Key Characteristics of Stress - Case Study Example

Stress The word stress is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "a of affair involving demand on physical or mental energy". A condition or circumstance (not always adverse), which can disturb the normal physical and mental health of an individual. In medical parlance stress is defined as a perturbation of the bodys homeostasis. This demand on mind-body occurs when it tries to cope with incessant changes in life. A stress condition seems relative in nature. Extreme stress conditions, psychologists say, are detrimental to human health but in moderation stress is normal and, in many cases, proves useful. Stress, nonetheless, is synonymous with negative conditions. Today, with the rapid diversification of human activity, we come face to face with numerous causes of stress and the symptoms of stress and depression. At one point or the other everybody suffers from stress. Relationship demands, physical as well as mental health problems, pressure at workplaces, traffic snarls, meeting deadlines, growing-up tensions—all of these conditions and situations are valid causes of stress. People have their own methods of stress management. In some people, stress-induced adverse feelings and anxieties tend to persist and intensify. Learning to understand and master stress management techniques can help prevent the counter effects of this urban malaise. The Causes of Stress The causes of stress can be attitudinal, situational, genetic and smoking. In attitudinal context - Our attitude is our reaction to what life hands out to us. Stress is created by what we think rather than by what has actually happened. In situational context - Major life events such as a divorce, death, midlife crisis, financial worries, persistent strain of caring for a chronically sick child, nagging health problems or managing a physically or mentally challenged family member can act as potential stressors. In genetic context - A research article published in the British Medical Journal, suggests: "The psychological state of the mother may affect fetal development." It could be caused by stress induced reduced blood flow through the arteries that feed the uterus. It could also create a mental as well as physical predisposition to certain diseases and behavioral patterns in the later life of a child. In smoking context - Research shows that nicotine dependency actually increases stress levels in smokers-adults and adolescence alike. Adolescent smokers report increasing levels of stress as they develop regular patterns of smoking. They gradually become less stressed over a time when they manage to quit smoking. The Symptoms of Stress Medically, it has been established that chronic symptoms of anxiety and stress can crumble our bodys immune system. Irrespective of the nature of the causes of stress—real or perceived—our subconscious mind reacts with the same body response by releasing stress hormones equal to the degree of our fear, worry or sense of threat. It brings about changes in the bodys biochemical state with extra epinephrine and other adrenal steroids such as hydrocortisone in the bloodstream. It also induces increased palpitation and blood pressure in the body with mental manifestations such as anger, fear, worry or aggression. In short, stress creates anomalies in our bodys homeostasis. When the extra chemicals in our bloodstream dont get used up or the stress situation persists, it makes our body prone to mental and physical illnesses. (http://www.lifepositive.com/stress.html). 1. What are the causes of stress in Jennifer’s life? How is stress affecting Jennifer’s health? There are four causes of Jennifer’s stress. They are: a. Jennifer miscarried in her second month of pregnancy. Antonios parents often ask her if she is expecting again. Indirectly, these requests make her emotionally suffer as she does not conceive. Her inability to conceive may be directly related to stress. b. Jennifers mother passed away two years ago and her fathers health is rapidly deteriorating. c. Jennifer faces the probability of placing her father in a skilled nursing care facility within the next few months, against his wishes. d. At work, Jennifer runs a tight ship. The above causes are making a demand on her physical and mental energy. Consequences are that she finds herself making more mistakes at work, unable to keep up with housework, and feeling tired and overwhelmed. Although she is not willing to accept her stressful condition, the symptoms are evident in headaches, backaches, and indigestion. 2. How are these stressors impacting Jennifer’s self-concept and self-esteem? Self-esteem is the affective or emotional aspect of self and generally refers to how we feel about or how we value ourselves (ones self-worth). Self-concept can also refer to the general idea we have of ourselves and self-esteem can refer to particular measures about components of self-concept. (http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/self.html). “The self-concept is, perhaps, the basis for all motivated behavior” (Franken, 1994, p.443). "People who have good self-esteem have a clearly differentiated self-concept.... When people know themselves they can maximize outcomes because they know what they can and cannot do" (Franken, 1994, p. 439). She has begun to question her effectiveness as an employee, wife, daughter, and potential mother. She finds herself making more mistakes at work, unable to keep up with housework. She doubts herself, her abilities and her effectiveness. She is losing her self-confidence. This is the consequence of stress. 3. How might Jennifer’s situation illustrate adjustment? How might this situation become an opportunity for personal growth? Jennifer was a healthy, enthusiastic and energetic person, before the evolving situation in her personal circumstances altered her life style, her defiant attitude and her well-being. Jennifer can demonstrate her competence to overcome the disappointments, find opportunity in stressors to achieve personal growth and be a winner through all of her unfavoured circumstances. Jennifer will need to create, adapt and maintain her activities to suit her physical, mental and social conditions. In her home front with in-laws – she could positively consider the request of the in-laws to start a family without being angered. She derives the benefits herself. She could discuss the options and accept that it is important to conceive before her physical and health status alter materially. When she adopts the idea to be her own, she automatically reduces the stress level within her. In her father’s circumstances, she needs to make her farther accept that it is in his best medical interests that he should move into a skilled nursing care facility. Probably get his personal physician to have a personal chat and take him around to the intended skilled nursing care facility to let him see for himself the care and comforts afforded. His acceptance will relieve the heavy burden of responsibility. In her work environment, she should discuss with her superiors as to delegating the activities which could be performed by other competent persons. Perhaps giving other more autonomy, more participation in decision-making, more opportunity for self directed work, and more opportunity to use and develop their work related skills. 