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Case Study 1

Chasity Corrington

Psy 210

March 5, 2008

1. What are the causes of stress in Jennifer’s life? How is stress affecting Jennifer’s

health?

The causes of stress in Jennifer’s life are that she is commuting an hour each way

to work. She has the stress of having a miscarriage and her husband’s parents asking her

if she is expecting. She has the stress of loosing her mother. She has the stress of the

possibility of putting her father in to a care facility. She has the stress from work. She

has the stress of household chores. She has the stress from the daily hassles of life to add

to her stress level.

The stresses in Jennifer’s life are causing her to have headaches, backaches and

indigestion. Psychological factors play a role in a great many physical disorders, this is

the reason for her unexplained pain. Jennifer is also tired. Her body is tired because

during the GAS in the third stage is exhaustion. Because of the prolonged stress her body

is releasing corticosteroids. These steroids counter inflammation and also inter fear with

the formation of antibodies. If she were sick it would make it more difficult for her to get

well again.

2. How are these stressors impacting Jennifer’s self-concept and self esteem?
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These stresses are impacting her self-concept because she is questioning her

effectiveness as an employee, wife, daughter and potential mother. She is proud of the

type of person she is. She places a high value on perfection and she is not meeting this

value. By not accomplishing this value this makes her self esteem go down. She places a

high value on perfection and she is not meeting this value. This then gives her a lower

self esteem. As it lowers her self esteem she then has a more difficult time meeting the

personal goals she has determined for her self. This may change her self-efficacy

expectations from an “I can” to an “I can’t” she would be less likely to try something

new. People who have higher self efficacy they are more likely to try something new.

She questions her ability to do things and if she can do things correctly. When she is

questioning this it causes her self-concept to be lower.

3. How might Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment? How might this situation become

an opportunity for personal growth?

Adjustments are reactive to the situation. Jennifer’s situation illustrates

adjustment because she is adjusting to not having a baby, not having her mother there,

she is adjusting to her in-laws, and she is adjusting to her father’s illness and having to

move him in to a care facility. She is not doing anything about the problems in her life.

She is just reacting to the problem she is not actively working towards a solution. This

situation may lead to an opportunity for personal growth because she can move past

loosing a baby and look forward to having another child or seeking a group to talk about

her feelings with other women who have had a miscarriage. Jennifer may also work
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towards helping her father understand this is what is best for him and that he will be able

to make new friends at the care facility. A personal growth is proactively working

towards an end and makes things happen.

4. What defensive coping methods is Jennifer using? What active coping methods might

be healthier for Jennifer to use? Explain why you would recommend these methods.

Jennifer is using the denial coping method. She is in denial that she is stressed or

that she is in denial that she is not happy. It would be good for her to express her

feelings to someone and not keep it bottled up inside of her. It would be good for her to

talk about what is happening in her life. She then could use laughter. Laughing helps

reduce stress. She could pick up a hobby that she enjoys doing. By doing something she

likes it can help reduce the stress of day to day life. By being aware of how her body

reacts to stress she can realize that she is more stressed by certain things. This will allow

her to control those stresses better and prepare her body to handle the stress. She can

prepare her body by getting rest, eating well and getting exercise. She may want to start

to exercise to reduce the stresses in her life. Exercise helps one work threw their

problems and the body sends out endorphins that help reduce the stressed feelings.

5. Select one theory of personality and use this theory to Jennifer how this theory

explains her situation.

According to psychoanalytic theory Jennifer is repressing her painful memories.

These painful memories include her loosing the baby and her mother. The repression is

supposed to normally repress activities that are unacceptable urges or impulses. The
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unconscious mind does not give up information easily. Because of repressing her

feelings towards the death of her mother and baby and the repression of her inadequate

feelings of work and being a wife this has caused her physical problems. This defense

mechanism reacts unconsciously. This is why she feels the pain but then thinks that

everything is fine in her life and she does not have any stress and she is happy with her

life. The identity is also closely related to her parents and their values. She has lost her

mother and is loosing her father which could cause a loss of identity. This is causing her

to have an identity crisis. She is also in conflict with her in-laws because of not having

gotten pregnant again. This conflicts against her values of the in-laws and may cause

stress.

6. In what stage of development is Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be

impacting her perspective of this situation?

She is in early adulthood. She is going threw the transition age. She could be

questioning where is my life going? Why am I doing this? She may be reassessing the

values she had in her twenties and reassessing her goals that she had. These values and

goals may not be working for her and she may want to try a different approach. She may

be questioning if she wants to be a parent or if she is capable of being a parent. During

this stage of life it is very normal to do this. This may give her a skewed view of her life.

She has found a husband but may not know if he is the one she wants to stay with. She

maybe not be content with him because of the changes in her life. The fact that she had

the miscarriage, and she was preparing to become a parent then the lost that may make

her question her being and why she is there.

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7. What relationship factors or considerations might be influencing Jennifer’s problems?

Relationship with her husband maybe strained because of the miscarriage. He

may not be able to help her work threw her problems. There may be problems with the

relationship because of the difficulty she is having with his parents asking about her

expecting another child. They may have difficulties because of the strain of having to put

her father into a care facility and making that decision. These can lead her to feel

stressed. This can also cause them to grow apart rather than together. They may not

have the romance needed to keep the relationship going. She would need to

communicate with her husband and keep the lines of communication open. If she is

closing him off it will make it so that there is no communication and the love for each

other could end. If the love ends so may the relationship or it would become a loveless

marriage then they would be together only because of the commitment.