Psychological stress is a result of many factors and should be dealt with very carefully. Stress can be defined as “An excess of demand made upon the adaptive capabilities of the mind and body”.(Joseph 1). Another way of putting it, is that there are some things that put certain demands on us. The effects of stress should not be limited to unpleasant emotional states. Many studies have concluded that the effects on our physical health from stress can be extremely detrimental. These adverse physical effects include heart disease and formations of cancer. There are also some societal issues that psychological stress can hamper.
When looking at stress as it pertains to health and wellness, one must have a clear understanding as to what stress is and how it can affect a person. Stress can be caused due to something physical, psychological, or behavioral that the person has encountered. A person can experience stress that is both good and bad. Good stress can help a person boost their energy and give them more alertness. A baseball player may experience good stress. This stress can make them more alert and actually help them make a better play. Unfortunately, not all stress is good and if the bad stress goes untreated, it can be very harmful. If a person allows stress to go untreated, it can make the person develop health problems such as heart disease and/or anxiety problems.
Throughout life stress is a common problem whether it’s at work, school or home. The many negative effects of stress in fact affect individuals differently varying from health issues to work performance. Therefore, all individuals have different views of stress and various ways of handling it or otherwise managing their stress. Stress is when any living thing feels endangered and its homeostasis is at risk (Varvogli & Darviri, 2011, p. 74). Ways of dealing with stress are efforts of cognitive, behavioral, and psychological nature that allows a person to manage stress. Although there are different causes of stress, there are also many techniques for relieving it. The following articles are intended for the reader to
Everyone experiences stress in a different way: some shut down while others cry or become frustrated. Moreover, although a instinctual necessity, too much stress can definitely cause problems for one’s physical or psychological well-being. When I get too stressed, for example, my immune system drops which causes me to get sick sometimes even three times in a month. Other times, I just have to take breaks from my responsibilities to prevent myself from breaking down or becoming so exhausted that I cannot finish the task at
Kelly McGonigal discusses the importance of viewing stress as positive, as opposed to negative, by detailing three specific studies and findings about stress. In the first study, it was discovered that people with a significant amount of stress had a higher mortality rate; however, this was only statistically significant if the subject viewed stress as harmful. If the overly-stressed subject didn’t view stress as harmful, they were actually at the lowest risk of dying, even compared to those with a minimal amount. Therefore, it is important to change a person’s perspective of stress. In particular, McGonigal emphasizes that stress is important for a person’s body: it energizes and prepares them to meet whatever challenge they are facing. Furthermore, it helps the blood vessels remain relaxed, thereby allowing the heart to remain healthy.
At one time or another, most people experience stress. The term stress has been used to describe a variety of negative feelings and reactions that accompany threatening or challenging situations. However, not all stress reactions are negative. A certain amount of stress is actually necessary for survival. For example, birth is one of the most stressful experiences of life. The high level of hormones released during birth, which are also involved in the stress response, are believed to prepare the newborn infant for adaptation to the challenges of life outside the womb. These biological responses to stress make the newborn more alert promoting the bonding process and, by extension, the child's physical survival.
Substantial progress has been made by academic researchers to gain insight into social determinants of health. Consequently, the Centre for Urban Health at the WHO Regional Office for Europe approached the International Centre for Health and Society at University College Hospital London to help summarise research work on social determinants of health in ten messages with the main aim of translating research advances into action (Marmot and Wilkinson, 2005). The ten messages were subsequently published as The Solid Facts (Wilkinson and Marmot 1998) which include stress, social gradient, early life, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support, addiction, food and transport. The aim of this brief essay is to demonstrate the impact of stress as a social determinant of health.
In my work place setting, I work for a agency who works with families with children that are autistic or have behavioral problems. Moreover, with my job being an agency there are significant amount of flaws within this organization. Agencies in general seem to have many flaws. Furthermore, I experience a few stressors that effect me daily. One stressor that I experience is having to go to weekly supervision every Friday without pay. This is a stressor for me because my job location is not as close to my house, granted about 25 minutes from my home. So, the stress for me is driving all the way to my job location just to speak on actions of my client that are consistent each week. Other jobs that I have applied to previously compensate their workers for supervision weekly or give the option to have phone conferences about our clients.
The major focus of this chapter was stress and the effect it has on the body. Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging. The concept of appraisal is the important part here. Stress can be affected through this psychological filter, either making the stressor feel threatening or challenging. The way we perceive it can have either positive or negative effects. Stress, when perceived negatively can lead to issues such as coronary heart disease or increased susceptibleness to colds (Myers, 2014).
In conclusion, my topic was about the stress in America. I was interested in this topic, because I wanted to see stress around the regions of American and what was the result of their stress levels. I wanted you to be interested in this topic, because it gave you a general look at how stress is a problem in our country as of today, I showed you why some parts of our country were more stressed than other parts and I provided you a study of how some people in my class felt about stress. I defined stress as “The nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it”. It also involves depression, anger or just simply being tired of doing something. The first article was titled “Which Stress Matters? The Examination of Temporal Aspects of Stress”. This article looked at the past, present and expected future on distress. It involved thirty-eight males and forty-one females, who were spouses of patients hospitalized for non-life-threatening diseases. The type of method that this
“Stress is a silent disease” (Doctor Hobel). Over the years, stress has played a major rule in a large majority of people’s lives throughout the United States. When thought about, it is said to be extremely surprising as to how many people really have stress in each individual’s life. People do not consider what the reasons are for the feelings and emotions they experience. There are all different types of stress, and stress can do a lot to a person. Each person also handles stress in a different way. Some can handle more than others, because every single person’s body works in a different way. Stress has also been told to cause people to act out of character (Dr. David Posen). They often do not act the way they usually would while under
Stress is considered to be a major health problem affecting mental and physical health. Approximately 33% of Americans are considered to be living with excessive levels of stress. The issue with stress is that it affects and inhibits lives. Stress can affect our memory, how much sleep we are getting at night or even what and how much we eat. Even though it is known that healthy levels of stress can be good, the concern is with continuous high levels of stress, not so much low or episodic.
There are many different broad definitions of stress and how to cope with it, known as stress management.
I am my own worst enemy when it comes to time management. I know what has to be accomplished for the day and I usually always run out of time. I have five teenagers still at home and while they are a huge help majority of the time there are days that they are very tempormental. If they are having an off day they argue over any little thing, which tends to knock the evening schedule off its axis. I am a full time student with the usual everyday life activities as well as after school sports. I am an organizer and while my home is organized my time schedule is not. When things do not flow smoothly I tend to get very stressed.
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.