Conditions of Stress in Everyday Life - Coursework Example

Sub Department Introduction Stress can be defined as someone’s body way of reacting to any type of demand. Stress can be as a result of both bad and good experiences. Whenever a person feels stressed by something occurring around them, his/her body will normally respond by discharging chemicals into the bloodstream. Such chemicals provide people with more strength and energy, which may be a good thing especially if their stress is as a result of physical danger. Nevertheless, this can also be bad occurrence, particularly if their stress is due to an occurrence that is emotional having no outlet for this excess strength and energy. In most instances, stress occurs whenever one feels that s/he cannot handle pressure-which may come in several forms and shapes, effectively triggering physiological responses. Stress mainly affects a person’s mind and body and individuals who are stressed can become sick, tired or even unable to think or concentrate clearly. At times, such individuals even undergo mental breakdowns (Weber, 2011). The stress related to workplace Managed, organized, and well-designed work is typically good for everyone, however, when inadequate attention to work organisation, job design as well as management occur, it may lead to work related stress. Thus work related stress starts because an individual is not able to cope with what is being demanded of them. Work related stress can be a considerable source of illness in addition to being known to be connected with high levels of staff turnover, sickness absence as well as other problems such as more mistakes. Stress can get anybody at any business level and recent research indicates that work slinked stress is common and is not restricted to specific sectors, industries or jobs (Palmer & Cooper, 2013). Work related stress can also be described as overwork or fatigue and is a type of stress that accumulates over a long period of time and can have a heavy toll on someone’s body. This kind of stress may be as a result of working so hard at home, school or job(s).It may also result if one does not know how to manage their time well especially taking some time off to relax and rest .Overwork or fatigue can be one of the most difficult types of stress to shun since several individuals feel this is beyond their control. Individuals mostly get stressed as a result of hardworking conditions and they cannot manage to balance stress. Additionally, individuals seem to be satisfied in getting stressed since it leads to having good work. Family and social life stress A family involves such aspects as argument, conflict, passion as well as love-it’s the way families worldwide relate to one another. Thus, whether it is unanticipated financial difficulties, bad grades, illness or even disagreements over household chores, it is unavoidable that every family will have to face any stress together. Normally, families that are ready to face these difficult times emerge stronger as well as more prepared for any future eventuality. Thus, as people continue facing high stress levels, families are especially most susceptible to rising pressures resulting from work and finances (Geithner, 2014). Raising a family is not only rewarding but also demanding even in the climates that are socially and economically healthy, implying that stress can make things worse and more challenging. The American Psychological Association conducted an online survey in August 2010 discovered that 73% of parents indicated family responsibilities as a considerable source of stress. Family stress can be handled by not projecting and not taking the mood of your work to your family. If you have had a rough and stressful day at work, pause and relax before walking into your family. Change the mood to a pleasant one before you see your children and partner (Palmer & Cooepr, 2013).Other activities that may assist include sharing tasks together such as washing dishes, vacuuming, disposing the trash and sweeping as well as other household chores. Communication, eating together and carrying out family activities together can be other great ways of reducing family stress and bonding as a family (Weber, 2011). Social stress on the other hand is a form of stress that emanates generally from someone’s associations with other people as well as from social environment. An individual will experience stress when s/he does not have the capacity or resources to get by, especially when faced by an outside stimulus (stressor) or when afraid that s/he lacks the resources or capacity. An occurrence that exceeds the capacity to cope does not essentially have to happen so as for someone to undergo stress, because the threat of such an occurrence taking place can be adequate. Consequently, this may result in physiological, behavioral and emotional changes that may place a person under more danger of developing physical illness or even a mental disorder. Thus, social life and families can be stressful if there was a lack of activities or being together and having dinner and conversations. Human beings are naturally social as they characteristically have an elementary need as well as desire to uphold positive social associations. Humans, therefore find sustaining positive social bonds to be advantageous. Social affiliations can provide nurturance, in addition to fostering sentiments of social inclusion as well as resulting in reproductive success. Something therefore that threatens to disrupt or disrupts one’s association with others can lead to social stress. Thus, this may comprise of low social status within the community or in specific groups, interviews with possible employers, giving a speech, caring for a spouse or a child having a chronic disease, interacting with new people at an occasion or the real demise of a loved one, discrimination or divorce. Social stress may emanate from the micro-environment of someone such as family ties together with macro-environment such as hierarchical societal structure. Typically, social stress is the most common form of stressor that individuals go through in their day to day lives and impacts people more strongly as compared to other forms of stressors (Weber, 2011). There are numerous illnesses that are associated with stress and results in huge health problems. Some of the most noteworthy health problems associated with stress