Category: Stress

Introduction

According to Donatelle (2010), stress is a negative physical and mental response of the body to challenges and changes in life and anyone can be a victim. Stress manifest itself in behavioral, emotional and physical symptoms, and the systems vary among different individuals (Smith, 2002). The common physical systems of stress include muscle tension, fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbances, muscle ache, sleep disturbances and headache (Smith, 2002). Emotional symptoms include mood changes, loss of energy or enthusiasm, changes in eating habits, nervousness, anxiety, overreaction and depression (Smith, 2002).

Behavioral symptoms include excessive use or abuse of drugs, cigarette and alcohol, poor exercises, and poor nutritional choices. Stress is caused by social, psychological or physical factors that cause the body to adjust to specific situations (Donatelle, 2010). These factors are referred to as stressors and management of stress refers to the ability of a person to cope or withstand the conditions or events caused by the stressors. In management of stress, one needs to analyze the causes of the stress, the level of the stress and the effects caused to the body and mind (Donatelle, 2010). This analysis helps in determining the appropriate techniques of stress management to be applied for better results. In this paper, the focus is on the proposal of a stress management technique experimented for two days and give a comparison with the response of other techniques.

Technique in Practice

The technique I applied during the two days was building skills to reduce stress. The technique works by first evaluating the stressors, examining the effects of the stressors to my health and the response, how often I would change the situation and learning how to cope (Donatelle, 2010). The technique gave me an understanding that in life there are stressors that we cannot eliminate. For instance, stress caused by education is inevitable and the right strategy of coping with this kind of stressors is to develop skills to reduce and cope with the stress. With use of this technique, first, I recognized the stressor, evaluated it and tried to alter the events or circumstances through emotional and practice control to reduce the amount of stress that it had on me (Smith, 2002). This helped in physiological preparation that consequently helped in containing and holding the situation.

Among the skills that I developed during this period were speaking about the current situations, having several exercises, creation of relaxation time, enhancing my social health and seeking help from counselors more often (Donatelle, 2010). The psychological preparedness of the technique made it easier for me to cope with the stress due to the already developed skills during the evaluation of the stressor. This made the technique more effective in reducing and coping with stress, as I would always be prepared before the circumstances of the stressors are manifested. The technique having helped in reduction of stress will remain my option in managing my stress. Due to the success of the strategy during the practice, I would recommend people who are victims of stress to use the technique, as it would solve their stress problem as it did for me.

Response to Other Techniques

Similarly, other stress management techniques would have as well worked in managing the stress. Management of social interaction technique suggests that in responding to stress, one should consider the extent and nature of friendship with someone before sharing of intimate feelings and thoughts (Smith, 2002). My response to this technique would have been cultivation of friendship with individuals who have similar values and interests like mine, who are tolerant, good listeners, able to share and give freely, trustworthy, have my best interests at heart, and do not rush to judge (Donatelle, 2010). The people need to have positive attitude, know the right manner to talk to others, behave well, be generous, laugh as well as cry. I would also respond to the stressor through accessing counselors (Donatelle, 2010).

The other technique is taking mental action. The technique suggests that in managing stress, a person should have positive self-esteem that would help them in coping with stressful situations, and responses to the stressors (Donatelle, 2010). The person who is affected is not able to predict the stressor that would follow. Therefore, it is necessary to have knowledge on how to react to the stressors in case they occur. I would respond to this technique through the change of mind, thoughts, ideas and appraisals to the stressors by combating negative self-talks (Donatelle, 2010). This comes by first evaluating my perception towards the stressor and the effects they have on my health after which I would change my negative perceptions to positive perceptions. When responding to this technique, it is advisable for the individual to be optimistic that acceptance results from the ability to cope with situations that are stressful, which requires experience and patience (Smith, 2002).

