Personal Stress Prevention Strategy
Personal Stress Prevention Strategy
Introduction
Stress is usually the body’s way of dealing with and responding to the challenge in its environment. Experts are of the opinion that stress evolved primarily to enable us to deal with a difficult situation. Stress responds to a situation with the fight or flight response. As such, the difficult situation in our earlier days might have involved running away from a lion; a speedy reaction was the required and stress served its purpose perfectly. However, the body cannot sustain a state of the stress for a long time and if forced to so it results in some disastrous repercussions. In a typical human being stress, therefore, will be a situation whereby the aforementioned actors begin to influence a person’s mental and even physical health.
In the present age, stressors in an individual’s life are numerous; the stressful jobs, financial security, relationships and family issues among others. I can categorize my stressors into various categories depending their origins. The first one is Environmental stressors; living in the modern age exposes an individual to many sources stressors in the environments. The stressors include traffic, noise, the air pollution by the factories and automobiles, and even the distractions such as billboards. There are also social stressors that trigger when a stressful social situation emerges. The situation involves the situation where my skill and abilities are required such as a job interview. Also, when I have to deal with hostile people or unfriendly people will result in a stressful period for me.
The other stressors in my life are physiological stressors. These stressors are simply the physical stress that results from the body being unhealthy or even unfit. The leading cause of such stressors is injuries and illnesses. However, factors such as poor diet and nutrition, lack of exercise, insufficient sleep and even aging can lead to stress. My final category of stressor is the emotional stress. Emotional stress ties with personal relationships and their status. If a conflict is ongoing in the relationships then, stress will inevitably result especially if the issues fail to resolve immediately.
My present way of managing stress in my life depends on just how much I can do. If the stressor is within my sphere of influence, I usually take active steps in order to ensure that it resolves immediately. An example of this would be a personal conflict with a friend. Most of such conflicts result from disagreements. Rather than perpetuating such a conflict, I would do my best to ensure that the dispute has an amicable solution. I also avoid confrontations especially with the belligerent individuals; the confrontations include both verbal and physical confrontations. For the stressors that I can hardly do anything about my solution to them is simply to accept that there is little that I can do about it and move on with my life. Such stressors include the noise in the streets of my city; short of evicting all residents and the vehicles the streets are unlikely to quieten suddenly. The stressors that are I cannot fix are more troubling than the stressors within my control as I deciding to accept an unpleasant situation is hard as opposed to settling a personal issue.
Personal Stress
Personal stress as previously mentioned results when my personal life including relationships with my friends and even family members has issues. My technique of avoiding such personal stress is simply fixing the situation. If it is a conflict then, I strive to resolve it. However, on occasion some particular stressors are not as easily fixed. A problem such as friends moving away must be endured since there is no solution to that. It is at this stage that the attitude that a person adopts in light of such a challenge matters. If one takes the attitude that they are only separated by distance and with phone calls and emails, you can keep in touch stress is unlikely. However, if an individual starts worrying whether he will ever see them again, if they are going to remember him and such thoughts he will naturally end up stressed.
As such, my main technique of preventing stress in my personal life especially in matters beyond my control is an optimistic approach and a positive attitude. Having such approached my problems allows me to accept the situation and move on faster to the situations that I can influence. Being over worried over factors beyond my concerned would only have me stressed unnecessarily.
Professional Stress
Humorously, people compare the modern day workplace to the ancient battlefields only with less bloodshed but just as much fighting. The workplace is a highly competitive and pressured environment. One has to deal with workmates, some of whom are hostile and the taxing jobs themselves that will more often than not have a deadline attached. In addition, the employees or the boss might also lack empathy for a situation that the worker is dealing with in his life. In summary, the workplace can be a major source of stress in a person’s life.
Stress from the workplace is simply unavoidable, and one can only ensure that it does not escalate. In fact, a little stress in the workplace will provide the motivation and the drive that one need to perform their duties efficiently. Nonetheless, some of the stressors in the workplace are easily dealt by a determined person. If one is punctual in their work hours and always delivers their assignments in due time, clashes with the employers will be unlikely to happen. Furthermore, dedication to my job allows me to avoid most of the stressors that plague most workers.
Financial Stress
The statement, “Money is never enough” is a popular and for a good reason. Financial troubles in the 21st Century seem to plague everyone with a few exceptions. With numerous the bills and demands, finances are a significant stressor. The paycheck might even run out before it arrives because spending might equal the earning. In fact, a study carried out recently discovered that close to eight million people live in the state of one paycheck away from homelessness. Mortgages seem to hang over people’s head like the proverbial sword of Damocles.
Nonetheless, while financial is unavoidable, it can be mitigated with careful planning, budgeting, and planning. Financial stress tends to emerge when an individual’s spending is greater than their earnings. Consequently, I ensure that my spending is always within my means. I also make a point of planning and budgeting for my money. I also stick to my budget and the financial plans. Such measures though they might not eliminate financial stress they do mitigate the level of the stress.
Social Stress
My social stressors are similar to the personal stressors but focus more on social relationships with everyone and my social environment in general. Social stress will occur when an individual cannot cope with a social situation. An example of this is a public speaking or any other occasion that may require an individual to address a group of people. Most people are uncomfortable with presenting to a crowd, and some are outrightly scared of making such presentations. Furthermore, social stressors include the feelings of exclusion, abandonment or desertion by family, friends and even the society in general. I cope with social stressors by the simple realization that my family and friends will stand by me at any time. The security that such assurances offer me is that I am not by myself and alone and that I can always rely on my friends and family should I ever need their help. For the socially uncomfortable situations, I usually avoid them, and if I have to, I prepare thoroughly to minimize my stress.
Cultural Stress
Cultural or culture stress results when an individual faces with two competing value systems. The values systems could be different cultures, or just different ethnic background from the individual’s background. The two value systems; the individuals and the foreign conflict creating confusion in the individuals who then becomes stressed. Culture clash is a primary concern for people such as tourists who visit completely different cultures from their own. Observations of this occur in some of the Western tourists who visit countries such as Japan. In my life cultural stress is absent as I mostly interact with my friend and family with whom I share culture. For a friend whose cultures I do not share I have never had a culture stress from my interactions with them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the stress today is an increasing concern for both doctors and even economists. Doctor's concern lies with the myriad of issues physical and mental that arise and asymptomatic of stress. Economists, on the other hand, realize that the pressure lowers production and increases the inefficiency of the working people. It should, therefore, be every organization's goal to reduce stress in their employees. The methods and techniques mentioned above the strategies that I apply to deal with stress in my life. They are not a hundred percent effective, but they eliminate some of the stresses I would have in their absence.
References
Guha, M. (2011). Professional Stress. Journal of Mental Health, 210-214.
Navarro, M. (2013, September 17). In New York, Having a Job, or 2, Doesn’t Mean Having a Home. The New York Times, p. 20.
Ohnemus, Peter, Laurence, J., & Naef, A. (2012). United States Patent No. 13/542,542.
Patton, D., & Hysuan-yun, L. (2014). A Study of the Relationship between Expatriates’ Role Stress and Overseas Work Adjustment: The Moderating Effect of Cultural Intelligence. Journal of International Workers, 23-26.
Sol, L., & Scotch, N. A. (2013). Social stress. New York: AldineTransaction.
Tates, F. M. (1995). Stress: Conceptual and Biological Aspects. Michigan: Wiley.
