After receiving feedback from the initial three articles presented I really understood what was

wanted for these annotated bibliographies. I feel every question was answered to the extent it

was required, and gave a good outline of what each source’s information provided.

Annotated Bibliography Andrew Tilley UWRT-1103

List of Keywords: Stress, What causes stress, stress in college students, how we can combat

stress, stress’ impact to the brain/body, PTSD, stressors, ways to identify stressors

1. Segal, Jeanne, Melinda Smith, Robert Segal, and Lawrence Robinson. "Stress Symptoms,

Signs, & Causes." Helpguide.org. N.p., Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

Jeanne and her co-authors discussed several aspects of stress including ways to deal with

stress, how to identify stressors, and even determining the body’s ability to manage stress. Stress

is defined as the way your body reacts under any degree of threat or demand. When in danger the

nervous system produces stress hormones, such as adrenaline, to prepare the body for emergency

reactions. This is known as the fight or flight response, and is the way your body protects itself in

danger. According to Jeanne Segal, the co-founder of Helpguide.org and an emotional

intelligence expert, “When working properly, stress helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert.

In emergency situations, stress can save your life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself,

for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.” Without these

hormones being released throughout the body one would be left vulnerable, or unprepared for

stressful situations. However not all stress is bad. Within your comfort zone stress can keep you

focused on goals that you’re trying to reach. Whether it be studying for an upcoming test,

preparing for an important job interview, or presenting a speech to fellow classmates, it keeps

you focused and energized on the task at hand. Stress becomes bad once it becomes

overwhelming. Melinda Smith, a co-author to the article with a Master’s degree in psychology,

identifies three ways of how people respond to stress. They are social engagement, mobilization,

and immobilization. The authors also discuss the effects an overload of stress can wreak on the

body.

“What causes excessive stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that's

stressful to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it.”

“The situations and pressures that cause stress are known as stressors. We usually think of

stressors as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship.

However, anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful.”

“While unchecked stress is undeniably damaging, you have more control than you might think.”

All in all this article was straight forward. It was completely useful to the question I am

asking because it covers a myriad of ideas pertaining to the question What Causes Stress? It hits

on aspects such as dealing with stress, symptoms of stress, ways to manage stress, and what

causes stress. I feel that students seeking questions about stress should read this article because it

was really helpful in clearing up ideas and even misconceptions. If someone was wanting to

identify stressors that can set on stress hormones they should read this article. It articulates a

detailed list of stressors, and even combines ways to combat them into the list. I feel this article

is going to be useful in the Inquiry Project, and will have a vital take away lesson for the future.

2. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." Films on Demand Digital Educational Video. Films Media

Group, 3 May 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.

This short film discusses Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and gives an accurate insight on

how it affects people’s lives. The story is based around two separate experiences with two men

living in England. The first man that appears in the film was Steve Costello, a man in his early

thirties who used to be a soldier for England. He was ambushed one evening by the terrorist

organization known as the IRA while attending a dinner for his superior officer. He was shot

several times, while the man that he was with was killed. The next man the film discussed was

Treavor Hicks. Treavor was a father of two girls, with a wife and a happy marriage. The family

pastime was to go watch soccer at their local stadium. It was a semifinals match between two

teams, and the stadium was crowded. People began to rush the field before the game started,

creating chaos. In the end both of Treavor’s children were crushed to death by the crowd,

triggering his traumatic experience. According to Sheena Liness, the Cognitive Therapy Director

at Maudsley Hospital in England, stated “The symptoms of PTSD are obviously very distressing.

The person not only has gone through this traumatic event, they then find themselves re-

experiencing the event. They begin to cut themselves off from friends and relatives. And it can

begin to affect their work, social life, family, and financial situation.” Sheena is a proclaimed

expert in the field of PTSD, and has spent many years researching it, making her a valid expert

on the topic.

I feel this article pertains to my research paper because it is looking at an exclusive

disorder related to stress. PTSD is by far one of stress’ dangerous forms because it is more than

just the everyday struggle. I feel this video would help viewers identify if they had PTSD, and

briefly listen to ways in which others are coping with their PTSD. The video was easy to follow,

and I believe very helpful in identifying yet another cause of stress.

3. Deckro, Gloria R., Marilyn Wilcher, Jeffery Dusek, Patricia Myers, Beth Greenburg, Herbert Benson,

David S. Rosenthal, Keli M. Ballinger, and Michael Hoyt. "Journal of American College

Health." The Evaluation of a Mind/Body Intervention to Reduce Psychological Distress and

Perceived Stress in College Students. PubMed, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

Gloria R. Deckro and her co-authors discussed a study done which involved college students,

and stress. The author analyzed the effect of a 6 week study on the intervention of anxiety, and

perception of stress in college students. 128 students were divided up into two separate groups. 63

students were assigned to the experimental group, while the other 65 were assigned to a control group

so that the researchers who conducted the experiment would have a constant to base their outcomes

on. The experimental group sat through 6 group sessions which discussed the relaxation response, and

cognitive behavioral skills. To measure their progression as the experiment ran its course, the Symptom

Checklist-90-Revised, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Perceived Stress Scale were

implemented to test the psychological state of each student before, and after the experiment. After the

experiment was conducted there were significant reductions in both anxiety level, and stress level were

determined. From the initial experiment the authors felt that the mind and body training was successful,

and wanted to run the experiment again over a longer test period. The targeted audience for this article

was for college students considering the test group consisted of college students, and is meant to serve

college students as a stress aid. Gloria R. Decko, director of the education initiative with the Mind/Body

Medical Institute at Harvard Medical School, states that “Research in college students supports a

relationship with heightened levels of stress and behavioral patterns that may compromise health.” By

this she means that through experiencing high levels of stress the body can physically be impacted.

