Coping with Stress: Causes and Effects - Essay Example

TOPIC STRESS I. INTRODUCTION STRESS is a pleasant of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. The word stress means different things to different people. It is define stress as "events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions such as anxiety and anger". According to (Radcliffe,1998), "Stress can be good as well as bad. His response includes physiological changes-such as increased heart rate and muscle tension-as well as emotional and behavioral changes". However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving a person's interpretation and response to a threatening event. Stress is a common experience. We may feel stress when we are very busy, have important deadlines to meet, or have too little time to finish all of our tasks. Often people experience stress because of problems at work or in social relationships, such as a poor evaluation by a supervisor or an argument with a friend. Some people may be particularly vulnerable to stress in situations involving the threat of failure or personal humiliation. Others have extreme fears of objects or things associated with physical threats-such as snakes, illness, storms, or flying in an airplane-and become stressed when they encounter or think about these perceived threats. Major life events, such as the death of a loved one, can cause severe stress. Stress can have both positive and negative effects. Stress is a normal, adaptive reaction to threat. It signals danger and prepares us to take defensive action. Fear of things that pose realistic threats motivates us to deal with them or avoid them. Stress also motivates us to achieve and fuels creativity. Although stress may hinder performance on difficult tasks, moderate stress seems to improve motivation and performance on less complex tasks. In personal relationships, stress often leads to less cooperation and more aggression. If not managed appropriately, stress can lead to serious problems. Exposure to chronic stress can contribute to both physical illnesses, such as heart disease, and mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders. The field of health psychology focuses in part on how stress affects bodily functioning and on how people can use stress management techniques to prevent or minimize disease. II SOURCES OF STRESS The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in severity and duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick parent may be an ongoing source of major stress, whereas getting stuck in a traffic jam may cause mild, short-term stress. Some events, such as the death of a loved one, are stressful for everyone. But in other situations, individuals may respond differently to the same event-what is a stressor for one person may not be stressful for another. For example, a student who is unprepared for a chemistry test and anticipates a bad grade may feel stress, whereas a classmate who studies in advance may feel confident of a good grade. For an event or situation to be a stressor for a particular individual, the person must appraise the situation as threatening and lack the coping resources to deal with it effectively. Stressors can be classified into three general categories: catastrophic events, major life changes, and daily hassles. In addition, simply thinking about unpleasant past events or anticipating unpleasant future events can cause stress for many people. A Catastrophes A catastrophe is a sudden, often life-threatening calamity or disaster that pushes people to the outer limits of their coping capability. Catastrophes include natural disasters-such as earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, and hurricanes-as well as wars, torture, automobile accidents, violent physical attacks, and sexual assaults. Catastrophes often continue to affect their victims' mental health long after the event has ended. Most of the adult survivors continued to show emotional disturbances. Similarly, most of the survivors of concentration camps in World War II (1939-1945) continued to experience nightmares and other symptoms of severe emotional problems long after their release from the camps. B Major Life Changes The most stressful events for adults involve major life changes, such as death of a spouse or family member, divorce, imprisonment, losing one's job, and major personal disability or illness. For adolescents, the most stressful events are the death of a parent or a close family member, divorce of their parents, imprisonment of their mother or father, and major personal disability or illness. Sometimes, apparently positive events can have stressful components. For example, a woman who gets a job promotion may receive a higher salary and greater prestige, but she may also feel stress from supervising coworkers who were once peers. Getting married is usually considered a positive experience, but planning the wedding, deciding whom to invite, and dealing with family members may cause couples to feel stressed. C. Daily Hassles Much of the stress in our lives results from having to deal with daily hassles pertaining to our jobs, personal relationships, and everyday living circumstances. Many people experience the same hassles every day. Examples of daily hassles include living in a noisy neighborhood, commuting to work in heavy traffic, disliking one's fellow workers, worrying about owing money, waiting in a long line, and misplacing or losing things. When taken individually, these hassles may feel like only minor irritants, but cumulatively, over time, they can cause significant stress. The amount of exposure people have to daily hassles is strongly related to their daily mood. Generally, the greater their exposure is to hassles, the worse is their mood. Studies have found that one's exposure to daily hassles is actually more predictive of illness than is exposure to major life events. III EFFECTS OF STRESS A person who is stressed typically has anxious thoughts and difficulty concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviors. Teeth clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are common signs of stress. People also feel physically different when they are stressed. Butterflies in the stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, and increased heart rate are all physiological effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety. A. The Stress Response To The Body When a person appraises an event as stressful, the body undergoes a number of changes that heighten physiological and emotional arousal. In the first stage alarm, the heart begins to beat more rapidly, muscle tension increases, blood pressure rises, and blood flow is diverted from the internal organs and skin to the brain and muscles. Breathing speeds up, the pupils dilate, and perspiration increases. This reaction is sometimes called the fight-or-flight response because it energizes the body to either confront or flee from a threat. In the second stage, resistance, the body begins to repair the incidental damage caused by the arousal in the alarm stage. If the stressful situation continues, however, a third stage, exhaustion sets in, the body's adoptive energy runs out. This stage may continue until vital organs are affected and then disease or even death can result. B. Disease Stress is a contributing factor in a wide variety of health problems. Physicians increasingly acknowledge that stress is a contributing factor in a wide variety of health problems. These problems include cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension (high blood pressure); coronary heart disease (coronary atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the heart's arteries); and gastrointestinal disorders, such as ulcers. Stress also appears to be a risk factor in cancer, chronic pain problems, and many other health disorders. A person's characteristic way of responding to stress, as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Some people are vulnerable to heart diseases. For example, a person is experiencing stress, their heart rate and blood pressure climb higher and recovery takes longer that with more easy-going people. These traits are correlated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. C. Mental Illness Stress influences mental health as well as physical health. People who experience a high level of stress for a long time-and who cope poorly with this stress-may become irritable, socially withdrawn, and emotionally unstable. They may also have difficulty concentrating and solving problems. Some people under intense and prolonged stress may start to suffer from extreme anxiety, depression, or other severe emotional problems. Anxiety disorders caused by stress may include generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. IV. COPING WITH STRESS People who cope well with stress tend to believe that they can personally influence what happens to them. Coping with stress means using thoughts and actions to deal with stressful situations and lower the stress levels. Many people have a characteristic way of coping with stress based on their personality. For instance, they may change where they live or work so as to get away from tension-producing conditions, such as working where it is noisy or smelly, or living in a crowded, dirty city. People who cope well with stress tend to believe they can personally influence what happens to them. They usually make more positive statements about themselves, resist frustration, remain optimistic, and persevere even under extremely adverse circumstances. People who cope poorly with stress tend to have somewhat opposite personality characteristics, such as lower self-esteem and a pessimistic outlook on life. There are ways to manage stress. First, have a code of life and live positively. Secondly, Allow time for pleasurable activities such as taking walks or talking with friends. Third, regularly as an outlet for stress. Fourth, Eat a sensible diet to maintain the energy needed to cope the stress. And the last one, Learn self-relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation and meditation. V. CONCLUSION Stress if identified can be removed that keep the mind and body on constant in stress alert. The point is, stress can isolate clearly in mind what is putting a person under stress and the response to it will likely be less severe even if the cause cannot be avoided. According to (Chaitow,1978) "There will always be stress in life, and really what we have to look at is our reaction to it rather than trying to make the stress go away." REFERENCE: Chaitow, R.C. (1978). Introduction to Psychology: How to Cope Stress (pp. 178-179) N.Y., New York. Radcliffe, M. (1998). The New Book of Knowledge: Stress.(p.670). New York Read More