Stress Reduction Techniques - Term Paper Example

 «Stress» Stress is the indefinite response of the body to any command made upon it. The human body struggles to preserve suitable performance at all times, which is called homeostasis. Load, frequently called stressful event have the consequence of changing the equilibrium, our body tries to maintain functioning a particular way. Moreover, this is called as the stress response. The stress response is a sequence of hormones freed from the brain in order to help us conquer the stressful event. These hormones influence the body, raising our blood pressure, changing blood flow to major muscle groups and the brain, slowing down digestive functions, and other things in training for us to triumph over the stressful event. In former days, most times worrying events were physical threats to our body which the flight or fright response. Human body then tries to get the body system back in balance. Our bodies are constantly becoming accustomed to the environment that surrounds us. In recent times, tense events have taken a much different look. Even though things like traffic, overcrowding, bills, arguments, and other things we recognize as stressful are much different than centuries ago, our bodies stress response hasn't still changed. Stress is one of the most important causes of nervousness disorders, which affect over 20 million Americans. (Gordon, Thurman, 2000) Stressors Stressors are the events or situations that are the foundation of stress. Being not ready to present a presentation at work is an exemplar of a stressor. The situation of being not ready could make a person build up stress. There are two types of stressors: 1) External Stressors 2) Internal Stressors 1) External Stressors These include the physical environment, social interaction with people and life events, which you have no control over like death in the family. 2) Internal Stressors These include the personal lifestyle choice, personality traits, and individual thought process like negativity, over-analyzing. Stressors encircle our daily existence and how you manage stress relates to your physical and mental health. Finding out what events in your living are demanding is an important first step in managing stress. Symptoms of Stress  Short Term These include the following: 1. Fast heart beat 2. Sweating more than normal 3. Skin becomes cool 4. Cold feet and hands 5. Feelings of nausea 6. Rapid breathing 7. Tense muscles 8. Dry mouth 9. Diarrhea 10. Irritability 11. Anxiety Long Term These include the following: 1. Change in diet 2. Consistent colds 3. Asthma 4. Digestive problems 5. Headaches 6. Skin eruptions 7. Sexual disorders 8. Aches and pains 9. Physical exertion 10. Heart trouble 11. Seizures Stress affects the body in a multiplicity of ways. For example, stress can decrease enjoyment of an event, can cause mood changes, and can cause ruthless health problems. With passage of time, stress is related to several chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure, migraine headaches, and a diversity of other medical conditions. Stress can amplify the risk of heart disease, hypertension, and even cancer. The long-term effects of stress can be stopped if a person effectively manages the events and responses to stress. I think I have been under stress as I have found my self, suffering with some stressors. I feel myself to be constantly under pressure. Sometimes I have a feeling that I have no control over the situation. From time to time I have problems falling asleep at night. When I think of words to describe myself, I become cautious, high strung, and tense come to mind. (Gordon, Thurman, 2000) Managing the Stress Stress management takes in techniques planned to equip a person with useful coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress, with stress defined as a person's physiological response to an internal or external stimulus that triggers the fight-or-flight response. Stress management is effectual when a person makes use of strategies to manage with or alter stressful situations. There are abundant ways to reduce stress in life; the correct respond is finding what works for a person. Study has shown that cognitive behavioral treatment can be effective in reducing stress. Not only do you learn to respond differently to definite stress related activities, one person learns to understand how your thinking pattern contributed to the stress and how to alter your thought process. A few suggestions related to stress management are as following: i. Take time out for yourself ii. Concentrate on personal strengths iii. Know your limitations iv. Let go of those things you cannot change v. Change the way you look at things vi. Talk about the situation causing stress Breathing and relaxation exercises are means to reduce negative stress. One structure of relaxation is yoga. Yoga is a type of meditation with one's self that consist of stretching exercises and deep breathing techniques. Over six million Americans have tried Yoga as a form of diminution in stress. Exercise is tremendously significant in reducing the affects of stress on the body. It facilitates the body to manage with stress more effectively. An overall loom to improving every day life has proven to be the most effective method to managing stress. (Gordon, Thurman, 2000) Humor is another method of dealing with stress. Having the ability to find humor in a nerve-racking situation and being able to laugh about it, releases all the tension that is building inside. Even if the circumstances cannot be made light of, think of something else that will make a person laugh. Healthy way of life changes could also decrease the level of pressure that a person may experience. A few suggestions include reducing caffeine intake, manufacturing innovative friends, finding time for sleep, and eating healthy. Hale and hearty lifestyle changes help to manage stress as well as your overall being. Contacting medical doctor is another opportunity to consider. To a greater extent health insurance companies are now casing substitute medicine, like acupuncture and stress reduction programs for their customers. Stress Management Plan Using or utilizing various technique of stress management can make stress Management Plan. By using these techniques, I learnt how to cope up or encounter with the stress. Due to stress, I decided to manage this stress by using different stress management techniques in order to bypass from the stressors. Techniques to manage stress: There are a lot of ways of coping with stress. Some practices of time management possibly will help a person to control stress. In the appearance of high demands, effective stress management involves learning to set limits and to say No to some loads that others make. Techniques of stress management will vary according to the hypothetical paradigm hold on to, but may consist of some of the following: i. Autogenic training ii. Cognitive therapy iii. Conflict resolution iv. Exercise v. Getting a hobby vi. Meditation vii. Deep breathing viii. Nootropic ix. Relaxation techniques x. Artistic Expression xi. Fractional