How Does Stress Affect the Overall Functioning of an Individuals Life - Essay Example

Stress and Health In general, stress affects the overall functioning of an individual’s life. In particular, stress affects the mental, emotional andphysical health of every member of society. In an attempt to fulfil family responsibilities and to enhance career or job opportunities many adults are faced on a daily basis with the effect of stress on their health. Consequently the major source of stress is one’s interaction with life. What then is this stress that is so loosely used by laymen and professionals and students and teachers? Stress defined by Selye as cited in Sandler (2001) is: the nonspecific response of the body to any demand whether it is caused by, or results in pleasant or unpleasant conditions…We must, however, differentiate within the general concept of stress between the unpleasant or harmful variety, called “distress” (from the Latin dis = bad, as in dissonance, disagreement), and “eustress” (from the Greek eu =good, as in euphonia, euphoria)…However, the fact that eustress causes much less damage than distress graphically demonstrates that it is “how you take it” that determines ultimately, whether one can adapt successfully to change.(p.6) Thus, stress may affect an individual positively or negatively. It depends on one’s outlook of the situation. Does stress affect the well being of individuals? This paper attempts a response to this question and provides certain practical solutions that can be used to ease the burden of stress on one’s health. Firstly, today’s society demands that an adult is faced with several responsibilities namely, children, family, work, or one may even be in the process of fostering a social relationship which will require quality time. As Seyle implied distress or eustress is determined by the individual’s perception of the circumstances. For example, an individual who has family responsibilities and is also a full-time student may view the course as a distressing factor because the time lost in attending these courses may have been used to obtain a job that would provide income to attend to the needs of the family. This individual may experience and perceive this lost time as depressing and as a result may respond negatively to the conditions, thus worsening his/her mental and physical well-being. Contrastingly, the same individual could decide to take a different perspective and recognize the value of this time as an investment into procuring a job with better-quality remuneration that could not otherwise be acquired. This student, then by changing his/her viewpoint can reduce the stress level from a high threshold to a low level. Stress can affect females differently from the males. For example, the adult female would feel guilty about allowing her other duties to override her specific responsibilities to her family whereas the male counterpart may simply view this sacrifice as a necessary stepping stone to attaining a better life for his family. Therefore, the female may be getting no end of stress from this activity in view of the fact that her perception may be that she is neglecting a very vital part of her family function. According to Seyle she may be experiencing distress whereas, the male counterpart may be experiencing eustress since this action would be viewed as a lifetime investment and would ultimately be of benefit to his family in the long run. Consistent with these ideas is Carpi’s (1996) suggestion that stress ‘penetrates to the core of our being.’ It changes our bodies and minds forever. Carpi (1996) implies in his article that once an individual has experienced stress in the past there would be a magnified response to stress in the future. Certain authors believe that the body reacts in the same way for each stressful situation, therefore, whether a situation is life threatening or simply an activity that is different from one’s daily routine the body would release a number of biochemicals which when released gradually kills the body (Carpi 2006 and Karlsen 1996). Carpi (2006), in particular, proposes that the basic functioning of the body are so sensitive to the release of adrenal hormones ‘that even minute changes in levels of these substances can significantly affect health. What is more, researchers note that extended exposure to stress can result in not only physical problems but mental and emotional difficulties. As a direct consequence of the effect of stress on the entire life of the individual authors have been encouraging members of society to attain effective means to cope with their various levels of stress. One major measure for coping with stress is to identify stress in one’s life. Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) have categorized the diverse types of symptoms into four groups, namely, cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral symptoms. Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory as cited in Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) has identified the top three stressors (the burdens that cause stress) as a ‘spouse’s death, divorce and marriage separation.’ Nonetheless, Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) are careful to mention that one’s character, general attitude towards life and support system are some of the factors that affect one’s perception of a situation as stressful or not. In addition, many of our daily activities can produce stress. Some of these factors include ‘environmental stressors ‘such as pollution and even a barking dog. ‘Family and relationship stressors may include items such as disagreements or even an ill child. Work stressors involve activities such as job frustration and inadequate salary which may or may not lead to social stressors such as financial difficulties and discrimination in the work place and the wider society. Not only is stress caused by external factors but also through internal generation which comprise worries and pent-up anger to name a few. Interestingly, the existence of stressors does not mean that one would be destabilized or crippled by its effect. Contrastingly, Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) argues that ‘the degree to which any stressful situation or event impacts your daily functioning depends partly on the nature of the stressor itself and partly on your own personal and external resources.’ Nonetheless when stress becomes overwhelming ‘our bodies and minds suffer’. Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) as well as Carpi (1996) highlight the fact that between 60 and 90 percent of illness is related to stress. Some medical conditions which may be caused or intensified by stress consist of conditions such as obesity, heart disease, infertility and many more. Similarly, stress can erode one’s ability to cope mentally resulting in conditions such as ‘anxiety, depression, eating disorders and substance abuse.’ It is therefore imperative that individuals learn how to mange their stress. Some relaxation techniques which involve deep breathing and meditation have been successful in coping with stress. However, Capri notes that simple relaxation does not work for everyone. Some individuals may require biofeedback and other relaxation techniques. Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) suggest strategies which involve nurturing oneself. These include humor, enjoying life, music, exercise and the like as effective in coping with stress. Karlsen et al (2006) conducted a study which investigated the effects of stress on the health of an individual. They concluded that the meanings which individuals gave to the situations determined whether or not their ‘well-being’ improved or worsened. They emphasized the potential for growth that the exposure to stress may allow an individual to experience. Finally, not everyone views stress as all negative, Folkman and Lazarus as cited in Carpi argued that stress should be defined as something with significance for a person’s well-being, and that stress represent a potential threat as well as a potential for growth. Consistent with this idea is Malik and Rehman’s (2007) view that optimistic people are high achievers and are less vulnerable to stress. They concluded that it is how a person perceives a situation that makes the difference in the effect of stress on their health. References Capri, John. (1996). Stress: Its Worse Than You Think Stress affects your brain and body. Too much of it can have a fatal effect. Heres what you can do to relax. Psychology Today Magazine, Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=19960101-000027&page=1 DeBord, Karen. (1993).Stress and coping with disaster. Retrieved November 16, 2008, from http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/humandev/disas3.html. Gill, Smith, Larson and Segal (2007) Understanding Stress: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Effects Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm Karlsen, E., Dybdahl, R. & Vitterso, J. (2006). The possible benefits of difficulty: How stress can increase and decrease subjective well-being. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 47, 411–417. Malik, Shazia and Rehman, Ghazala. Relationship of Optimism/Pessimism, Vulnerability to Stress and Academic Achievement of College Students. Practical Psychology Press. Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http://www.adultstudent.com/eds/articles/opti-pessi.html Sandler, Martin, E. (2002). A structural examination of academic Integration perceived Stress, academic development and goal commitment from an elaborated model of adult student persistence. Eric Digest.ED465877. Retrieved November 16, 2008 from http:// www.eric.ed.gov Read More