Stress and Coping Mechanisms - Research Paper Example

?Stress and Coping Mechanisms With the evolution of technology and the advancement of the industrial age, there has occurred an altogether shift in the gender roles. Women, whose responsibilities were traditionally limited to the house management, are now represented in almost every field and are influencing the society like men. This has not only altered the conventional perceptions of the genders, but has also brought an altogether change in which people behave, act and live. Where this has provided all individuals with increased freedom, it has also resulted in an increase in the causes of stress. Over the decades, there has been an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies, murders and divorces. A lot of people have started to prefer cohabitation over marriage because of their fear of divorce and its consequences. In addition to these generic causes of stress, more and more people are acquiring stress because of the effects of war against terrorism. There have been a lot of wars recently, and a lot of blood has been shed in them. People have lost their loved ones and have gone into a state of trauma that would remain with many for the entire life. Besides, the hustle and bustle of everyday life does not allow one to have a break and have an insight into oneself and the nature. “Everyone gets distracted by worries and concerns, but sometimes these worries can spill over, seeping into the fabric of your day” (Harvard University, 2008, p. 4). Thus, there are innumerable causes for stress for people these days that include the environmental causes, social stressors, physiological stressors and stressful thoughts (Klinic Community Health Centre, 2010, p. 4) Many causes are such that hardly anything can be done to avoid them. This is the reason why a lot of people are falling prey to anxiety all over the world. In such circumstances, mechanisms for coping stress have become a fundamental necessity of all people ranging from children to old people. Before identifying the way to treat the stress as suited to an individual’s personality, it is imperative that the individual’s goals are identified.“It is important to define central person-specific goals (or reference values) in coping, such as reducing uncertainty, inhibiting emotional arousal, or trying to change the causes of a stressful encounter. These goals are not only central to understanding the stress and coping process, they are, in fact, `the core of personality'” (Krohne, 2002). Since early 1970s, a number of stress-reduction methods and meditation have been identified to relieve stress (Harvard University, 2009, p. 1). Yoga is one such technique that is extremely effective in the relief from stress but has not acquired much attention of the researchers and doctors in the medical literature. “Yogic breathing is a unique method for balancing the autonomic nervous system and influencing psychologic and stress-related disorders” (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005, p. 711). The classical yoga literature defines human body in terms of a composite of multiple bodies including the physical body, the subtle body and the causal body (Janisse, n.d.). Human behavior is a consequence of the interaction of these bodies with one another. Yoga encapsulates a wide array of exercises, each of which focuses on controlling the function of one or more of these bodies. By addressing the concerns of each body separately during the exercise, yoga makes a holistic approach to the treatment of stress and uplifting of mood. Owing to its extreme effectiveness in the treatment of stress, it is used as a technique by almost 7.5 per cent of the adults in US (Harvard University, 2009, p. 1). Nature has healing power. It is the solution to a wide array of problems. We draw medicines from natural herbs for our skin as well as various kinds of diseases. Although this part of the nature generally remains unexplored, yet nature is as effective in treating stress as it is in healing diseases. Nature heals wounds, be they external or internal. Therefore, in a vast majority of cases, treatment for the stress is derived from nature. One of the most effective natural treatments of stress is visualization. Visualization is increasingly being employed for the treatment of stress by psychologists these days. To visualize, an individual must first locate a quiet place where he/she can peacefully practice. Preferably, it should be a place where the individual is alone. Presence of other people may be a cause of distraction and one may lose focus. There should be minimal noise in the surroundings. The more the noise, the lesser the attention gets. Visualization is fundamentally a practice wherein the individual looks inside himself/herself for a couple of minutes. In order to achieve that, it is imperative that one breaks connection with the external world. The individual should sit in a position in which he/she feels the most comfortable. Although the comfortable position may vary from one individual to another, yet such a position is normally attained when the individual sits upright with both feet plain flat upon the ground. The floor can be marbled or tiled but fresh grass works best during visualization. Once the comfortable position is achieved, the individual should gently close his/her eyes. “When used as a relaxation technique, guided imagery involves imagining a scene in which you feel at peace, free to let go of all tension and anxiety” (IMEX, 2009). This is the fundamental step that distorts one’s connection with the real world. After closing the eyes, the individual should imagine as if he/she is strolling in a long path inside a dense forest, with fresh cool breeze rich in oxygen. The individual should relax by feeling the tiny droplets of dew sitting allover upon the face. The individual should tend to smell the fragrance of fresh roses, tulips and daisies as he/she walks across the ferns and shrubs. Relaxation is the most important element of visualization. The more the relaxation, the more the tendency to visualize gets. The individual should forget that there exists in this world anything that