Stress Management: Meaning,
Sources and Strategies
Content Outline
1. Objectives
2. Introduction
3. Concept of Stress
4. Components of Stress
5. Types of Stress
5.1. Eustress
5.2. Distress
5.3. Neutral stress
1. Objectives
This module will familiarize the learner with the Stress Management. At the end
of the module, the learner will be able to,
Define meaning of stress management
List the components of stress
Explain each types of stress
2. Introduction
Stress is a complex Phenomenon. The term stress is coined by Selye in 1984. He
is Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist of Hungarian origin. He conducted much
important scientific work and defined it as “Non-specific response of the body for
any demand.” He had experimented with laboratory animals. These animals had
experienced different physical and emotional stimuli like blaring light, loud noise,
extreme heat or cold all this resulted into same pathological changes among these
animals. Selye first used the word “stress” to describe the adverse circumstances to
which laboratory animals were subjected during experiments.
Selye was actually been experimenting to search for a new hormone when he
came across all of this. In 1934, he was an assistant at McGill University’s
Biochemistry Department in Montreal. The experiment he was carrying out
involved the injection of rats with ovarian extract. He was trying to was to reveal
changes in the organism that could not be caused by any known sex hormone.
The extract injections had various effects on the rats which included enlargement
of the adrenal cortex, atrophy of the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes, and deep
bleeding ulcers in the lining of the stomach. These all could be increased or
decreased in severity by changing the amount of extract. He understood there is
something in common with his sick rats.
Selye concluded that the experiments on rats shows that biological responses to
“nocuous agents,” such as cold, surgical injury, excessive exercise, or doses of
drugs, demonstrated a stereotypical effect on rats irrespective of the nature of the
injury. Selye observed it as a way of defence similar to immunity. The general
adaptation syndrome represented “a generalised effort of the organism to adapt
itself to new conditions.”
Selye advocated that animals have only a finite capacity to adapt to damage. It
affects into the loss of “adaptation energy.” Selye referred this loss of energy in
terms of the “wear and tear” of life. He regarded it as a direct parallel between the
stage of fatigue on the one hand and processes of aging and dying on the other. He
proved that the animals also suffer from the disease similar to the human beings
because of the continuous stress.
3. Concept of Stress
According to Oxford Dictionary Stress implies
i) Mental Pressure- Pressure or worry caused by the problems in life, which is
often a factor in the development of long term illness
ii) Physical pressure- pressure put on the physical being that can damage it or
make it lose its shape.
In medical terms stress is described as, “a physical or psychological stimulus that
can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness.”
According to Richard S Lazarus, stress is a feeling experienced when a person
thinks that “the demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is
able to mobilize.”
Olson et al (1989) defined stress as “a state of tension that arises from an actual
or perceived demand that calls for an adjustment or adaptive behaviour.”
Arnold and Feldman (1986) define stress as “the reactions of individuals to new
or threatening factors in their work environment.”
The above mentioned definitions focuses on -stress is generated because of
mental or physical stimuli; behavioural changes, attitudinal changes, physical
reaction or psychological factors are related to stress.
Stress is the way body respond to any kind of demand or threat. When one sense
danger, either real or perceived, the body defences it which is known as the “fight-
or-flight” reaction or the “stress response”. The studies have shown that at the
global level the adolescent stress levels range from 20% to 45%. The Time
magazine in 1983 described stress as “The Epidemic of the Eighties”. According to
American institute of Stress, stress is America’s number one health problem. On
estimation, 75 to 90 % of all visits to primary care physicians are found to be
related to stress. The Occupational stress is one of the important types of stress.
As per International Labour Organization (ILO), the occupational stress affects
all countries, all professions and all categories of workers. World Labour Report of
1993 identified occupational stress as one of the most hazardous health issues of
the twentieth century . The World Health Organization (WHO) termed it as “World
Wide Epidemic”.
The Occupational stress is defined by National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH, USA) as, “the harmful physical and emotional
responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the
capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker”.
The Occupational stress is also known as “job stress”, “work related stress” or
“work stress”. The World Health Organization defines it as “a pattern of reactions
that occurs when workers are presented with work demands not matched to their
knowledge, skills or abilities and which challenge their ability to cope”
Many a times people are not able to fulfil the expectations which makes them
frustrated. The new situations in the work environment brings stress with it, as the
demands of situation are beyond capacity of an individual.
We try to adjust in different situations. When one is stressed, the body releases
the chemical. Stress is person’s adaptive response to the stimulus that places
excessive psychological demands on that person. If the situation requires adaption
to new situation, it may create stress. These situations could be fatigue, anger, fear,
unexpected event etc. Therefore we can say that the stress is the state of mind
which reflects some biochemical reactions in the body. These are projected by a
sense of tension, depression, anxiety. For example muscles tense up, suffer from
headache and pain in neck, and increase in heart rate, experience feeling of
vomiting.
4. Components of Stress
The stress has four components:
1. The source (Cause)
2. The Pressure (Input)
3. The recipient (Target)
4. The Effect (Output)
[Source: A Handbook on stress Management-Meena Nanda, pg. 23]
The concept of stress is also used in physics. It explains elasticity as the property
of a material that allows it to resume its original size and shape after having been
compressed or stretched by an external force. So here the magnitude of an external
force, or stress, produces a proportional amount of deformation. This magnitude is
determined by the environmental conditions or individuals working style. Such
environmental conditions, circumstances are call as stressors. These stressors could
be physical or psychological.
