Critical Analysis Adrian DeValdivielso

In "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, the main character, Mrs. Mallard, experiences a heart

attack which swiftly ends her life after seeing her husband walk in the door, after being told he

was dead. This is due to the internal conflict experienced by Mrs. Mallard between the love and

grieving she had for her husband, and a newfound outlook of a life of freedom without him,

which then created a neurological overload when she sees her husband waltz through the front

door.

Mrs. Mallard's heart problem wasn't so grave as stated in the beginning if she didn't have any

major outcry for her husband when told that he was dead. Although she mourned at her

husband's supposed death, Mrs. Mallard had already gotten over it and was looking at a brighter

future within the span of an hour. Mrs. Mallard didn't die from shock at the beginning of the

story when told her husband died. Although Mrs. Mallard never actually said any words

throughout the story, she had strong convictions, which points to a strong woman in an era where

women weren't on the same level as men.

Providing Mrs. Mallard with the claim that her husband was dead (without any proof that he

actually was dead) lead to her fantasizing about a life of freedom, only to be torn from it when he

walks in the door, thus creating a trauma for her and killing her instantly. The bearers of bad

news are generally blamed for the bad news itself for how it is communicated (i.e. not done

carefully, delicately, or with much preparation), and in this case, although given the news in a

delicate manner, it was completely off the mark. Having been able to concoct an outlook for the

future without her husband, the meaning of seeing her husband alive is that the wonderful life
she had foreseen for herself breaks down and she has to continue leading the same life she has

until then. This trauma was too much for her to handle and would be an ordeal for most, and one

could argue, left her with the greater end of the stick.

Mr. Mallard, of whom we know little beyond the fact his wife just died upon seeing him alive,

will go through a more tortuous grieving process than Mrs. Mallard's grieving process due to the

sense of guilt for his wife's untimely death. His wife died upon seeing him walk in the door. Mrs.

Mallard's grieving process lasted the span of about 20 minutes before she turned to a brighter

mood.

It is through the weight of the stress and the strain on her mental physique that Mrs. Mallard

reached her unfortunate demise. Mrs. Mallard was not ungrateful that her husband was dead,

however, the destruction of her budding new future (much like a loss in Monopoly) resulted to be

too much to handle.

Anisman, Hymie. Stress and Your Health: from Vulnerability to Resilience. Hoboken, Wiley-

Blackwell, 2015.

This book deals with where stress can come from and way on how it can be dealt with to

minimize the impact on ones health, as well as describe any possible health effects of the

stress. Stress and Your Health: from Vulnerability to Resilience presents an evidence-

based evaluation of the various effects of stress, along with methods to alleviate distress
 and stress-related illnesses. This book seems reliable, since the author has several

published books on psychological illnesses and mental health, generally stemming from

stress. The research is more than likely objective as it is given in a third-person

perspective. The author, Hymie Anisman, has a doctorate and researches behavioural

neuroscience at the Carlton University in Ottawa, Canada, qualifying him in this subject

as a reliable source and making this a scholarly source. This source will help support the

affirmation on certain effects of stress on ones health. Due to its relevance to the

research topic, this source is helpful, and isnt too scholarly for me to understand. This

source is slightly too general in the sense that it covers a wider base of information than

needed (i.e. many different stress sources), but is still specific enough to be useful.

Caplan, Gerald. Loss, Stress, and Mental Health. Community Mental Health Journal, vol. 26,

no. 1, 1990, pp. 2748.

The article Loss, Stress, and Mental Health explores how attachment leads to distress

when coupled with loss, and how those feelings of distress lead to loss of problem

solving abilities and cognitive skills. This is a process which is described by Caplan in

three steps. First, the severance of the relationships causes pain. Second, the continued

absence of the relationship prolongs suffering. And lastly, the ways in which this extreme
 destress and prolonged suffering lead to loss of mental capacity in the form of logic-

based skills. Many different mental ailments and disorders which are the consequences of

loss and stress are outlined as well as the recuperative efforts made by the individual to

heal their situation of prolonged depression due to loss. This source seems trustworthy

because the author is not only qualified to write on the subject, but devises a clever

pathway through which he theorizes the stages of loss and labels them in junction with

their consequences. The data is theoretical and conceptualized, which leaves room for

biases, but also holds integrity within its logic. The ailments caused by loss and stress are

indeed well documented and explained to their full extent as well as connected back to

stress and loss. Being very theoretical, the article fits in to the research, but in a minor

way. Though it will more than likely be a minor resource it may still prove to be very

helpful as it is specific on the aspect of the different possible remedies to cope with stress.

Couch, Kenneth A., Mary C. Daly, and Julie M Zissimopoulos. Lifecycle Events and Their

Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in Health. Stanford, CA,

Stanford Economics and Finance, 2013.

