Welcome to part 2 of my book excerpt.
3. Understanding Stress
Well, no matter how it is put, you have to recognise that there is no universally accepted definition of stress and knowledge of the key definitions that are currently in use. It includes understanding that the stress concept and stress management practice includes issues relating to both causes and effects of stress.
4. Definitions of Stress
Stress arises when individuals perceive that they cannot adequately cope with the demands being made on them or with threats to their well-being. (R.S. Lazarus (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGraw-Hill)
Stress, it is argued, can only be sensibly defined as a perceptual phenomenon arising from a comparison between the demand on the person and his or her ability to cope. An imbalance in this mechanism, when coping is important, gives rise to the experience of stress, and to the stress response. (T. Cox (1978). Stress. Basingstoke: Macmillan Education)
Stress results from an imbalance between demands and resources. (R.S. Lazarus and S. Folkman (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer)
Stress is the psychological, physiological and behavioural response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands, which, over a period of time, leads to ill-health. (S. Palmer (1989). Occupational stress. The Health and Safety Practitioner, 7, (8), 16-18)
Each one has their own understanding of what stress actually is, but in a nutshell it can be put simply as something like:
Stress occurs when pressure exceeds your perceived ability to cope.
And for the simplicity of this book we shall continue to use this interpretation.
5. Causes and Effects of Stress
Listing the cause of stress is tricky. There can be innumerable stress factors since different individuals react differently to the same stress conditions. Extreme stress situations for an individual may prove to be mild for another, for yet another person the situations might not qualify as stress symptoms at all.
Stress is often termed as a twentieth century syndrome, born out of man's race towards modern progress and its ensuing complexities. For that matter, causes such as a simple flight delay to managing a teenage child at home can put you under stress.
A stress condition can be real or perceived. Yet, our brain reacts the same way to both causes of stress by releasing stress hormones equal to the degree of stress felt. The brain doesn't differentiate between real and imagined stress. It could happen while watching a horror movie or when one is apprehensive of some imminent danger.
It is said that life acts and you react. Our attitude is our reaction to what life hands out to us. A significant amount of stress symptoms can be avoided or aroused by the way we relate to stressors.
Stress is created by what we think rather than by what has actually happened. For instance, handling adopted children, adolescents, academic failures, retirements, tax audits or sudden loss of money needs a relaxed attitude, focused will and preparedness to face the quirks of life positively. Otherwise one tends to feel stressed and reacts in anger and frustration. With a better control of attention one can feel that the world is a more congenial place to live in.
Again, in case of a marital conflict, instead of adopting an accusing and frustrating attitude such as - "You made my life hell" or "You are not meeting my emotional needs," the American clinical psychotherapist Willard F. Harley suggests that accepting - "Yes, we have a problem", helps clear the clouds. Failure in adopting a realistic attitude to events creates symptoms of depression and aggravates stress situations.
A right attitude can make a resilient person out of us in the face of stressful situations.
Major life events such as a divorce, death, midlife crisis, financial worries, persistent strain of caring for a chronically sick child, nagging health problems or managing a physically or mentally challenged family member can act as potential stressors.
Even conditions such as prolonged unemployment or a sudden lay-off/redundancy from a job can leave you under tremendous stress. One just can't wish away situation. Moreover one has to live through these situations, in the right spirit, to make living a worthwhile experience.
Stress also comes from our personal and social contexts and from our psychological and emotional reactions to such conditioning. Here, our mental and emotional disposition, built over the years, decides whether to accept these situations with a fighting or fleeing spirit. Accordingly, we may either be under harmful influences of stressors or be out of it.
Children and women subjected to mental or physical abuses are known to suffer from tremendous stress symptoms of depression, constant anxiety and burnout. Though anger, fear and other negative emotional reactions are natural and necessary we need to channel them constructively to create a balanced state in our body and mind.
Medically, it has been established that chronic symptoms of anxiety and stress can crumble our body's immune system. Irrespective of the nature of the causes of stress - real or perceived - our subconscious mind reacts with the same body response by releasing stress hormones equal to the degree of our fear, worry or sense of threat.