“It is now widely believed that the cause of many disease conditions is a complex interaction

among genetic and behavioral factors, and stress.”

“In essence, regular practice of the RR increases one’s resilience to stress”

“In fact, many believe that at times stress is caused more by the way we think about a

problem than by the problem itself.”

This article was also an easy to read article. The information is straight forward, with

concepts explained in footnotes. The authors included visual tables for their results, which made

it easier to follow the findings of the experiments. This article was applicable to my paper

because it discusses a way to combat stress. Through implementing the mind/body technique

discussed in the article stress could possibly be reduced. I feel this article helps not only with

college students that are experiencing great volumes of stress, but also anyone else who feels

they’re being overloaded. The technique will have the same outcome no matter the age of the

person.

4. "Common Stressors That You Can Encounter Every Day." The Stress Management Society.

N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

In this article related to stress the Stress Management Society, a non-profit aimed at

helping people manage their stress, discussed common stressors that people encountered in their

daily life. They focused in on 5 key stress creating actions let people know what they were. The

list included: Not having enough time, practicing unhealthy habits, getting more than you can

handle, expecting too much, and lastly the depravation of rest and relaxation. “When you are

endlessly beating deadlines or running errands, you will most likely feel exhausted at the end of

the day. What you need to do is to rank your priorities so you will know which tasks to do first.”

This quote was pulled from the description of the first stressor not having enough time. As I was

pulling information from this article I saw a pattern from recent articles about common

stressors. Not having enough R and R, taking on too much at one time, and practicing unhealthy

habits were all repeated across three separate sources. This indicated to me that these were

indeed stressors to use in my thesis.

“Gorging on junk food, smoking, excessive drinking, and not exercising are all factors

that can contribute to physical stress. This is because this kind of lifestyle prevents you from

being able to cope with hardships.”

“Wanting to impress people is normal, especially in the corporate arena. But taking in

more than you chew is bound for failure. So be honest with yourself and accept only the tasks

that you are confident in doing.”

“Having high expectations is always a ticket to disappointment; hence, when things do

not work out the way you wanted them, you get upset and stressed out”

This article was fairly straightforward in gathering information. The author highlighted

in blue text which stressor was which and immediately under the description on the stressor.

This article is applicable to my inquiry question because it is identifying what causes stress.

Understanding how to identify what causes you stress is a step towards managing it. It would

help people pursuing this question because it identified common stressors in everyday life. Even

if the reader knew the stressors before the article, because a lot of them were obvious, it would

reaffirm, and possibly focus attention to the stressor.

5. "Four Ways to Deal with Stress." American Heart Association - Building Healthier Lives,

Free of Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke. American Heart Association, June 2014.

Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

The American Heart Association, a non-profit devoted to fighting cardiovascular

diseases and stroke, discusses four general ways to combat stress. They broke down the ways to

manage stress into four distinct categories. The first category was positive self-talk. The concept

behind positive self-talk was to turn negative self-talk too positive self-talk. Negative self-talk is

when you think negative things to yourself, such as “I can’t do this.”, or “Wow you suck at

this.” If an individual was capable of turning those negative thoughts into positive ideas then

they would have a method of managing stress. The second way to manage stress was by

implementing emergency stress stoppers in your life. These emergency stress stoppers are

implemented when someone feels like they are too stressed out on the spot. The emergency

stress stoppers ranged from taking three to five deep breaths, to driving on the slow lane to

avoid stress on the streets. They are quick, and usually simple, techniques that if implemented

correctly will manage one’s stress level. The third technique to managing stress was to find

pleasure. “When life gives you lemons make lemonade” is what this method boils down to.

When an individual starts to feel stressed do an activity that takes your mind off it. One will

realize that their stress level will be significantly reduced after the activity has been completed.

The fourth and final method to this list was daily relaxation. This however is not simply kicking

it back after a long day’s work. As the American Heart Association put it “To relieve stress,

relaxation should calm the tension in your mind and body. Some good forms of relaxation are

yoga, tai chi (a series of slow, graceful movements) and meditation.” By implementing this

method you will feel focused, energized, and ultimately less stressed.

-“When stress makes you feel bad, do something that makes you feel good. Doing things you

enjoy is a natural way to fight off stress.”

-“To help you feel better, practice positive self-talk every day — in the car, at your desk, before

you go to bed or whenever you notice negative thoughts.”

