Category: Stress

Summary and Hypothesis

Negative aspects of factors that affect human body functions cause stress. Negative factors, or stressors, arise from abnormalities in the physiological functions of the body.

The physiological processes that keep the human body functioning properly may suffer interference from outside or within the body such that they are not in equilibrium (Goldstein & Kopin, 2007).

This is the biological perspective of stress. From a psychological perspective, stress is characterized by behavioral symptoms accompanied by a negative state of mind. A person experiencing psychological stress may withdraw from various participative aspects of life.

In addition, a person experiencing stress will show physical changes, and physiological processes in the body might be affected. Psychological stress results to unwillingness of an individual to engage in social activities.

Imbalance in the physiology of the body results to conditions such as hypertension, lack of sleep, and irregularity of sexual desire.

Stress has many effects that are less evident in the first stages of its development (Goldstein & Kopin, 2007). Psychological stress is scientifically associated with physiological processes in the cell and the balance of chemical activity in the body.

For example, if an individual senses that a dangerous event is about to take place, he or she might react physically by running away or emotionally by getting psychologically prepared to fight back. Thus, psychological reaction involves physiological processes.

This proves that reaction to stress has both psychological and physiological aspects. While the anatomy and physical construction of the brain is well known, its operation and the precise mechanisms responsible for its proper functioning are poorly understood (Fleshner et al., 2011).

This makes it necessary to study psychology through empirical examination and randomized trials.

In this paper, stress is examined from both biological and psychological perspectives. Physiological factors that cause stress and the external factors that influence physiology of the human body are examined. Throughout an individual’s life, residual stress is always present.

When an infant is born, mechanisms are usually in place so that the child reacts to stressors whenever they are present. Thus, stress is natural and cannot be eliminated. A situation where one does not experience stress at all is inconceivable.

When there are no stressors at all, an individual will not feel pressured to react to any event even when the matter is of critical urgency. If a particular stressor affects a person repeatedly, the reaction of the individual to the stressor is often different on every occasion.

The experience of the event in the past may either improve the ability of the individual to cope with stress or worsen it (Goldstein, & Kopin, 2007).

Stress is only considered harmful to an individual if it builds up beyond a certain level. However, stress is normally present in all human beings, and is a critical factor in fostering motivation.

Stress may be caused by a situation outside the body such as a traumatizing event, but may also be a result of an uncomfortable state of the body (Blackburn & Munro, 2001). Conditions such as constant or repetitive pain, nausea, cold, extreme warmth and even pressure cause excessive stress.

Various experiments have been used to investigate the nature of stress and the manner in which people react to it.

Some of the approaches used to examine the concept of stress are based on biological evidence alone, while others are based on empirical analysis of the state of the human mind (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

The level of stress in an individual may be determined by the extent to which the physical equilibrium in the body has been disturbed.

On the other hand, the behavior of the affected individual may be evaluated for a psychological analysis. Reactions such as anxiety determine presence of excessive stress (Kudielka & Wüst, 2010).

Introduction And Background

Walter Cannon linked stress to the balance of chemical activity in the body in the early 1920s. This was the beginning of association of stress with the situations external to the body. Early psychobiologists such as Hans Selye supported this perspective.

Later, scientists such as Lindemann found an association of stress with events that did not necessarily cause changes in the physiology of the body (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

In that essence, stress is a complex condition that can only be described by the symptoms and reactions exhibited by those who suffer from it.

Major events in history such as the holocaust and the two world wars were influential in the study of stress.

The psychological state of the former soldiers who fought in the wars and the survivors of the holocaust helped scientists to link traumatizing events to long-term effects of stress (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

These scientists used various models such as the concept of individual stress and that of family stress. The reactions of people to stress as a group and that of an individual were studied in reference to historical events such as the great depression of the1920s and 1930s.

During the First World War, scientists approached stress from a physiological point of view. People exhibiting symptoms of stress were thought to be suffering from physiological disorders that hindered the brain from functioning properly (Blackburn & Munro, 2001).

While classical scientists associated stress with groups such as families and prison inmates, contemporary scientists associate stress with an individual. The scientists focus on the effects of stress on the human body and the state of mind.

Research Discussion

Stress is known to affect the health of an individual, depending on specific reactions to it. In that essence, scientists have experimented and studied the physiological reaction to mental stress by the body. In addition, the effects of stress on individual minds are studied.

Stress is known to change the mental reaction patterns of an individual particularly if it persists for a long time. The reaction itself is the activity of chemicals released by specific parts of the body.

There are various reaction patterns exhibited by different individuals who are experiencing situations that are known to cause stress. R.S. Lazarus and Albert were the first scientists to study stress from the perspective of the nature of reaction exhibited by an individual experiencing stress.

They did this study by subjecting some people to stressful vision. Several individuals were required to watch graphic and bloody scenes of a film and report their feelings about the particular film to analysts.

Some of the people who were involved in the experiment reacted by saying that the situations presented were not real and were created artificially (Blackburn & Munro, 2001). Others expressed concern for the plight of the people who were undergoing painful experiences in the film.

It was found that the kind of reaction and the intensity of the reaction of the individuals depended on the environment of the person. Experiences had critical influence on the manner in which people reacted to the film.

However, experience did not mean that the people involved experienced less stress (Blackburn & Munro, 2001) In fact, in some cases, experience reduced ability of the person to cope with stress. In the particular experiment, it became difficult to describe the cause of particular reactions.

A stressful situation such as the films had many factors in its details that had the ability to cause stress. It became difficult to distinguish the details that a particular person focused on.

Consequently, it was clear that stress depended on the reaction of the particular person to specific details and could not be generalized.

Organization and Analysis

The idea of looking at stress from the perspective of coping was adopted by modern psychologists. Two approaches to coping with stress are known. When there is presence of a factor that is causing stress, some people will choose to confront the issue and find a solution.

These people see the situation as a barrier that must be overcome. On the other hand, a person experiencing a problem that causes stress may choose to change the perspective from which he or she views the situation.

The situation then ceases to be an emotional issue to the particular individual. This approach of coping with stress may be dangerous if it becomes an individual’s way of dealing with every difficult situation.

Furthermore, people who consider this approach of dealing with stress pervasive call it mal-adaptive stress coping. Changing the perception about a stressful situation that might cause harm does not eliminate the possibility of the situation causing damage.

Thus, the first approach of formulating a solution to the problem is the best way to manage factors that cause stress since the problem may eventually be solved. This approach is called the adaptive approach to stress coping.

People have similar patterns of adopting coping methods in stressful situations. It is not possible for people to share identical stress causatives since their lives are different.

One’s social status, expectations, hopes, and beliefs are some of the factors that determine a person’s perception of a situation. The perception determines the different people’s reaction to stress.

For example, a wealthy man might not consider college school fees for his daughter to be a stressful matter. On the other hand, a person earning little money may consider this a stressful problem.

Since no two situations are precisely identical, it is difficult for reactions of different people to the same problem to be identical (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

If people of ideally similar capabilities are subjected to identical stressful situations, the reaction pattern in an effort to cope with the problem will be the same. The first step in the reaction is the attempt to find a solution to the problem.

If the situation has a particular achievable solution, it is likely that the individual will try to solve the problem. On the other hand, if the situation has no apparent solution, the reaction becomes emotional, and the individual may adopt escapism as a way of dealing with the stress.

Ideally, similar situations cause relatively identical reactions in people of similar capabilities. Stress such as that related to similar situations at work or at home among family members causes similar reaction patterns (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

Some of the physical changes that take place in a human being in an effort by the body to overcome stress include the release of hormones that cause vascular constriction and speed up cardiac action.