In Life Cycle Events and Their Consequences: Job Loss, Family Change, and Declines in

Health several scholarly experts convene to research the ways in which unforeseen life

events affect economic welfare. This edition explores the many facets in which job loss,

unexpected health change, and familial atmosphere modification can impact ones

wellbeing. These three specific examples are studied in junction not because of their

relativity, but due to the fact that often these three events occur all during the same time.
 This book gives an overview of how these unfortunately simultaneously occurring

events affect life course. This source seems to be reliable because it contains the research

of several highly-qualified individuals. However, this data is mainly based upon the

occurrence of job loss, family change, and health declination being relative. The data

found may not be sound outside of those parameters. The facts and research done were

conclusive, and therefore not concrete. There is indeed room for biases within this book,

however I believe few if any are involved in the text. This source is scholarly and

trustworthy. This is a helpful source, as it deals with how losing a family member can

impact ones own health, tying back to my research question. The source is scholarly and

is as specific as possible while generalising the tragedy that is losing a family member.

MacDonald, Geoff, and Lauri A. Jensen-Campbell. Social Pain: Neuropsychological and Health

Implications of Loss and Exclusion. Washington, DC, American Psychological Associa-

tion, 2011.

Social pain is the experience of pain because of social rejection or loss, for example,

rejection from a social group, bullying, or the loss of a loved one. Now, research shows

that social pain results from the stimulation of certain factors in physical pain systems.

Although social, health, clinical, and developmental psychologists have each investigated

different aspects of social pain, recent studies provide a unifying framework for

integrative research. This volume offers the first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary

exploration of social pain. The first part of the book scrutinises the subject from a

neuroscience perspective, outlining the evolutionary basis of social pain and tracing the
 genetic, neurological, and physiological underpinnings of the phenomenon. The second

section explores the consequences of social pain for functioning in social relationships;

contributions examine the influence of painkillers on social emotions, the ability to relive

past social hurts, and the relation of social pain to experiences of intimacy. The last part

of the book assesses social pain from a biopsychosocial perspective in its consideration of

the health implications of social pain, outlining the role of stress in social pain and the

potential long-term health consequences of bullying. The book concludes with an

integrative review of these diverse perspectives. The source is reliable since the author

has a doctorate in the related field. This source is written in a scholarly manner and is

objective, fitting perfectly into my research. It is a helpful source that specifies on the

effects of being secluded from society.

Montada, Leo, Sigrun-Heide Filipp, and Melvin J. Lerner. Life Crises and Experiences of Loss in

Adulthood. Hillsdale, L. Erlbaum Associates, 1992.

Designed to prevent developmental psychological myths pertaining to life crises, this

collection questions, on an empirical basis, the adequacy of several widespread

generalizations. At the same time its contributors attempt to draw paths to

conceptualizations and theories in general psychology and social psychology which

promise to be helpful in analysing and interpreting phenomena in the field of life crises.

Life Crises and Experiences of Loss in Adulthood sets forth a reformulated idea of social

support by presenting a model which references the major sectors of common social

relationships in correspondence to their potential impact on the stress and illness process.
 This hypothesized perspective possibly explains the inconsistency of general research

which would aid in overcoming the failures within future investigations. In the beginning,

the horticulture of social relationships is summarized. Next, the concepts which pair

social relationships with the illness process are analysed. Finally, research is reported to

either prove or disprove the correlations between social factors and mental illness. This

source seems to be reliable because it utilizes facts and models which reference

trustworthy data. It is a scholarly work in which the author is seasoned and professional,

as well as avoids fallacies and assumptions. All theorized knowledge and hypotheses are

qualitative and logically concluded. It is not biased, but instead objective in its findings.

It is free of opinionated data and works solely on facts. Being fact-based, the source is

scholarly, and, also, is specific, fitting in to my research.

Steptoe, Andrew, and A. Appels. Stress, Personal Control and Health. Chichester, Wiley, 1989.

The aim of the present volume is to bring together contributors with different

perspectives on stress, personal control and health. This provides an opportunity for

assessing the similarities and differences in the way in which control is invoked in a

range of health-relevant issues. The current state of knowledge is summarized and

opportunities for new integrative developments in research are highlighted. The book has

been divided into three major sections, preceded by an introductory chapter and followed

by a postscript. These sections reflect three broad areas in which research on control has
been prominent. The first part is entitled 'Occupational aspects,' and emphases the role of

control in job settings, and its influence on health. The second segment, titled 'The

clinical perspective,' features the relationship of control with clinical problems such as

pain, emotional disorders, heart disease and coping with stressful medical procedures.

Finally, the third section, 'Mechanisms relating stress with control,' explains the pathways

through which control affects behaviour and psychobiological responses from an

experimental perspective. The source seems a bit dated, but is still relevant in terms of the

foundation of psychological information; its a helpful source. The book is written in a

scholarly/self-help manner and the author, Andrew Steptoe, is a professor of psychology

at the University of California at San Francisco. This source is helpful and is scholarly,

fitting into my research smoothly with its specificity on self-control of stress and

managing it.