When responding to the technique of management of emotional response, it is advisable to have an evaluation of my interactions and the way I talk with other people when I encounter situations, which are stressful (Smith, 2002). The difference between my emotions and beliefs should be considered in order to control my emotions or act in a reasonable manner. I should also develop health habits such as learning how to laugh and fighting of anger to counter or overcome the emotions. The other stress management technique is taking positive physical action, which helps to reduce stress all the time. To respond to this technique I would have physical exercises, relaxation, and ensure that I have the right nutrition (Donatelle, 2010). The physical exercises would help in reduction of existing stress hormones and combating stress by raising endorphins levels. The foods that contain all nutrients make the body strong and free from health problems, which helps an individual to be free from stress.

Strategies Ranking

In my ranking, I would rank building skills to reduce stress as the most effective technique, followed by taking mental action, managing emotional response, managing social interaction and finally taking positive physical actions. In managing stress, the first action is on evaluation of the stressors and their effects on health. In my ranking, rank gives weight depending on the level of stressor evaluation, the response of the strategy to adoption of skills and exposure of the mind to the stressful situations. The rank thus puts into consideration the ability of the strategy in handling the stressful situation.

Conclusion

In stress management, the first initiative is to evaluate the stressor and the effects on the health. This gives an understanding that leads to the best choice of the technique to use.

References

Donatelle, R. (2010). Access to health (green Ed.). San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings/Pearson.

Smith, J. (2002). Stress management: A comprehensive handbook of techniques and Strategies. New York: Springer Publishers.

Best known for his ground breaking work on systematic desensitization and assertiveness training, Joseph Wolpe became one of the foremost theorists on Behaviorism whose tenets are grounded on the basis of observable behavior rather than focusing on the inner mental state as ascribed to by the psychoanalytic theory of Freud (Joseph Wolpe, 1). Wolpe was born on April 20, 1915 in Johannesburg, South Africa; historical records show that he lived a rather uneventful life leading up to the attainment of his doctorate degree in Psychology from the University of Witwatersrand (Joseph Wolpe, 1).

It was when World War 2 started that Wolpe would be exposed to the necessary conditions that would become the basis for his theories in the future. Working as a medical officer in the psychiatric ward of a military hospital he was responsible for treating patients suffering from a form of “war neurosis” (Rosner, 183). This particular malady was characterized by high levels of anxiety, constant flashbacks, nightmares, problems falling asleep as well as sudden outbursts of anger combined with a form of hyper vigilance bordering on paranoia. It is now known that what the patients were truly suffering from at the time was PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Initial efforts using traditional means of curing the patients using various forms of drug therapy proved themselves to be largely ineffective and as a result Wolpe attempted to find an alternative means of treatment for his patients.

It must be noted that while today the symptoms of PTSD can be controlled somewhat through the use of certain types of medication the fact remains that the application of drug therapy methods is usually used as a last resort due to the potential for alcohol and drug abuse that comes with PTSD. At times it has been seen that drug therapy actually worsened the condition which makes the contributions and work of Wolpe that much more important in the realm of behavioral therapy. In his attempt to find an alternative method of treatment Wolpe came up with a type of desensitization technique that placed an emphasis on the use of relaxation methods in order to deal with the resulting fear and anxiety responses that were common with “war neurosis”.

Overall theorist’s concepts on mental disorders

For Wolpe, the development of mental disorders was grounded in his belief that human behavior and behavioral responses can be learned and as such develops into unique/ detrimental facets of an individual’s behavior. This belief is similar to the concept of classical conditioning developed by Pavlov wherein a series of contiguous events can make an organism learn an association between one event and another which can actually create a conditional involuntary response in that organism or individual. For example in one experiment a lab technician wore the color red in front of a cat and used a portable air horn to scare the cat. The next time he approached the cat he wore a different color and did nothing however the next time he approached the cat again he wore the color red once more and used the air horn to scare the cat.

This continued for one week till the cat became visibly scared by the color red when the lab technician was wearing it despite him not doing anything at all. From this it can be seen that behavioral responses to a certain event can be learned and a type of involuntary response can be expected if such a response is associated with the event. This is similar to the concept of phobias wherein a person is presented with an animal that he is irrationally afraid of and the result is fear (arachnophobia) or in the case of an inanimate object such as a large body of water (hydrophobia) or a type of state that they are placed in (ex. being locked inside a closet) that causes an irrational fear (claustrophobia).