Some other processes such as digestion and transmission of nervous signals may also stop so that physical feeling is not possible in some parts of the body. Depending on the individual, the rise of the level of resistance to stress occurs in varying patterns (Valentino & Bockstaele, 2008).

People who often overreact to stressors raise the level of resistance to stressing factors, and are highly susceptible to diseases and disorders related to stress.

When an individual’s mind has a memory of a stress-causing factor, stress may occur repetitively, eventually leading to development of a disease (Kudielka & Wüst, 2010).

However, it is evident that the possibility of developing disease even after undergoing stress varies from one individual to another.

Diseases that might occur due to repetitive stress can be serious and permanent disorders due to overreaction of organs to the stressful situations. On the other hand, reaction to stress causes excessive consumption of energy and other resources.

If the reaction to stress is prolonged, the immune system is suppressed due to diversion of energy. Pathogens may then flourish in this environment and cause disease. This occurs even with the mild situations that cause minimal but persistent stress (Kudielka & Wüst, 2010).

Conclusion

From the above analysis, one can conclude that stress is a complex concept with varying definitions that depend on individual perception. However, it is evident that stress must always be there to prompt reaction to situations that must be attended to.

In addition, stress can be either beneficial or harmful. Motivation and innovation are constructive aspects of reaction to stress. On the other hand, stress is capable of causing disorders and diseases to humans if it persists.

When an individual is exposed to stress causing factors for a long time, the stress may become permanent. This may also occur if the stress-causing factor is of a significantly high magnitude such that it leaves an impression in the cognitive memory of the individual.

Other situations cause stress that an individual may not have the capability to cope with. In these situations, one is not able to solve the causative problem or ignore it. Consequently, stress increases and persists culminating in chronic depression.

Such stress may cause cardiovascular disease, mental disorder, and affect the general health of an individual negatively (Blackburn & Munro, 2001).

Another deduction is that reaction to stress is almost similar if all other factors are constant. This can only happen in ideal situations. Such situations are difficult to simulate, but scientists try to create their approximations for the purpose of experimentation.

On the issue of coping with stress, the problem solving approach is more constructive since the stressor may finally be eliminated.

On the other hand, in the second approach the stressor is ignored and is no longer perceived as a threat. Thus, the problem might continue to cause damage. However, this approach is suitable for countering stressors that are not harmful when they are ignored.

References

Blackburn, G., & Munro, R. (2001). Chronic Pain, Chronic Stress and Depression: Coincidence or Consequence?. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 13(12), 1009-1023.

Fleshner, M., Maier, S., & Lyons, D. (2011). The neurobiology of the stress-resistant brain.. Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 14(5), 498-502.

Goldstein, D., & Kopin, I. (2007). Evolution of concepts of stress.. Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 10(2), 109-120.

Kudielka, B., & Wüst, S. (2010). Human models in acute and chronic stress: Assessing determinants of individual hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis activity and reactivity. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 13(1), 1-14.

Valentino, R., & Bockstaele, E. V. (2008). Convergent regulation of locus coeruleus activity as an adaptive response to stress. European Journal of Pharmacology, 583(2- 3), 194-203.

Myers (2009) outlines different perspectives used by psychologists to explain the motivation concept which include: drive reduction theory, arousal theory and hierarchy of needs by Maslow. Maslow’s theory stands out because it explains motivation in a broader perspective. For example, it is only when one’s hunger is satisfied that the issue of the family the person comes from becomes of concern. The homeless are more concerned about where their next meal will come from than the need to belong. Myers (2009) classifies emotions into embodied, expressed and experienced emotions. Stress is defined as “a process of appraising and responding to a threatening or challenging event” (Myers, 2009, p. 238). Stress stands out especially in end of semester exams when many students express tension and anxiety. Myers (2009) asserts that stress has a suppressing effect on the functioning of the immune system through behaviors which worsen conditions such as heart diseases, cancer and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. He notes that the engagement of skills in activities boosts the well-being, self esteem and competence while satisfaction of employees encourages creativity, the desire to help, persistence and positive attitudes. Myers (2009) thus recommends that strengths of employees are harnessed and matched to work.

Motivation is defined as “the desire to perform a behavior due to the promise of a reward or threat of punishment, or just for its own sake” (Myers, 2009, p. 235). The main perspectives on motivation are the drive reduction theory, arousal theory and hierarchy of needs (Wentzel & Wigfield, 2009). Drive reduction theory suggests that unsatisfied needs cause a drive to reduce the need which depends on incentives. Arousal theory is of the perspective that the unmet needs cause an aroused feeling. This feeling is manifested through tension and physical energy. The hierarchy of needs theory suggests that there are different needs in a hierarchical order. The lower needs include hunger and thirst. The order increases to the need to belong, safety needs, self esteem and self actualization (Waitley, 1993). This theory applies best to me since the needs it addresses are broad and applicable in many situations. For example, before we had a home of our own, I was only concerned with food and how to get something to eat. Our relocation to a new home caused me to focus on forming new friends at school and in the neighborhood.

I have witnessed and heard of people dying of a broken heart. Normally, when one faces rejection, divorce, widowhood, and broken relationships the need to belong is not satisfied hence stress sets in. Once stress is not dealt with, the person engages in unhealthy behavior such as drinking and poor nutrition which adversely affect the health of the person even to death. Stress in this case may also lead many to commit suicide.

GoodHealth (2007) suggests that forming a network of friends is a way of reducing stress. It suggests ways of networking such as; volunteering, commitment to spiritual affiliations such as churches, maintaining contacts with friends, joining organizations of common interest or opening up to someone trustworthy. Archer (2010) suggests that non verbal communication plays an important role in communication. This kind of communication examines how words are said. These forms include; facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, personal space, touch and the voice characteristics.

Reference List

1. Archer, D. (2010).Non Verbal Communication. Web.
2. GoodHealth. (2007). Social Network may help reduce stress.
3. Myers, D. (2009). Psychology in everyday life. New York: Worth Publishers.
4. Waitley, D. (1993). Psychology of motivation. New York: Nightingale-Conant.
5. Wentzel, K., & Wigfield, A. (2009). Handbook of motivation at school. New York: Routledge.

Introduction

Individual dynamism is a critical phenomenon within an organization. It is crucial to adjust appropriately to the challenging situations that might engulf an organization. This is advisable to ensure that the attitude, approach, and performance of individuals remain apposite and competitive within the organization.

Precisely, the matter considers the aspects of resilience at an individual’s level. Nonetheless, the fact is also necessary and applicable at a group or organizational level. Individuals, factions, and corporations should be resilient enough in order to cope with the challenging macro-environmental situations (Miner, 2007).

This research explores resilience at an individual level in order to understand how various people will react to differing conditions and how easy they can cope with the challenging situations at workplace and generally in life. The research considers the aspects of organizational behaviour, which studies individualized characters of people and their effects within organizations.

The study would help organizations identify and deal with any gaps which may instil unproductiveness within their workforce hence improving normal operation practices. It would at the same time assist in the development and maintenance of strategies dealing with stress at workplace (Light, 2005).

Evidently, an individual requires aspects of self-understanding in order to formulate how they can adjust to the changing environments with precision, appropriateness, and the desired relevancy. This will help in self-actualization, satisfaction, and creativity to avoid the looming life challenges that might affect an individual, group, or an organization with stringent adversities in the realms of performance.

As proved by the study, individuals react differently to varied situations, thus indicating the differing levels of resilience witnessed among individuals (Phillips & Gully, 2012). These critical variables are considerable at individual levels and effectual at organizational scales. The success of an individual depends on how flexible he or she is to varying situations.

