Stress is seen in every area of the world and which occurs to everyone. People use the term stress to describe the feeling they have when it all seems too much, when they are overloaded and don’t feel that they are able to meet all the demands placed upon them. A child burdened with heavy bag right from School to the Manager of Corporate world. stress has become a new lifestyle disease. It has become predominant and people have come up with balanced monitored concepts to minimize stress. This paper proceeds to explain stress, the causes and the ways to minimize stress.
WHAT IS STRESS ?
The non-specific response of the body to any demand for change” In attempting to extrapolate his animal studio to humans so that people would understand what he meant, he redefined stress as “The rate of wear and tear on the burly” According to Richard S Lazarus.
“Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize.” researchers define stress as a physical, mental, or emotional response to events that causes bodily or mental tension. Simply put, stress is any outside force or event that has an effect on our body or mind
SIGNS OF STRESS
Physical Behavior Emotional
Feeling hot rushing around being in a bad mood
Heart beating fast starting tasks and feeling hopeless
Not finishing them
Sweating shouting feeling angry
Headache waking up too early
In the morning
CAUSES OF STRESS
The causes of stress are known as stressors and there are literally hundreds of different types .of stressors. Any event in life that a person finds threatening, difficult to cope with or causes excess pressure can be a potential cause of stress. It is important to bear in mind that stress is an individualistic, subjective experience and therefore what one person finds stressful another may not. Stressors can be divided in to two parts external or internal (or a mixture of both.)
External Stressors
1. Gossip – car breakdown
2. Relatives – meal preparation
3. Excess noise – job dissatisfaction
4. Lack of sleep – office politics
Internal Stressors
Work Stressors
• Commuting – Conflicts with colleagues
• Time pressures – Low pay
• Job insecurity – Role ambiguity
Family Stressors
• Children leaving home
• Arguments with children
• Relationship difficulties
Social Stressors
• Fear of crime
• Living in an urban area
• Poverty
Physical Stressors
• Poor diet – Smoking
• Drug misuse – Illness
• Excess heat – Surgery
• Excess caffeine
EFFECTS OF STRESS
• Physically The heart pumps faster, making the heart pound and blood pressure rise; some people experience palpitations. Muscle tension increases, leading to headaches, dizziness, jaw ache and even insomnia. The mouth goes dry, digestion slows causing “butterflies” in the stomach. Breathing is faster and less efficient which can lead to over breathing (hyperventilation) and breathlessness. Changes in the flow of blood to the skin can. cause sweating, blushing or clammy hands and feet.
• Mentally a certain amount of stress can be mentally stimulating but too much can affect our thinking ability. Thoughts may become jumbled and confused. Thinking becomes focused on worrying. We may become preoccupied with problems. It becomes much harder to make decisions or find, solutions to problems. Thinking negatively and fearing the worst increases worry and stress.
• Emotionally People respond to stress in many different ways. Common emotional effect s are irritability, impatience, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, self-doubt, panic, despondency, feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, hopelessness, unhappiness,
• Emotionally withdrawal and depression. Behaviorally: Stress can change people’s behavior towards one another. We may become less sociable, is caring, more hostile and insensitive towards others. When stress is accompanied by anger we may become less tolerant, fly off the handle easily and provoke rows. Many people respond to stress by eating, drinking or smoking much more than is usual: some engage in risk taking behavior. Students often complain that when they feel stressed they find it hard to concentrate, feel tired all the time, perhaps start to miss lectures and deadlines and feel they can’t cope.
HOW TO MANAGE STRESS
• There is a tremendous need for a Holistic approach or min-body intervention to combat the menace of negative stress.
• Every individual, should learn how to deal a stressful situation in a positive way and not to react negatively. Stress Management should be practiced from childhood, through out your life and the only method to remain healthy, physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, psychologically, physiologically, environmentally and spiritually.
• There are 3 types of: responses when there is stress.
• Response of reaction You hit the roof.
• Response of indifference You are not bothered about the problem.
• Response of Action You sit comfortably, analysis the problem and come up with positive solutions–always try to be this.