Introduction
Many are the times when people have complained about feeling stressed. In this day and age, there are various pressures that are exerted on individuals as they go on with their day-to-day activities, for instance, work related issues as well as family issues (Singh, 2009).
When one experiences stress, they are experiencing their body’s response to some form of demand (Lloyd, Dunn & Hammer, 2009). Stress comes about when one is overwhelmed with a situation or an issue they cannot quite cope with at that particular time. Anything posing a challenge or threat to one’s well-being is perceived to be stressful (Hiriyappa, 2012).
The way one responds to challenges or pressures can also be considered to be a kind of stress. The body tends to activate resources as a measure against stressful pressures, and this in turn makes one to either take flight or fight back (Singh, 2009). Majority of individuals usually interpret stress differently as to what it is about as well as what matters. While there are those who concentrate more on what happens to them, there are those who focus more on the stressful event itself (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
Discussion
Nature of Stress
Stress has become more a part of everyday living and has been defined as tension, excess strain or pressure that eventually has an adverse effect on one’s mental and physical health (Hiriyappa, 2012). Globalization and Industrialization has brought about many pressures with regards to family and work. Individuals no longer find time to relax and are almost always working every day of their lives.
Parents, on the other hand, also do not have time to spend with their children and family members due to their busy and demanding work schedules (Singh, 2009). Despite the fact that living in the 21st Century is more advantageous as compared to living in the past, it does not come without a cost. This cost is stress. People have now removed majority of physically challenging tasks that their ancestors had to deal with and have created days that have numerous emotional and mental stressors (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
There are a number of factors that leads to, or rather, causes stress. Some of these factors include external factors and internal factors (Hiriyappa, 2012). Examples of external factors that cause stress to an individual incorporates one’s job, relationship with others, home, expectations, challenges and situations that one is confronted with daily (Singh, 2009).
On the other hand, internal factors incorporate the body’s ability to not only respond to but also cope with the external pressures bringing about the stress. The amount of sleep one gets, overall health and nutritional status all determine one’s ability to handle stress (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
Symptoms associated with stress include rising of blood pressure, slowing down of the digestive system and rapid breathing. Because the digestive system slows down, majority of individuals experiencing stress usually do not have an appetite for food and end up eating very little by the end of the day (Hiriyappa, 2012). Other symptoms are lack of or very little sleep, tension in the muscles and increased heart rate (Singh, 2009).
Major Types of Stress
Even though there are numerous types of stress such as emotional stress, post-traumatic stress, chronic stress and oxidative stress, stress has generally been categorized into four major types (Lloyd, et al., 2009). The first one is Time stress. This is perhaps one of the most commonly experienced types of stresses in this day and age.
People are currently expected to meet deadlines within a very short time and time stress comes about when they worry about time (Hiriyappa, 2012). Such individuals even feel hopeless when they fail to achieve their goals within the set time. Situational stress is yet another type of stress that is experienced today. This happens when one finds themselves in a scary or traumatizing situation that they have no control over (Singh, 2009). Situational stress usually incorporates loss of status or conflict.
Another major type of stress is Anticipatory stress, commonly experienced when one is concerned about their future (Lloyd, et al., 2009). In this day and age, people are concerned about what they will have achieved in future with regards to their lives. In relations to work, they concern themselves with upcoming presentations that they are to give or concentrate on a specific event (Hiriyappa, 2012).
Those experiencing this type of stress have a sense of fear and expect something to go wrong. The fourth type of stress is Encounter stress which generally revolves around people (Singh, 2009). Individuals who experience this type of stress tend to worry about relating to groups of persons or a particular person. Encounter stress is also experienced by those having lots of personal interactions with clients, such as social workers and physicians (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
Responding to Stress
Stress is not only a biological response but a psychological one that is experienced upon encountering threats that people feel they cannot deal with (Singh, 2009). People tend to respond to stress differently. Initially, one’s body makes judgment as to whether a situation is stressful or not (Hiriyappa, 2012).
Such decisions or judgments are based on stored memories as well as sensory input and processing (Singh, 2009). If the current situation is concluded to be stressful, the hypothalamus gets activated because it is responsible for the stress response. Signals are then sent to the adrenal medulla and pituitary gland, which then brings about the short-term responses of either flight or fight (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
Effects of Stress
Stress affects both the mind and the body. This tends to have an adverse effect on the person where they may end up suffering mental breakdowns (Hiriyappa, 2012). People have, in the course of time, experienced so much stress that they tend to ignore the effects it has on them. When one is stressed, they tend to experience memory loss such as losing track of conversations or misplacing items (Singh, 2009).
Majority of individuals can attest to having experienced this at one time or the other, when under stressful situations. Moodiness is yet another common effect experienced by an individual under stress (Lloyd, et al., 2009). People suddenly become short-tempered and find themselves on an emotional rollercoaster, where, one minute they are happy, and the next they are sad for no apparent reason.
As it has been mentioned earlier, one of the symptoms associated with stress is lack of appetite. There are those instances, however, when one craves for products made with refined sugar and salt (Hiriyappa, 2012). This is where you find an individual indulging in junk foods as a way of calming themselves down.
Other effects related to stress include worrying too much about minute issues, lack of focus and concentration on tasks and recurring tension in the muscles (Singh, 2009). The most ignored effects of stress are on the reproductive organs. Experts have linked stress to erection problems, painful menstrual periods and low fertility (Lloyd, et al., 2009).
Factors Influencing Stress Tolerance
It is rather interesting to observe that there are those who are capable of withstanding the effects of stress as compared to others. In order to understand why this is so, it is important to take into considerations various factors that tend to influence stress tolerance. One of these factors is social support (Hiriyappa, 2012).
Social support incorporates a variety of aid provided by those within the social networks of an individual. When one is given social support by friends or family, they are better able to cope with their current stressful situations (Singh, 2009).
Hardiness is yet another factor influencing stress tolerance. It refers to one’s commitment, control and challenge related to strong stress resistance (Lloyd, et al., 2009). Optimism is another factor where the individual under the stressful situation is expectant of positive outcomes by the end of the day. People are often advised to be positive and think positive thoughts even when the situation dictates otherwise (Hiriyappa, 2012). Being positive is also good as it does not put a strain on one’s well-being.
Conclusion
Since stress has been identified as a leading factor affecting the health of today’s individual, it is important to understand, or rather, learn how to manage stress. Managing stress is directly connected to one’s well-being. There are a number of ways that people can deal with stress, for instance, through humor.
Humor has been used since time immemorial, to reduce stress and help one keep a positive attitude irrespective of the situation. Taking a walk and changing one’s environment is another way that an individual can deal with stress. Eating junk foods or starving oneself is not the solution when experiencing stress. Instead, one should at least eat a fruit and drink plenty of water if they are not in the mood to eat.
References
Hiriyappa, B. (2012). Stress Management: Leading to Success. Booktango.
Lloyd, M.A., Dunn, D.S., & Hammer, E.Y. (2009). Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustments in the 21st Century. 9th Edition. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Singh, A. (2009). Stress Management: Mission to Fight Pressure, Mental & Emotional Strain. New Delhi: Global India Publications.