Nowadays stress is something that everyone experiences at least once in their life. The amount of pressure at school, at the office, or even at one’s own home can be manageable, but eventually, if not taken care of, the burden becomes unbearable. It is crucial for one’s mental and physical health to recognize signs of stress overload and to seek out ways to cope with it.
The first step towards successful stress management is acknowledging the threat. According to Seaward (2017), stress is “the experience of a perceived threat (real or imagined) to one’s mental, physical or spiritual well-being, resulting from a series of physiological responses and adaptations.” In other words, stress is simply a response to events or accidents, which erupt or threaten human’s general well-being.
Other researchers claim that stress occurs when there is a discrepancy between an individual’s expected and actual ability to deal with job tasks (Chan, Leung, & Liang, 2018). However, stress is not necessarily dangerous. After all, it is the main motivation for people to adapt or change their circumstances, just like an animal runs away from immediate danger. Stress grows into an overwhelming issue only when the feeling of tension becomes repeatable.
The outcomes of stress on one’s health can be both biological and mental. Some of those effects can be identified immediately, and the others develop over time. Usually, the immediate reaction to stress is the feeling of anxiety, irritation, shallow breathing, and a sudden increase in heart rate. On a short-term basis, these reactions produce a fight or flight response, a signal for the body to defend itself in a dangerous situation.
Nevertheless, if exposure to stressful circumstances continues for too long, the negative consequences may affect overall well-being. The body of a stressed individual becomes more accessible to viruses and diseases, experiences loss of appetite, headaches, and fatigue. The disturbed mental health is not strong enough to cope with the never-ending burden, which leads to constant mood swings, crying, excessive alcohol or substance use, depression, or even suicide. It is vital to be able to identify the signs of a stress overload beforehand and ask for help from a trusted friend or a professional. Moreover, there are many healthy ways to reduce the harmful effects of stressful situations.
In general, all positive methods of dealing with stress are divided into two categories: emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping. An individual can often use a mixture of both at the same time (Feldman & Garrison, 2019). One of the ways to fuse handling emotions with problem-solving is journaling. It offers not only an escape from all the judgment, allowing to write whatever comes to mind without fear of being criticized.
What is more, journaling serves to clear one’s head by means of writing everything that causes fear and anxiety. In written form, all the problems suddenly become more evident and understandable, allowing the individual to rationalize the source of obstacles and to find out the way to overcome them. Journaling also benefits in the long run, giving the opportunity to reflect upon stressful situations in the past and find inspiration to figure out the issues that cause stress at the moment.
In conclusion, I would say that journaling is a reliable and healthy way to cope with everyday stress, as it helps me to make sense of the sources of anxiety. Especially when I struggle with my studies or personal life, I find comfort in writing without any filters or boundaries. After all, comfort is exactly what people need during hard times.
References
Chan, I. Y. S., Leung, M. Y., & Liang, Q. (2018). The roles of motivation and coping behaviours in managing stress: Qualitative interview study of Hong Kong expatriate construction professionals in mainland China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(3), 561.
Seaward, B. L. (2017). Managing stress. Burlington, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Feldman, R. S., & Garrison, M. (2019). Understanding psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.