From this it can be seen that the basis of Wolpe’s concept on the development of mental disorders is that it is a certain type of learned behavior affecting the normal thought processes of an individual which has long lasting psychological effects. In a way this concept on the development of mental disorders could be compared to development of certain types of aberrant behavior wherein a child that was abused early on in his life by parents becomes an insular and withdrawn adult as a result of what he/she learned as a child.

Based on Wolpe’s concept though the development of mental disorders is not isolated to a time period when an individual was young but rather can occur at any point in time. This assumption is based on the development of “war neurosis” (a.k.a PTSD) by individuals who had previously no mental disorders to speak off. In fact under this assumption it can be stated that any individual has the potential for developing a certain type of mental disorder depending on what external forces act on his/her mind.

How the theorist determines the cause (etiology) of mental disorders

It was theorized by Wolpe that most of the behavioral aspects of an individual are learned and as such whether they be good or bad they are reflected in the way a person acts, thinks, speaks and the manner in which they interact with the outside world. In essence it can be stated that it is outside influences affecting the learning process of the mind that has the potential to create a mental disorder. It must first be noted that a mental disorder is characterized by a pattern of behavior, thought or emotion that is considered unusual by societal standards. This can come in the form of a distinct lack of empathy for the plight of certain people, a certain degree of social awkwardness, a preference for isolation, laughing when it comes to watching scenes of horror, pedophilic tendencies and other forms of irrational behavior that cannot be explained away by mere eccentricities.

The most prevalent and obvious of these disorders are forms of anxiety and phobias wherein individuals display an inordinate amount of fear towards an object, concept, person or status than what a normal person would normally show. For Wolpe these types of behaviors are the direct result of these individuals learning to fear these objects, concepts, people or states of being through some application of external stimuli. The problem with attributing the cause of these particular mental disorders to the application of mental stimuli is the fact that if this were true then everybody would develop some form of phobia or trauma since daily living in itself is a constant learning experience (Harzem, 6).

One way of justifying the cause of mental disorders as stated by Wolpe is to examine the case of soldiers in World War 2 and their “war neurosis”. The fact of the matter is war is a highly traumatizing event that can push a person to mental extremes as a result of the constant stress attributed to fighting, marching, dealing with the death of friends and comrades as well as having to kill when necessary. The development of “war neurosis” among some of the fighters is assumed to be due to their minds being overwhelmed by the experiences they had to endure which as a result brought about PTSD (Marchand, 246).

From this it can be assumed that in order for a mental disorder to develop a sufficient and constant strain or shock must be applied to the mind via an external force in the environment (Marchand, 246). Since for Wolpe behavioral aspects are developed through learning it can be interpreted that the normal learning process of the mind only creates mental disorders when it is constantly exposed to an event over a certain length of time. One example of this can be seen in the development of certain mental disorders in teenagers and adults that were previously molested or raped constantly as children.

It can be seen in numerous studies investigating the mental status of such individuals that the long term physical and mental abuse they suffered at the hands of their abusers had the effect of creating a distinct mental disorder comparable to depression, isolation and a fear of people. In some instances among the young girls involved in the cases this took the form of being afraid of all men in general resulting in the need to utilize female researchers in the interviews involving such subjects.

The results show that it was due to the abuse sustained over several years that created the mental disorders they had developed. On the other hand individuals who develop certain phobias do so only after a sudden an inexplicable shock to their system which leaves an indelible mark on their mind. One example is that of a person almost drowning and developing hydrophobia as a result. Unlike the case involving abused children this one happened abruptly and was not done over a prolonged period of time; one likely explanation for this is that time is not a factor when it comes to the development of certain mental disorders but rather it is the degree of shock to the system that causes the development of the disorder in the first place.

How the theorist determines the best form of treatment of a mental disorder

For Wolpe the basis of treatment lay with the belief that since human behavior itself is learned then there is also the possibility that negative or harmful behavior can be unlearned. Utilizing Pavlov’s classical conditioning concept which states that a series of contiguous events can make an organism learn an association between one event and another which can actually create a conditional involuntary response in that organism or individual. For the sake of expediency I will state my earlier example involving the lab technician wherein a lab technician wore the color red in front of a cat and used a portable air horn to scare the cat.