Another importance of this study is evident since it indicates how people are able to overcome obstacles and challenging situations, which in turn influence the aspects of performance, job satisfaction, and well being. These aspects are applicable at individual levels, which is the main concern of this research, as indicated earlier.

Concurrently, the information from this study can help an organization in understanding its employees better hence knowing and prospecting how employees react to any challenging macro-environmental situation (Light, 2005). This happens for the good of the concerned organization.

Firms can use such information to educate their employees further, train them on various aspects, and prepare them for the overall organizational resilience. Notably, the success of an organization depends on the resiliency of its employees.

Theoretically, self-resilience relates perfectly with the aspects of hope, adaptive humour, stress, and other characters determined at an individual’s level. It is evident that the flexibility of an individual to differing situations will determine how he or she will adjust to certain situations (Hopper, 2010).

This will consequently determine whether the concerned person will be stressed or not. Stressing situations are challenging and require the victims to develop appropriate measures that will help in alleviating such conditions.

Precisely, self-resilience to a varying situation can prevent the aspects of stress and other related atrocities. An individual’s ability to adjust to a particular situation is dependent on their flexibility (Abel, 2002, 365-381). Activation theory describes humour as a dependable tool which could be used in stress situations to produce positive mood and at the same time could be used in reducing negative perceptions (Svebak and Martin, 1997).

From the past studies, people have always reacted differently to different situations indicating the variability desired in this research. This has been a subject of how resilient and receptive one is to varying situations.

It is hypothetical from the executed study that people have varied mechanisms to help them cope with different situations, as indicated earlier. Some people use coping humour to adjust their resilience and adapt to the concerned situations (Hiriyappa, 2009). This indicates a positive correlation amid the mentioned variables.

The ability to adjust to various situations is important at an individual level; however, the revealed provisions are subjective to the previously mentioned flexibility. This is a subject of study and demands appropriate respondents to elucidate the matter (Beer et al., 2009).

Hypothetically, it is arguable that people who easily cope up with challenging situations have shown varied tactics while their performances have never been affected remarkably. This indicates the aspects of resiliency, which require investigations to know whether it contributes to the well-being of individual employees even when the situation is awry.

According to Miner 2007, resilience is critical for survival since an individual’s success depends on their flexibility in various situations. Zeller et al. 2011, advances the issue on a theoretical and empirical study on individual and organizations hence revealing several emerging areas of interest in the academic and practical fields.

From these findings, it is possible to formulate a hypothesis thus; Hypothesis 1: That there is a massive correlation between well-being, performance, job satisfaction, and organizational progress to the resilience of individual worker/employees with regard to different environmental situations.

Transactional stress theory asserts that the amount of stress experienced is at times directly proportional to the cause of stress or rather stressor (Seligman, 2011, pp 100-106).

However, individuals react differently to varied situations, thus indicating the differing levels of resilience witnessed with respect to gender, leading to formulation of the second hypothesis. Hypothesis 2: Males are more likely to respond to stressful situations with humour than their female counterparts.

Ability to scrutinize, understand, and adjust to varying environmental situations is the core of this research. According to the methodology applied, people or respondents have demonstrated varied implications in their endeavours, a fact that is subjective to the resiliency of an individual (Griffin & Moorehead, 2012).

This study is helpful in understanding various individuals and the disparities that occur amidst people. Additionally, it will be able to unveil the remedial approaches that most people assume in order to cope with the demanding and challenging situations within an organization.

Method

The available data for the Research Report came from 182 participants who were studying Organisational Behaviour from both the Campbell town and Paramatta campuses of the University of Western Sydney. There were 86 males (47.3%) and 96 females (52.7%).

Material

The dimensions used in the questionnaire were adapted from the following scales: the Global Measure of Perceived Stress, the Coping Humour Scale from the Multidimensional Sense of Humour scale, State Hope Scale and Brief Resilience Scale. Students were asked to respond to a four-part questionnaire.

The first part was about past feelings and thoughts for the Global Measure of Perceived Stress with a five-point Likert scale represented by 1=Never and 5= Very often. There were 14 items to give a total score.

The second part was based on the coping Humour Scale from the Multidimensional Sense of Humour Scale with a five-point Likert Scale represented as 1=Not at all true and 5= Completely true. There were 5 items to give a total score.

The third part was based on the State Hope Scale and was a question about how individuals felt about themselves at the moment of experiment with an eight-point Likert scale represented as 1= Definitely False and 8= Definitely True. There were 6 items to give a total score.

The fourth and final section was a question of how respondents responded to stressful situations in the course of the year or how they would have if they had not experienced any stressful situations so far. It was based on the Brief Resilience Scale with a five-point Likert Scale represented as 1=Not at all true and 5= True all time. There were 10 items to give a total score.

Procedure

Participation was voluntary and the students tallied their own scores and tabulated their results in the provided spreadsheet. The purpose was explained before the students began. However, it would be good to have enough data to enable a more informed study.

Results

The results were recorded and tabulated as indicated in table 1 and 2 below.

Table 1; Descriptive statistics and t-tests on individual responses to stress, humour, hope and resilience

First hypothesis indicating that there is a massive correlation between well-being, performance, job satisfaction, and organisational progress to the resilience of individuals with regard to different environmental situations is well supported. This shows that an individual’s environment plays an important role it their levels of productivity. This is because resilience and stress are negatively correlated (Zellars et al., 2011).

Hence, workers working under less or no stressing circumstances are generally more productive. The second hypothesis is also supported through the correlation between variables indicating that men are more likely to respond with humour. This is indicated by the standard deviation for humour and resilience, which is higher for male compared to female.

Close examination reveals that females scored higher than males on stress. This shows that females are more susceptible to stress than their male counterparts. The standard deviation was highest for females in hope and stress while in men it was highest in humour and resilience. This reveals that females hold a significantly higher chance of being stressed out while men are more likely to use humour to handle stressful situations.

In table 2 there was a significant positive correlation between resilience and coping humour (.32, p<.001), indicating that where resilience was higher, more people responded to stressful situations with humour.

There was a significant positive correlation between resilience and hope, indicating that the more hopeful someone is the more resilient they are. There was negative correlation between resilience (-.34, p>.01) and stress indicating that the more stressed someone is the less resilient they become.

Discussion

The second hypothesis was not sufficiently supported. The correlation between the variables revealed that men respond with humour more and could be one of the reasons why they have less stress levels than the females. However, in most situations, females are found to be more hopeful while men are more resilient.

This supports widely accepted view that men have higher abilities to cope with adversity compared to females. The finding supports the assumption on the role of humour and hope in the process of dealing with stress.

For hypothesis 1, there was a significant correlation between well-being, performance, job satisfaction, organisational progress and the resilience of individuals. This reveals that individual resilience is one of the crucial factors which could be used in determining one’s progress and performance level within organizations.

The results at the same time revealed that there is a negative correlation between resilience and stress. This means that the more resilient somebody is, the less stressed he/she becomes hence high level of productivity realised (Seligman, 2011, pp 100-106).

There was also significant positive correlation between resilience and level of hope amongst individuals meaning that hope thrives best where there is sense of motivation based on interactive environment.

Theory confirms that individuals with positive and quick response to humour have the capability of paying less attention to potential stress events hence making them have less negative outcomes from any stressful situation. This provides support to the second hypothesis, since individuals with high sense of humour have less mood disturbance.

Despite these, some studies do not reflect general findings in this study, especially on the ground that there is little evidence in support of the generally supported view that humour diminishes effects of stress on physical health (Abel, 2002, 365-381).

Results indicated no significant differences between males and females on the measures used, hence revealing that the level of manipulation effect was weak and not as formidable as expected.

One limitation was that the research did not involve the use of control group participants which could have been used to elaborate on the fact that individuals can at times respond to their environment based on their habits or personal needs.

