Cause of Stress in Jennifers Life - Essay Example

? Case Study One cause of stress in Jennifer’s life is her need to start a family. This is stressful because she had a miscarriage and also the fact that Antonio’s (her husband) parents are often asking her if she is pregnant again (pressuring her). The other stressor in her life is the fact that her father is in a bad health which is deteriorating at a fast rate and may soon require him to be taken in a nursing care facility soon (this is against his father’s wish). Jennifer’s mother passed away around two years ago and this may also be contributing to her stress as the loss of a parent is traumatizing for most individuals. Another stressor in Jennifer’s life is her work. Her work is demanding and requires organization and proper time management. Jennifer does not like to let down the people who depend on her and this reinforces her workplace stress. All the above stressors combine leading to Jennifer experiencing headaches, backaches and even indigestion. These symptoms have been occurring frequently for the last six months which is impairing her health significantly. The stress that Jennifer is undergoing is leading her to reduce her self esteem and she is starting to doubt her self conception. This is majorly because of the many mistakes she is making at her work place. Her housework is also suffering due to the numerous headaches and backaches she has been experiencing. The combination of all the above issues is causing her to doubt her ability to become a good potential mother, wife, daughter or even an effective employee. According to trait theory of personality, this may lead to changing of her personality from an extrovert to an introvert. Jennifer’s reducing self esteem and self concept will make her start keeping to herself and not being confident in her skills therefore preferring not to talk about issues for fear of making mistakes. Unhealthy physical adjustment by Jennifer to her situation is evident in her physical health problems (the headaches, backaches and indigestion). The reducing self esteem and self concept is a physical reaction that is not helping the situation in any way as it is only making her not focus on how to minimize her stressors but is aggravating the situation. The other physical reaction not helping the situation is her insistence that she is happy and not stressed which may reduce her social support which she clearly requires at this point in time for the sake of her health, her work and family. For this situation to become a growth opportunity, Jennifer has to admit that she is stressed and unhappy and needs assistance and/ or support. This will involve her talking about her stressing issues and social support will be underway hence lifting the burden off her shoulders and her self esteem improving. The defense mechanism employed by Jennifer is denial. She is denying being stressed also being unhappy. This is eventually leading her to develop physical illnesses caused by psychological instability. What would be healthier for Jennifer is admitting that she needs social and emotional help to deal with her situation. Jennifer should also learn to share her problems which her husband and maybe friends. Talking and free association is a psychodynamic therapy technique advocated for by Sigmund Freud (Ellis, et al. 2009). Admitting that she is stressed will lead her to start focusing on how to solve the problems through critical and cognitive thinking of the root cause of some of the problems. This is a technique called cognitive-behavioral therapy advocated for individuals as part of stress management. Social cognitive theory works best to explain Jennifer’s situation. The theory asserts that individuals have certain cognitive expectations about their life in general. The expectations are well thought out and failure of them to be fulfilled leads to anxiety and stress on the individual (Ellis, et al. 2009). Jennifer had expectations of how her life would look like after getting married. She expected to start a family and be an effective mother. She also expected that her work would run smoothly but did not anticipate the perfectionism it would require her to develop in order to be on schedule. Jennifer had expectations that her both parents would lead a long and healthy life. All these expectations did not go as thought and therefore started causing stress to Jennifer. She would not admit to these stressors as that would amount to failure of her expectations. The accumulated psychological problem finally causes physical pain. Physical pain sometimes has psychological causes and the treatment required therefore is more psychological than physical in order to manage the pain. Jennifer is 29 years old and is therefore in early adulthood developmental stage. This stage according to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is characterized by intimacy and love which also involves settling down and starting a family, failure to which may lead to isolation. The period also involves having gratification in one’s job. The requirements of this period are not being fulfilled in Jennifer’s life and therefore isolation is starting to creep in. In terms of her romantic life, she is not yet fulfilled as she does not have children yet to fulfill her life as it meant to be and this is stressing her. Her work is not gratifying enough and she is therefore not settled in it due to the pressure it is causing her of perfection, this also disputes the requirement of the period; satisfaction of the job an individual is in. All these combined makes Jennifer view her situation negatively and start having self esteem issues of not being effective (Ellis, et al. 2009). One factor influencing Jennifer’s problem is her relationship with Antonio’s parents. Her husband’s parents love her and encourage her to focus on her next baby (after she had a miscarriage). This is stressing her as she has been trying for a while to start a family with no luck and she therefore feels she is letting them down. The other relationship is Jennifer’s with her parents. Her mother died around two years ago and the relationship was cut short. Her father’s health has deteriorated (since her mother’s death) to an extent that he may need to be under nursing care. This is presenting to strain their relationship even further because Jennifer will have to put her father in nursing care against his wish. All the above therefore contribute to Jennifer’s stress and aggravate her problems even further. Reference Ellis, A. et al. (2009). Personality theories: critical perspectives. New York: Sage Publications. Read More