Mr. Menard
MGT 220
1 August 2013
Individual Stress Management Stress can be interpreted by a variety of people to be the manifestation of a perceived threat to our existence. In many cases stress has the potential to cripple us, but in other instances it may continue our survival. Many factors such as a stressor, or an apparent threat, may cause a person to act impulsively or place special demands on them. Since our subconscious will react to our environment in such a way that it will protect us from harm without us knowing it, but it will also prioritize how significant the event is to the individual; this is called importance. Stress may be overcome through the means of cognitive appraisal, the establishment of social support groups, and the implementations of individual techniques that are put into place to cope with it. While each person may interpret stress in a different way, they are able to utilize the perceptual process of cognitive appraisal. This process occurs in the primary and secondary stage, where the primary categorizes the stress and the secondary appraisal will act to reduce the stress. This is often helpful in coping with stress because our subconscious will first identify a problem, and then try to reduce it through determination. Many times stress may have a different effect depending on the person that is experiencing it. For example, Worker A is dealing with a peer that is constantly harassing him, while worker B is worried about an upcoming deadline he has to meet. In Worker A’s situation, he will first identify the problem which is his peer’s harassment, and will then proceed to address the problem that is causing him stress, whether it be to remove himself from the situation or contact an authority figure that will remove the problem from his environment. In the latter situation, Worker B will identify his program and prioritize it depending on the level of importance the deadline has on him. He will then assess the