Stress is not always necessarily harmful. Hans Selye said in 1956, “Stress is not
necessarily something bad, it all depends on how you take it. The stress of
exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure,
humiliation or infection is detrimental.” Thus stress can be negative, positive or
neutral. Passing in an examination can be just stressful as failing.
Sometime we know in advance that doing a certain thing will be stressful, but we
are willing to do that. For example, while planning an international conference,
you know that it would be stressful at certain times. But you are willing to face
those challenges.
People often work well under certain stress leading to increased productivity.
Many times you do not know in advance and the stress periods may be sudden.
The situation may not be under your control. Too much stress is harmful. You
should know your level of stress that allows you to perform optimally in your life.
Stress is unique and personal. A situation may be stressful for someone but the
same situation may be challenging for others. For example, arranging a world level
symposium may be challenging for one person but stressful to another. Some
persons have habit of worrying unnecessarily. However, excessive or prolonged
stress can be harmful.
5. Types of Stress
The stress could be categorized as acute stress and chronic stress.
Acute stress
This type of stress is usually for the short period of time. It may arise because of
the work pressure, meeting deadlines pressure or minor accident, over exertion,
increased physical activity, loss of the things which you are searching for and so
on. The person then suffers from headache, back pain, stomach problem, rapid
heartbeat, muscle aches or body pain. The people who take too many
responsibilities and are overloaded or overworked, unsystematic, always in a hurry
and never in time, suffer from the acute stress.
Chronic Stress
This is the most serious type of stress. Chronic stress is a prolonged stress. It
exists for weeks, months, or even years. There are various reasons for it. This stress
could be due to poor economic condition, broken or stressed family life and
problem in marriages, chronic illness. Many a times the people who are suffering
from this type of stress get used to it. They may not even realize that they are
suffering from the chronic stress. The chronic stress is very hazardous to the
health.
The Theorist Hans Selye distinguished between two main types of worry –
eustress (“good stress”) and distress (“bad stress”). Selye pointed out three types of
stress
5.1. Eustress
This is positive or pleasurable form of stress. Eustress is observed as a
‘beneficial stress’ or ‘adaptive stress.’ It motivates to continue work at hand. It
could be psychological or physical. It is an important component of everyday life,
as good amounts of stress motivate us, encourage us to experiment, and encourage
productivity. It also provides a sense of accomplishment when a work is
completed. The human body is unable to physically differentiate between different
types of stresses. It depends on how the individual perceives a certain stressor that
results in the feeling of eustress or distress. Eustress is a positive reaction to stress,
which results in a desire to achieve and overcome an obstacle. Person faces this
kind of stress in a positive event or exciting situation. Eg. Winning a prize in the
competition.
5.2. Distress
This is negative and unpleasant stress. It comes with negative event. The person
encounters distress in unpleasant situation, pressure situation or demanding
condition.
Distress is when stress, trauma, anxiety and worry are not productive and instead
of inspiring the person, it causes the person to close down the options in life. Stress
leads to fear, affects with the ability to think clearly, work confidently, interact
with others and fulfil the duties in daily life. It is not a helpful stress. This stress is
directly or indirectly negative and thus a problematic.
Eustress is a short-term feeling. It is perceived as something that we as
individuals can control. It inspires us and results in the focus of energy to the task
at hand, thus improves the performance. Distress can be either short or long-term,
and is perceived as something that is out of our control. Distress is a hostile
feeling, which demotivates in completion of task. It can also cause to other mental
health problems including depression and anxiety related disorders. The following
example will clarify the concept.
Imagine if you win the lottery. You have crores of rupees in hand. The first thing
you will do is resign from the job, buy a new house and a new car. You are
absolutely excited. The relatives will begin to call you as they are in desperate need
of your help. You can provide them monitory help. Those who have hardly
contacted you ever before would try to be in you touch and try to convince you for
providing help to them. Even the charities begin to call for donations. Now, you
understand friends, family, and charities wanting your money, and you are in
dilemma about who you should help. You cannot sleep or eat without thinking
about your situation. You are completely stressed out by the changes in your life.
This is categorised as or ‘distress.’
Now, consider another situation, you have won the lottery of crores of rupees.
You are motivated by the idea of managing the money. Your dream of the ideal
life is going to be fulfilled. Family, Friends, Charity will ask for monetary help, but
you know exactly what you are going to do with this money, who you would like
to help and how to help them. You follow your plans. You invest the money
wisely, and employ someone professional to manage your money. You start the
business you always wanted to. You also think about the challenges you might face
at every stage and try to overcome it. This encourages to keep moving forward.
The tensions in the life are helping you to achieve the best. This would be
categorised as ‘eustress.’
Distress arises when we recognise a challenging situation as being destructive, or
if we believe we are not capable of handling with the demands of a situation. In
contrast, eustress is more adaptive perception of a stressful situation.
5.3. Neutral Stress
It arises with negative feelings but handled properly. It could lead to positive
experiences in life. In the neutral stress the arousal is neither harmful nor helpful.
Eg. Teacher has to handle lot of responsibilities in the school which may lead to
stress among them.
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Strategies
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