Conclusion

The study found that there was a significant positive correlation between resilience and coping humour, indicating that the more people used humour as a coping mechanism, the higher their resilience. There was a significant positive correlation between resilience and hope and there was negative correlation between resilience and stress.

Reference List

Abel, M. H 2002, Humour, Stress, and coping strategies, Humour, vol15 no. 4, pp 365-381

Griffin, R. & Moorehead, G 2012, Organizational behaviour: managing people and organizations, Cengage Learning, Ohio,

Hiriyappa, B 2009, Organizational behaviour, New Age International Publishers, New Delhi

Hopper, E 2010, Trauma and Organizations, Karnac Books, New York

Light, P 2005, The four pillars of high performance: how robust organizations achieve extraordinary results, McGraw Hill, New York,

Miner, J 2007, From theory to practice, Armonk, New York

Seligman, M. E. P 2011, Building resilience, Harvard Business Review, vol 89 no. 4, pp 100-106

Svebak, S. & Martin, R. A 1997, Humour as a form of coping. In Svebak, S. and Apter,

M. J. (Eds.) Stress and Health: A Reversal Theory Perspective (pp. 173-184), Taylor & Francis publishers

Zellars, K. L., Justice, L. & Beck, T. E 2011, Resilience: new paths for building and Sustaining individual and organizational capacity, Research in occupational stress and well being, vol 9, pp 1-37

Introduction

Stress is a common reaction of the brain, body, and soul. Everybody gets stressed when trying to overcome the daily challenges of life events. Trauma makes an individual dependent and vulnerable. It is advisable to remind oneself to have potentials and enduring skills that can enable the victim to go through challenging times. Recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a continuous, day-to-day, ongoing process and it does not take place through immediate imminent or cure.

Healing does not implicate that a survivor will fail to remember the war incidents or emotional hurt when recalling the unpleasant events, but by overcoming the sense of self helplessness it is possible to live with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This essay will focus on some ways that can be applied to help an individual reduce nervousness and minimize other upsetting reactions (Catherall, 1992).

Trauma results

Trauma can result in unyielding stress, which can become uncontrollable despite the efforts of high-quality stress management. Traumatic events result in relentless tension reaction that becomes critical to manage (Caudill, 2008). Trauma includes an exceptional nature of the outward and emotional shock that shoots up the flight-flight stress reaction that is, feeling irritated or frightened into hyper-stress that is, feeling horrified, astonished, and disgusted.

Trauma can be a result of disasters, accidents, sexual harassment, physical abuse, illness among other factors. Trauma is most cases leaves a mark of shock, panic, and defenselessness of the body and brain (Cochran, 2004).

If you realize that a person has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, it is advisable to get assistance immediately. If a person becomes less in seeking treatment, they should realize that the posttraumatic stress is not a symptom of being weak and therefore should face up to what had taken place to them and take it as just an experience that requires being outlived.

It is normal for any human being to try to escape painful memories, but if a person tries to ignore the reality of the situation, the disorder will only get worse. To overcome the stress it is vital to seek guidance, counseling, and support from experienced human resources or doctors.

Steps in managing stress

The foremost step in managing stress is realizing the signs and symptoms of posttraumatic anxiety (Goulston, 2007). Trauma is so disgusting that it leaves memories that cannot be forgotten or remembered at all. Those memories that are not forgotten keep recurring and they become unpleasant feelings or nightmares.­­­­­­

At times one may feel like it is hard to stop reliving the incidents and in some other cases, it becomes too much for the brain to accommodate and the brain takes a rest. For a significant number of people, posttraumatic stress responses may occur for several days and weeks after an attack. With proper stress management, these feelings reduce with time.

The other important step is to recognize the methods of dealing with traumatic anxiety that is normal, this is because they normally lengthen and deteriorate the common posttraumatic anxiety reactions (Levine, 2008). This can be achieved by making efforts to keep away from the people and also the places that act as a reminder of the events. The person should make all the possible efforts to keep off bad memories or people who may trigger their brains to recall past unpleasant events.

People who suffer from the traumatic disorder frequently re-live the incidents through thought and recalling the events. For this reason, they should as much as possible keep off situations that are likely to make them recall the bad incidents (Herman, 1997).

The third crucial step is to try and get assistance from the people who are undergoing the same traumatic anxiety. Though the trauma of the sad memories may not erode completely, the resulting anxiety can be managed effectively. In advanced cases, the victim may be exposed to therapy; this helps the person re-experience torturing trauma-related incidents.

The therapy enhances the rehabilitation of the victims. These programs involve possible confrontation together with the upsetting memories and the actual- life exposure to the incidents reminders (Matsakis, 1994).

Challenges in working with victims

There are countless challenges are experienced while working with victims who present have a history of posttraumatic trauma. The path to a resurgence from trauma at times is a very lengthy and complex way to travel. The intention of psychiatric help with patients time and again is contradictory with the common purpose of therapy which frequently is to be of assistance to the affected person, to be frank.

It is also essential that we make certain that a victim can revolve hurtful recollections off at willpower. This is habitually a precondition to the commencement of any extra ordeal work. A patient should feel in power to handle traumatic matters before opening up (Rosenbloom, 1999).

Educating the victims on the manner to view things normally or in quintessence halt and deal with these indications is the answer to thriving cure and healing. It is fundamental to establish an atmosphere of security to avert more distress. In performing a survivor job one has got to move carefully and feel in no doubt that the victim has learned skills to have at will the pour of their faced shock memories. This permits the person to build up the guts to face the challenging event of their history (Schiraldi, 2002).

The moment they feel guaranteed that they can manage to bring to a standstill the gush of misery at any given time; then they can have the courage to dig deeper. Coming up with shock brakes, makes it likely for victims to have power above their upsetting memories, instead of feeling restricted by them. Security and repression are the main aims in this case.

Assisting the victim develops the apparatus required to apply a halt, which is the foremost step to real healing. A shock survivor’s essential requirement is to feel secure from hazards. Using the brakes in psychoanalysis helps to maintain provocation low and causes the objectives of attaining protection in therapy achievable (Shapiro, 2004).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be summarized that every person responds to traumatic incidents in different ways. Every person is exceptional in his or her capability to control fear and anxiety, and also to tolerate the threats that are posed by a scaring incident that has resulted in the disturbance. In that case, not all people who undergo stress or witnesses it may undergo posttraumatic anxiety. The people who are suffering from posttraumatic stress should be guided and helped out of it. This can be achieved by taking them for counseling sessions, accepting them, and not making them accept their suffering as an experience that can be easily managed (Schneider, 2004).

References

1. Catherall, D. (1992) A Family Guide To Overcoming Traumatic Stress. Virginia. Bantam Books.
2. Caudill, M. (2008). Managing pain before it manages you. New York, N.Y: The Guilford Press.
3. Cochran, R. (2004). Understanding Chronic Pain. Marion County. Hillsboro Press.
4. Fishman, S. (2001). The war on pain. New York, N.Y: Harper Paperbacks.
5. Goulston, M. (2007). Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. New York, N.Y: For Dummies.
6. Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror. London. Basic Books.
7. Levine, P, A. (2008). Healing Trauma. New York, N.Y: Sounds True.
8. Matsakis, A. (1994). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. New York, N.Y: New Harbinger Publications.
9. Rosenbloom, D. (1999). Life after Trauma. New York, N.Y: The Guilford Press.
10. Schiraldi, G. (2002). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook. New York, N.Y: McGraw Hill Text.
11. Schneider, J. (2004). The complete heal health guide. New York, N.Y: Hatherleigh Press.
12. Shapiro, F. (2004). Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety. Boston. Basic Books.