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 has begun to question her effectiveness as an employee, wife, daughter, and potential mother. By doubting on her abilities she is naturally trying to shed the level of activities which is unable to cope continuously. She is defensively posing a thinking process in her mind and others’ mind so that her inordinate performance can be curtailed to reduce her level of discomfort. Jennifer could actively cope with the stressors by: a. Analyze her own work demands to identify peaks requirements, when help is needed and who could co-opt and eventually even out the performance. b. Look at best times when she could perform her complicated tasks undisturbed so as to complete her assignments well in advance. c. Adapt yourself to handle the most stressful colleagues and bosses. d. Accept the requests and reminders from the in-laws with gratitude. e. Work to a schedule These recommendations accommodate Jennifer’s social, work and family demands which extracts energies and strengths and drains her physical well being. 5. Select one theory of personality and use this theory to tell Jennifer how this theory explains her situation. In psychology, the Big Five personality traits are five broad factors or dimensions of personality discovered through empirical research (Goldberg, 1993). These factors are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN) or from the Five Factor Model (FFM), which has the following 5 factors: surgency, agreeableness, dependability, emotional stability, and culture. Openness to Experience describes a dimension of personality that distinguishes imaginative, creative people from down-to-earth, conventional people. Open people are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. Everyone counts on Jennifer and she takes pride in never letting people down. She is able to meet with peoples’ expectations. She must be creative and down-to-earth for people to like him. She scores well above 50%. Conscientiousness concerns the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses. Impulses are not inherently bad; occasionally time constraints require a snap decision, and acting on our first impulse can be an effective response. Conscientiousness includes the factor known as Need for Achievement (NAch). She is organized and prepares lists to assure that everything is done according to schedule. Her need for achievement makes her to be well-organized, self-disciplined and careful. Her she scores more than 50%. Extraversion (also "extroversion") is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy being with people, are full of energy, and often experience positive emotions. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals who are likely to say "Yes!" or "Lets go!" to opportunities for excitement. She has been enthusiastic and taking on all her assignments well. It appears that she scores well above 70% in this area. Agreeableness reflects individual differences in concern with cooperation and social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are therefore considerate, friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others’. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. She appears to have managed the home front and as well as work environment, though demanding, reasonably without conflicts. Therefore she should score more than 50%. Neuroticism, also known inversely as Emotional Stability, refers to the tendency to experience negative emotions. Those who score high on Neuroticism may experience primarily one specific negative feeling such as anxiety, anger, or depression, but are likely to experience several of these emotions. People high in Neuroticism are emotionally reactive. It is her stress conditions that made her to incline towards negative feelings and to cope with the hopelessness of her father’s condition, inability to conceive and demanding nature of work environment. In the current scenario she scores high on the scale. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits). 6. In what stage of development is Jennifer and what factors about this stage might be impacting her perspective of this situation? Jennifer finds herself tilting towards the Neuroticism, which refers to the tendency to experience negative emotions. Primarily, her inability to deal with the perceived negative developments in the home front, with her father having to act against his wishes, and the work front demands contribute to her experiencing anxiety and depression. When a person scores high on this dimension, he or she tends to be nervous, high-strung, insecure and worrying. She will develop tendency to treat to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly as difficult. If these conditions persist then she will be in bad moods. Such ultimate developments can diminish her ability to think clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. 7. What relationship factors or considerations might be influencing Jennifer’s problems? The discovery or establishment of common ground between individuals provides a fundamental component for enduring interpersonal relationships. Loss of common ground, which may happen over time, may tend to end interpersonal relationships. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship#Factors_in_establishing_and_maintaining_relationships) Jennifer finds herself making more mistakes at work, unable to keep up with housework, and feeling tired and overwhelmed; she has begun to question her effectiveness as an employee, wife, daughter, and potential mother. Her common ground at work is her performance, meeting deadlines & keeping to expectations, her common ground at home is her ability to maintain the warm relationship despite the incessant minding of her need to conceive and her common ground with her father is her ability to maintain the loving relationship. In each instance, she appears and depicts her inability to cope with the stressors which threaten a continuous deterioration towards loss of common ground. Conclusion Jennifer’s causes of stress and her symptoms are identified. Comparative diagnosis identifies her current condition, which may negatively affect her well being. What, when and how she should attempt at eliminating or minimizing the stressors are spelled out. Jennifer can actively indulge and enact the stress reducing arrangements. References: Franken, R. (1994). Human motivation (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co. http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/self.html http://cupe.ca/updir/stress_guideline.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_relationship#Factors_in_establishing_and_maintaining_relationships http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3065/is_n7_v17/ai_6509248 - Managing stress; eight simple coping methods to reduce or eliminate work-related tension and stress - plus a simple test: how high is your stress level? - includes related test: Is stress getting the better of you? – column folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management,  July, 1988  by Katherine Smith http://www.lifepositive.com/stress.html Read More