It brings about changes in the body's biochemical state with extra epinephrine and other adrenal steroids such as hydro-cortisone in the bloodstream. It also induces increased palpitation and blood pressure in the body with mental manifestations such as anger, fear, worry or aggression. In short, stress creates anomalies in our body's homeostasis.
When the extra chemicals in our bloodstream don't get used up or the stress situation persists, it makes our body prone to mental and physical illnesses.
For example, imagine a secretary in an office
Her boss comes in, angry and furious. He starts blasting the secretary for no apparent reasons. Now, her activated adrenaline cycle would tell her to flee or fight. Her senses become acute, muscles tighten, heartbeats and blood pressure increase and brain activity speeds up.
She would probably like to walk out or alternatively, turn around and punch him in the face. But she does neither; for to do so might mean losing her job.
So what follows?
She burns up a lot of her body energy without achieving anything. At the end of the day she would be left mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted - classic symptoms of anxiety and stress. It can happen to anybody from a high profile businessman to a student, an executive or a homemaker.
All are burning out their energies to defend themselves from their real or perceived causes of stress.
We often remain oblivious to the idea that pets - animals and birds - also suffer from stress. Pets are extremely sensitive to their surroundings and are known to develop emotional bonding with their owners as well as fellow pets. 'Change' triggers stress in animals the same way it triggers stress in humans. Health conditions also affect the pets' psychological state.
Conditions such as illnesses, travel, breeding, separation from owner, shifting, addition or loss of a family member or another household pet, can cause stress in animals. In such cases, pets become extremely bored or show symptoms of severe stress such as fear, anxiety and restlessness.
A bored pet dog would slowly chew, destroy things or move objects in and around the household, eat or drink excessively, and sometimes, even create inflammation conditions like "lick granuloma" (usually an ulcerated area on a dog's wrist or ankle caused by the dog's own incessant licking).
They also tend to bark a lot when they are bored. Stressed-out dogs show signs of shaking, trembling, restlessness and destructiveness. It is just as important to treat boredom, as it is to treat anxiety.
In a challenging situation the brain prepares the body for defensive action - the fight or flight response by releasing stress hormones, namely, cortisone and adrenaline. These hormones raise the blood pressure and the body prepares to react to the situation. With a concrete defensive action (fight response) the stress hormones in the blood get used up, entailing reduced stress effects and symptoms of anxiety.
When we fail to counter a stress situation (flight response) the hormones and chemicals remain unreleased in the blood stream for a long period of time. It results in stress related physical symptoms such as tense muscles, unfocused anxiety, dizziness and rapid heartbeats.
We all encounter various stressors (causes of stress) in everyday life, which can accumulate, if not released. Subsequently, it compels the mind and body to be in an almost constant alarm-state in preparation to fight or flee. This state of accumulated stress can increase the risk of both acute and chronic psychosomatic illnesses and weaken the immune system.
Stress can cause headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, eating disorder, allergies, insomnia, backaches, frequent cold and fatigue to diseases such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, heart ailments and even cancer. In fact, Sanjay Chugh, a leading Indian psychologist, says that 70% to 90% of adults visit primary care physicians for stress-related problems.
Scary enough?
Just about everybody - men, women, children and even babies - suffer from stress. Relationship demands, chronic health problems, pressure at workplaces, traffic snarls, meeting deadlines, growing-up tensions or a sudden change in lifestyles can trigger stress conditions. People react to it in their own ways.
In some people, stress-induced adverse feelings and anxieties tend to persist and intensify. Learning to understand and manage stress can prevent the counter effects of stress. Methods of coping with stress are aplenty. The most significant or sensible way out is a change in lifestyle.
Relaxation techniques such as meditation, physical exercises, listening to soothing music, deep breathing, various natural and alternative methods, personal growth techniques, visualisation and massage are some of the most effective of the known non-invasive stress busters.
Now that we have explored STRESS in some detail we want to move on and concentrate on how you can make a change to your own life and maybe others around you.
You already understand the basics of stress management and stressor identification, but you will need to spend a bit more time in the background to investigate more details to how you can be more effective in making desired changes.
I hope you enjoyed the 2nd article in the series. If you want to view the previous one, please clcik the link below.
https://steemit.com/health/@mixoloist/stress-management-living-your-life-stress-free-part-1
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