According to Dallman and Hellhammer (2011), networks of stress are attributable to anxiety, worry and negative feelings which weaken immune systems of individuals. Hormones, neurotransmitters, and peptides which are crucial for the proper functioning of the immune system are released through a physiological stress response system (Dhabhar, 2011).

Individuals whose stress levels are higher than those of other people are believed to engage in risky habits which lead to psychological and physical problems (Childs, O’Connor, 2012). The human body can detect stressors based on how sympathy-adrenomedullary (SAM) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis interpret, integrate and organize materials.

The hypothalamus controls stress, thirst, sleep, appetite and regulates temperature (Vedhara & Irwin, 2005). As a result, the communicative role played by the endocrine system in the whole body cannot be underestimated.

Women who experience nervousness when they think of attending a high school reunion after 20 years suffer from acute stress. Chronic stress can be explained by a single parent who does not have adequate financial resources but has to ensure that her children do not starve. A military officer who gets deployed in a country like Afghanistan and realizes that his wife wants to leave him for another man suffers from distant stress.

Stress is a process that starts when an individual has external or internal demands that are beyond his/her ability to adapt or adjust. This causes psychological and biological stress responses to be revoked until such a time when instability associated with the demands is suppressed or until sickness or death does away with the individual.

There is a close relationship between perceptions of stressors and Lazarus’ Process Model of coping. This is because Lazarus and his friends were able to find out how appraising an event, issue or a circumstance that happens to an individual correlates to the response given (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). The primary appraisal shows the perception of an event or issue by an individual as good, irrelevant or stressful.

In cases where appraisal shows threat, possible responses determined by the ability of an individual to tolerate the threat are achieved through a secondary appraisal. (Goh et al., 2010; Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). The well-being of individuals is determined by how they appraise and manage stress. For example, a study of a young person who is battling with obesity can show how the person manages stress.

Studies conducted have indicated that the immunity of students is depressed as they sit for exams. Chronic mild depression among elderly or sick people lowers their resistance to diseases. Also, loneliness and being socially isolated are factors that affect the immune system of college students (APA, 2006).

After I was through with Rahe and Holmes self-evaluation (Wilson, 2006), I was amazed to discover that some of the things that drew my attention were deemed to be stressful. They include failure to spare time for fun and certain changes that have been part of my life since I joined the school.

I have a feeling that the fact that I have not been to a concert for five months has been causing me stress. Also, I anticipated numerous challenges as I joined college. I was nevertheless prepared for them. Rahe and Holmes self-evaluation has enabled me to appreciate my resilience and has increased my interest to examine the coping skills I possess to make them stronger.

Stress is part of everyone in our day-to-day lives. It is normal for anyone to go through a stressing moment occasionally, but excessive stress is worse, as it interferes with our work productivity, and affects our physical and psychological health. For the working people, their main sources of stress are the challenges in their working places, and from their social lives and families (Lynda 102).

Young people go through stress because of the workload at school and from their peers, as well as their family members. Luckily, there are several solutions on how one can manage and reduce the level of stress at the working place. If everyone can manage his or her stress successfully, the chances of passing its effects to other people are reduced, but if left to overcome one, its effects can be passed to everyone in the workplace.

To begin with, taking responsibility for one’s duties can help one to improve his physical and psychological welfare. The people, who are irresponsible in their working places, undergo extra stressing moments as they feel like failures and liable to blame due to their acts. Through learning better ways of communication in the working place will improve the relationship of the person with his fellow employees and with the management.

In case of anything, he or she is unable to handle or may require some assistance; such a person would be in a position to pass his worries to the others and find a solution (Chappell and Martino 96). Some people in the working place suffer just because they do not know how to communicate their struggles to the management or the relevant people.

Moreover, taking care of oneself may help a great deal to reduce levels of stress. For instance, if there are some causes of stress at the working place, it is advisable for one to take some actions and manage his or her personal life (Furnham 113). One is supposed to start with the most sensitive aspects such as physical and psychological health.

When one’s health is good, and other physical needs are available, one feels strong and more positive to face life. One feels better and fully equipped to handle all sorts of challenges without letting anything to overcome his or her strengths. One should not use large amounts of money to take care of his personal life, but small things can also lift ones well being like dressing smartly and comfortably.

Lifting one’s mood should be a process of one step at a time. When one is facing some form of stress at the working place, he or she should get set in a moving mood through being engaged in aerobic exercises. Through those perspiring exercises, one increases body energy as well as making the mind and the body to relax. These exercises can be tried everyday or in several days per week depending on the level of stress.

As one gets the mind busy in exercise, he or she should come up with food choices that would enable him to maintain the energy and as well feel good (Furnham 501). People with stress are advised to take small energetic foods in frequent moods throughout the day, to maintain a good level of sugar in the body. During the stressing moments, the body uses much energy hence lowering the blood sugars.

If one is an alcoholic, he or she should take alcohol in moderation and at the same time avoid nicotine. On a temporary basis, alcohol can help to reduce fears and worries, but too much of it can increase the level of anxiety. This is a way of reducing stress but should be used carefully, as it may lead to alcohol abuse and psychological dependence.

Although stress makes one to lack sleep, one should also enjoy enough sleep, to have the ability to handle the stressing issues. One of the most important factors of one to cope with the working stress is having enough rest while at home. Other known ways of reducing stress at workplaces are through prioritizing and organizing responsibilities.

The fact that one is undergoing some form of stress does not mean that he or she will not perform the required duties. The best way of approaching the responsibilities during this stressing moment is by creating a balanced schedule for all the daily tasks (Stranks 74). It is good for one to balance office work and family responsibilities. As one tries to satisfy both sides of work, some in between breaks should do well to such a person.

As he or she relaxes from the daily tasks, this person gets a good time to reflect on other issues that bring stress to his life and how to solve them. If one is in such a condition, he or she should not put too many commitments at a limited time. In case there are so many tasks to be gone through in a single day, such a person is supposed to define the things that must be done, and the things that should be (Furnham 621).

The list of duties should start with those that are necessary, and those that are less important should not be done or be done later. Avoiding lateness especially in the morning can greatly help the situation. A stressed person at the workplace should leave the house earlier and arrive in the office like 10-20 minutes earlier. This will avoid much rushing in the office that can add more stress.

This allowance of time would allow this person to ease and set ready for daily tasks. As one attends the daily tasks, there is also a need to plan for regular breaks throughout the day. Taking short breaks where such a person can sit back and clear the mind, during the lunch break this person should leave that desk and take a short walk to break the monotony of sitting in that desk.

Sitting in that desk for long may add more thoughts of the stressing issues as their cause are that same office. By taking these short breaks away from the office, will make this person relax, and improve the working productivity. By managing the daily tasks well, one can successfully reduce the level of stress.

At times, a stressed person may have a big project ahead, and the stressing moment does not qualify her or him to fail or escape from completing the project. Such a person should make a plan of small steps. The focus of this person should be to manage these small steps one at a time instead of the entire project (Melanie 85).

Taking the whole project at the same time may lead to a status of making things worse, because at one point or the other this person may fail to accomplish the goals. Sometimes, the workload may be too much for this person to bear. During this stressing moment, one can delegate some of the responsibilities for some other people to take care of some steps.

The desire of being the overall boss should not be applicable in such times, through delegating some responsibilities; one would be escaping from some unnecessary stress. Another simple and best way of helping one to reduce the level of stress at the working place is by improving emotional intelligence (Furnham 212). This is whereby a person can manage and control his or her emotions in a friendly and positive manner.

