Final Project: Case Study

July 10 2010 Psy/210

What are the causes of stress in Michael’s or Jennifer’s life? How is stress affecting Michael’s or Jennifer’s health? There are several key factors in Jennifer's life leading her to stress. Subconsciously she is still dealing with the loss of her baby, her mother, and the possibility of losing her father. Also her career is adding major stress to her life from her keeping everything together, and the long commutes to and from work. Also the fact that she is trying to please her husband, his parents, and her co-workers, it adds extra stress to her. Jennifer includes the comment that she does not feel like she is keeping up with housework. Her commute is lengthy and perhaps if Antonio could contribute to regular chores as well as meals this would alleviate some of her pressure to take care of housework. How are these stressors affecting Michael’s or Jennifer’s self-concept and self-esteem? Jennifer is torturing her body health wise, by trying to please everyone she is causing serious harm to herself. Not only is Jennifer causing harm to herself she is severely damaging how she feels about herself. By her falling behind, in her household duties, and making mistakes at work, she is eventually going to start doubting herself, which i believe will lead her to develop low self-esteem. This may in turn cause her to decide not to get pregnant again because her life is becoming unbalanced and she will begin to think she will not be a good mother. How might Michael’s or Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment? How might this situation become an opportunity for personal growth? Jennifer should take time for herself. If she just thinks about all the people that look up to her at work and focus on herself and not others she should feel less stressed. This may give Jennifer the opportunity to grow and feel better about herself and getting pregnant again. She needs to let go of the fact that she lost her baby and try her best to move on. Sometimes steeping back and starting fresh is the way to live a healthier life. What defensive coping methods are Michael or Jennifer using? What active coping methods might be healthier for Michael or Jennifer to use? Explain why you would recommend these methods. Jennifer is using the Psychological barrier coping method to deal with her pain. This is an emotional barrier that causes individuals to make excuses that makes themselves believe that are not stressed or in pain. The key to managing stress is to use this mental clarity to solve problems, rather than just distract yourself from problems. In other words, relaxation allows you to keep yourself mentally strong, physically and mentally healthy, and calm enough to deal with life's stresses. You are not really coping with stress if you simply distract yourself and do not deal with situations. If Jennifer faces her problems than she can develop a way to deal with her issues. Select one theory of personality and use this theory to tell Michael or Jennifer how this theory explains his or her situation I would say that the Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Personality would relate to Jennifer’s situation because her doctor can not find anything medically wrong with her that would cause her to have headaches and feel the way she does. Sigmund Freud believed these symptoms were psychological in nature, but that their causes must be buried in the recesses of the mind beyond the reach of ordinary conscious awareness. In what stage of development is Michael or Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be affecting his or her perspective of this situation? Jennifer is in the warning stage of her situation. She is experiencing discomfort and pain because her body is trying to tell her that something is wrong. Being that Jennifer is not realizing that her body is giving her warning signs she may not be able to address the situation right away. In this stage Jennifer isn’t really excepting the fact that she has a problem so pain and discomfort impair performance and coping ability. In what stage of development is Michael or Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be affecting his or her perspective of this situation? In Jennifer’s case her relationship with her husband, in-laws, and father could all be contributing factors to the problems experienced. On one hand she may feel the need to meet expectations of her in-laws to become a mother, on the other hand her husband may be expecting dinner on the table every night when he comes home. These may seem like occasional or daily hassles but compounded by her fathers fading health and how to best assist him in living they are much more complex. Jennifer does not want to let anyone down and may feel like she is when she is not doing it all.