November 01, 2009Case Study #1Jennifer is a 29-year-old administrative assistant married to Antonio, an Italian engineer,whom Jennifer met four years earlier while on a business trip for her marketing company. Thecouple now lives in Nebraska, where Antonio works for the county's transportationdepartment and Jennifer commutes an hour each way to her marketing office. They have beentrying to start a family for over a year. Eight months ago, Jennifer miscarried in her secondmonth of pregnancy. Antonio's parents love Jennifer and often ask her if she is expectingagain, hoping to encourage her to focus on her next baby. Jennifer's mother passed away twoyears ago and her father's health is rapidly deteriorating. Jennifer faces the probability ofplacing her father in a skilled nursing care facility within the next few months, against hiswishes.
At work, Jennifer runs a tight ship. She is organized and prepares lists to assure thateverything is done according to schedule.
Jennifer Corcoran
Jennifer 8
Jennifer Tisdale and I!Everyone counts on Jennifer and she takes pride innever letting people down.
Jennifer has visited her physician numerous times in the last six months, complaining ofheadaches, backaches, and indigestion. Jennifer insists that she is happy and is not feelingstressed, yet she finds herself making more mistakes at work, unable to keep up withhousework, and feeling tired and overwhelmed; she has begun to question her effectiveness asan employee, wife, daughter, and potential mother. Her pains seem to be increasing, but herdoctor cannot find a physical cause for her discomfort.
(Axia College of University of Phoenix, n.d., p. 2)What are the causes of stress in Jennifer's life? How is stress affecting Jennifer's health?According to Nevid and Rathus (2005), stress is any "event that exerts physical or psychological force or pressure on a person. The demand made on an organism to adjust" (p. 79). After reading through case study number one of appendix...