-“Try these emergency stress stoppers. You may need different stress stoppers for different

situations and sometimes it helps to combine them.”

This article was easy to pull knowledge from. Like the recent document each section was

bolded at the main method, and then listed all of its information directly below it. It provided

step by step guides, and multiple helpful techniques at eliminating stress. I believe this article

would be good for people seeking information about this topic. It goes into detail about the

myriad of options one has at their disposal. I felt that this article was targeted at individuals that

were stressed out seeking answers. That would be the reason I visited a site like this.

6. Nesse, Randolph M., and Elizabeth A. Young. "Evolutionary Origins and Functions of the

Stress Response." U-M Personal World Wide Web Server. University of Michigan

Department of Psychiatry, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

Randolph Neese and his co-author Elizabeth Young introduce the origin, and history of

stress. In their article they talk about stress as an evolutionary trait that helped us evolve in the

eyes of Darwinism. The article was split into four different sub-topics to communicate the idea

that stress was an evolutionary trait. The first sub-topic discussed the utility of the stress

response. This utilization doesn’t look at its causes, mechanisms, or effects. But rather “How

does the stress system give a selective advantage”? And “What is the evolutionary history of the

stress system?” “The stress system is a complex, sophisticated, and carefully regulated

adaptation that has been shaped by natural selection because it gives a selective advantage. That

advantage must be substantial in order to outweigh its huge costs.” The question they were

analyzing in this article was rather stress was worth the risks it could cause. The next section of

the academic reading was the phylogeny of the stress response. It opened with examining the

stress response across several species of animals. Basically this section was a bunch of scientific

mumbo-jumbo, however I found this quote to be salient “Why isn’t the stress system better? It

could be more effective, but only at a still greater cost.” The idea that the stress system has

evolved since the dawn of man is explained. If the stress response increased the body’s function

more efficiently than it already does, then our bodies would be more susceptible to disease,

injury, and fatigue. The stress response already takes enough out of people currently. Increasing

it could have negative results. The third section discussed how the stress response helped. I’m

not going to talk about this section because it introduces ideas already covered by previous

sources. The fourth and final section discussed the how stress was implemented in our primal

ancestors environment, and the modern environment. “Some suggest that life is more stressful

now than it was for our predecessors. Special aspects of our environment do cause new kinds of

stress. Working in a bureaucracy is tedious and political at best. Driving to work, living in a

ghetto, running a corporation, working in a factory-these all arouse the stress system. Despite

the amount of stress we experience, however, our ancestors almost certainly experienced more.

With no police, no food reserves, no medicine, no laws, rampant infections, and prevalent

predators, danger could come at any time.” As one could see the stress response was a lot more

important to our ancestors than us. The dangers involved in living in that environment called for

a “flight or fight” response.

This reading was more of a medium difficulty read. The information was laid out in a

clear paragraphs, with little technical wording. However it was in paragraph styled formatting

which is harder to pull information from. This article was relevant to my thesis because it broke

down the origins of stress. By doing so I felt it was easier to understand why we have the stress

response, and ways that the modern environment could trigger stress. I feel anyone who is

researching the origins of stress looking for a reason to why we have this response should view

this article.

7. "Stress and the Brain." Your Amazing Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.

This article, presented by the website www.youramazingbrain.org, discussed what

happened inside the body when the brain sensed it needed the stress response. “Once your brain

has decided there’s a danger, it sends immediate nerve signals down your spinal cord to your

adrenal glands telling them to release the hormone adrenaline. Once released, adrenaline

increases the amount of sugar in your blood, increases your heart rate and raises your blood

pressure” As this is occurring the hypothalamus, a section of the brain that controls the body’s

homeostatic systems, sends signals to the pituary gland, another section of the brain. The pituary

gland sends signals through the body to an individual’s adrenal cortex. This is where the magic

happens. The adrenal cortex releases a stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is important

because it keeps your blood sugar levels and blood pressure high so than one could escape from

danger. This is the part in the flight or fight response that helps you flee, or stay and fight. The

problem with this however is when cortisol is being released into the body over an extended

period of time. “Cortisol has been shown to damage and kill cells in the hippocampus (the brain

area responsible for your episodic memory) and there is robust evidence that chronic stress

causes premature brain aging.” As one could imagine killing brain cells is not a good thing since

brain cells only grow back in certain areas of the brain. Stress has also been linked to causing

chronic depression. “It's quite clear that chronic stress is related to depression. “A common

feature of depression is an excess release of cortisol into the blood. Some neuroscientists and

psychiatrists are now suggesting that the major changes in serotonin and other neurotransmitters

seen in depression are not the cause of depression, but secondary to changes in the stress

response.”

This article was an easy source to pull information from. The information that was key

to the website was bolded, with the discussion of the topic directly following the topic. This

source works in to my paper because it discusses what happens on the neurological level when

someone is stressed out. I feel this article would be useful to students seeking answers to the

science behind stress. The article goes into specific detail on what occurs at the neurological

level, and how the body reacts to the stress process.