One can use intelligent ways to approach others and draw them nearer to overcome the differences and treat the wounded areas. If the stress is coming from the boss or the fellow employees, one can intelligently approach the relevant person and solve everything amicably. There is nobody born with emotional intelligence, its something that can be learned by anybody.

For one to succeed in solving stressing issues through emotional intelligence is when one develops self-awareness whereby he or she can recognize the emotions and their immediate impacts before he or she makes any decisions. Through doing self-management such as trying all the best to control the emotions and getting used to various changes.

One can also benefit through influencing and connecting with others in such a way that it will be easier to solve conflicts. Stress should be managed, as it is part of our normal lives. The impact of excessive stress is unbearable as they can result in some serious cases like feeling depressed, and lack of interest in working. Due to stress, some people have developed some problems in concentrating on whatever duty they may be assigned whether in

Work or in social lives. Workplace stress impacts also affect other family members, and friends of the victim when some health problems develop like muscle tensions and serious headaches (Melanie 47). Stress has forced people to become antisocial in their social lives, and some decide to turn to alcohol and drugs as a way of solving their problems.

Most people who face stress in their workplaces have problems of underperforming as they perform their duties with fear and unsettled mind.In conclusion, every problem has a way of solving it. The problems and differences that cause stress in working place should be solved in advance before they cause stress to anybody in an organization.

The organization management team should have a way of handling various issues that are likely to cause some sort of stress. The employees as well should be quick and ready to report such severe cases that may later disturb their peace (Furnham 89).

For the unavoidable circumstances, any organization should establish the guiding and counseling team where the stressed workers should get help before their status goes to the extreme. It is the responsibilities of everyone in the organization starting from the management to the employees to help each other in avoiding and managing stress.

Works Cited

Chappell, Duncan and Martino Vittorio. Violence at work. Oklahoma: International Labour Organization, 2006. Web.29 April 2011.

Furnham, Adrian. The psychology of behavior at work: The individual in the organization. London: Psychology Press, 2005. Web.29 April 2011.

Lynda, Macdonald. Wellness at work: Protecting and promoting employee health and wellbeing. New York: CIPD publishing, 2005. Web.29 April 2011.

Melanie, King. Surving Stress at Work: Understand it, Overcome it. New York: Trafford Publishing, 2006. Web.29 April 2011.

Stranks, Jeremy. Stress at work: Management and Prevention. New York: Butterworth Heinemann, 2005. Web.29 April 2011.

Stress is a condition that makes one to have an unappealing emotional feeling. This condition can be brought about by several factors. One may for instance experience time pressure as a result of failure to meet deadlines in the workplace, lack of sleep due to a nagging issue that one is supposed to do or even long working hours without time to rest (Selye, 1956). However a little stress is said to be healthy in the medical field and it is all the same difficult for one to stay totally stress free. Each person has one or two things that nag him or her in life.

Researchers like Janis and Mann (1977) argues that stress has adverse effects. For example, it can affect the operations of a group if the members of that group tend to make decisions wholesomely regardless whether the decisions are good or bad. The individual members cannot make their own decisions but rely on the decision of others thus rendering the group as non-functional. This thus shows that stress can distort a person’s performance if not well managed.

Though stress is part of our lives we cannot assume the important role played by humor. It is not amazing to see a stressed person may be due to his or her hard life, peer pressures, pressure from the immediate family members and even a non-controllable situation creating a sense of humour. This sense of humor helps one to get relieved from his or her pressing situation and forget momentarily about his or her problems. That is why Healy and McKay (2000) suggests that people should put more value on humor as it can prevent them from suffering from severe effects of stress.

It is not a wonder that so many people nowadays are getting diseases like high blood pressure. This is not even enough as young youths in their early twenty’s are diagnosed with such disease. This is as a result of the hard life and poor economies that render them jobless. In return the level of stress has increased leaving these youths unproductive and stranded on what to do with their lives.

It is at this juncture that scholars like Burchiel and King (1999) argues that in life, most of the things we go through are beyond our control and power. However, this does not mean that we should torture ourselves wondering what to do. Rather, we should change our perspectives about these events. We should take these situations positively, in away that suits our purpose and more so in a humorous way which in return would help us to reduce the tension that is within us and not to say, the emotional breakdown that we may have experienced (Kurtz, 1999).

To sum up this discussion about stress and stress management, it is important to put in place the strategies that would reduce stress in our workplace, homes, institutions and the society as a whole. In this regard Sutherland and Cooper (2000) suggest that individuals should always try to be confident and focused in what they do. This helps in avoiding the disappointment which result from their life failures that renders them being stressed due to the denial that they receive from their colleagues and refusal to accept their mistakes and situations as they are. It is always important to accept that we are human beings and that no one is perfect, anyone can make a mistake and we learn through our mistakes. It is good to understand one’s weak areas so that one can concentrate on strengthening them (Holmes, 2000).

References

Burchiel, R. & King, C. (1999). Incorporating fun into the business of serious work: The use of humor in group process Seminars. Preoperative Nursing, 8 (2), pp. 60-70.

Healy, C. & McKay, M. (2000). Nursing stress: The effects of coping strategies and job satisfaction in a sample of Australian nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31 (3), pp. 681-688.

Holmes, S. (2001). Work related stress: A brief review. The Journal of the Royal Society of Health, 121 (4), pp. 230-235.

Janis, I. L. & Mann, L. (1977). Decision Making. New York: Free Press.

Kurtz, S. (1999). Humor as a preoperative nursing management tool. Seminars in Preoperative Nursing, 8 (2), pp. 80-84.

Selye, H. (1956).The Stress of Life.New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sutherland, V. & Cooper, C. (1990). Understanding Stress: A psychological Perspective for Health Professionals.London: Chapman.

Introduction

The stress response across multiple scientific disciplines contributes to primary and secondary appraisals of anger, fear, guilt, sadness, and anxiety.

The works of Lazarus and Folman (1979) best capture the transaction definition of stress when they say transaction definitions define the interaction between people and their environments. Usually, stress occurs when people are unable to cope with their environments (Contrada, 2011).

Different types of stress may affect different types of people. For example, depressed and non-depressed people are susceptible to different types of stress, including psychological stress, environmental stressors, and biological stressors.

Most of these stress factors have a significant impact on the mental and physical well-being of their patients. For example, emotional stress has a significant impact on the mental and physical health of those affected.

Environmental Stress

Environmental stress differs from emotional stress because it mainly concerns four issues that relate to post-traumatic stress disorder.

The first issue consists of biological, psychological, and environmental issues that affect post-traumatic stress.

The second issue encompasses the imbalance between demands and the capacity of patients to handle and manage stress.

The third issue consolidates the differing results of the imbalance between demands and capacity to manage stress. The imbalance may result in death or even disease.

The last issue is the process involved in arriving at the above steps (Contrada, 2011).

Stress Perception by Richard Lazarus’s Appraisal

Lazarus (2011) explains that our negative or positive perceptions of stress mainly depend on the ability of our body’s perception of stress factors. This analysis greatly resonates with my perceptions of stress.

For instance, the death of my brother-in-law was stressful for me because I had no prior perception of such a loss. Its effect on me manifested through a strong mental numbness, although I was physically present in such circumstances.

The support that I received from other family members, however, helped to relieve my agony because I felt that they were empathetic to me. Moreover, the thought that my brother-in-law could no longer feel the pain he had been going through was also somewhat comforting.

Holmes and Rahe Self-Evaluation

The basis for the performance of the Holmes and Rahe self-evaluation process is to analyze every stage of stress management, as it affects both depressed and non-depressed people.

For example, Holmes and Rahe’s self-evaluation framework analyzes several psychological factors such as the psychological, environmental, and biological factors that affect a person’s stress level. Some of the common outcomes that arise from such evaluations include depression and anxiety.

