Psychology Assignment: Stress, Pain, Coping, and Wellbeing Analysis

This psychology assignment examines the biopsychosocial model and its influence on health and illness, particularly focusing on the relationship between stress and pain. It explores how psychological factors, such as stress, impact the perception and experience of pain, and how the brain plays a key role in modulating pain signals. The assignment discusses the effects of stress on the body, including muscle tension and physiological responses, and how these can exacerbate pain. The assignment further analyzes the psychological wellbeing of university students and their coping strategies, including support-seeking, positive reappraisal, and planning. It also considers factors like gender and age in stress management. The assignment uses the theory of stress coping to explain the relationship between stress, coping strategies, and psychological wellbeing. It also explores how coping strategies impact academic performance and physical health.

Running Head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
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PSYCHOLOGY 2
Part 1
Task 1
Biopsychosocial model asserts that health and illness are determined by a dynamic
interaction between biological, social and psychological factors (Kevin, 2011). Based on this
model, it is the interaction of these factors which lead to a particular health or illness
outcome. For pain to occur in one’s body, it means that a damage has occurred somewhere in
his body and this damage can be influenced by different factors. From this model, it is clear
that the difference in level of pain which people experience is influenced by different factors
which impact it. This model can be used to help human beings understand that the happiness
they have is not from pleasure, but from rest from pain.
Task 2
Findings From various studies conducted in the past have shown close relationship
between stress and pain. Stress is defined as a sense of uncontrollability and unpredictability
which arise as a result of several factors which human beings undergo in their day to day
activities (Carri-Ann, 2012). While stress can be helpful in some occasions, like for example
in challenging work environment, it can also be detrimental on other factors like for example
in dealing with pain. Recent research indicates that stress dramatically decreases the ability
of the body to control pain.
When one is stressed, the muscles tense up. When this happens, the ability of the
body to respond to pain is usually impacted (Alan & Richard, 2011). When the body muscles
are taut and tense for a long period of time, other reactions are triggered. Sometimes these
reactions lead to illnesses which may increase the pain. Because pain is usually regulated by
the nervous system, the brain becomes the key player on how people perceive what they

PSYCHOLOGY 3
experience in their bodies. This means when one is stressed, the ability of the brain to filter
pain signals is usually negatively influenced and this may lead to increase in pain.
In some cases, Stress in the body lead to raise in blood pressure, heart rate, breathing
rate and muscle tension. Abnormalities in these activities reduce the ability to modulate pain
and this is the reason why pain increases with increase with the level of stress (Minakshi,
2015). Increase in Stress also worsen pain through impacting sleep, mood and pain threshold.
Because stress triggers pain, one of the strategies which can be used to attain pain relief is
coming up with strategies of how to manage stress effectively.
Task 3
Telling someone that ‘your pain is in his head’ can make the person enter in a
situation which can significantly increase the level of the pain. This phrase can only be
understood by people who knows the relationship between the function of the brain and pain,
and if used for people who do not understand this, it can make them develop stress which can
in turn lead to an increase on the level of pain. Although the brain, which is in the “head” is
the one which give perception towards pain, this can be hardly understood by someone who
is in pain (Peter, 2013). In most cases, people in chronic pain views this as a hurtful and
biting phrase which should not be applied on situations of pain because it worsens the
condition in some people especially those who do not understand what it means. Some of
them find the phrase not realistic because they feel that they only experience the pain where
there is a problem.

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Part two
Task 1
This article explains the relationship between the psychological wellbeing of
university students and coping with stress. The article also considers other factors in stress
management like gender, age and degree in one’s ability to cope with stress. The authors also
tried to explain different profiles of university students according to their level of
psychological well-being and also provided an analysis of the difference between these
profiles in the use of three coping strategies namely; support seeking, positive reappraisal and
planning. There are various ways which university students can use to cope with stress which
arise from their day to day activities. The effectiveness of each strategy is influenced by
several factors including the cause of the stress (Freire, Del Mar Ferradas, Valle, & al., 2016).
The article explains the importance of these coping strategies and how they can be applied by
students on coping with stress. Generally, this article explains how various aspects influence
the ability of university student to cope with academic stress. It also explains the relationship
between stress and well-being and how the ability to cope with stress influence various things
like academic performance, physical health among others.
Task 2
If I received lower mark than I expected on a university assignment, I would use
support-seeking. This strategy can be of benefit to me in the fact that getting low grade can
lead to increased stress because one of the major goals of every student is to attain the best
grades. Support seeking can act as a buffer against the physiological and psychological
effects of stress which can result from thinking about the reasons which led to the failed
grade (Carr, 2011). Support seeking can play a significant role in managing stress in such
situation because it can prevent me from isolating and internalizing the impact of stress.

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One of the ways which I could apply this mechanism is trying to talk with a
supportive person. This can be my subject teacher, other student, family member or any other
person who I feel can give me an information which can assist in managing the stress. In this
case, informational support can be prioritized because the aim of seeking for support will be
to obtain information which can guide and advise me on coming up with a solution, and also
assist me on how understand and cope better with the situation.
Task 3
According to this article, coping strategies utilized by students plays a significant role
in their psychological well-being. The journal used the theory of stress coping to explain the
relationship among various factors like the causes of stress among the university students,
coping strategies and the psychological well-being. From the article, the use of effective
coping strategies among the students makes them maintain higher level of psychological
well-being (Subhi & Al-Gamal, 2013). Apart from psychological well-being, the author also
relates stress among university students with various other factors like academic performance
and physical health. This explains the reasons why the students who find challenges in coping
with stress fail to indicate good academic performance as compared to those who use best
strategies to manage stress. Being unable to cope with stress also impacts the physical health
of students by making them look sick even when they are healthy.
References

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Alan, D. K., & Richard, D. U. (2011). Understanding Pain: What You Need to Know to Take Control.
Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Carr, D. (2011). Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How to Bounce Back. New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press.
Carri-Ann, G. (2012). Review of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Chronic Pain: The Path to
Integrated Care. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 49(12), 78-90.
Freire, C., Del Mar Ferradas, M., Valle, A., & al., e. (2016). Profiles of Psychological Well-being and
Coping Strategies among University Students. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 20-56.
Kevin, F. (2011). The Rise and Fall of the Biopsychosocial Model: Reconciling Art & Science in
Psychiatry. American Journal of Psychotherapy,, 65(1), 54-69.
Minakshi, R. (2015). Positive Psychology and Its Importance at Workplace. Indian Journal of Positive
Psychology, 6(2), 98-102.
Peter, S. (2013). Defining Counselling Psychology: What Do All the Words Mean? New Zealand
Journal of Psychology, 42(3), 56-78.
Subhi, A., & Al-Gamal, E. (2013). Perceived stress and coping strategies among Jordanian nursing
students during clinical practice in psychiatric/mental health courses. international Journal
of health nursing, 23(4), 326–335.