Let’s start by asking: can stress be avoided? Certainly not – it is ubiquitous in our lives. We experience it at every step, at work, at home or in various social situations.
Stress can be harmful to our wellbeing, which is why the way we perceive and react to the stressful situations is incredibly important and largely depends on ourselves.
The nature of stress
The term “stress” was introduced into medical science in the 60s of the last Century. The work done at that time created not only the fundaments for the development of the concept of stress but also for many disputes about it. Some scientists, however, commonly admit that stress is a kind of relationship between a person and his/her environment and is the result of their mutual interactions.
The mechanism of stress
First of all…
Imagine a situation in your life: for example, a reduction of your working hours. Your first reaction is to assess the situation, check whether the situation causes you any discomfort or somehow impacts on your further functioning.
Probably most people would say that reducing working hours would greatly affect their quality of life by worsening their financial situation. But what would that mean to a person who has long felt unhappy in the workplace and not for once but constantly thought about changing it, but did not have the time or courage to take action? In this case, the situation may induce other feelings – sadness, disappointment, but also happiness due to a sudden chance to achieve the desired change.
Secondly…
Your next reaction is to classify a situation as a loss, threat or challenge. For example, arguing with your partner seems like something very negative, but it can also be the first step towards change, towards working on this relationship and improving communication. Would you say this is a challenge, loss or threat?
Thirdly…
Now it’s the time to analyse any possibilities of dealing with a given situation, and then choosing a strategy based on different styles of action:
- Task-focused style
- Emotion-focused style
- Style focused on avoidance
What else determines how to deal with stress?
Our personality traits have a huge impact on how we deal with stress. A big advantage is the high self-awareness and interpersonal skills. Our response also depends largely on the characteristics of the situation itself. We will approach the challenge differently to a loss or threat. Some stressful events are classified as one-off, e.g. the death of a parent. Others appear cyclical, repeating with some regularity, e.g. exams at school or stress associated with menstruation (PMS or PMDD).
The most dangerous for our health are traumatic experiences, during which we experience extremely strong negative emotions.
Constant tension leads to chronic stress. The longer the time of experiencing stress, the more serious its effects are on our body. When stress is overwhelming, some people turn to stimulants or look for social contacts in order to forget about difficulties. Some people seek help from a counsellor, others suffer in salience.
Stress can be effectively dealt with regardless of its type!
Come along to my open day in October the 29th to hear me talking about how stress affects our life’s processes, including health, what are effective ways to cope with difficult situations and how to effectively combat stress.
For more information about the event or exact address please contact me.
Beata