Identify the key issues, providing appropriate support from the health psychology literature.

Stress Case Study

John is a 45 year-old man who has been suffering with stress recently. He has been finding it hard to sleep, and he has been getting very angry with others. He has also been having some issues with his breathing, sometimes it speeds up and he finds it hard to breathe. He has two small children aged 5 and 7 and a wife who is a stay at home mother. John is the sole income provider for the family. He works in a factory on the assembly line, and there has been talk of replacing staff with computer technology. All the staff are worried and feel as though they need to work even faster to show that they can be just as efficient as the machines. John is finding that he is having conflict with his co-workers as he is very competitive and deadline driven. He is getting really cross with his co-workers if they want to take their breaks and the work has not been completed. John frequently misses his breaks. His wife has noticed that John seems irritable, but he hasn’t told her anything about his breathing difficulties. Every time she tries to talk to John about it, he heads down the pub with his friends. In fact, he is there most nights after work. He prefers it there, as they don’t talk about problems, they play darts and just have some drinks and a few laughs. John and his wife haven’t been anywhere together, just the two of them, since the children were born as they don’t have any family close by to look after them, and they can’t afford a babysitter.

1. Identify the key issues, providing appropriate support from the health psychology literature.
2. Drawing on research evidence, outline a tailored health psychology intervention for this individual.