The next time he approached the cat he wore a different color and did nothing however the next time he approached the cat again he wore the color red once more and used the air horn to scare the cat. This continued for one week till the cat became visibly scared by the color red when the lab technician was wearing it despite him not doing anything at all. From this it can be seen that behavioral responses to a certain event can be learned and a type of involuntary response can be expected if such a response is associated with the event.

Wolpe postulated and proved utilizing a similar experiment to what was suggested in this paper that after several sessions with a cats under the same duress as the one experimented on by the lab researcher that it was actually possible to remove the fear stimulus by adding a pleasant stimulus in the form of food everytime the stimulus to fear abruptly reared itself. Wolpe theorized that if such a concept were applicable to cats then it would also be applicable to humans and could be utilized in a manner in which to treat phobias. The result was a method that involved relaxing the subject and gradually exposing them to the unpleasant memories over a series of degrees always associating the memory with a state of relaxation until the phobia affecting the person gradually disappeared. A copy of the scale is show below which Wolpe used to gauge the degree by which a patient could be influenced to subtlety unlearn the behaviors associated with a particular memory.

Concluding paragraph

The resulting pioneering work done by Wolpe resulted in the creation of cognitive-behavioral therapy which today is a widely used method in helping people with phobias or types of trauma such as soldiers suffering from PTSD. His work has become the basis of modern behavioral therapy with thousands or perhaps millions benefiting from therapies that were based off of his pioneering ideas enabling multiple individuals to overcome their fears, faces their traumas and actually move forward with their lives. Before concluding this paper there must be one aspect that must be noted regarding Wolpe and his theories on the learning process and how this affects the behavior of individuals. Though his assumptions are sound the fact remains that they neglect to take into account the possibility of a person developing mental illnesses on their own without the addition of some outside factor that influenced it.

Factors such as inherited genetic predispositions and the presence of supposed chemical imbalances in the brain are part of the so called “biological” reasoning behind the creation of several aspects of mental disorders. An examination of the work of Wolfe does not seem to indicate how he takes into account possible biological factors which cannot be learned as being contributing factors to the development of mental disorders. As such this represents a distinct gap in the literature which future developments using behaviorism should take into account when utilizing it as a means of explaining and resolving problems related to abnormal psychology. In that that it must be realized that the learning process is not always the primary reason behind the development of abnormal psychology in various individuals.

Works Cited

Wolpe, Joseph.”Life of Wolpe.” Hutchinson’s Biography Database (2003): 1. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Rosner, Rachael. “Life of Joseph Wolpe.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 33.2 (1997): 183-184. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Harzem, Peter. “Behaviorism for new psychology what was wrong with behaviorism and what is wrong with it now.” Behavior & Philosophy 32.1 (2004): 5-12. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Weinberg, Norris, and Zaslove, Marshall. “Resistance to systematic desensitization of phobias.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 19.2 (1963): 179-181. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Marchand, William. “A preliminary study of the effect of a diagnosis of concussion on PTSD symptoms and other psychiatric variables at the time of treatment seeking among veterans.” Military Medicine 176.3 (2011): 246-252.

Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Comorbidity is the concurrent existence of two or more diseases in a victim. The comorbidity of anxiety syndromes with substance use disorders is utterly common (Turner et al., 2018). Post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, depression, and mood conditions develop after a disaster or a traumatic event (Alexander et al., 2018). The comorbidity is complicated because substance abuse may result in an individual from efforts to self-medicate the agonizing signs of post-traumatic stress syndrome. Therefore, when people withdraw from drug use, the symptoms become severe, leading to addiction. This paper concerns the self-medication hypothesis to illustrate how post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder may develop.

The hypothesis of self-medication is one of the mechanisms that can expound the comorbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety illness. It was described as a mental clarification method for comorbidity in 1985 (Turner et al., 2018). A survey was conducted to establish the prevalence of self-medication with drugs and alcohol among a population with post-traumatic stress disorder. The results indicated that the prevalence varied from 21% to 24% (Turner et al., 2018). Being divorced, separated, or widowed were the features related to higher proportions of respondents endorsing self-medication with alcohol and drugs to reduce the effects of anxiety and depression.

