Definition Essay On Stress
Stress is part of modern life, the disease of being busy. We live in time when there is so much to do, and not enough time to get it done. We are working longer hours, driving faster cars, living in bigger houses, spending more years in colleges. Our leisure time is also full of different activities and there is less and less time before we are rushed to next task. Research shows that time pressure can cause big stress on the body. What is stress? Definition of stress is different for every person .Stress is usually described as being overwhelmed and felling under pressure. . Stress in moderation can be good and motivating. However, being exposed to excessive amount of stress for prolonged period can have serious effects on health.
The most …show more content…
common type of stress is acute stress that comes from demands and pressures of everyday life. The demands that we experience daily are stressors. Stress is the way how our body responds to stressors. External stress comes from outside of us. Common external sources of stress are related to problems at work, financial difficulties, relationship problems, our physical environment, major life changes such divorce, death of family member or close friend, moving, being too busy, noise, home and etc. Internal stress comes from inside of us. Common internal causes of stress are feelings of anger, fear and worry, attitudes, thoughts, uncertainty and lack of control. What is internal and external stress? (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.health24.com/Mental-Health/Stress/Faqs/What-is-internal-and-external-stress-20120721 Initial feeling that your body responds to acute stressful events is called “fight or flight” response. This response prepares the body to either fight or flee. Sight, hearing, and other senses become sharp the threat. Your breathing increases, your heart beats faster, pulse rate and blood pressure go up, it prepares your body to fight. Harward Health Publications Psychologist Connie Lillas stated that here are three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:
• Foot on the gas –which is an angry or agitated stress response.
• Foot on the brake – which is withdrawn or depressed stress response.
Foot on both –which is a tense and frozen stress response. Stress and Your Health. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.localgovu.com/stress-and-your-health/
•
If symptoms of every day stress are ignored or not managed properly, ongoing acute stress becomes chronic stress. Chronis stress causes wear and tear on your body. Stress is number 1 health problem in USA due to increasing life demands and economic instability. The American Medical Association has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. American Psychological Association
Stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior.
The common effects of stress on your body are insomnia, headache, muscle tension, backaches including lower back pain, fatigue, problems with digestion and blood pressure, change in sex drive, chest pain. Effects of stress on mood are sadness, lack of motivation and concentration, anxiety, restless, worry, irritability or anger. This happens since mind is so busy with dealing with stress situation that does not have enough resources to deal with daily activities.
Effects of stress on behavior could be withdrawal from friends and family, loss of appetite, isolation, emotional and anger outburst, changing in sleep patterns, and increasing alcohol or drug usage. Stress can drain your energy due to constant inner turmoil. Sobel, D., & Ornstein, R. (1998). Mind & body health handbook: How to use your mind & body to relieve stress, overcome illness, and enjoy healthy pleasures (2nd ed.). Los Altos, Calif.: DRx.
The stress response also affects the heart, lungs, and circulation and immune system. Stress can contribute to the development of major illnesses, such as depression, heart disease, and obesity. If stress is left untreated, can lead to exhaustion and lead to death.
Improving lifestyle and behavioral choices are important steps toward improving health and preventing chronic stress.
Important factor in managing stress is recognizing and changing the behaviors that cause it. Stress is not something that we can completely avoid and remove from our life; however we can learn how to reduce stress or better cope with it. Stress management begins with identifying the sources of stress in your life. One of the ways to do that is to keep daily stress journal .Once you identify your stressors; you can think how to develop strategies to deal with stress. You can make a list of stressors, prioritize them and deal with one at a time. You can also learn new, better ways to reduce …show more content…
stress.
Some of the ways to deal with stress are avoiding unnecessary stress (e.g.
avoiding people and situations that are causing stress, setting healthy boundaries, learning how to say no), altering the situation (e.g. figuring out the ways that same situation does not happen again), adapting to the stressor (e.g. changing your behavior and attitude, learning better communication), accepting what you cannot change, making time for fun and relaxation (people who use humor stress less, there is a saying that “laughter is the best medicine”). Learning to relax is important tool in reducing stress. Your body responds to relaxation: blood pressure decrease, muscles relax, your heart rate slows down, your breathing decreases. Few techniques have proven as powerful and generally applicable as relaxation technique. There are several relaxation techniques and it is important to know that learning how to relax takes time and practice. It is important to be consistent and practice relaxation exercises often so that they become routine and part of your life style. Rice, P. (1987). Stress and health: Principles and practice for coping and wellness. Monterey, Calif.: Brooks/Cole. Most important in stress management strategy is to maintain healthy habits and make stress management a part of your healthy life style. Part of healthy life style is eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep. The food that you eat affects your well-being which makes you more resilient to stress. Certain
foods provide comfort and actually increase levels of the body’s stress-fighting hormones. Exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever. When you exercise your body reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. Endorphins are stimulated by the body and are its natural painkillers and mood boosters. Physical activity makes you more resilient to stress. 7 Ways That Exercise Can Act as a Stress Management Tool. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://stress.about.com/od/programsandpractices/a/exercise.htm
Getting enough sleep is very important. If we do not sleep long enough or the quality of our sleep is not good, our bodies do not get the full benefits of sleep. Lack of sleep decreases your ability to cope with stress.
Some of stress reliefs techniques are uncluttering and organizing your home and your work space, becoming more assertive, learning how to be more optimistic, and how use positive self-talk. It is important to surround yourself with happy people and someone who can be your mentor and show you how to deal with stress. It is very important to have good social support and talk to friends and family. Stress Relief Game Plan: Reduce Lifestyle Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://stress.about.com/od/lowstresslifestyle/a/low_life_stress.htm
There are times that nothing seems to help. That is the time that seeking professional counseling is needed.
