FREE ESSAY ON HANDLING STRESS

HANDLING STRESS

Handling Stress 
This essay is about handling the stress of University studies. We will be looking into
many ideas and different people's views on how to handle stress. I will also be giving my
own opinions on how I think stress can be controlled or relieved. The first thing we must
do is ask ourselves one very important question, ?what is stress?? WHAT IS STRESS?
According to an Australian born physician, Hans Selye (1979), stress is the nonspecific
response of the body to any demand made upon it. The body responds in many ways. One is
to the loss of blood and the other is to the lack of sleep. Both of these are nonspecific
responses, however all demands made on the body evoke generalised, nonspecific responses.
For example, they all unable you to concentrate as would normally be expected, they
activate one's sympathetic nervous system, and they also increase the amount of the
hormone epinephrine that is being released into your body. When people say they've been
under going alot of stress they are usually referring to a couple of unpleasant
experiences. Now that we have an idea on what stress is the next question we should ask
ourselves is ?what is or can cause stress?. CAUSES OF STRESS There are many different
things that cause stress. One may be if you have a big term paper due and you want to do
your best to impress your seminar leader. Another may be peer or family related. All in
all it is things, events, situations, and people that cause stress. It is how we perceive
them that will determine whether or not stress will be a result from the encounter. Not
only negative situations are the cause of stress. Joy and happiness can also cause stress
even though they are positive. In a sense, it is we then who choose our own stressors.
Selye noted that with the absence of stress there is death. Current researchers are also
discovering that too little stress may be a major cause of depression or boredom. It is
therefore up to us to choose the best Handling Stress # stressors and the optimal level
of stress. Since we have now begun to understand the definition of stress as well as the
causes we now ask ourselves ?what can I do to control my stress?? CONTROLLING STRESS
There have been many studies done on the managements of stress. One group of researchers
found out that many university students tended to gain weight their first year away from
home. These ?students stated they overate in response to the many life-style changes and
varying stresses of the university environment (Journal of College Student Personnel)?.
This group of students were placed in stress management sessions. These sessions included
overall stress assessment, assertiveness training, time management, exploration of
stressful thoughts or belief systems, and life-style and stress reducers. The main focus
of these sessions were: a) how to manage stress by using things other than food and b)
how to apply stress management principles to the amount of food you take in. The majority
of these students found better ways to manage or control their stress by using more
healthful outlets, such as walking or taking up a sport. During the last twenty years
disease prevention and health promotion have been found to be related to the development
of healthy life-style behaviour and the management of stress. The course entitled ?
Psychology and the Management of Stress: Theory and Application? (Personnel and Guidance
Journal), has been set up to: a) acquaint students with theory and research related to
stress management techniques b) to provide guidance and information about diet, physical
exercise, and other matters of a healthy life-style and c) to provide an opportunity for
students to learn and practice how to apply stress management to their present lives.
Each Handling Stress # course is developed around four dimensions. Two of these are, ?the
influences of diet, physical exercise, and alcohol, drug, and cigarette use on stress and
physical health?, and ?principles related to effective time management?. These courses
have been proven to be highly effective. The stages in which the students are taught are
as follows: a) the students are asked to identify the stressors b) they are asked how
they experience and cope with them c) they are asked how they would like to manage them
d) they are then told more effective ways to manage their stressors e) they are asked
whether it was effective or not f) how they plan to continue to maintain their new
behaviour and g) habits they want to change. Most studies indicate that social support
holds an impact on stress. For example, in a 30-year longitudinal study of undergraduate
college students, Valliant (1974) found a significant and positive correlation between
supportive family environments and adult psychological adjustment in later life (Journal
of College Student Personnel). Social support is a good way to help the handling of
stress for it is the number of others that one can turn to. That available support system
is a lean to for people as they can get others to help in their management of stress.
Another study was done where eleven junior college students who received ?success-stress
management? training exhibited less stress and higher grade point averages than an equal
number who received ?success? group training (Journal of College Student Personnel). As
well multicomponent strategies employing cognitive restructuring and relaxation have been
found to be highly effective in treating the worry and emotionally stressed with test
anxiety. A number of studies have shown that low achievers seem to experience more
anxiety than high achievers and that they appear to lack good healthy study skills and
habits. Borkovec, Grayson, and Cooper (1978) found that 1/5 of a group of college
students reported feeling tense during at least 50% Handling Stress # of each day.
