Essay on Stress

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What Is Stress?

Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. These chemicals give people more energy and strength, which can be a good thing if their stress is caused by physical danger. But this can also be a bad thing, if their stress is in response to something emotional and there is no outlet for this extra energy and strength. This class will discuss different causes of stress, how stress affects you, the difference between 'good' or 'positive' stress and 'bad' or 'negative' stress, and some common facts about how stress affects people today.

What Causes Stress?

Many different things can cause stress -- from physical (such as fear of something dangerous) to emotional (such as worry over your family or job.) Identifying what may be causing you stress is often the first step in learning how to better deal with your stress. Some of the most common sources of stress are:

Survival Stress - You may have heard the phrase "fight or flight" before. This is a common response to danger in all people and animals. When you are afraid that someone or something may physically hurt you, your body naturally responds with a burst of energy so that you will be better able to survive the dangerous situation (fight) or escape it all together (flight). This is survival stress.

Internal Stress - Have you ever caught yourself worrying about things you can do nothing about or worrying for no reason at all? This is internal stress and it is one of the most important kinds of stress to understand and manage. Internal stress is when people make themselves stressed. This often happens when we worry about things we can't control or put ourselves in situations we know will cause us stress. Some people become addicted to the kind of hurried, tense, lifestyle that results from being under stress. They even look for stressful situations and feel stress about things that aren't stressful.

Environmental Stress - This is a response to things around you that cause stress, such as noise, crowding, and pressure from work or family. Identifying these environmental stresses and learning to avoid them or deal with them will help lower your stress level.

Fatigue and Overwork - This kind of stress builds up over a long time and can take a hard toll on your body. It can be caused by working too much or too hard at your job(s), school, or home. It can also be caused by not knowing how to manage your time well or how to take time out for rest and relaxation. This can be one of the hardest kinds of stress to avoid because many people feel this is out of their control. Later in this course we will show you that you DO have options and offer some useful tips for dealing with fatigue.

How Does Stress Affect You?

Stress can affect both your body and your mind. People under large amounts of stress can become tired, sick, and unable to concentrate or think clearly. Sometimes, they even suffer mental breakdowns.

Physical and Mental Signs of Stress

You've heard before that recognizing when you are under stress is the first step in learning how to deal with your stress, but what does that mean? Sometimes we are so used to living with stress, we don't know how to identify it.

Whether you are experiencing immediate or short-term stress or have been experiencing stress for a long time or long-term stress, your body and mind may be showing the effects. Here are some 'warning signs' that stress is affecting your body and mind.

Physical and Mental Signs of Short-term Stress

Often occurring in quick 'bursts' in reaction to something in your environment, short-term stress can affect your body in many ways. Some examples include:
Making your heartbeat and breath faster
Making you sweat more
Leaving you with cold hands, feet, or skin
Making you feel sick to your stomach or giving you 'butterflies'
Tightening your muscles or making you feel tense
Leaving your mouth dry
Making you have to go to the bathroom frequently
Increasing muscle spasms, headaches, fatigue, and shortness of breath

While this burst of energy may help you in physical situations where your body needs to react quickly, it can have bad effects on your mind and performance if there is no outlet or reason for your stress. These effects may include:
Interfering with your judgment and causing you to make bad decisions
Making you see difficult situations as threatening
Reducing your enjoyment and making you feel bad
Making it difficult for you to concentrate or to deal with distraction
Leaving you anxious, frustrated or mad
Making you feel rejected, unable to laugh, afraid of free time, unable to work, and not willing to discuss your problems with others

Physical and Mental Signs of Long-term Stress

Long-term stress or stress that is occurring over long periods of time can have an even greater effect on your body and mind. Long-term stress can affect your body by:
Changing your appetite (making you eat either less or more)
Changing your sleep habits (either causing you to sleep too much or not letting you sleep enough)
Encouraging 'nervous' behavior such as twitching, fiddling, talking too much, nail biting, teeth grinding, pacing, and other repetitive habits
Causing you to catch colds or the flu more often and causing other illnesses such as asthma, headaches, stomach problems, skin problems, and other aches and pains
Affecting your sex life and performance
Making you feel constantly tired and worn out

Long-term stress can also have serious effects on your mental health and behavior. If you are under stress for long periods of time, you may find that you have difficulty thinking clearly, dealing with problems, or even handling day-to-day situations as simple as shaving, picking up clothes or arriving somewhere on time. Some mental signs of long-term stress include:
Worrying and feeling anxious (which can sometimes lead to anxiety disorder and panic attacks)
Feeling out of control, overwhelmed, confused, and/or unable to make decisions
Experiencing mood changes such as depression, frustration, anger, helplessness, irritability, defensiveness, irrationality, overreaction, or impatience and restlessness
Increasing dependence on food, cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs
Neglecting important things in life such as work, school, and even personal appearance
Developing irrational fears of things such as physical illnesses, natural disasters like thunderstorms and earthquakes, and even being terrified of ordinary situations like heights or small spaces

Dealing with Stress:

One of the most immediate and easiest ways to deal with stress is responding to your body's physical symptoms. Sometimes this can be as easy as stopping what you're doing and taking a few deep, relaxing breaths. Sound too easy? Well try it.

Are the kids or family getting on your nerves?
Go into another room, or even the bathroom or closet if you need to get away! Shut the door. Experience the quiet. Take a few deep breaths. Feel the tension go out of your head, neck and shoulders. Try not to feel too silly for hanging out in the coat closet.

Had another bad day with your boss or another office worker?
Shut the door to your office if you have one and take a few minutes for yourself. No door? Stroll down the hall, rinse your face in cool water in the bathroom, or head outside for a few lungfulls of fresh air. Just getting away for a few minutes can be calming and help you relax.

Spent too long studying over the books or trying to finish that report for work?
Push back from your desk. Roll your head and shoulders. Rub your hands together quickly to warm them and place them over your weary eyes, or just close your eyes and let your face and neck relax. Breathe in and out deeply. Remember the time your boss / coworker / teacher / you sat on the jelly donut.

There -- you've already lowered your stress and your blood pressure in just a few seconds. Because our first reaction to stress is physical (our body releases chemicals, our heartbeat and breath become faster, and muscles get tense as we prepare for 'fight or flight'), your first line of defense against stress is convincing your body to relax again.

Responding to the immediate physical effects of stress can help lessen the long-term and mental effects of stress. Developing a healthier lifestyle and building activities into your schedule that help you relax can also help your body, and mind, bounce back from stress. Here are some other 'quick fixes' and long-term tips for helping you deal with the physical effects of stress.

While occasionally experiencing one or two of the above symptoms may not be cause for concern (everyone has a few nervous habits and difficulties in their lives!), having a number of these symptoms may mean you are under more stress than you think. But realizing you are under stress is the first step in learning to deal with stress. We recommend you take our stress test then read on to learn more about dealing with stress.