What is Stress
Stress is a term which brings to our mind lot of negative emotions, thoughts and experiences.
Simply speaking "Stress" is a synonym of the word "pressure" or "tension", It is important
to understand that all stress is not negative. Certain stresses can have positive implications. In fact an optimum level of stress is required for us to perform.
Stress taking capacity of a person varies from situation to situation, For example an individual maybe very comfortable while giving an examination; on the other hand the same person may be very Jitter.y in the sports field.
Also different people have different level of stress taking capacity. For example one individual maybe very confident while facing and speaking to a crowd on the stage, where as another person have a great stage fright and start sweating and trembling on the idea of going on the stage to face and address the crowd.
Causes of stress
- Family Stressors- Parenting Style, Family Income, Siblings, Separated /Single parent, losses.
- School Stressors -Homework, Grades, Tests, Project work, Teacher, Peer Stresgroup.
- Health sors- Weight, Height, Physical Appearance, Chronic Diseases, Disabilities, Puberty/Maturity.
- Social Stressors- Peer group pressures, relationship difficulties, Friends, Fashion, Bullying,
- Other- Face book, Finances, Love life, Leadership position.
- Extracurricular Stressors- Sports, Theatre, Clubs, Leader, Drama, Speech.
Stress can also come from within oneseH-e.g.
- The way a person see oneself in relation to the outside world.
- Feeling and taking responsibilities.
- Sudden loss of beloved ones.
- Feeling of guilt.
- Career choice.
- Future.
- Coping/social skills.
Symptoms of Stress
Cognitive Symptoms(Mental action/process)
- Memory related problems
- Inability to concentrate
- Poor judgement
- Seeing only the negative
- Anxious or racing thoughts
- Constant worrying
Emotional Symptoms
- Moodiness
- Irritability or being short tempered
- Agitation and obstinacy
- Anger and aggression
- Inability to relax
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Sense of loneliness
- Isolation
- Depression
- General unhappiness/guilt feeling
- Inability to do anything
Physical Symptoms
- Dryness in mouth
- Sweating palms
- Feeling of excessive tiredness/fatigue
- Uneasiness
- Aches and palns/grittlng of teeth
- Stomach upset, diarrhoea or constipation
- Difficulty in breathing
- Nausea/Dizziness
- Frequent Urination
- Rapid heartbeat
- Change in blood pressure
- Chest pain
- Frequent cold
- Tight muscles that may cause pain and trembling
Some other symptoms (Be-haviourai)
- Eating more or Less than usual
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Isolating oneself from others
- Losing confidence
- Using alcohol, cigarettes or drugs to relax
- Nervous habits e.g. nail biting.. racing thoughts
- Avoiding any type of work/facing problems
- Taking out stress on others e.g. lashing out, angry outbursts
- Physical violence
- Too much worrying
People's tolerance of stress varies. A situation that is intolerable to one person may be stimulatingto another. What is important is that if stress is affecting our day to day working, it need to bemanaged.
In today's world, we can neither solve all our problems nor escape from them; we have to learn tominimize their effects i.e. we need to learn "HOW TO MANAGE STRESS".The important point is that you can learn to recognize vour own responses to stress and develop skllls to deal with it.
Stress Management
 |
Stress Management is an ongoing process and can be learned.
Let us learn to improve stress tolerance level
- Attitude
- Positive attitude
- Optimism - hopeful and expecting the best
- Faith that "I can do it"
- Confidence
- No superstition - be scientific and logical
- Know your 'strengths and weaknesses
- Learning from mistakes
- Love yourself
- Be happy
- Faith in goodness of humanity
- BALANCED AND NUTRICIOUS
- REDUCE THE INTAKE OF TEA AND COFFEE
- CULTIVATE HOBBIES
- MEDITATION
- RELAXATION EXERCISES AND SPORTS
- MASSAGE THERAPY
- ENJOY HUMOUR
- BE SOCIABlE
- USE SELF HELP TECHNIQUES
- CONSULT EXPERTS LIKE DOCTOR/COUNSELLOR ETC.
- BE ORGANISED AND SYSTEMATIC
- PRIORTIZE YOUR WORK
- BE STRONG
- TAKE A BREAK FROM STRESSFUL SITUATION/SITUATIONS
- DISCUSS YOUR PROBLEM WITH SOMEDNE ON WHOM YOU CAN RELY
- LISTEN TO MUSIC
- DON'T EXPECT TO BE PERFECT
- COUNT YOUR BLESSING
- BUILD A NETWORK OF FRIEND
4"A"FOR CONTROLLING STRESS
ACKNOWlEDGE: Accept the fact that you have a problem and you are under stress.Accepting the problem will help you look for solutions.
APPREACIATE:Every experience teaches us somethlngeven if it a negative one. All our
experiences at present will help us to lead a better life in future.
ALTER: look for alternatives and options to handle your difficult situation because every situation can be handled in different ways.
AVOID: Any situation or person that causes unnecessary stress in you should be avoided.Stress can be momentary so do not let it affect your behaviour.
By adopting the above mentioned techniques one can reduce the stress to the minimum level.
A Smile brings a feeling of happiness and relieves stress!☺️
