This assignment builds upon the previous lesson this week to personalize the material, as we seek to understand how we are affected by stress and over-stimulation.  Sigmund Freud (early psychological theorist) proposed that people “somaticize” stress and place traumas in their bodies as a coping mechanism (sometimes placing one’s own health in jeopardy in the process).  As you think about “feeling” stressed or overwhelmed, where do you “place stress” in your body?  Many people get “stress headaches,” while others feel tightness in their chest or back.  Others may experience disruptions in sleep patterns, feeling tired all day (hypersomnia), or having difficulty sleeping at night (insomnia), or both.

• Review your assigned reading this week in the textbook by Grossman & Christensen.

• Write a 1-page double spaced assignment addressing the following points:

• • Discuss how stress affects you physiologically in your body (i.e. “I feel tightness between my shoulder blades and get stress headaches.”)
  • Review how stress affects your mood or psychological state (i.e. “I am less patient with my family when I feel stressed.”)
  • Integrate appropriate reference support that provides theoretical support to your own experience, from either the text/s or other source.  This assignment should integrate at least one reference that is properly cited.

Support your work with scholarly academic resources, textbooks, or other sources provided.  Use of APA format is required.