- Reflect on some major sources of stress in your life (your predisposition or “Type A” behavior pattern, intermittent and ongoing sources of stress, and your perceived power over your stress). Are these hindrance or challenge stressors? Why?
- What coping strategies do you tend to use in dealing with these stressors, and do you think they are effective? Why or why not? Are there alternative strategies that you might try?
- Describe at least two specific things you could do to (a) cope with stress/strain and (b) sustain/increase your well-being in your day-to-day life. Why do you think those changes could be beneficial?
- If possible, actually try doing something (e.g., a new coping strategy, an intervention, a change to your leisure-time activities, etc.) and report on how it went. If you don’t have time to do this before the assignment is due, write a plan for what you will do and how you will know if it works.
Additional requirements and hints:
• Don’t just name-drop concepts from the textbook or class; show me that you understand them. For example, if you say you’re Type A, give some examples of your behavior and explain why this behavior pattern affects your stress process. When talking about your coping strategies, describe a specific thing that you do and which category it falls into. The goal is for you to use the course concepts as tools to analyze something real about your life. It may help to discuss a few concepts (the ones you think are most important or relevant) in depth rather than trying to mention everything we covered.
• The minimum length is 500 words (approximately a page and a half, double-spaced). However, your primary goal should be to meet the assignment requirements effectively, so you may find that you need more space than this. You can use the question numbers if you’d like, but you should write in prose (full sentences, essay-style), not bullet points.
• This assignment will be more useful to you if you write about stressors that are really affecting you. However, disclose only as much information as you are comfortable with—if you’re dealing with a painful or traumatic stressor, it’s okay not to go into detail or to write about something else. Bear in mind that there are some situations I may be required to report (e.g., if you’re thinking about harming yourself or others).
• Academic and Professional Integrity: Please act in accordance with the academic integrity policies outlined by the university (http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.html). Any instance of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating, submitting a past students’ work as your own) will be handled in accordance with the procedures outlined in the policies set forth by the university. I wish to be very clear: Any detected instance of plagiarism (e.g., copying form a friend, cutting and pasting from another’s work), cheating or other academic dishonesty can result in a grade of 0 on the assignment, perhaps a failing grade in the course, and a referral to university officials.
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