Stress
Many people all over the world experience different events in their lives. These events can be either positive or negative. Everyone reacts differently to these events and situations depending on the degree of the effects that these situations have on them. When the events happen, people automatically evaluate the situations mentally. They decide whether the situations are threatening to them or not, how to deal with them and what skills to use in dealing with them. This paper identifies what stress is, its causes, its effects to people’s lives and solutions to those effects.
First of all, stress is simply a response from an individual’s body to changes in the environment or thoughts that develop taxing demands to them. Unlike what many people think that the stress describes negative situations only, it can be positive in some way. For instance, characteristics of positive stress may include motivates and focuses energy, its perception is that it is within people’s coping abilities; it improves performance, feels exciting and is short-term. Situations that provoke or cause stress can be referred to as stressors. The stressors can be external or internal, negative or positive. Examples of the negative stressors include the death of a partner, losing contact with loved ones, filing for divorce, abuse or neglect by those around oneself, hospitalization of a family member or oneself, the death of a family member, separations, interpersonal conflicts in relationships, bankruptcy, unemployment or loss of jobs, time-consuming and unproductive meetings, travel schedules in the case of commuting, substandard or inadequate housing, job insecurity, high rate of insecurity in one’s residential area and excessive job demands. These stressors are negative because they lead to negative reactions from those affected. For instance, they can lead to depression, inefficiency in work and withdrawals. On the other hand, positive stressors can include employment opportunities, buying a home and moving in, receive a promotion at work, learning a new hobby or taking educational classes, planning or taking a vacation, having a child, holiday seasons or retiring. These stressors are positive because they make an individual react to them in a positive way like enjoyment and jubilation. Internal causes of stress can be brought about by internal events in an individual like thoughts, feelings and habitual behaviors. Examples of the internal sources of distress may include fears, for instance, the fear of heights, crowds, flying or animals. It can also include repetitive thought patterns of a certain situation in one’s life, worrying about future events like waiting for examination results, job restructuring or campaign speeches. Another internal cause can be perfectionist or unrealistic expectations that make an individual anxious for the outcome. Habitual behavior patterns can also lead to stress. Examples may include failure to be assertive, failure to set and maintain healthy boundaries, procrastination and failure to plan and over scheduling. A survey carried out by the American Psychological Association in 2009 on stress suggests that everyone is in agreement with the causes of stress discussed.
Stress has many effects on the quality of life of those affected by it. First of all, stressors can contribute to one’s feelings of anxiety. Examples might include trauma, which can be, as a result, of abuse, accidents or war, illness or death, things people observe or read for instance, an article on a snake that ate a person and experiences that might seem too much to handle, for example, having a baby, giving a speech or job termination. The effects of stress depend on oneself because pleasurable things to some individuals can be distressful to others. Nevertheless, common effects of stress may include frequent headaches, pain or jaw clenching, nightmares or insomnia, racing thoughts and difficulty in concentration, trouble learning new information, frequent blushing by some and sweating, sudden attacks of panic and nausea. Other effects of stress include increased irritability and frustration, social withdrawals and isolation, overreaction to petty annoyances and reduction in work productivity. Others stressed people might engage in excessive alcohol or drug use, gambling or impulse buying.
References
Estleman, L. D. (1996). Stress. New York, NY: Mysterious Press.
Gregson, S. R. (2000). Stress management. Mankato, Minn: LifeMatters
