Strategies for Coping with Stress Essay examples

Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist (a doctor who treats issues with the hormones our glands release) (1936) saw that stress was the body attempting to accommodate to a stressor (as defined above). This is seen as an effective response in the short term (acute), however, serious stress-related illnesses can develop if we are open to stress for a prolonged period of time (chronic). Selye, considered the idea of General Adaptation Syndrome. This is something that sounds scary but in reality is simply our ability to adapt to stress or a specific prolonged stressor in three stages:

Stress is a very popular concept about which there is still a lot of controversy. '' Stress as an adaptive response, moderated by individual differences, that is a consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands on a person '' (Ivancevich, page 214). We say that a person is subjected to a stress situation when he has to face environmental demands that exceed his resources, so that the subject perceives that he cannot give them an effective response, which causes an increase in the activation of the organism. However, stress is not always a bad thing, since in many cases the stress response puts a number of exceptional resources at the disposal of the person, fostering a better perception of the situation, a better search for solutions and a better selection of answers to deal with the situation that has caused it.

Chronic stress is one key factor that affects individuals stress levels. (Beattie 2014). If stress becomes an everyday life challenge an individual goes through, the stress will become longer and more difficult. If an individual is experiencing stress, it can lead to them feeling fatigue, not being able to concentrate on tasks and they can become frustrated and angry. For example, in a study, it was found that if an individual learned to reduce stress or learn to management, many of them saw improvements in their lives and they were happier (Akerstedt 2002). If an individual is already experiencing stress and become ill, it will be very hard for them to recover and will lead to more stress and health

In reaction to a stressor, such as sense of danger, our body’s natural defenses kick into high gear in a quick reflex method known as the “fight-or-flight” response. When this happens, the nervous system releases a flood of hormones called cortisol and adrenaline, shifting the body into gear and enabling us to meet the challenge of the particular stressor. In this incredible process, our body is protecting us by supporting us to stay focused and alert. In emergencies, stress can actually save our life by giving us extra power to defend ourselves. Stress can keep us on our toes and ready to meet challenges. Beyond a certain point, however, stress has the ability to damage our health, relationships, and quality of life.

Scientific research has confirmed that the different types of stress leads to long-term health problems. There are two types of stress; acute and chronic. Acute stress is temporary and “in the moment”, it causes the fight or flight response in the body. For example, narrowly avoiding a car accident, being stuck in traffic,

Stress arises as a transaction between person and environment, it begins as an imbalance between demand, either physical or psychological, and response capability under conditions where failure to meet demands has important consequences, likely resulting in a loss. Stress can bring out our best performance or it can cause people to crumple under pressure. Therefore an important factor in how an individual responds and performs under stressful conditions is their perception or interpretation and appraisal of the situation and their own emotional response. There have been debates among experts as to whether an individual initially reacts to stress emotionally or cognitively, however it’s commonly understood that too little or too much stress can be harmful especially over longer periods. The right amount of stress is motivating, while too much can cause physical and psychological problems. Excessive chronic stress can result in disability effecting physical, emotional and mental wellness.

Stress has troubled mankind for a long time, yet the research behind this common phenomenon on its effects and how to deal with it is still being explored. Hans Seyle, notable for his work in this field, has described stress as being a demand of the body requiring a non-specific response and he has also developed a model known as GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome) describing the body’s response initiated by stress (Greenberg, 2009). There is two forms of stress that can initiate GAS process; one being eustress, when the demand is positive, and the other being distress, when the demand is negative (Blonna, 2007). Everyone perceives and deals with stress in their own way, making my perception of life stressors affecting me unique. In order to

Stress as a useful adaptive response is a fairly new concept. In fact, a great emphasis on its detrimental effects has often disregarded the original purpose to evolution. Looking at the physiology of stress may shed some light on the problem of this protective response becoming so threatening in modern society, with more and more people getting stuck in dysregulation patterns, being these at psychological or somatic level.

“The General Adaptation Syndrome consists of three stages, the alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion stages” (Doerner,2016). Within the three stages the alarm reaction consists of hastening the makings of certain hormones and substances in the body. Nevertheless, this stage makes the heart thump faster and breathing becomes swifter.” The longer an individual has to adapt to a certain kind of stress and the more intensive the effect of the stressor, the higher the probability of burnout” (Vuorensyrjä, and Mälkiä,2011). Nonetheless, an example would be walking in the dark and someone jumped out to frighten you. Moreover, the second step would be the resistance stage. “Stress and burnout are difficult and multifaceted conceptual constructs

The purpose of this article was to focus more so on coping with stress. The article noted that stress and coping are interrelated. As mentioned by Pestonjee, and Pandey (2013), “stress can be experienced in several ways such as having to encounter frustrating situations, when personal goals are thwarted or due to pressures arising from internal or external sources, e.g., when personal expectations of topping an exam are high or experiencing conflicts between goals or shifting to a new city for better job prospects while having to stay away from family or choosing between two equally good colleges” (p. 212). The author spoke on three models of stress, these include the biological model which describes the process of biological decompensation under continuous stress, the field Model, based on Lewin’s Field Theory which suggests that the mental experience of a person is a function of the interaction between environment and the self, and the transactional model that emphasizes the appraisal and perception of the situation as critical (Pestonjee, and Pandey, 2013).

Hans Selye (1956), states that there are three ways an individual reacts to a particularly stressful situation and these ideas are divided into three stages, a series of physiological reactions. Stage one, alarm - where the person is ready for action in this stage an individual's activity level increases as soon as they experience a stressful situation. Stage two, resistance - the individual attempts to manage with the threat through fight or flight, Walter Cannon (1932). In this stage, an individual tries to cope and reverse the impact of the first stage. Stage three, exhaustion - the person is unable to deal with the threat and the energy reserves have been exhausted through efforts to reduce the risk. In this stage the person shows signs of physical wear and tear, especially in organs that were weak before stage three or deeply involved in the resistance process. Selye believed that this stage could often result in depression and occasionally death. These steps are also known as the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). GAS describes the body’s short-term and long-term reaction to stress; it is the body's attempt to protect itself

The majority of the time, one solely clings on the negative aspects of stress. For example, times of lifestyle transition, painful or not, demonstrates the realization of the gradual stressful process.

Stress is a natural human response to pressure when faced with challenging and sometimes dangerous situations. It is usually acknowledged to have negative impacts towards people. When your body detects stress, a small region in the base of the brain called the hypothalamus reacts and initiating ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ response by stimulating the body to produce a complex mix of hormones and chemicals such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine to prepare the body for physical action. Stress can be categorises into two type which is acute stress and chronic stress. A little bit of stress which is known as acute stress only persists for a few minutes to hours whereas long term or chronic stress stays for several hours to months or even years

The concept of stress was first introduced by Hans Selye who was from the field of physics. He began using the term stress after he got formal medical education from the University of Montreal in 1920’s. During his practice when he saw his patients who were institutionalized all looked the same and what united was that they looked pale and sick and according to Selye they were all going through physical stress. According to him stress was when the body was strained, exhausted and was not doing its normal functions and stress produced stress hormones in the body. This he termed it ad General Adaptation Syndrome in simple terms meant it was our body reaction to acute or chronic stress.

Negative responses to stressors: I don’t openly respond to stressors, for example I won’t take it out on physical things or people. Stressors internally stress me. I believe they are more mental/emotional types of stressors. My body responds by increasing heart rate, becoming tense, and breathing rapidly. I don’t believe I can stop these responses because it is not what I choose to do, it is what my body chooses to do. I don’t have much control over how it reacts. What I do to decrease my stress and in the process control my responses toward my stressors is relax and take deep