is called time. Along the way, one should come across oak trees. One ought to hear the breeze driven leaves striking against one another. One gets attracted towards the gnarled trunk of a nearby tree and fancies leaning against it for a while. While relaxing against the tree trunk, the individual should smell the fragrance, the successive breaths getting longer and deeper. Breath management is another extremely important element of visualization. While inhaling the fresh fragrant air, the individual should think that he/she is filling his/her body with peace. Therefore, the inhalation should be as long in duration as possible. While exhaling the air, the individual should think like he/she is getting all the tension, anxiety and pain out of his/her body. Again, the longer the exhalation, the more the stress is wiped out of the body. While studying and controlling the cycles of breath, one should not forget where one is i.e. leaning against the tree trunk. The individual should let the summer breeze take away all the care in the world as it wafts through the narrow passage between the trees. The individual should welcome the calm that fills inside him/her as he goes further in the practice. The individual should try to feel the way this calm blends with his/her aura and allows him/her to have a look into his/her Higher self; a self that was yet unseen, unexplored and unfelt! Numerous behavioral coping strategies are conventionally proposed to the patient by the psychologists. These exercises induce the individual to display such behaviors that counter the effects of stress. Aerobic exercise is the most basic physical exercise that improves the behavior to regulate stress. Aerobic exercises release neurochemicals inside the brain which help the individual increase his/her focus. Sometimes, a physical exercise as simple as a ten-minute walk can help relieve the stress. In another physical exercise that helps an individual relax, the individual drops the head forward and gently turns it from one side to another. Stretching the body also facilitates relaxation. Smiling and laughing occasionally boosts the energy and lightens the mood in addition to relaxing the face-muscles. In addition to the exercises, a balanced life-style is the most effective long-term treatment of stress. One should start the day with morning prayers and must have a walk for at least half an hour. For the rest of the day, time management is the key to attaining a happy lifestyle. Time management constitutes “specific strategies such as clarifying priorities, setting goals, evaluating how time is spent, developing an action plan, overcoming procrastination and organizing time” (O’Connor, 2003). Social networking is also a very effective way to relieve the stress. It provides an individual with the emotional and moral support that is a fundamental necessity of a balanced life-style. One must work hard, yet make sure that one keeps taking small breaks from time to time, to look around, experience being a part of the nature and study one’s own nature. Concluding, stress is one of the most unfavorable outcomes of the technological revolution. The stress response releases such chemicals in the body that tempt the individual to take extreme actions. Although it is almost impossible to avoid the stress completely, yet measures can be taken to counteract the negative effects of stress. The fundamental skill that is required to achieve that is evoking the relaxation response, which is essentially a condition of deep rest. The effect of the relaxation response is completely opposite to that of the stress response. Although the tendency of the stress response to prepare an individual for the extreme circumstances does help occasionally i.e. in emergencies, yet it is potentially harmful for the body if constantly activated. In order to bring the system back to the normal state, the individual requires to achieve the relaxation response. Numerous exercises are conventionally undertaken for this including visualization and yoga. One step is common in most of such exercises which is the deepening and elongation of breath. This step is essential for achieving the stress response because it reduces the amount of stress hormones, retards the heart-beat and regulates the blood pressure. Consequentially, the muscles of the body are relaxed and along with them, the stress is reduced. Stress is generally more painful for an individual than any kind of diseases, yet we are fortunate to have totally free-of-cost treatments for its relief. These days, learning the stress-relief exercises has become the simplest than it ever was. All it takes is browse a video on Youtube and you can become the stress-relief expert! References: Brown, R. P., and Gerbarg, P. L. (2005). Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part II—Clinical Applications and Guidelines. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 11(4): 711-717. Retrieved from http://www.reconnectwithfood.com/resources/documents/yogaandptsd.pdf. Harvard University. (2008). Your portable guide to stress relief. Harvard Health Publications. Retrieved from http://www.health.harvard.edu/PDFs/Stress_Relief_Guide.pdf. Harvard University. (2009). Yoga for anxiety and depression. Harvard Health Publications. Retrieved from http://aolresearch.org/pdf/references/Harvard_Mental_Health.pdf. Krohne, H. W. (2002). Stress and Coping Theories. Retrieved from http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~schuez/folien/Krohne_Stress.pdf. IMEX. (2009). Relaxation increases energy and focus. Retrieved from http://www.imex-frankfurt.com/documents/Relaxationincreasesenergyandfocus.pdf. Janisse, M. (n.d.). Therapeutic Techniques from the Tradition of Yoga. Retrieved from http://www.janissetherapy.com/Ther-Tech-From-Yoga-Trad.pdf. Klinic Community Health Centre. (2010, Jan.). Stress & Stress Management. Retrieved from http://hydesmith.com/de-stress/files/StressMgt.pdf. O’Connor, T. (2003). Stress Management Module: Exercises & Handouts. Generic Skills Integration Project (GENSIP). Retrieved from https://www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling/GENSIP/Documents/Stress_Exercises.pdf. Read More