Stress is the tension or pressure on the mind when an unwanted condition arises. Stress is known as a situation where one is not happy with the results of the work done.
There are many causes of stress, and many things which can cause stress. From household chores to the national and international level, the stress appears on every individual. There are some kinds of stress that appear for a short time, while there are some kinds of stress that prolong for many years upon an individual or upon any company that is called a long term stress or long prevailing stress (Stephens, 2010 p.48).
The short term stress is usually caused by work load at office, at schools and universities on students. Even a household can feel short term stress if she is not making home activities properly and within the time. Time management is a key factor, plying an important role in controlling and creating stress. While a viral infection to the patient and also creates a short term stress. These short term stresses can be ruled out with the passage of time. These do not have effect of the health as these stresses go on with the life. But when it comes to long term stress, like any chronic disease, permanent tension at work place, any student not doing well in academics, or personal problems at home, these can create a lot of problems health wise. One can even loose life if this long term stress go on for a longer period of time and is not addressed properly and accordingly. In biological words, stress is a common and normal factor, and it fights with the external world in situations that are hard to face.
Now we will discuss in details that how many kinds of stress are present and how they affect our body system, lives and our working.
There are many reasons from health wise that can cause stress.
- Chronic illness: when one has a chronic illness or disease like heart problems, hepatitis, tuberculosis, these create stress on the human mind (Richard Contrada, 2010 p.23). aperson will be constatntly in stress until he/ she is not fully recovered from that disease. The stress of tking pills, the stress to visist the doctor on the right time, the stress to maintain healhy and good food that suits the ilness, these all types of stress go on with the chronic diseases. And it apart from the disease play a vital role in damaging mind and body.
- Emotions: when one is feeling something wrong in his work, or someone gets a bad news from someone, these are emotional stresses. These reasons can do harm to the health. Emotional stress is related to relations also. If the marriage is not working well, there is a rivalry among siblings or relatives, if a person wants perfection in a relation and other does not fulfill the commitments, then these emotional stresses are very fatal to the human body.
- Job/work stress: when one is having trouble at his workplace this also creates stress. Take a simple example, when a person is going for some job interview, he feels stress on his mind, when a student is taking an exam, he also feels stress. There have been surveys and reports worldwide, and these surveys have showed that the stress at work places, with any organization, company is the most severe kinds of stress. Such stress has taken many valuable lives. The stress at the work place not only causes bad impact on the life of an employee, but it also harms the efficiency of a company. The company’s demands of work are not fulfilled, so it also creates disturbance at the working place.
- Apart from the above reason that creates stress, the environment and the seasons also create stress among some people. For example, there are some people who are allergic to noise pollution, or air pollution, but they are living in such an area, where these two factors exist, so these factors create stress on the person. His min will not work properly, and he will be continuously in a stress, affecting his work, life and everything. And it is due to this stress that leads to severe health problems, mainly he heart problems. Heart is that part of body that is directly affected by negative and positive responses from the environment. If the environment gives positive signals, the heart works normally, but in some cases when the environment does not give positive signals the heart could not bear the stress and thus heart attacks occur.
Theories relating to stress:
Richard S.Lazarus, S. F. (1986). Cognitive Theories of Stress and The Issue of Circularity. 63-80
Broadly speaking and more technically speaking, there are many theories present about the stress (Richard S.Lazarus, 1986.p 63-80). The writer, Lazarus has explained these theories in detail in his work, and showing how the person responds to the stress. In one of the theory, the response of the same person to three or more situations is recorded. And it was found that a person may not feel stress in all situations. For example, if a person is exposed to relations, work load and other social contacts. A person may not take all these issues in priority. He may respond more to the work pressure rather than the other two. So stress for him is in a workplace. Similarly, if there is another person, and that person is exposed to the above situations, he may respond differently to each situation. So from this point of view, it has become clear that the stress occurrence depends on each and every individual. It depends that how each individual handles the situation, and for him what situation is more stressful than the other. In one of another article that is about trauma and stress “A.Resick, P. (02-Jan-2014). Stress and Trauma. Psychology Press.57-58”, another theory which is related to the person’s response to the environment and also to the trauma caused by stress is also explained in a very detailed manner. According to this theory, sometimes a person is not feeling comfortable in the environment and takes the stress. We explain this theory in simple words. When a person goes to a new environment, may be the environment is such that puts a person in trouble, or sometimes the person itself is not accommodating with the environment. So this relation between the environment and a person allows less stress to those who can adjust everywhere, and creates stress for those who cannot adjust quickly and easily.