The reasons why the self-medication hypothesis is the preferred model are detailed further. It is supportive to healthcare as it offers a clear pathway to suffers from exiting addiction, which, in turn, enhances the bond between specialists and victims, it improves access to dosages, and it may also decrease the cost of a prescribed drug. A female neighbor who developed substance use ailment after being raped by unknown people is a perfect example of the hypothesis. The woman started drinking alcohol to suppress the effects caused by the trauma, and, as a result, she developed an addiction. Therefore, post-traumatic stress disorder relates directly to substance use problems in individuals. The risk factors for traumatic stress should be avoided since they will further worsen the pre-existing medical condition, for instance, high blood pressure or diabetes mellitus. Provision of alternative coping techniques to anxiety and pressure patients may reduce comorbidity.

References

Alexander, A. C., & Ward, K. D. (2018). Understanding post-disaster substance use and psychological distress using concepts from the self-medication hypothesis and social cognitive theory. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 50(2), 177-186. Web.

Turner, S., Mota, N., Bolton, J., & Sareen, J. (2018). Self‐medication with alcohol or drugs for mood and anxiety disorders: A narrative review of the epidemiological literature. Depression and Anxiety, 35(9), 851-860. Web.

Cognitive and affective objectives related to stress

When speaking about stress levels and the methods, which seem to be important to cope with a state of emotional strain and tension, it is necessary to consider some basic points concerning a negative psychological reaction. So, the objectives, which are related to the task, can be divided into cognitive objectives and affective ones. Thus, cognitive objectives include identifying the meaning of stress, as well as the causes of a negative emotional strain. Stress management is also considered to be one of the cognitive aims. On the other hand, an effective objective is related to the importance of stress control.

The fundamentals of stress

When discussing stress levels, one is to keep in mind that stress is considered to be “a negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical changes, physiological changes, cognitive changes, and behavioural changes” (Taylor, n. d., p. 1). Generally, there is a need to point out that stress is caused by numerous reasons, which most widespread seem to be stressful situations, which are difficult to control (for instance, too complicated relations, serious health problems, etc.), persistent stress, which is caused by certain traumatic events, and acute stress, which is caused by sudden unpleasant situations. Of course, nobody will deny the fact that people’s responses to stress seem to be different. Such responses depend upon personality traits, genetic factors, regulated immune diseases, and the quality of stressors.

Stress management is associated with a significant skill, which gives people an opportunity to solve problems and control the impact of stress on the quality of their lives.

I have examined my own stress level on the basis of Dr Thomas H. Holmes’ and Dr Richard H. Rahe’s rating scale; my score was 556. According to the online stress test results, the rate of minor stress should be 150, mild stress 150-199, moderate stress 200-299, and major stress 300+ (“Online Stress Test”, n. d., para. 4). So, taking into account my own results, I can make a conclusion that the stressful events, which take place in my life, must be controlled.

As far as people treat stress differently, I have also decided to measure my perception of stress. So, I have decided to rely on “the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress – The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)” (“Perceived Stress Scale,” n. d., 1). The scores range from 0 to 40. My own score was 15. So, the stress I experience seems to be rather moderate. In my opinion, some useful strategies should be used to reduce the level and perception of stress.

The most common methods, which are to be used to cope with stress, can include various relaxation practices and meditation skills. On the other hand, it is necessary to communicate with pleasant people, to protect personal space, to think positively, to be open to new things and experiences, to strive for a healthy life-style, to try to overcome the obstacles, but not to avoid them.

Conclusion

Stress is considered to be a negative psychological experience, which influences people’s quality of life. When persons are stressed, they cannot cope with various tasks, as well as enjoy daily activities. For this reason, it is necessary to limit the impact of stress on people’s life. There are many useful practices, which can be used to control stressful situations.

References

Online Stress Test. (n. d.). Healthyplace.com. Web.

