatures or noise levels.” (Nevid, 2014) Nancy is experiencing stress due to being overworked at her job as well as feeling underappreciated. Not only is she having to do her work, but she is also constantly having to pick up the slack of some of the other employees at work. Concerned parents for the twenty plus clients she deals with also adds to her already crazy day. Nancy is also flooding her mind with the possibility of her facility closing and the possibility of having to find proper facilities for the clients she is taking care of. On top of her busy schedule, Nancy is dealing with her terminally ill mother who has disrupted the peaceful nature as to which her home used to be. As far as health stressors Nancy recently increased her already two pack a day smoking habit into a two and a half pack a day smoking habit. Due to all the negative stress in her life Nancy no longer had time to use the enjoyment she got out of going to the gym several times a week as a positive stress engaging her feel-good-receptors. At an early age I was adopted into my family. Also at an early childhood age I was formally diagnosed with ADHD. In my early school years I was a very aggressive child in my attitude. I had the frame of mind “I don’t care”, because I didn’t want to conform to the rules of my society. Throughout my childhood I felt I was a big disappointment to myself as well as to my family. Many things that I tried to do I lost quick interest in and never truly finished what I started. All the disappointments I experienced through these years caused my main stress trigger to be the thought of being a failure. Because of my attention hyperactivity disorder I was experiencing a lack of focus, increased my already at that point fifteen year smoking habit, and lost interest in every goal I had set for myself. I began taking odd jobs like cab driving, landscaping, stock jobs, etc… and kept telling myself I would never be happy.
As far as my job, I deal with major stress on a daily basis. For the past two and a half years I have been taking care of a quadriplegic with frontal lobe brain damage. He is a very big joy to be around, but his brother who is suffering from a chronic pain and addiction problem is a major basket case who is a pathological liar and tries to make trouble for all the nurses that take care of his brother. He also takes advantage of his brother by spending money out of the insurance check on himself for drugs, casino visits, and daily life activities while seeking no employment for himself. This make my mind go crazy to how disrespectful one can be to their own family member. The final negative stressor I face in my life at this time is my relationship with my significant other of sixteen years three months and 28 days. I love him with all my heart, but feel that he is not reciprocating the feelings anymore. We fight a lot and are losing the intimacy part of the