To capture the varying levels of stress among different patients, Holmes and Rahe use percentages to explain the different degrees of a person’s stress level.

They normally use normative weights to compare the findings of the evaluation. The test scores provide an indication of a person’s ability to adapt to stressful situations.

The Fight or Flight Response to Stress

Contrada (2011) says proper stress management is important in preventing the detrimental effects of stress. The failure to manage stress properly may lead to several outcomes. However, the two most common outcomes are fighting and fleeing.

Researchers refer to these outcomes as “fight and flight” responses. Therefore, the lack of proper stress management may lead to physical harm (fight response) (Contrada, 2011).

The lack of proper stress management may also lead to the emergence of diseases because stress always suppresses people’s immune systems, thereby predisposing them to diseases. This situation may also lead to long-term immune system disorders.

Perception of Stress May Result in a Fight or Flight Response

Personality has a huge role to play in the way most people perceive stress and manage it. Depending on a person’s personality, one may respond either inappropriately or appropriate to a stressful situation.

Usually, people with “hardened” personalities respond inappropriately to stressful situations. Here, such people may exhibit anti-social behaviors and frustration (Plotnik, 2002).

A person’s perception of life (attitude) also dictates how they manage stress, or if they adopt a fight or flight response (Plotnik, 2002).

For instance, people who exhibit a lot of pessimism often have a negative reaction to the fight or flight responses. Conversely, optimistic people have a positive reaction to stress management.

Stress Reduction Technique

People who have a high predisposition to stress are normally exposed to several health threats and high health costs (Wolever, 2012). Doctors may use different methods to help people who suffer from a high predisposition to stress.

One such method is therapeutic yoga. Another intervention could be mindfulness-based interventions. Doctors may use these techniques to evaluate a patient’s blood pressure, heartbeat rate, breathing rate, and other factors that affect their health and well-being.

Relative to these tests, researchers have used a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to test the efficiency of therapeutic yoga and mindfulness-based interventions. The study involved stressed and non-stressed participants.

The study established that about 40% of sad students exhibited more stress than respondents who were not sad (Li, Wang, Lin, & Lee, 2011). These findings proved to have high efficacy, thereby confirming the reliability of the tests

Differences Between Acute, Chronic, and Distant Stresses

Acute Stress

Acute, chronic, and distant stresses have different effects on people. Some of the effects of acute stress disorders include cardiovascular diseases, depression, anxiety, and neuroticism. Acute stress also increases the vulnerability of patients to mental and physical diseases (Contrada, 2011).

For example, a person who has a type ‘A’ personality has a high likelihood of experiencing fatigue and burnout. Acute stress also manipulates the emotional stability of affected victims, thereby causing abnormal behaviors in them.

Chronic Stress

Five major categories affect a person’s immune system. They include basic emotions, social threat, global mood states, cognitive appraisals, and worry.

Chronic stress usually has a very diverse set of impact as it affects a person’s cognitive appraisal system, social status, and their vulnerability to cardiovascular diseases.

Chronic stress, therefore, has a high likelihood of increasing a person’s psychopathologies and mental illnesses (Contrada, 2011).

This situation may occur through the impairment of lipopolysaccharide binding proteins (LBP) and the hippocampus memory. The impairment may project worse outcomes when the neurodevelopment process is ongoing (Contrada, 2011).

Distant Stress

Distant stress also affects a person’s immune system, except for the fact that its effects are minimal. Like acute stress, distant stress may affect a person’s immune system as it influences a person’s hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands to produce undesirable health outcomes.

The undesirable health outcomes may occur through the initiation of the corticotropin and ceruleus norepinephrine systems (Wiener, 2011).

Relative to the assertion that distant stress may affect a person’s immune system, Segerstrom and Miller (2006) found that distant stress affects the body’s breakdown of cellular and hormonal responses thereby affecting, negatively, the body’s ability to fight pathogens.

Through these findings, the researchers agreed that a person’s ability to manage stress was an important factor in the determination of their ability to fight diseases (Segerstrom and Miller, 2006).

Effects of Types of Stresses on the Immune System

Through the discharge of cortisol, Cont (2011) explains that acute stress may cause serious psychological stress. The discharge of cortisol is often useful in determining a person’s stress level, before and after the occurrence of acute stress.

It is also similarly easy to measure the effects of chronic stress on the immune system because its effects on the cardiovascular system, neuroendocrine system, and the metabolic systems are measurable.

The focus of distant stress on the immune system manifests through its influence on the mental and physical health of the patients (Contrada, 2011).

The effect of distant stress on the immune system stems from its influence on cognitive prototypes. This effect may manifest when patients ignore the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorders, thereby “destroying” their immune systems (Contrada, 2011).

Examples of Particular Risks for Stresses

Different populations are often vulnerable to different types of stress. For example, APA (2013) posits that most people who share type ‘A’ personalities are always susceptible to acute stress.

Such persons may include people who have a high temper, high achievement record, and a strong drive to rush things.

Comparatively, people who are susceptible to chronic stress disorders are often unemployed, financially unsound, and suffering from some form of life diminishing disease, like diabetes.

Lastly, the profile of people who are susceptible to distant stress fit the profile of abused children, war victims, abused mothers and such types of people who have undergone some life-changing event (Segerstrom and Miller, 2006).

Tools for Coping with Stress

There are different types of tools that are useful for coping with stress. These tools normally subdivide into two groups: emotion-focused tools and problem-focused coping mechanisms.

The emotion-focused approach normally forms an outline to identify the negative emotions that cause stress. This tool also doubles as the maladaptive tool, although it differs from the problem-focused approach of treating stress.

Problem-focused treatment methods are normally self-efficient. As the name suggests, the problem-focused approach mainly emphasizes on solving the problems that cause stress in the first place.

The elimination of such problems therefore emerges as the solution for solving stressful situations (Grant, 2012).

Psychologists mainly use the problem-focused strategy to coach students to adapt to specific stressful situations. Its use has applied in different contexts, including some work problems that I had experienced in my previous job.

Many people praise the problem-focused approach because it helps them to plan and set goals that they can use as stress-relieving tools (McLeod, 2010).

However, the main weakness of this approach is its high failure rate when psychologists use it on subjects who have low self-esteem, or when the subjects deny the existence of the problem in the first place.

The subjects may be greatly discouraged when the treatment method is unsuccessful (McLeod, 2010).

Efficacy of a Coping Mechanism to Reduce Stress

The efficacy of a coping mechanism to reduce stress usually depends on the environment of its application. Occasionally, the environment suppresses the efficacy of the coping mechanism.

However, after comparing the efficacy of the emotion-based coping strategy and the problem-based strategy, we can affirm a higher level of efficacy for the emotion-based strategy. The weakness of the problem-based mechanism is its high failure rate in treating high levels of stress.

Two Other Coping Mechanisms in Reducing Stress

Besides the emotion-based method and the problem-based mechanism, biology-based methods may also relieve stress. Another stress-relieving method that has almost similar efficacy levels as the above-mentioned treatment methods are the breathing and mediation strategies.

Nonetheless, when we focus on the biology-based method, we see that participating in physical exercise is one biological way of coping with stress. For example, to relieve the mind and body stress, individuals run, hike, or play tennis.

Biology-focused methods reduce stress because they are helpful in relaxing an individual’s mind and body. Various other coping techniques also relax and manage stress. For example, coping mechanisms for anxiety and panic disorders ease through breathing strategies and mediation.

Stress and Obesity

Scientific researches on the nature of stress disorders have shown the existence of the relationship between biology, psychology, and physiology (Contrada, 2011). Most of these scientific studies have also shown a clear relationship between stress and socioeconomic status.

