STRESS AND COPING

INTRODUCTION
The word stress originated from the Latin word strict
us meaning tight or narrow.
DEFINITION
STRESS IS AN IMBALANCE BETWEEN PERCEIVED
DEMAND AND PERCEIVED ABILITY
TYPES OF STRESS
POSITIVE STESS [EUSTRESS]
NEGATIVE STRESS [DISTRESS]
SOURCES OF STRESS [STRESSORS] REASONS
FOR STRESS
1 DEATH OF A SPOUSE
2 DEATH OF PARENT
3 DIVORCE
4 MARITAL SEPERATION
5 DETENTION IN JAIL
6 HOUSE ARREST
7 DEATH OF A CLOSE RELATIVE [DEPENDENT
PERSON]
8 PARTNER EXTRA MARITAL RELATIONSHIP
9 MAJOR ILLNESS
10 ACCIDENTS
11 DISABILITY
12 MARRIAGE
13 DISMISS FROM WORK
14 RETIREMENT
15 FAILURE IN EXAM
16 BEHAVIOUR CHANGES RELATED TO PHYSICAL OR
PSYCHOLOGICAL REASON IN A FAMILY MEMBER
17 PREGNANCY,CHILD BIRTH
18 SEXUAL ADJUSTMENT
19 LOSING BIG AMOUNT OF MONEY
19 BUSSINESS FAILURE
20 LONG LASTING MENTAL ILLNESS
21 PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS SUCH AS HEIGHT
WEIGHT ,COMPLEXION
22 ALCOHOLIC MEMBER IN A FAMILY
23 FAMILY MEMBER PROSTITUTION
24 THIEVERY
25 HIV INFECTION
26 INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT
27 PATHOLOGICAL FAMILY ENVIRONMENT
28 DAY TO DAY LIFE STRESS [HASSLESS]
29 NOISY SURROUNDING
30 QUARELL SOME NEIGHBOUR
31 ELECTRICITY ,WATER,COOKING GAS PROBLEMS
32 TRAFIC SNARES
33 BAD WEATHER
34 LOST KEY
35 STRIKES
36 MISSING A TRAIN, FLIGHT, BUS
37 PROFESSIONAL JEALOUSY
IF MORE THAN ONE EVENT OCCURS WITH IN A
SHORT PERIOD OF TIME,THE INDIVIDUAL FIND
IT DIFFICULTY TO COPE WITH THEM AND MAY
EXPRESS THE SYMPTOMS OF STRESS
STRESS CYCLE
1 STRESSORS
CAN BE BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
2 REACTION TO STRESS
WHEN A PERSON FEELS STRESSED FROM THE
STRESSOR,THE BODY BEGINS TO RELEASE
CHEMICALS TO CONFRONT THE STRESSOR
3 WEAR AND TEAR
STRESS REACTIONS WHICH HELPED TO COPE IN
BEGINNING START TO WEAR AND TEAR ONE
SELF DOWN
4 REDUCED OPTIMAL HEALTH
AFTER A PERIOD OF CHRONIC STRESS THE BODY
WEAR DOWN WHICH CAN INVITE DISEASE
CONDITION
5 INCREASED SENSITIVITY TO STRESS
ONCE BODY AND EMOTIONS WORN AND
EXHAUSTED SENSITIVITY TO STRESS INCREASES
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD)
 The effect of a traumatic
events may long last for
long period of time or
reoccur after some lapse
of time and persists as a
symptoms of anxiety and
depression.
Types of traumatic events
Fire accident Flood, earth quakeetc
Rail accident
Water accident
Road accident
Robbery
Tsunami
Violence or assaultive
behaviour
Symptoms of post traumatic stress
Flash backs or haunting
thoughts
Panic feel
Sleep terror
Night mares
Severe traumatic incidents afect
Interpersonal
relationship
Education difficulties
Inability to do work
Decreased attention and
concentration
STESS ADAPTATION GENERAL
ADAPTATION SYNDROME
Hans Selye proposed
that an individual reacts
to stress in three stages-
1Alarmreaction,
2Resistance
3 Exhaustion.
Alarm reaction
It begins when individual
recognizes the stressor.
This leads to activation of
adrenal pituitary cortex
system and triggers the
release of hormones
producing stress response.
Now, the individual uses
defensive coping
mechanisms and gets
ready for flight or fight.
Resistance stage
If the stressor is
prolonged, individual
reaches to resistance stage
and physical symptoms
may appear. The individual
makes efforts to cope with
the threat. If the individual
succeeds in reducing the
stress, he turns to a normal
stage, otherwise goes
miserable and desperate.
Exhaustion stage
As a result of continuous
and increasing use of
ineffective coping
strategies, the bodily
resources drain-off and
reach a stage of
exhaustion.
Effects of Stress or Responses to Stress
What are the effects of stress? It affects an individual in a
variety of ways. It includes both physical and
psychological. Psychological can be categorized as
emotional, Cognitive and Behavioral.
Physiological
When the individual is under stress it increases the
production of certain hormones, such as adrenaline
and cortisol. Long – term production of these
hormones cause imbalance in the physiological
system.
psychological
1 emotional
Person suffering from stress are more likely to
experience emotional problems like
Sad
Irritable
Showing negative emotion
Mood swings [jump into sadness from happiness]
2 cognitive effect
Prolonged or acute stress affect the cognitive functions
of individuals.like
Decreased attention
Decreased concentration
Decreased memory
Decreased reasoning capacity
Inability to make proper decision
Faulty decisions at different life situations may lead to
arguments and interpersonal conflicts
3 Behavioral effect
Normal or ordinary behavior pattern of the individual
will be changed when one is under stress . Not
attending to institution or work place, suicidal
gestures or attempts are the common behavioral
response to stress
Smoking drug abuse, alcohol dependence, accident
prone behaviour, anger, sleep disturbance, eating
disorder,intake of stimulants are other reactions
towards stress
EFFECTS OF STRESS ON BODY
1 EXCESSIVE HAIR LOSS
2 MOUTH ULCER
3 BACK PAIN
4 MUSCULO SKELETAL ACHES
5 CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
6 HYPERTENSION
7 GASTRITIS
8 ECZEMA AND PSORIASIS
9 MENSTRUAL DISORDER
10 IMPOTENCE
Stress and Health
Burnout
It is a general feeling of stress- related exhaustion that
develops, when a person experiences too much
pressure and has very little sources of satisfaction.
The physical exhaustion is seen in the signs
of
Chronic fatigue
Weakness
disruption of working relationship
Low energy
Low job satisfaction
Low organizational commitment
Stress Management Strategies or coping
techniques
Stress is often referred to as a silence killer. It is
recognized to play a significant role in physical
illnesses. Studies also reveal that more than fifty
percent of medical visits are primarily for stress-
related symptoms.
Introduction
The term coping refers to the efforts made by an individual to
master, control or overcome threatening situations. Coping is a
dynamic situation – based reaction to stress. It is a set of
concrete responses to painful events that are intended to resolve
the obstacle and reduce stress. it is proved that people who cope
poorly with stress have an impaired immune responses and
diminished activity of natural killer cells.