Now after knowing well about the reasons and causes of stress, we will find out that how one can fight against any kind of stress. I one is feeling stress, he cannot be left to be in stress all the time. Measures are necessary, and one should take some steps to fight and treat that stress.
How to deal with stress/ treatment of stress:
Whatever the reason of stress is, the main point is how to deal with the stress (Theorell, DEC,1999.p.616-624). According to the writer, stress itself is not a chronic disease or any harmful disease, but in its explicit form, stress can do damage what any other chronic disease can do to the health. One should know the basic reason of stress. When once the basic reason is known, it is easy to fight against the stress. Once the reasons are known one should not sit and cry over the reasons, but should try hard to overcome and eliminate these reasons. So to deal with the stress, the inner strength is necessary. If one is strong enough he or she can deal with any type of stress. Stress if prolonged is very hazardous for life. What are the symptoms of stress? One who is always worried about his work, one who is suffering some disease, one who is having problem with memorization, the one who is not fulfilling his responsibilities, these all the symptoms of stress, so the first step for the treatment is to know the symptoms. Once we come to know about the symptoms it is easy to treat or cope with the stress. One can even relieve stress if a person sits in a good and comfortable environment. Sitting with friends, or near ones, even watching an hour of the recreational program can relieve stress. One when feels stress in a noise or due to dirt, can take a vacation, go out and get stressed out (Siddique, 2003. p.455-486). So it means from the writer point of view that environment adaption depends on the person’s will how an individual respond to the stress and how then an individual tries to eliminate or curtail stress.
Stress management:
B.Hirriyappa. (08-Oct-2013). Stress Management: Leading To Success. Booktango.
Stress management is explained by the writer in his book “Stress Management”. According to the writer stress management is entirely upon individual will power. In some areas of the world, there is some stress relieving centers. These centers provide a comfortable zone for the stressed out people. But apart from these centers, one has to manage itself the stress. One can manage stress if they keep the following activities in their mind;
- If something is bothering, we should first try to neglect that thing, should not take a stress until or unless unavoidable or uncontrollable.
- We should try to adjust ourselves to every situations and environment. By adjusting easily, we can take less stress (Weinberg, 29- SEP- 2010.).
- And third and the final thing is, if we cannot neglect any situation, we should try to release the fact that we have no other choice, and we will have to survive in such conditions. So by accepting the problem, one will not fell as much stress as much in other case.
How to cope with stress:
There are many ways in order to relieve stress or cope with the stress. In one of the article the ways are prescribed how to cope with the stress. MD, B. C. (Jan.1991). Stress & Health. Coping with Stress. , 61-63. This article shows the following points to be adopted.
- Eat healthy to avoid any unwanted disease.
- Should think positive about work and our responsibilities.
- And also one another book says that we should be friendly with the family and spend free time with the family (Palmer, 29-Mar-2006).
These steps can help in coping and managing the stress.
If we are well enough to manage the stress, many of our problems will be solved, and we can live a healthy life. Stress free life is not only necessary for an individual but also for the betterment of the society.
References:
A.Resick, P. (02-Jan-2014). Stress and Trauma. Psychology Press.57-58.
B.Hirriyappa. (08-Oct-2013). Stress Management: Leading To Success. Booktango.
MD, B. C. (Jan.1991). Stress & Health. Coping with Stress. , 61-63.
Palmer, S. ( 29-Mar-2006 ). Coping with Stress at University: A Survival Guide. SAGE Publications.
Richard S.Lazarus, S. F. (1986). Cognitive Theories of Stress and The Issue of Circularity. 63-80
Richard Contrada PhD, A. B. (29-Sep,. 2010). The Handbook of Stress Science: Biology, Psychology, and Health. Springer Publishing Company,.
Siddique, R. M. (SEPTEMBER, 2003.). Coping with Environmental Stressors by Urban Slum Dwellers. 455-486.
Stephens, M. A. (2010). Stress and Coping in Later-life Families. Taylor & Francis,.
Theorell, T. (DEC,1999.). How to deal with stress in organizations?—A health perspective on theory and practice. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health,, 616-624.
Weinberg, A. (29- SEP- 2010.). Organizational Stress Management: A Strategic Approach. Palgrave Macmillan,.