Speilberger's (1966) estimate that 15% of college students are test anxious supports the
contention that some of this daily tension may result from test anxiety (Journal of
College Student Personnel). All in all the success-stress management program was found to
be more effective in reducing stress and increasing one's academic performance than the
success program. The goals of all these programs are to a) to help students to understand
stress and the role it plays in their lives and b) to help students acquire healthy
methods of managing their stress. They are there for social support and to give the
student or person an increased feeling of self-control. They also help in student
developing and emphasise on personal awareness, the development of personal change
strategies, and the periodic review of those strategies. These stress management programs
or courses are not the only things that help with the controlling or management of
stress. There are many other things that students themselves may have discovered in
keeping their stress under control. Things that you or I may never have thought of. I
decided to take a survey of my peers and see exactly what they used or did, if anything,
to help manage their stress. Some of the things I came up with were quite surprising:
Three people I talked to said they liked to take time off from their studies and write,
either in a journal or a letter to someone, eight people said they liked to exercise,
such as taking walks or doing aerobics, two people said they liked to take a break and
have a nap, twelve people said they liked to snack, four people liked to reorganise their
work so that it was copeable, fifteen people said they liked to go to the bar, and six
people said that sex helped them relieve the tension of studies. All these things people
said helped them to relax and relieve the tension of their studies. Though these things
may not manage one's stress on a day to day basis they seem to help people from allowing
the tension to build up to a point of disaster. Handling Stress # Some people may even
feel enough stress to cause them to acquire an ulcer. This is caused when a stressful
experience activates mostly the sympathetic nervous system, increasing heart rate,
breathing rate, and epinephrine secretions. Ulcers do not occur during the stress period
itself but during the rest period. The digestive secretions increase causing the excess
secretions to eat away at the lining of the stomach and intestines causing and ulcer.
Severe stress, however, can cause a condition called posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). This condition is usually caused when one has endured extreme stress causing them
to feel prolonged anxiety and depression. Though I have never heard of university
students getting posttraumatic stress disorder I know of afew people around my age who
have obtained and ulcer, myself for one. These are just two things that stress has been
known to cause or attribute to. Though what you've read so far gives alot of detail into
what one can do to manage their stress I believe that the only real way to managing one's
stress is through the art of relaxation. Even though I do use some of the ways my peers
have stated I believe that for full effect of managing stress one must first learn how to
relax themselves. Learning how to relax is a simple thing to do and if done effectively
will affect you both physically as well as psychologically. Rest pauses, as well as
widely spaced periods of exercise and ?me time? can and will help prevent tension,
psychophysical stress, and inefficiency. Thorndike tells us that, to protect the mind,
the body needs rest pauses and sleep, as well as frequent changes of position and
movement, and social intercourse. These rest pauses as well as such things as laughter
are what will help one relax psychologically. To physically relax one's self exercise has
yet to fail. There are many different ways to exercise th! at will help in the release of
tension. Small exercises developed for individual parts of the body, such Handling Stress
# as the arms, legs, neck, and forehead, will help the most. These small exercises are
very good for they relax each muscle individually, therefore making sure each muscle is
relaxed. All of these methods both the physical and the phycological have been proven to
work. Though stress seems to be an everyday event everyone should take time off from
whatever may be causeing them stress and relax. No matter what relaxation process you
decide is the best for you, you should make sure that you keep doing it to prevent any
build up of stress that may occur. If you don't normally take time off for yourself now
is a good time to start. Yes kids it's me time. CONCLUSION Stress is something that
everyone takes on in their day to day lives. It is a part of our daily routines and
sometimes builds up to the point where we think it is unbearable. There are many things
that cause stress, yet at the same time there are many things that help us relieve it.
Stress can cause physical as well as emotional illnesses but it has also been proven that
too little stress can be harmful as well. There are many different ways of handling
stress. Some are for the goodness of one's physical well being where as some are for
one's emotional well being. There are even some that help with both. All in all stress
seems to occur depending on one's perception of events, people, and daily things for
stress occurs on different occasions for different people. Handling Stress # REFERENCES
Adams, J.D. (1980). Understanding and Managing Stress, San Diego: University Associates.
Kalat, J.W. (1993). Introduction to Psychology: third edition. Pacific Grone: Brooks/Cole
Publishing Company. Pfeifer, J.E., and Ogloff, J.R.P. (1990). Making the Grade:Strategies
for Succeeding at University. Lincoln: JEP and JRPO Rathbone, J.L. (1969). Relaxation.
Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger. Rhines, K.L. (1985). Stress and Disease. Pleasantville:
Human Relations Media Inc. Romano, J.L. (1984). Stress Management and Wellness: Reaching
beyond the counselor's office. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 62 (9), 533-537. Ross, J.
(1993). The Original Student Calendar, Winlaw: Polestar Calendars Ltd. Williams, J.M.,
Decker, T.W., Libassi, A. (1983), The impact of stress management training on the
academic performance of low-achieving college students. Journal of College Student
Personnel, 24 (6), 491-494.