It is not possible to make stress disappear from your life. And stress management isn't something that will make you an expert on dealing with stress. With practice you can learn to manage your stress level and increase your ability to cope with life's challenges.
The most …show more content…
common type of stress is acute stress that comes from demands and pressures of everyday life. The demands that we experience daily are stressors. Stress is the way how our body responds to stressors. External stress comes from outside of us. Common external sources of stress are related to problems at work, financial difficulties, relationship problems, our physical environment, major life changes such divorce, death of family member or close friend, moving, being too busy, noise, home and etc. Internal stress comes from inside of us. Common internal causes of stress are feelings of anger, fear and worry, attitudes, thoughts, uncertainty and lack of control. What is internal and external stress? (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.health24.com/Mental-Health/Stress/Faqs/What-is-internal-and-external-stress-20120721 Initial feeling that your body responds to acute stressful events is called “fight or flight” response. This response prepares the body to either fight or flee. Sight, hearing, and other senses become sharp the threat. Your breathing increases, your heart beats faster, pulse rate and blood pressure go up, it prepares your body to fight. Harward Health Publications Psychologist Connie Lillas stated that here are three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:
• Foot on the gas –which is an angry or agitated stress response.
• Foot on the brake – which is withdrawn or depressed stress response.
Foot on both –which is a tense and frozen stress response. Stress and Your Health. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.localgovu.com/stress-and-your-health/
•
If symptoms of every day stress are ignored or not managed properly, ongoing acute stress becomes chronic stress. Chronis stress causes wear and tear on your body. Stress is number 1 health problem in USA due to increasing life demands and economic instability. The American Medical Association has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. American Psychological Association
Stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior.
The common effects of stress on your body are insomnia, headache, muscle tension, backaches including lower back pain, fatigue, problems with digestion and blood pressure, change in sex drive, chest pain. Effects of stress on mood are sadness, lack of motivation and concentration, anxiety, restless, worry, irritability or anger. This happens since mind is so busy with dealing with stress situation that does not have enough resources to deal with daily activities.
Effects of stress on behavior could be withdrawal from friends and family, loss of appetite, isolation, emotional and anger outburst, changing in sleep patterns, and increasing alcohol or drug usage. Stress can drain your energy due to constant inner turmoil. Sobel, D., & Ornstein, R. (1998). Mind & body health handbook: How to use your mind & body to relieve stress, overcome illness, and enjoy healthy pleasures (2nd ed.). Los Altos, Calif.: DRx.
The stress response also affects the heart, lungs, and circulation and immune system. Stress can contribute to the development of major illnesses, such as depression, heart disease, and obesity. If stress is left untreated, can lead to exhaustion and lead to death.
Improving lifestyle and behavioral choices are important steps toward improving health and preventing chronic stress.
Important factor in managing stress is recognizing and changing the behaviors that cause it. Stress is not something that we can completely avoid and remove from our life; however we can learn how to reduce stress or better cope with it. Stress management begins with identifying the sources of stress in your life. One of the ways to do that is to keep daily stress journal .Once you identify your stressors; you can think how to develop strategies to deal with stress. You can make a list of stressors, prioritize them and deal with one at a time. You can also learn new, better ways to reduce …show more content…
stress.
Some of the ways to deal with stress are avoiding unnecessary stress (e.g.
avoiding people and situations that are causing stress, setting healthy boundaries, learning how to say no), altering the situation (e.g. figuring out the ways that same situation does not happen again), adapting to the stressor (e.g. changing your behavior and attitude, learning better communication), accepting what you cannot change, making time for fun and relaxation (people who use humor stress less, there is a saying that “laughter is the best medicine”). Learning to relax is important tool in reducing stress. Your body responds to relaxation: blood pressure decrease, muscles relax, your heart rate slows down, your breathing decreases. Few techniques have proven as powerful and generally applicable as relaxation technique. There are several relaxation techniques and it is important to know that learning how to relax takes time and practice. It is important to be consistent and practice relaxation exercises often so that they become routine and part of your life style. Rice, P. (1987). Stress and health: Principles and practice for coping and wellness. Monterey, Calif.: Brooks/Cole. Most important in stress management strategy is to maintain healthy habits and make stress management a part of your healthy life style. Part of healthy life style is eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep. The food that you eat affects your well-being which makes you more resilient to stress. Certain
foods provide comfort and actually increase levels of the body’s stress-fighting hormones. Exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever. When you exercise your body reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. Endorphins are stimulated by the body and are its natural painkillers and mood boosters. Physical activity makes you more resilient to stress. 7 Ways That Exercise Can Act as a Stress Management Tool. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://stress.about.com/od/programsandpractices/a/exercise.htm
Getting enough sleep is very important. If we do not sleep long enough or the quality of our sleep is not good, our bodies do not get the full benefits of sleep. Lack of sleep decreases your ability to cope with stress.
Some of stress reliefs techniques are uncluttering and organizing your home and your work space, becoming more assertive, learning how to be more optimistic, and how use positive self-talk. It is important to surround yourself with happy people and someone who can be your mentor and show you how to deal with stress. It is very important to have good social support and talk to friends and family. Stress Relief Game Plan: Reduce Lifestyle Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://stress.about.com/od/lowstresslifestyle/a/low_life_stress.htm
There are times that nothing seems to help. That is the time that seeking professional counseling is needed.
It is not possible to make stress disappear from your life. And stress management isn't something that will make you an expert on dealing with stress. With practice you can learn to manage your stress level and increase your ability to cope with life's challenges.