Perceived Stress Scale. (n. d.). Ncsu.edu. Web.

Taylor, S. (n. d.). What is Stress? Ipfw.edu. Web.

Introduction

Stress has been one of the leading challenges that humans face in their everyday life. Many psychologists have identified a factor that leads to physical, mental and emotional setbacks in growth and development of an individual. As a result therefore, a lot of studies have been conducted in this field. These studies aim at identifying the main causes of stress and how they can be controlled. This will ensure that humans achieve the goals, targets and dreams that have set in their lives.

Stress is a great hindrance to success in a person’s life. It can lead to ill-health; physical, emotional or both. Have you ever been in a situation in the work place or had a family crisis that led to elevated stress levels? High stress levels have been directly associated with certain illnesses such as ulcers of the stomach, insomnia, persistent headaches, anxiety and so on. Stress is major hindrance to activities that we are involved in daily. It can affect the ability of an individual to perform his roles and duties at work, the manner in which an individual relates with others within the societal context and most importantly, the ability of an individual to perform well in education.

To narrow down on the diverse nature of stress, this paper shall focus on one of the mechanism that has been identified as a possible solution of controlling stress levels in individuals. This mechanism is known as self-affirmation. To test on its validity and effectiveness, the mechanism was tested within the context of health and education. Health and education are very sensitive in nature. As a result, stress may affect the mental, physical, emotional and cognitive abilities of an individual hence affecting his/her performance and stability in a negative way. Due to this fact, several studies that have been conducted suggest that self-affirmation can be applied to control stress levels that in turn will increase the overall health condition and performance of an individual.

To expound on this theory, this article critically analyzed two empirical studies. The first study was conducted by Creswell et al (2005) and focused on affirmation of personal values while the second study was conducted by Dutcher (2006) and focused on boosting of performance through self-affirmation. Integrating these studies together clearly brings out the application of self-affirmation in education and how this concept can be used to improve the performance of individuals and reduce stress levels of individuals.

Stress and Health

In various occasions, stress has been labeled as a source of illness to man. This conception has led to the development of measures to relieve stresses on the day-to-day activities. Some of the illnesses that have been linked to stress include migraines, hypertension, chronic fatigue, depression, acid reflux disease and many more as indicated in figure 2 below. Studies that have been done concerning stress and attempts to link it to overall health status in the long-run and the past life experience of individuals have proved to have mishaps. One of the mishaps is that stress in itself is not a single variable that can easily be quantified but it is made up of several independent variables. Many researchers do not consider it but rather, they assume that stress can be taken as a single variable. As a result, they fail to include several steps (Creswell et al, 2005).

According to Creswell et al (2005), stress progressively develops from an array of physical and mental disorders that have accumulated within an individual with time (p.1). In response to this suggestion, they developed a theory that suggested that affirming to personal values might act as a buffer to the growth and development of stress. In this respect therefore, the stress levels of an individual can be controlled in such a way to avoid it developing to adverse levels. To test this theory, the following two research questions were used:

1. Does an intervention on personal values buffer physiological and psychological levels of stress within an individual?
2. Does the disposition of available resources have any effect in the affirmation of stress levels in an individual?

The study had 85 participants all of whom were undergraduate students. Their ages ranged from 17-33 years. Before the commencement of the study, all the participants were identified as Asian, Caucasian, African-American, Latino and so on. Furthermore, they undertook a medical test prior to the commencement of the study to detect whether any one of them had suffered from a medical condition.

All these participants were involved in a stress challenge that took place in a laboratory. This challenge aimed at measuring the cortisol responses to stress. These levels were to vary depending on the nature and extent to which each participant will affirm to stress. First, the participants listened to an audio tape that clearly explained the instructions of the experiment. From here, they were divided into two groups; value-affirmation group and a control group. Regardless of the group, each participant was given a questionnaire to fill. Here, they were to explain their thought and feelings towards the value that they had selected and rate it on a point scale that ranged from 1-3.

