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Social Stress - Coggle Diagram
Social Stress
Social stress is stress that stems from one's relationships with others and from the social environment in general.
Based on the appraisal theory of emotion, stress arises when a person evaluates a situation as personally relevant and perceives that they do not have the resources to cope or handle the specific situation.
The activation of social stress does not necessarily have to occur linked to a specific event, the mere idea that the event may occur could trigger it.
This means that any element that takes a subject out of their personal and intimate environment could become a stressful experience. Situation that makes them socially incompetent individuals.[3]
Humans are social beings by nature, as they typically have a fundamental need and desire to maintain positive social relationships.[7] Thus, they usually find maintaining positive social ties to be beneficial.
Social relationships can offer nurturance, foster feelings of social inclusion, and lead to reproductive success.[8]
:pushpin:Anything that disrupts or threatens to disrupt their relationships with others can result in social stress.
Social stress can arise from one's micro-environment (e.g., family ties) and macro-environment (e.g., hierarchical societal structure).
Wadman, Durkin, and Conti-Ramsden (2011) defined social stress as "the feelings of discomfort or anxiety that individuals may experience in social situations, and the associated tendency to avoid potentially stressful social situations".[14]
Ilfield (1977) defined social stressors as "circumstances of daily social roles that are generally considered problematic or undesirable".[15]
Dormann and Zapf (2004) defined social stressors as "a class of characteristics, situations, episodes, or behaviors that are related to psychological or physical strain and that are somehow social in nature".[16]
There are three main categories of social stressors. [4]
Life events are defined as abrupt, severe life changes that require an individual to adapt quickly (ex. sexual assault, sudden injury).[5]
Chronic strains are defined as persistent events which require an individual to make adaptations over an extended period of time (ex. divorce, unemployment).[5]
Daily hassles are defined as minor events that occur, which require adaptation throughout the day (ex. bad traffic, disagreements).[5]
When stress becomes chronic, one experiences emotional, behavioral, and physiological changes that can put one under greater risk for developing a mental disorder and physical illness.[6]
Mental health
Depression
Risk for developing clinical depression significantly increases after experiencing social stress;[42]
depressed individuals often experience interpersonal loss before becoming depressed.[43][44]
One study found that depressed individuals who had been rejected by others had developed depression about three times more quickly than those who had experienced stress not involving social rejection.[45]
In non-clinically depressed populations, people with friends and family who make too many demands, criticize, and create tension and conflict tend to have more depressive symptoms.[46][47][48]
Similarly, social stress arising from discrimination is related to greater depressive symptoms.[41][52]
Anxiety
:pushpin:The biological basis for anxiety disorders is rooted in the consistent activation of the stress response.[53]
Fear, which is the defining emotion of an anxiety disorder, occurs when someone perceives a situation (a stressor) as threatening.[54]
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Long-term effects
Social stress occurring early in life can have psychopathological effects that develop or persist in adulthood.
Relapse and recurrence
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(...) patients recovering from depression or bipolar disorder are two times more likely to relapse if there is familial tension.[62]
Similarly, outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder show greater psychotic symptoms if the most influential person in their life is critical[64] and are more likely to relapse if their familial relationships are marked by tension.[63]