relaxation xii. Progressive relaxation xiii. Spa xiv. Stress balls xv. Natural medicine xvi. Clinically validated alternative treatments xvii. Time management xviii. Listening to certain types of relaxing music xix. New Age music xx. Classical music Effectiveness of stress management Positive outcomes are seen using a combination of non-drug interventions: Treatment of anger or hostile behavior Autogenic training Talking therapy i.e. the around relationship or present issues Biofeedback Cognitive therapy for anxiety or clinical depression (Hettinger, 2001) Strategy No.1: Avoid unnecessary stress Not all pressure can be avoided, and it’s not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. There are number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate. i. Find out how to say no – keep you to the limits and stick to them. Whether in your private or professional life, reject to accept added tasks when you’re close to reaching them. Getting on more than you can grip is a surefire recipe for stress. ii. Avoid people who stress you out – If somebody every time causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around limits the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.  iii. Take charge of your environment – If the evening news makes a person anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic makes you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If you are going to the market and it is an unlikable chore, do your grocery shopping online. iv. Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you frequently argue about the same topic with the same people, stop conveying it up or excuse yourself when it’s the topic of discussion. v. Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. Drop tasks that are not truly essential to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely. Strategy #2: change the situation If a person can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to change it. Outline what you can do to change things so the problem is avoided in the future. Often, this engages changing the way you converse and operate in your daily life. i. Express your feelings as an alternative of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you do not influence your feelings, bitterness will build and the situation will likely remain the same. ii. Be eager to cooperate. When you request someone to change their attitude, be willing to do the same. If you are thinking to bend at least a little, you will have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground. iii. Be more confident. Do not take backwardness in your own life. Try to handle with problems head on, doing your level best to anticipate and prevent them. If you have got a test to study for and your friend or roommate just got home, talk to the front that you only have five minutes to say. iv. Cope up with your time better. Bad time management can lead to a lot of stress. When you are engaged too much and running behind, it is hard to stay calm and focused. But if you prepare ahead, one person can avoid these stress-inducing pitfalls. Strategy #3: Accept the things you can’t alter Some sources of pressure are unavoidable. You can’t put off or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession. In those cases, the finest way to manage with stress is to accept things as they are. Reception may be difficult, but in the long run, it’s easier than railing against a situation you can’t change. i. Do not attempt to organize the uncontrollable. Many things in your living are beyond our control, specifically the behavior of other people. Instead of stressing out over them, think on the things you can organize like the way you choose to react to problems. ii. Seek for the upside. When you are having major tasks, try to see them as opportunities for personal growth. If your own bad choices added to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes. iii. Discuss your feelings. Chat to a trust worthy friend or create an appointment with a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very cathartic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation. iv. Discover to forgive. Believe on the fact that we are living in a defective world and that people make mistakes. Let go off annoyance and resentments. Get rid of yourself from negative behavior by forgiving and moving on. Strategy #4: Adapt to the stressor If a person can’t change the stressor, change yourself. You can become accustomed to stressful situations and recover your sense of power by changing your expectations and attitude. Reframe problems. Try to see pressure filled situations from a positive point of view. Instead of fuming about a traffic jam, why don’t you see it as an opportunity to pause, hear to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time. Look for the big view. See the viewpoint of the stressful situation. Tell yourself how significant it will be in the long run. Alter your standards. Professionalism is a key basis of avoiding stress. Discontinue setting yourself up for breakdown by demanding perfection. Set good standards for yourself and others, and study to be okay with good enough. Look upon for the positive. When pressure is making you down, take a while to reflect on all the things you welcome in your life, including your own positive qualities and gifts. This easy strategy can make you keep things in perspective. (Pettinger, 2001) Conclusion It is very important that stress management techniques are implemented into our daily lives. As stated previously, some pressure is good, but we need to find that optimal level of stress, which will stimulate but not overcome us. Managing with stress is an individualized assignment and one way over another may not be better, so find what works for you and master it. A person that is under stress takes so much gone from his or her health and performance levels. Plummeting stress could be as easy as adding work out to you day or making new friends. To build the most of your life, bound your pressure and of course for that strain that you cannot diminish, learn to manage it. Take a walk, express affection, share feelings, sing, paint, write, make new friends, tackle problems head on, give thanks, let go, go dancing, stretch, take deep breathes, laugh, play a game, see a movie, and laugh some more. Following is the plan that helped me to get out of my stress. 1 week Management plan (15-21st DEC, 08) 6 am Get up and take bath 6:30 am Go for walk 7:30 am Take breakfast, take medicine if any recommended by the doctor for stress 8 am Go to university 1:30 pm Eat lunch 5 pm Come back home, take rest for a while 6 pm Do exercise (like yoga) 7 pm Do assignments and study for the next day 9 pm Go to sleep, take medicine if any recommended by the doctor for stress During the day, talk with friends, make new friends, and in the evening talking and spending time with family in the evening and home really helps. REFERENCES: Gordon, James & Thurman, Stress Management, Chelsea House Publishers, 2000 Pettinger, Richard, Stress Management, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2001 Read More