includes heart disease and other heart-related diseases. Thus, physicians have always alleged that there is a high risk of heart problems and high blood pressure amongst type A personality stressed-out individuals. Stress therefore can directly raise the rate of heartbeat as well as flow of blood and lead to the releasing of triglycerides and cholesterol into the blood stream. There is also a possibility that stress is linked to other health problems such as increased possibility of obesity or smoking which indirectly raises the risks of heart attack. Secondly, several studies have demonstrated that stress can aggravate asthma (Fink, 2010). There is evidence suggesting that chronic stress of a parent may even raise the danger of their children developing asthma. A particular study examined how parental stress impacted the rates of asthma of young children exposed to polluted air or who had their mothers smoking while pregnant. The study concluded that the children of stressed out mothers had a considerably high risk of being asthmatic. Excessive fat around the belly seems to cause greater health dangers compared to fat on the hips or legs and regrettably that’s where individuals with high stress levels store it. High levels of the hormone cortisol are released by highly stressed people, which further increases the quantity of fat stored around the abdomen (Fink, 2010). Additionally, stress can aggravate diabetes by first increasing the possibility of bad behaviours like excessive drinking and unhealthy eating. Secondly, stress raises the levels of glucose especially in individuals having type 2 diabetes. The other ailments that results due to stress include headaches which is regarded as one of the commonest ailment triggered by stress. Stress, thus, results in severe headaches which may lead to migraines. Anxiety and depression is another effect of stress and it’s no secret that chronic stress is linked to high anxiety and depression rates. Though stress does not cause ulcers, it leads to severe gastrointestinal problems. In addition, stress can worsen ulcers especially to the people suffering from them. Stress is a leading factor in several other GI problems, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as well as chronic heartburn (Fink, 2010). Researchers in animal study discovered that stress may aggravate Alzheimer’s disease leading to brain lesions forming more rapidly. Some researchers suggest that stress reduction has the likelihood of slowing down Alzheimer’s progression. Accelerated aging has also been linked to stress. There is also actual evidence that stress can greatly affect a person’s aging. One study did compare the DNA of highly stressed mothers taking care of chronically sick children with the DNA of women who were stress free. Researchers discovered that a specific area of chromosomes indicated accelerated aging effects. Thus, stress accelerated aging by around 9 to 17 years. Finally, premature death has been linked to stress. A study examined health effects due to stress in a study focusing elderly caregivers taking care of their spouses-individuals who are under a tremendous deal of stress naturally. The study discovered that such caregivers had a 63 percent higher death rate compared to individuals who were not giving any care and of the same age. Preventing such illnesses or rather managing self so as not to get stressed from those is better than getting cured of them. Researchers believe that there are lots of health harms associated with stress, which leads to risky conditions such as gastrointestinal problems and insomnia (Humanillinesses.com, 2015). There are different factors that increase and cause stress in the modern life which an individual can simply avoid. These factors are for instance too many obligations, whereby there is so much to do and very little time to accomplish the same. Thus, the to do list is growing longer as work expectations, caring for the family, community involvement and caring for self take a heavy toll on one’s life. Thinking negatively can also lead to stress because thinking is a very strong tool, nevertheless, one’s thoughts are quite frequently the enemy; especially if they get in one’s way, discourage you and shame and blame you. Such thoughts make a person tired, frantic restless and worried. Other causes of stress include many commitments which may result in burnout. When one is burnt out, issues seem overwhelming and everything seems bleak, making it difficult to get the energy to take notice let alone care about one’s predicament. Stress can also be caused by eating too many carbohydrates which spikes a person’s blood sugar levels, challenging insulin and eventually resulting in inflammation and weight gain. Thus every time an individual ingests excess carbohydrates and sugar, s/he adds stress to their metabolism (Bamber, 2013).Skipping meals because of busy schedules that cause us to run from one role to another or performing numerous tasks simultaneously make it extremely hard to for someone to feed himself/herself on any kind of regular program which is what is required by a human’s body (Johnen, 2013). Conclusion In conclusion, if stress is not managed it can lead to numerous illnesses that could corrupt as well as disrupt a person’s social life and job. People should be knowledgeable about stress and stress related illnesses so as to control their life properly. This is because preventing stress from happening and managing it is better than curing a person or treating him or her from a stressful situation. Stress is highly growing in our modern life since individuals are overlooking it and having less knowledge towards it, which may result in serious problems in the community’s general health. List of references Bamber,M. Overcoming Your Workplace Stress:A CBT-based Self-help Guide. New York: Routledge. Fink,G.2010 Stress Consequences:Mental,Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic. New York: Elsevier. Geithner,T. 2014 Stress Test:Reflections on Financial Crises. New York: Random House. Johnen,B.2013 Facing the Sunshine and Avoiding teh shadows:Strategies to Stay Sane and Positive amid Change. New York: Inspiring Voices Books. Palmer,S. , & Cooper, C. 2013 How to Deal With Stress. New York: Kogan Page. Weber,J. 2011 Individual and family Stress and Crises. New York: Sage Publications. http://www.humanillnesses.com/ Read More