The mechanisms adopted to cope with stress vary from person to

person. Managing stress is all about talking charge of one’s
thoughts, emotions, and the way he deals with his problems.
Identification of the source of stress
Stress management starts with identifying the sources
of the problem. One’s true sources of stress may not
always be obvious, and it is all too easy to overlook
ones own stress inducing thoughts, feelings and
behaviours. Failure in examination, financial loss or
loss of job, etc. may negatively affect the physiological
system as well as emotional and behavior modalities.
Task emotion, and avoidance
oriented strategy
Endler and Parker have suggested three strategies such as Task –oriented strategy
Emotion-oriented strategy and avoidance –oriented strategy.

Task- oriented strategy involves obtaining information about the stressful situation
and directly acting to solve it. It means facing stressful situation by directly attempting
to find a solution or attaining a goal

Emotion-oriented strategy involves efforts to maintain hope and avoid or control

one’s negative emotions. It can also involve venting out feelings of anger and frustration,
and expanding the resource to deal with stress.

Avoidance-oriented strategy is a defensive type of coping in which individual

convinces him that he is really threatened or that they do not really want something
they cannot get. The individual denies or minimize the seriousness of the situation. The
mechanism of conscious suppression of stressful thoughts and their replacement by
self-protective thought takes place.
Avoid unnecessary stress
Many small problems in daily life can accumulate together
and disturb an individual. One should find out those
things and try to avoid them. It is necessary to be assertive
and learn how to say no by evaluating one’s limits and
stick to them.

By controlling stressful environment one can get comfort.

Avoiding the noisy or polluted environment or a changing
a heavy traffic route, even if it is long, etc are examples. By
avoiding ‘hot button topics’, like religious, political or
regional differences one may be saved from stress.
Learn assertive skills
One has to express his feeling needs and thoughts
clearly and confidently. If one does not communicate
his difficulties, resentment[anger] will build up and
situation will remain the same.
Time management
It is ability of a person to manage him as per the
available time. Learning how to plan time and delegate
can help to reduce the pressure
Reappraisal or alter the situation
 Primarily, it tries to evaluate
the self and nature of the
stressor and adapting to the
situation. When people cannot
eliminate a stressor, they can
rethink about its implication
and consequences.

 When a stressful situation

seems to be uncontrollable,
one can change his appraisal of
the situation, and thus, reduce
the intensity of the threat.
Adjust your standard
Perfectionism is a major source of stress . Perfection should be a
target not a result always . Similarly one has to learn the others’ ways of doing
things

Social relation and comparison

Listening to the other person’s opinion and feelings , even if they
are different from one’s own . To be able to attach with others will definitely reduce
one’s stress . A sociable person can compare himself with those who had severe
limitations , and there by find some relief in his problem

Rational thinking
People are disturbed not by the events , but by the way they think
and feel. Many stress-related problems occur as a result of disturbed thinking.
When stressed, we have a tendency to attend to negative thought of the past,
which affect the perception of the present .
Take out time for fun and relaxation
When undergoing or experiencing stress, one
can go for a walk, spend time amidst nature, can talk to a good friend, sweat
out with a good workout, write down the problem, take deep breaths or swim
or bath, play with a pet work in own garden, get a massage, read a good book,
listen to music, and watch or read humorous programes or article.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle

Healthy and proper diet, exercise, and adequate
sleep can help an individual in dealing with stress. A balanced diet can lift
one’s mood, strengthen the immune system and make one feel better to
cope with various stresses in life. Studies confirm a consistently positive
effect on reducing tension, anxiety and depression. The individual should be
aware about these conditions and purposefully try to act against such things
Professional help
When the stress is more and uncontrollable one
can seek the help from a practicing psychologist. The experts can give
training in meditation procedures relaxation exercise, bio-feedback training,
creative visualization, cognitive type of therapies, rational emotive therapy
and counseling