The Concept of Stress - Essay Example

Stress can be explained as the bodily reaction of certain agents. Stress is a responsible state and its induction depends on the mediation of some appraising, perceiving, or interpreting mechanism. Also, stress is defined as "a psychological and physiological response to events that upset our personal balance in some way. These events or demands are known as stressors" (Stress Management 2007). Certain universally adequate stimuli may be expected to lead to stress more rapidly than others, as, for example, cutting off the air supply.

The main types of stress are physiological, psychological, and social. Also, it is possible to mention acute and episodic acute stress, chronic and traumatic types of stress (Stress Management 2007). This should lead to a stress state in all persons, with little variation in the rate of its development. However, any less severe stimulation, and particularly where the effectiveness of the stimulation is dependent on prior conditioning (as in the case of social stimuli), will give rise to response patterns that vary greatly from person to person and may induce anxiety or stress much more rapidly in one person than another.

The main symptoms of stress are frustration, conflicts, pressure, emotional disorders, aggressiveness or passivity, memory problems and loss of objectivity, anxiety and depression, etc. The main causes of stress are health-related problems such as temperature and heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, tautological disorders and illnesses, headaches and increased alcohol use, etc. In other words, there may be specific as well as general causes of distinct stress-related disease patterns.

Systemic stress is concerned primarily with the disturbances of tissue systems, psychological stress with cognitive factors leading to the evaluation of threat, and social stress with the disruption of a social unit or system (Davis et al 72). While many believe the three types of stress are related, the nature of this relationship is far from clear. Critics admit that: 'the nature and severity of the stress disorder could depend on at least three factors: (1) the formal characteristics of the environmental demands, (2) the quality of the emotional response generated by the demands, and (3) the processes of coping mobilized by the stressful commerce.

(Davis 127). The kind of situation which arouses a stress response in a particular individual must be related to significant events in that person's life (Stress Management 2007). Stress reduction techniques involve humour and self-talk, crying and diet. The best techniques to cope with stress are rest and psychical exercises, effective anger management and analysis of the problems. In severe cases, psychologists use tranquilising drugs to treat stress and reduce its negative effects. Treatment may be viewed in these terms as assistance in the effort to reestablish the optimal level of integration which had to be sacrificed for a more tenable level of maintenance.

Stress has a negative and harmful impact on human life and performance, and for this reason, it is important for an individual to foresee and reduce the amount and impact of stress-related factors on our life.