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An introduction to stress management
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Life is full of obstacles and has shown people that stress is very common and a part of life. When you are running around all the time like you are in an emergency mode, your body will pay the price. What some people do not know is that stress can actually be helpful and can cause a positive effect on you. It can serve as a motivation and be useful under pressure. Without stress, our lives would be boring and pointless.
What is Stress? Stress is a feeling that is created when you react to certain things. For example, tests and schoolwork can cause stress. It’s a way the body prepares for what’s to come by helping with focus and alertness. What provokes stress is something called stressors. Some examples of stressors are losing jobs, getting pregnant, and car wreckages .Stressors can be bad or good and can cause many situations. The way the body reacts to stressors is unique. First, the body activates the nervous system and hormones. Then the hypothalamus has the adrenal glands produce more hormones so it could be released into the bloodstream. The hormones that are being released cause the heart rate, blood pressure and many other things to increase. After the hormones are released, our blood vessels open even wider so more blood can flow. The blood goes to the larger muscle groups and causes the muscles to be alert. Also, as the blood flows to the muscle groups, other things start to occur. Your vision is improved because the pupils are dilated. The liver releases glucose so the body can increase its energy. And sweat starts to occur because this is a way to cool the body down. All of these things try to help people handle being under pressure and dealing with stress. Stress response is something that happens when you are under...
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...l like my mind is wondering all over the place on overload. Oh, and my biggest problem with stress are all those sleepless nights where I just toss and turn. What I do to try and alleviate my stress is tell myself to slow down, one thing at a time, and convince myself that everything will get done in due time”. This patient explained the effects of stress and how her body reacts to it. Everyone goes through stress, whether they like it or not. It can be good or it can be bad but people have to go through stress or else their life would be boring and pointless.
In conclusion, life would be boring and pointless without stress. People go through stress every day. Without stress, people would have no motivation to get through challenges. Also, people would have no success in life without stress. Stress will be a part of your life. It is common in everyone’s life.
Everyone everywhere has experienced stress with something they have dealt with in life. Whether it is school, paying bills, managing a busy schedule or work, stress affects everyone. Although everyone experiences stress, many people don’t actually know what stress is. Stress is the physical response of the body to harmful situations that threaten someone’s well being. When someone says “stress”, the word is automatically associated with a negative effect on people but small doses of stress can benefit a person, if used to correctly. Everyone’s stress level is different and the amount of stress that can be handled varies from person to person but a stress overload will not benefit anyone. “When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body to allow you to act in a way to prevent injury” (“Stress Management Health Center”). The chemical that is released when stressed is known as cortisol, also known a stress hormone. “Cortisol is like a long-term form of adrenaline, produced in the adrenal gland when the body is under pressure” (“The Effects of Stress on Your Reproductive Health and Fertility”). Adrenaline is also released to send the body into, what is known as, emergency action (“Stress Symptoms, Signs and Causes”). This emergency action speeds up reactions preformed by the body and the mind. This is a way of protecting the body. While in emergency action, this stress caused by threatening situations can save your life. In emergency situations, you are given “extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on your brakes to avoid a car accident” (“Stress Management Health Center”). Signs of being in this emergency action are a racing heart, blood pressure rises, quickening of breath and tigh...
What is Stress? Stress is not a new phenomenon; it has been experienced throughout history. Stress is a biological response to some stimulus. Fear, panic, anger, tragedy, and even something as simple as being competitive can cause it. Stress can result in the competitiveness needed to succeed in business, achieve an education, foster social relationships, and win at sports. Is stress bad or good? It is both. The proper level of stress can benefit people in daily living. Well, what is bad stress and what is good stress? Good stress is stress that you can manage. The stress of competing in athletic contests often works in your favor by stimulating performance. In police officers, stress can make the difference between injury or death, and going home at the end of the shift.
Stress can come from any event or thought that makes us feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. All of us experience stress and usually cope with it well. Stress is an omnipresent part of life and is a reaction to external stimuli that disturb our physical or mental equilibrium. It is a system in our body that helps us to deal with real danger and / or perform at our best. Any event or happening that induces stress is called stressor.
Stress has various effects on the body, both psychological and physiological. Stress can have positive effects on the body and can be beneficial, but frequent stress will eventually cause negative effects on the body.
Stress means different things to different people and stress effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a promotion and others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body and behaviors in response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 2013). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant. As your body begins to react to stress several changes occur. These changes include increased heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of stimulatory hormones. Ones body prepares itself in stressful situations to either stand ground and fight or to flee from the situation. Walter Cannon called this stressful reaction the fight-or-flight response (Greenberg, 2012).
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous
“All of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it affects us.” In the film “Stress- Portrait of a Killer” by National Geographic, Robert Sapolsky is researching baboon’s to find a link in stress and potential health risks in humans, Carol Shively is also researching macaques for that reason. Sapolsky is an american neuroendocrinologist that went to Africa “on a hunch” to study non-human subjects to test his theory, this experiment actually got Robert Sapolsky “MacArthur Foundations Genius Fellowship”. He did this by darting the baboons with anesthetic to put them to sleep, to make for easier blood samples. In the samples Sapolsky is measuring the levels of stress hormones found in the blood, he devoted thirty years of his life to this study with the help of his wife Lisa Sapolsky. This experiment relates to sociologic analysis, because Sapolsky’s study happens to draw a conclusion between economic activities and how it genuinely affects the quality of life. Some of the sociological themes we’ll be discussing are how “stress impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible”.
Stress is usually looked at like an enemy. It is an emotional state of being put under demanding circumstances. Even though it makes you feel uneasy and frustrated at times, stress is not always a bad thing. Without the ability to feel stress humankind wouldn’t have survived. Our Neanderthal ancestors, for example, used the onset of stress to alert them of a potential danger, such as a pack of wolves. When you feel you may be in danger your body activates “fight or flight,” which releases hormones and chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol. The fight mode can happen when we encounter a threatening type of stress and it prepares us to fight off the danger that we are encountering. Flight can help in dangerous situations by giving you a rush
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations and deadlines. People have to suffer stressful from many directions and they seem to be consent to live with stress. Many people think that they can stand with stressful and it is harmless, but it is not. If people live in stress during a long period of time, it has bad effect to health and spirit. Therefore, there is actually that you can protect yourself by understanding stress and how to reduce these harmful effects caused by stress.
Stress is not something to be avoided. Everyone feels stressed from time to time and it depends on people that may feel stress in different ways. Not all stress is bad but it depends on how peoples take it. The words “stress” is something all of us have experienced but it seems that there are many different definitions used by psychologist, medics, management consultants or others. Psychologists describe stress as “demands of life” which pointed out as “stressors” and stress is the cause of the worn out tissue of our body (Meenakshisundaram, 2012, p.101). Stress can be divided into four types which are eustress, acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress (illustrated in Figure 1).
Stress is in our everyday lives. We allow things such as the way we live, school, work, family, relationships etc to stress us out. Some people deal with stress way different from others. Some may know how to cope with stress better than others. We allow stress to take a major toll over our lives when we are suppose to fight it, but a lot of people can’t do that. Stress makes you act and do things that are not like yourself. Stress is a negative word; it comes in all different shapes and forms.
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
Stress is defined as “any circumstance that threatens or is perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However, stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).
First, stress is defined as an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well being (Patel, 14). Stress is a universal feeling to everyone but the word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure or negative emotions such as anxiety or anger (Patel, 15). Other people may view stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and response to a threatening event. In any case, stress has many facets of how one perceives and responds to the certain predicament that is ailing them.