Stress is basically our body response to physical or mental pressure. It is a motivational factor in our daily lives that help us to adapt to our environment. While it is enough for adaptive motivation, it is call good stress. When the pressure gets overwhelming to the point of noticeable discomfort, it is bad stress. When an individual has difficulties coping with bad stress, dysfunction may set in causing significant distress and disruption to daily life. Serious and prolonged disruption to daily functioning can lead to psychological and physical disorders.
The stress response is general divided into three parts called the General Adaptation Syndrome where at there is alarm at the presence of pressure, then there is resistance to the pressure, and after a while when the pressure does not subside, there is exhaustion.
Some common signs include: psychological/bodily symptoms – sweating, muscle tension ( usually neck, shoulders and upper back), heightened heart rate, stomach discomfort, heartburn (usually acid from stress response), shallow or hard breathing, sometime even pain at certain parts of the body. On the behavioral side, it is common to see shows of aggression, crying, unable to move or function, sudden behavior pattern changes, increase distractive behavior such as smoking, drinking of alcohol, pursuing entertainments, decreased productivity and increased procrastination. When a person is under stress, his/her thought pattern will also change – negative thought and assumptions, constant worries, quicker to notice faults, and other negative aspects of life, the tendency to disqualify any positive events or attributes, and he/she will be easily distracted. The person will be generally more irritable, agitated, anxious, angry, depressed, helpless, hopeless, fearful, impatience, impulsive and isolated.
People get stress due to responding to internal and external pressures that are either physical or psychological in nature, or both. We all usually constantly handling all sorts of demands from the people around us and that can lead to stress. As long as we are in some form of conflict, for instance, a disagreement over what movie to watch, between you wanted to go home but your boss wanted you to stay back for meeting, stuck in traffic and being late for an important event, we will feel the stress. Stress is perpetually around. So it is not possible to be stress-free, unless one’s perception of the senses is extremely neutral.
Short-term stress is a short-term response to a certain event that, after awhile, when the person get used to it, the stress is no longer there. Long-term stress is where a person under stress fails to cope with the stressor and still feel stress within that situation. While this may sound relative, short-term stress is predominantly about adjustments, and long-term stress is usually maladaptive coping to a demand or pressure.
Stress is adaptive. It is harmful when it is not dealt with adequately and becomes overwhelming to the point that the individual is not able to function appropriately in daily life for a significant amount of time.
Stress management is a learnable skill, but how can we start? Firstly, we need to be aware of how we try to manage stress. Usually some existing strategies already work. But some do not, and some, in the long run could be destructive. Basically stress management involves physical and mental efforts. These techniques can be learnt from clinical psychologists, yogis, personal coaches and anyone who is trained in stress management techniques. A main management skill to have is relaxation – physical relaxation and mental relaxation. Short-term mental distractions also help with stress but we need to make sure it does not become a problem in itself.
Good time management, conflict resolution, and expectation management are some methods that have been recommended for effective stress management. However, one of the most effective methods that can be done almost immediately is breathing slowly and deeply. This can be done by taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly – usually exhalation is double the length of time taken to inhale. When we exhale slowly, the body automatically relaxed. Usually three exhalations, we would already feel the effects of slowing down. If this can be maintained, physical and mental relaxation kicks in and stress is reduced. A word of caution is that if a person is mentally stressed, physical relaxation is more difficult to achieve, even with slow breathing.
Boon Teik Ng likes writing about various topics, currently he is fascinated about Outdoor Deck Lighting
By: Boon Teik Ng
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