Week 14 — Readings & Resources · Stress, Health & Coping

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective covered: Objective 8 — Apply psychological science to stress and health (the stress-and-health portion).

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is deliberately light: 3 short readings + 1 video, grouped by the ideas from the lecture, plus one optional full-chapter reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 40–50 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① what stress does in the body (fight-or-flight, the GAS, cortisol) → ② the mind–body link & emotions → ③ coping that works (problem- vs. emotion-focused) → ④ regulating stress & well-being.

A habit to start now: as you read, quietly run each idea on your own recent stress — What size stressor was this (catastrophe, life change, daily hassle)? Which GAS stage am I in? Could I change the stressor, or only manage the feeling? That's how this week's ideas become tools instead of trivia.

One supportive note for this unit: this is wellbeing-adjacent material. If anything here brings up more than you'd like to sit with, the campus counseling center is a good, ordinary resource to use. Read for the science and the practical tools.

① What Stress Does in the Body · Fight-or-Flight, the GAS & Cortisol

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–4. A stressor triggers a fast fight-or-flight surge (sympathetic nervous system, adrenaline); under prolonged stress, the HPA axis releases cortisol and the body moves through Selye's three stages — alarm → resistance → exhaustion.

Reading — "What Is the Stress Response?" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-biology.html
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language walk-through of the body's stress machinery — the fast fight-or-flight pathway (adrenaline, increased heart rate) and the slower HPA axis that releases cortisol for prolonged stress — exactly the physiology we drew in Segments 3–4.
⏱ ~8 min

Video — "Emotion, Stress, and Health: Crash Course Psychology #26"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KbSRXP0wik
Why it earns the click: a lively ~10-minute tour of how stress works — the nervous system's response, the effect of chronic stress on the body, and how emotions and health connect. Covers Segments 3, 4, and 6 in one video.
⏱ ~10 min

② The Mind–Body Link · Stress, Immunity & the Heart

Maps to Lecture Segment 6. Stress isn't "just in your head": chronic high cortisol suppresses the immune system and is linked to heart disease. This is the heart of health psychology — why coping well is a genuine health behavior.

Reference — OpenStax Psychology 2e, Chapter 14, §14.3 "Stress and Illness"
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/14-3-stress-and-illness
Why it's assigned: a current, readable treatment of the mind–body link — how chronic stress affects the immune system (psychoneuroimmunology) and the cardiovascular system, including the Type A/Type B pattern and the role of hostility in heart risk. The best one-stop for Segment 6.
⏱ ~9 min

③ Coping That Works · Problem-Focused vs. Emotion-Focused

Maps to Lecture Segment 7. Lazarus & Folkman split coping in two: problem-focused (change the stressor — best when you have control) and emotion-focused (manage the feelings — best when you don't). The key skill is fitting the strategy to what you can control.

Reading — "Stress Management Techniques: Problem & Emotion-Focused Coping" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-management.html
Why it's assigned: lays out problem-focused and emotion-focused coping side by side with everyday examples, and makes the same point we made in class — problem-focused coping is generally most effective when the stressor is controllable, while emotion-focused coping is the right tool for what you can't change.
⏱ ~9 min

④ Regulating Stress & Well-Being

Maps to Lecture Segment 7. The evidence-based menu: a sense of control, social support, exercise, and relaxation/mindfulness. The hopeful headline — most of what helps is ordinary, learnable, and free.

Reference — OpenStax Psychology 2e, Chapter 14, §14.4 "Regulation of Stress"
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/14-4-regulation-of-stress
Why it's assigned: the practical companion to the coping reading — defines problem- vs. emotion-focused coping, then covers the heavy hitters for managing stress: perceived control, social support (with its striking link to health and longevity), exercise, and relaxation techniques. Note the textbook's own example: a student failing a midterm copes problem-focused by contacting the professor and setting a study schedule — the same logic as our worked example.
⏱ ~9 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim all week, OpenStax Psychology 2e keeps its full text free to read online. Chapter 14 ("Stress, Lifestyle, and Health") covers everything in this week — what stress is, stressors, stress and illness, regulating stress, and the pursuit of happiness.
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/14-introduction
Why it's here: a reputable, currently-available reference you can return to for the final — entirely optional this week.

Pick-one quick path (≈18 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Psychology #26 — Emotion, Stress, and Health (groups ①–②).
2. Read Stress Management Techniques (group ③ — problem- vs. emotion-focused coping), and skim the top of §14.4 "Regulation of Stress" (group ④).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Bennett and use the OpenStax reference above in the meantime.