Stress!
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Definition of stress: Stress management defines stress precisely as a person's physiological response to an internal or external stimulus that triggers the "fight-or-flight" reaction.
Stress Important Theoretical Foundations
Early Work on stress
Cannon and Selye used animal studies to establish the earliest scientific basis for the study of stress. They measured the physiological responses of animals to external pressures, such as heat and cold, prolonged restraint, and surgical procedures. Then, they extrapolated from these studies to human beings. Subsequently, early studies of stress in humans by Richard Rahe and others established the view that stress is caused by distinct, measureable life stressors, and further, that these life stressors can be ranked by the median degree of stress they produce. Thus, stress was traditionally conceptualized to be a result of external insults beyond the control of those experiencing the stress. More recently, however, it has been argued that external circumstances do not have any intrinsic capacity to produce stress, but instead their effect is mediated by the individual's perceptions, capacities, and understanding.Stress The Transactional Model and Coping Skills Training
For example, Lazarus and Folkman suggest that stress can be thought of as resulting from an imbalance between demands and resources or as occurring when pressure exceeds ones perceived ability to cope (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Stress management then is premised on the idea that stress is not a direct response to a stressor. Rather, one's resources and one's ability to cope mediate the stress response and are amenable to change, thus allowing stress to be controllable.In order to develop an effective stress management programme it is first necessary to identify the factors that are central to controlling stress, and to identify the intervention methods which effectively target these factors. Lazarus and Folkmans (1984) interpretation of stress focuses on the transaction between people and their external environment. This Transactional Model potentially empowers the individual on which stressors act by conceptualising stress as a result of how the stressor is appraised initially and how the individual appraises his/her resources to cope with the potential stressor. This model breaks the stressor-stress link by proposing that if stressors are perceived as positive or challenging rather than a threat, and if one is confident that s/he possesses adequate rather than deficient coping strategies, stress may not necessarily follow the presence of a stressor.
This model proposes that helping stressed individuals change their perceptions of stressors, and providing them with strategies which help them cope with stressors and feel confident in their ability to do so, will reduce their stress.
Stress The Health Realization or Innate Health Model
The Health Realization/Innate Health (HR/IH) model of stress agrees with the Transactional Model that stress does not necessarily follow the presence of a so-called stressor. But instead of focusing on the individual's appraisal of so-called stressors in relation to his or her own coping skills, HR/IH focuses on the nature of thought, arguing that it is ultimately people's thinking that determines how they respond to potentially-stressful external circumstances (Sedgeman, 2005). In this model, stress results from appraising oneself and one's circumstances through a mental filter of insecurity and negativity, whereas a feeling of well-being results from approaching the world with a "quiet mind," "inner wisdom," and "common sense" (Mills, 1995).This model proposes that helping stressed individuals understand the nature of thought--especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure thinking, disengage from it, and access their natural positive feelings--will reduce their stress (Mills, 1995).
Need for stress management
A stress ball.It is now an accepted fact in the medical community; according to recent research, that stress is one of the major causes of all illnesses. Stress can cause migraines, stroke, eczema, a weak immune system, and many other diseases. Stress is also known to cause medical complications during pregnancy for both the mother and the child. Hence, there is a growing need for stress management.Techniques of stress help
self-understanding (e.g. self-identification as a Type A or as a Type B personality)cognitive therapy
self-management (e.g. becoming better-organized)
conflict resolution
positive attitude
self-talk
autogenic training
breathing
progressive relaxation
meditation
hypnosis
exercise
rest
stress balls
therapeutic massage
laughter
Some techniques of Time Management may help a person to control stress. For example:
becoming more organized and reducing the generation of clutter
setting priorities can help reduce anxiety
using a "to do" list of tasks that a person needs to complete can give a person a sense of control and accomplishment
Effective stress management involves learning to set limits and to say "No" to some demands that others make.
Stress Digital Thermometers
Since stress activates the body's defense mechanism, blood is frequently drawn away from the extremities and to the torso when a stress attack occurs. Digital thermometers (digital because they measure finger temperature) can be used to detect a person's level of stress. Note that the actual temperature is not the most important characteristic, but rather the change in temperature. Using this knowledge has proven useful in designing treatment for prevention and control of stress attacks. This technique was pioneered by Dr. Claudio Zapata.