Some researchers have used these factors to explain the risk of obesity (Contrada, 2011). Therefore, I have decided to analyze and understand the effect of stress and obesity on both genders (men and women). Obesity has taken a toll on the American public.

Recent studies show that about 30% of the American public may be obese (May & Buckman, 2007). Notably, to assess if one is obese, or not, medics have used the body mass index (BMI) measure to ascertain the health of their patients.

Physicians define people who have a body mass index of 30 or below as overweight people, while they classify those that have a BMI of 35 or above as obese (May & Buckman, 2007).

Population That Is Most Susceptible to Obesity

People who hail from the lower classes are usually more susceptible to obesity than any other group in America. This dynamic exists because people who come from low classes normally do not have full access to health resources as wealthy people do.

Moreover, most of these people do not have a proper home and therefore feed on many “junk” foods. This situation worsens through the fact that many single mothers who hail from a lower social class equally feed “junk” foods to their children.

Consequently, from the poor eating habits of this group of people, low-class people are highly susceptible to obesity. However, this analogy does not mean that wealthy people are not obese.

Their improved access to health resources, however, minimizes their vulnerability to obesity. For example, they have good access to grocery shops where they can buy healthy foods. Similarly, they have good access to health fitness equipment and instructors in gyms.

Stress and Coping Differ Between Populations

Since finances seem to be a big problem in America, lower class families are more vulnerable to stress. Indeed, their inability to meet their financial obligation increases their stress levels (Chandola & Marmot, 2011).

Therefore, there is a common tendency for stress to overlap in many aspects of their lives. For example, poor working conditions may be stressful for people who hail from a lower class because they also cause low pay.

Consequently, the financial well-being of a person has an effect on their health because it determines their choice of food and eating habits.

Since there is already a strong link between obesity and low socioeconomic status, it is correct to say that obese people have a higher likelihood of being stressed (Chandola & Marmot, 2011).

Medics may prove this fact because they say stress leads to the production of glucocorticoids, which further causes the production of intra-abdominal fats thereby leading to obesity (Anda et al., 2006).

Relationships Between Stress and Depression

Albeit it is difficult to measure stress mechanically, many researchers understand the etiology of stress (Laureate Education Inc, 2013). These researchers also understand the physiological forces and biochemical processes that explain stress (NIMH, 2012).

For example, a mental image of the impact of stress on a person’s brain manifests through the work of Pinel (2009, p. 231-354) which shows how stress affects the brain. Through the same studies, scientific research equally shows how anxiety and depression disorders affect the brain.

Stress Response That Influences the Development of Depression

Davila and Moyer (2008) say that stress causes severe depression. This process starts with the production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

The production of ACTH causes the production of glucocorticoids, which causes several stress responses including anxiety and depression.

As noted in earlier sections of this paper, the severity of depression depends on personalities and coping strategies. According to APA (2005), these symptoms may manifest through loneliness and social exclusion.

Influence of Depression on the Immune and Inflammatory Response Systems

The causes of stress are many and vary widely. Pinel (2005) says simple normal procedures like working out, sports or even participating in exams may cause significant stress for the people affected. The stress may equally manifest through an increase in blood pressure.

The presence of blood pressure normally engages autonomic nervous systems, which may occur through the increase or decrease in the size of the blood vessels. When such an event occurs, the brain usually releases cytokines, which control the level of blood pressure in the body.

Here, the brain always assumes that the body is under attack and it releases excessive amounts of cytokines to control the blood pressure.

The excessive production of cytokine binds to cellular receptors, which may equally affect the strength of the body’s immune system or the strength of the body in controlling a viral attack.

Such an eventuality may lead to the development of several diseases including rheumatoid arthritis or the occurrence of harmful pathogens in the body.

Comprehensively from this relationship, it is safe to say stress has a strong correlation with the immune system, depression, and inflammatory responses.

Case Study

Susan is a single girl aged 25 years. Since the account of the incidence, almost a month, she lost interest in work and concentration on activities relating to work at her place of work. She likes staying home since; home environment provides her with the comfort and security she needs. She viewed that if she continued to work, the same incident will happen in her life again, even though she believed it was impossible.

Susan does not like watching TV during her free time, but she likes working in her garden and hanging on the internet to pass time alone. Consequently, Susan has been experiencing hardship in sleeping for several weeks, and when she does sleep, she encounters horrible dream, which makes her wake up sweating. Support for Susan has been facilitated by her supportive parents; however, she has secluded herself from her friends making her spend most of her time “in the house”. Consequently, Susan’s mood differs, sometimes she can feel dead inside, feels not hurting her and she does not need much to eat.

Post-traumatic Stress disorder Symptoms, PTSD

People often experience PTSD after a traumatic event that leaves them with fear and helplessness. It affects individuals who personally experience the catastrophe. The traumatic events that hint to post-traumatic stress disorder are compelling and frightening. When person nous of safety and hope are exhausted, it is common for such kind of person to feel detached, traumatized, in other occasions, a person may feel crazy. Moreover, it is also common to experience horrible dreams for a prolonged time after trauma. The abnormal reactions to fear triggering events eventually fade with time depending on the magnitude of the trauma.

Re-experiencing Symptoms

Susan, experiences; horrible dreams, which makes her wake up while sweating, frightening thoughts, and flashbacks. These symptoms deny her sleep besides influencing her daily life. Weaver et al. referred to these kinds of symptoms as re-experiencing, which causes a problem in an individual every-day (2007). The re-examining symptoms cause problems to an individual affecting his or daily life, hence, objects, situations or words act as reminders triggering these symptoms

According to Weaver et al. (2007), in a post- traumatic experience, an individual life tends to return to normal. Hence experiences such as feeling frightened, anxious, sad and detached begin to get stabilized in an individual life. However, with time, the upsets subsides and a person starts to recognize the importance of life. Weaver et al. explores that, in some occasions, the trauma a person experiences can be overwhelming, thus restricting flexibility of a person (2007). Such a person keeps remembering the painful memories that resulted from the event that instilled the fear.

Susan’s experience can be connected to the aforementioned discussion. Since the incident occurred in her life, she did not have interest going to work. Though, she knew that the event is unlikely to recur. Thus, to ensure her comfort was guaranteed, she viewed home as a place where her comfort, security and freedom was achieved.

Hyperarousal Symptoms

According to Newman (2004) if a person undergoes a traumatic experience and is experiencing difficulties adapting to normal or regular life, reconnecting with others and feeling safe again, it might be an indication of post-traumatic stress disorder. Susan’s situation and experience form a basis of what Newman (2004) asserts. Susan shows avoidance behavior. She used to be outgoing but presently, she stays in the house and avoids situations which provide opportunities for interaction with friends. Secondly, Susan has lost interest in her work; she stays at home where the environment for her is comfortable. Hence these activities, which have been linked to Susan traumatic experience hence, are causing her to alter her personal habits.

According to Cason et al. (2001) these symptoms, which are termed as hyperarousal, happens regularly rather than being triggered by instances that remind a person of the traumatic event. Memories of the event alter the moods, behavior and habits of the individual.

References List

Cason, D. R., Resick, P. A., & Weaver, T. L. (2001). Integrating Traumatic Events: Three Views of Schematic Processing. Clinical Psychology Review, (22), 1, pp. 131-153.

Newman, M. (2004). Helping Children Cope with Disasters and Terrorism. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines (45), 1, p. 172.

Weaver, T. L, Turner, P., Thayer, C., Schwarze, N., & Sand, S. (2007). Psychological Meanings of Residual Injuries. Women and Health: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Women’s Health Issues, (45), pp. 85-102.