Is stress all in the mind - Essay Example

Is stress all in the mind? Thesis ment: Indeed stress is a very common problem. Just as all the good things in life, the comfort of modern living cannot be have on the part of the people without paying a cost for it. Among other things that have come hand in hand with the same, it has brought about the phenomenon of stress alongside it nonetheless. To start with, nearly everyone has experienced stress at one point or the other within his life time. At times, one feels stressed as well as drained whereby this person’s thoughts are centered on the fact that perhaps 24 hours are not actually enough in which he could finish the daily chores, no matter the same are connected with his professional work regimes or personal day to day work routines. Similarly, for a working woman, life could come in the form of a tricky situation in such a circumstance where stress has taken the toil 24/7. In fact she is walking a tightrope so to speak. Having said that one must understand that it is basically not easy to have management between a demanding job and taming children, not to forget the successful completion of household responsibilities as well. When one speaks to his colleagues or neighbors about the same, the result is that nearly everyone is passing through the same phase, it is just a matter of how much pressure and stress a particular individual can take, at a particular moment of time. Stress though has the other perspective related with it as well – an aspect which suggests that stress is nothing but waste of time, it does not exist in essence. Stress has seemed to emanate from the sort of commercialization that we are witnessing in the present times and not to forget the ruthless market economies and a senseless notion of consumerism attached with this. Especially true is the fact that spending money has become the sole criterion for success and achievement in the modern times. For a number of people, the rat race for acquiring money and material possessions is a symbol of success that they have achieved and it given more importance by the society in which we live in that aims to signify people by the standards as laid down by material possessions and the amount of money that one has. This rat race brings with it heaps of stress and tension and anxious living conditions are a manifestation of what can bring a person down every now and then. This kind of intensity was studied by the American Medical Association research which stated that stress forms up as the most basic cause of nearly 80 percent of all human illnesses – which accounts for a huge statement if not a major figure so to speak. One must understand that stress and anxiety are in all essence mental problems and that they develop as the mind chases as well as consistently circles around the same set of problems and concerns which could be of a common nature but in entirety keep coming back and forth until these are able to push all the impending thoughts and create a niche in the form of a worry. This is the first perspective. The second perspective is totally opposite to the first one as it fails to recognize that there is no element by the name of stress at all. Coming back to the first notion, what stress does to a person is to make him edgy and nervous and he starts getting hunches every now and then so much so that it becomes a part of his personality all said and done. A number of factors contribute to the said condition which include the genetics, brain biochemistry, strenuous circumstances and routines and learned behavior to state a few. A large number of people continue to suffer social deprivations in their lives which could be due to lack of basic health amenities, access to quality education and health facilities and the ever increasing joblessness and unemployment. The signs of a stressful society are apparent in the form of ever increasing crime rates which state more than a thing or two about the direction in which the society is heading nonetheless. (Scott, 2007) Others do not think that stress makes much of a change within their lives and they do not even consider stress to be a part of their day to day activities. This is in stark contrast to what was in essence discussed before. On the differing token, stress is the mental pressure which one experiences within his soul, which derives his energies out of the body and which has a long-lasting effect most of the times, both on the body as well as the mind. A large number of people face this kind of problem and try to overcome it by their own respective manners and fashions. The National Mental Health Association according to a survey stated that a large number of them are stressed people are so depressed, sad and heartrending that they are unable to work properly in their day-to-day lives. They encounter serious kinds of attacks frequently while some overcome them with consummate ease, depending upon the nature of stress one has to go through over a period of time. (Desmond, 2001) Stress also entails within it issues of anxiousness whereby it is regarded as another kind of mental illness, which tears down the mind and the body in different ways. Stress leads to different kinds of depressions within oneself on top. Then there is the other aspect related with stress as well. Some people are of the view that stress is just a fabrication of nothing but sheer madness. This means that stress does not actually happen at any point in time; it is just the mind that keeps on drawing conclusions every now and then which suggests that a person is stressed out or burned out so to speak. Thus this is the differing stance as was presented by different people from time to time and the maxim is pretty valid even in the times much like today. It is true to state that stress affects people at all levels which could include the physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral stages. But then again it could just be a state of mind and nothing else. The physical indications related with stress entail the speech difficulties and complexities, headaches, ulcers, infertility issues, fatigue and sudden weight loss and gain matters, high and low blood pressure, gastric problems and so on. The emotional variable looks at the irritability, depression, insomnia, jealousy, lack of interest in certain job and hostility to name a few. The cognitive and perceptual symptoms include the habits related with forgetfulness, lack of concentration, reduced creativity levels, disorientation, attention deficit syndrome, self esteem aspects, blur vision and so on. (Field, 1988) Therefore it would be right to state here that the role of stress in the growth of mental problems is immense and that this could tantamount to severe complexities in the coming times. What mental health means is the fact that the individual can withstand the stressful aspects related with day to day life issues. Related studies and surveys into the field of emotional stress regimes have stated that it contributes towards the aggravating half of all medical problems if seen in the broader perspective. There is little doubt in the fact that stress is the single most fundamental reason related with all the emotional problems. In order to control the prevalence of these mental disorders, one need to put stress on hold at all times and works till the levels he can best afford to have. The most important thing is to understand that there should be a balance or homeostasis in everyone’s life. In the end, it is significant to outline the fact that there is a dire need for having a balance between the professional life and the personal life of a human being as he has to give in his best on both the fronts so as to have a worthy lifetime. A balance is must between the family commitments and professional duties so that the end result is one which is both satisfying for the individual himself and the family and work colleagues that he is attached with. (Catherall, 2005) If a person neglects any aspect of his personal or professional life, then he is sure to get the problems attached with the missing aspect of these lives and there would surely be repercussions in the wake of the very same. There could be problems in the form of distressing situations at work, the boss getting unhappy for all the wrong reasons, the colleagues feeling agitated with this person’s behavior and so on and so forth. Similar is the case when one speaks of the person’s personal life where the wife and the kids start to get agitated by the differing domestic situation and more than that there are fights within the house itself which leaves a lasting impression on the minds of each and everyone concerned. All said and done, stress management is pretty intrinsic to a person’s mindset and his eventual approach that he wants to have in the wake of a good and sound time. (Flanagan, 1990) BIBLIOGRAPHY Flanagan, Catherine M. People and Change: An Introduction to Counseling and Stress Management. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1990 Catherall, Don R. Family Stressors: Interventions for Stress and Trauma. Brunner Routledge, New York, 2005 Scott, Elizabeth. Top Five Changes for a Healthy Life. URL: http://stress.about.com/od/lowstresslifestyle/a/lowstresslife.htm, 2007 Desmond, Paula A. Stress, Workload and Fatigue. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2001 Field, Tiffany M. Stress and Coping across Development. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey, 1988 Word Count: 1,551 Read More