solved Differentiate between the terms Stress, anxiety, and arousal. Describe how

Differentiate between the terms Stress, anxiety, and arousal. Describe how you could use Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Systematic Desensitization to assist an individual’s learning and performance. In your description, apply the terms detachment, learned helplessness, Composure, and explain how these concepts are relevant to this discussion.

Energy Control
Audio PowerPoint introduction to key Module 2 information
Students, as we continue through the Education Phase of psychological Skills Training, this week our focus is on the energy issues of an athlete’s performance, that is, helping athletes and other performers overcome challenges with stress, anxiety, and arousal. Review the top right of our Systematic Achievement Motivation Model. Remember, Personality Information:
all experiences during life, including early experiences in, will influence the expression of:

anxiety,
detachment
Composure
Learned helplessness

You are the essence of your reactions and your responses.
We will review these concepts, but more importantly, we will look at strategies to help individuals reduce their effects.

“We are, perhaps, uniquely among the earth’s creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives.” Lewis Thomas

When creating a program that helps athletes, we need to be able to differentiate between Arousal, Anxiety and Stress.

Arousal is a blend of psychological and psychological activation, varying in intensity along a continuum (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).
Anxiety is a negative emotional state with feelings of worry, nervousness, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).
Stress is a substantial imbalance between physical and psychological demands placed on an individual and his or her response capability under conditions in which failure to meet demands has important consequences (Weinberg & Gould, 2015).

Now we are ready to apply this information to a learning and performance situation.

First, an environmental demand happens. This could be a bear runs out in front of you, or in my world, an alligator “trots” out onto the green. In the world of sport, It could be coming to bat with runners in scoring position, maybe in the last inning, and the score is tied or behind by one run. These examples all represent possible demands placed on an individual.
Second, the individual’s perception of these demands, including the threat perceived. A bear or alligator is a serious threat over which normal, self-controlled people would experience great stress. If this same level of stress and anxiety is felt by our batter, you can see this could be a performance problem.
Third, a stress response happens. Arousal increases, muscle tension increases, state anxiety kicks in, and corresponding attentional focus issues result.
Lastly, there are behavioral consequences. Does the level of stress and anxiety prevent attending to the important environmental information, processing this information, and selecting the best movement choice?
Individuals differ in their response to stress. The category of responses includes: affective, behavioral, physiological, and cognitive. Each category has its own unique signs and symptoms. In the Affective category, anger, anxiety, depression, shame and feeling sorry for oneself are frequent examples. Behavioral signs and symptoms often include, restlessness, aggression and sleeping disturbances, drug and possible skipping practice. The physiological symptoms include muscle tension, increased heart rate, indigestion, and headaches. Lastly, Cognitive symptoms are worry, exaggeration, and unrealistic expectations

“Panic is a sudden desertion of us, and a going over to the enemy of our imagination.” Christian Nevell Bovee
Drive Theory and Inverted U-hypothesis
Drive Theory
As arousal or activation increases, there will be a corresponding increase in performance
Inverted U-hypothesis
As arousal increase, so too will performance, but point to a point. If the athlete experiences too much arousal, their performance will decrease. Essentially, there is an “optimal” level of arousal. This optimal level of arousal depends on the individual, situation, ability, and type of skill.

“I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan
According to Weinberg and Gould………

Arousal and state anxiety do not always have negative effects on performance.
They can be facilitative or debilitative depending on the interpretation. Self-confidence and enhanced perceptions of control are critical to perceiving anxiety as facilitative.
Some optimal level of arousal leads to peak performance, but optimal levels of physiological activation and arousal-related thoughts (worry) are not the same.
Interaction of physiological activation and arousal interpretation is more important than actual levels of each.
It is doubtful that the optimal level of arousal is always at the midpoint of the arousal scale.
“Psyching-up” strategies should be employed with caution because it is difficult to recover from a catastrophe.
Athletes should have well-practiced self-talk, imagery, and goal-setting skills for coping with anxiety (Weinberg & Gould, 2007, pp.92-93).

“If you feel anxiety or depression, you are not in the present. You are either anxiously projecting the future or depressed and stuck in the past. The only thing you have any control over is the present moment; simple breathing exercises can make us calm and present instantly.”
Tobe Hanson

Tools for Coping and Techniques for Increasing Intensity
Tools for coping and techniques for increasing intensity include:
Progressive muscle relaxation
Strategies to help release and control tension, breath control, bio-feedback, stress inoculation training.
Systematic desensitization
Assist in overcoming stress and anxiety, stress reduction techniques to help overcome anxiety producing situations and/or events.
Hypnosis
A technique for placing an individual in a heightened state of concentration with an increase in susceptibility to suggestions.
Visualization
An individual forms a mental representation of an object, movement, or experience.
Biofeedback
Often used in chronic pain situations where the individual gains a greater awareness of when the physiological functions are beginning to generate that pain. A corresponding relaxation and pain blocking strategy is then activated.
Autogenic training
Daily practice sessions of relaxation that usually includes visualization as a tool for initiating relaxation.
Negative thought stoppage
When stress and negative thoughts begin, a conscious effort is made, saying “stop”, or imaging a stop sign that then blocks the negative thought and stress.
Centering
Redirecting energy, stress, anger etc. to body center, behind the belly button. Thus detaching and clearing the mind of stress and negative thoughts.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” William James