Тюменский государственный нефтегазовый Университет. How to cope with stress?

How to cope with stress?

Stress is an everyday fact of life. Stress on the job, stress at work, stress over money - the list goes on. Being able to effectively cope with stress can come in handy, not only in our everyday lives, but in terms of our health and overall well being. We generally use the word «stress» when we feel that everything seems to have become too much - we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed upon us. Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Some stresses get you going and they are good for you - without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health they are bad.

What is stress? Stress is a term that is commonly used today but has become increasingly difficult to define. It shares, to some extent, common meanings in both the biological and psychological sciences. Stress typically describes a negative concept that can have an impact on one’s mental and physical well-being, but it is unclear what exactly defines stress and whether or not stress is a cause, an effect, or the process connecting the two. With organisms as complex as humans, stress can take on entirely concrete or abstract meanings with highly subjective qualities, satisfying definitions of both cause and effect in ways that can be both tangible and intangible.

Fight or flight response

The way you respond to a challenge may also be a type of stress. Part of your response to a challenge is physiological and affects your physical state. When faced with a challenge or a threat, your body activates resources to protect you - to either get away as fast as you can, or fight. If you are upstairs at home and an earthquake starts, the faster you can get yourself and your family out the more likely you are all to survive. If you need to save somebody's life during that earthquake, by lifting a heavy weight that has fallen on them during the earthquake, you will need components in your body to be activated to give you that extra strength –that extra push.

Our fight-or-flight response is our body's sympathetic nervous system reacting to a stressful event. Our body produces larger quantities of the chemicals cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which trigger a higher heart rate, heightened muscle preparedness, sweating, and alertness - all these factors help us protect ourselves in a dangerous or challenging situation.

Non-essential body functions slow down, such as our digestive and immune systems when we are in fight-or flight response mode. All resources can then be concentrated on rapid breathing, blood flow, alertness and muscle use.

So, let's recap, when we are stressed the following happens:

· Blood pressure rises

· Breathing becomes more rapid

· Digestive system slows down

· Heart rate (pulse) rises

· Immune system goes down

· Muscles become tense

· We do not sleep (heightened state of alertness)

Most of us have varying interpretations of what stress is about and what matters. Some of us focus on what happens to us, such as breaking a bone or getting a promotion, while others think more about the event itself. What really matters are our thoughts about the situations in which we find ourselves.

We are continually sizing up situations that confront us in life. We assess each situation, deciding whether something is a threat, how we can deal with it and what resources we can use. If we conclude that the required resources needed to effectively deal with a situation are beyond what we have available, we say that that situation is stressful - and we react with a classical stress response. On the other hand, if we decide our available resources and skills are more than enough to deal with a situation, it is not seen as stressful to us.

We all respond differently to a given situation for three main reasons:

1. We do not all interpret each situation in the same way.

2. Because of this, we do not all call on the same resources for each situation

3. We do not all have the same resources and skills.

Some situations which are not negative ones may still be perceived as stressful. This is because we think we are not completely prepared to cope with them effectively. Examples being: having a baby, moving to a nicer house, and being promoted. Having a baby is usually a wonderful thing, so is being promoted or moving to a nicer house. But, moving house is a well-known source of stress.

It is important to learn that what matters more than the event itself is usually our thoughts about the event when we are trying to manage stress. How you see that stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts on your physical and mental health. Your interpretation of events and challenges in life may decide whether they are invigorating or harmful for you.

A persistently negative response to challenges will eventually have a negative effect on your health and happiness. Experts say people who tend to perceive things negatively need to understand themselves and their reactions to stress-provoking situations better. Then they can learn to manage stress more successfully.

Top 10 causes of stress

Childhood Trauma

Some individuals experience long-term stress as a result of a traumatic childhood. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, milestone research in 1998, found that difficult emotional experiences as a child can cause physical stress on the body throughout life. Children who live in abusive homes, or who grow up living with an alcoholic or drug abuser often suffer more psychological stress throughout adulthood.

Death of a Loved One

The Holmes-Raye Social Readjustment Rating Scale shows that the death of a spouse can be one of the most stressful events a person can face. Stress is made worse when a couple owes a lot of debts and the remaining spouse must worry about finances on top of grieving the loss of a spouse. Issues can be compounded even more if someone loses a spouse while there are still minor children living at home.

Divorce

Divorce is another leading cause of stress among men and women, this according to the Holmes-Raye scale. In addition to dealing with a variety of stressful emotions, divorce usually means that one or both spouses must leave their home. Individuals also may be dealing disagreements involving division of property, finances, child support and custody issues.

Finances

Finances, particularly mortgage foreclosures, are another leading cause of stress ranking at the top of the Holmes-Raye stress assessment scale. People who live in poverty, and individuals who face overwhelming debt or bankruptcy usually experience high levels of stress.

Job

Work-related stress is common among men and women who have demanding jobs and work long hours. Workers also tend to be more stressed during poor economic times when they worry about layoffs or a reduction in hours.

Health

Personal health issues can be stressful on both children and adults. Working to get well, worrying about medical costs or dealing with an unexpected health crisis or chronic illness can all bring on stress. The sad part is that stress itself contributes to disease. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that within the next 10 years, stress-related conditions like depression will rank as the second leading cause of disability worldwide.

Personal Relationships

Everyone is stressed at times by personal relationships, even when relationships are basically good. Couples argue, parents and children fight and occasionally conflict among friends or co-workers can create stress.

Chronically Ill Child

Parents who have a child with a serious health problem or injury frequently are under a great deal of stress. They worry about the recovery of their child, and may find it difficult to see their child suffering or in pain. There can be financial worries associated with a child's illness as well.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy, too, can be a stressful event. This is particularly true of pregnancies which were not planned, or pregnancies that result in serious complications for the mother, child or both. Another problem is that sometimes couples realize that they are not as ready financially or emotionally for a child as they thought they were.

Danger

Dangerous situations such as fires, automobile accidents or being the victim of crime can cause stress. Any hazardous event that is out of the ordinary for an individual can cause either short- or long-term physical or emotional stress.

Conclusion

So, it is important to learn that what matters more than the event itself is usually our thoughts about the event when we are trying to manage stress. How you see that stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts on your physical and mental health. Your interpretation of events and challenges in life may decide whether they are invigorating or harmful for you. A persistently negative response to challenges will eventually have a negative effect on your health and happiness. Experts say people who tend to perceive things negatively need to understand themselves and their reactions to stress-provoking situations better. Then they can learn to manage stress more successfully.