In addition, they were expected to prepare a speech mentally and describe how stressful this process was. To evaluate this process, they would rate the difficult in creating the speech on a seven-point scale. Finally, the participants gave their speeches, each lasting for five minutes. To put them under pressure, time was counted in seconds with the alerts of the last few seconds coming up more frequently. After this, their saliva was collected and analyzed for cortisal.

The results that were gathered for the study showed that participant who had initially affirmed to their values had lower cortisol levels as compared to the control group. They therefore had lower stress levels. Dispositional self-resources acted as a buffer to physiological and psychological stress. Cortisol from the saliva was a good indicator of the level of stress since it has a direct relationship with the neuroendocrine system (Creswell et al, 2005). As a result therefore, an individual who is under stress will produce high amounts of the substance as compared to another who is not under stress. From this study therefore, self affirmation is a reliable buffer to reduce the stress levels of individuals.

On the other hand, Dutcher (2006) conducted a study on university students that focused on the effects of laboratory-test performance of intelligence on self-affirmation. To explore further on the works that had been done by previous Creswell et al (2005) on the topic and to prove their theories, this study aimed at answering the following research questions:

1. Does self-affirmation have any effect in the attitudes and perceptions of individuals especially those related to defensive responding?
2. Does the acceptance of threatened messages from an individual increase his/her performance?

In this study, participants were given an intelligence test immediately after completing a writing test. An experienced examiner offered the this test. It was tedious and had a strict time limit. This aimed at putting the participants under pressure and at the same time exhaust their physical, mental and emotional abilities. Finally, the examiner communicated negative results to all the participants. They were all told that they had performed below average.

After this, all the participants filled a questionnaire that was used to measure how they perceived their negative results. This was used as a perquisite of their acceptance of bad news hence controlling stress via self-affirmation. This therefore showed the manner in which these individuals and hence the entire population would take in bad news and adapt to the conditions to ensure that they get the best out of the situation.

Practical Solutions

It may appear as if it is impossible to control the levels of stress since some of the factors that cause it are permanent in nature. Some of the sources of stress found in the studies include the high bills and fees to pay, heavy workload, meeting of strict deadlines and so on. All these factors keep on recurring in the lives of people. It is therefore critical for individuals to develop mechanisms that will enable them to cope with stress. By doing so, they will be able to accomplish the tasks and duties that have been vested to them (Dutcher, 2006). A day will always have a limit of 24 hours so it is less likely that the amount of time available will ever be the solution to the problem. The stresses that come about because of family responsibilities may not be solved by running away from them because they will always be demanding.

It is important to know that the victims of stress have a lot more control over the situation than they might think. Studies have shown that the simple realization that the victim is in control of the situation is a big step towards managing stress. Stress management entails controlling what goes on around you and not letting it control you. It requires someone to take control of his/her emotions.

Through stress management, one would be able to get a balance in life. One will be able to set aside time for his or her work, get time with the family and friends, have time to work out the relationship and time to have fun. One would also have the capacity to work under pressure and control the situation rather than letting the situation to take control.

One big step towards managing stress is the identification of the source of stress. This is not always an easy task since the source of stress might not be that obvious. Some might have misguided thoughts about situations and brand it as their source of stress while in reality, they are actually the problem themselves. To identify the actual cause of stress, one has to study his perceptions, excuses and behaviours closely (Dutcher, 2006)

From identifying this cause, it is also important to accept this fact and formulate means through which you can deal with them. Better yet, it is also important to have people around you who will be there for you at your “lows” in life. These people provide emotional support and this greatly helps in increasing the hopes for success for the person. This is true to the saying that, a problem shared is a problem half-solved. Such people help a lot especially when self-esteem is the problem. Their encouragement gives strength to the victim and enables him or her to go through the situation.

Conclusion

Stress has a direct effect on health and well-being. This may be in form of both physical and emotional health but both have a connection. Daily stressing situations may come about as a result of the overwhelming workload at the workplace or some family situations. Stress may lead to low self-esteem that subsequently causes diverse effects to individuals depending on how they react to the situation. Stress has been proven to be one of the causes of ill-health in the workplace and people are supposed to know how to deal with them lest they affect their performance.

It is important to look for help in form of emotional support whenever one is feeling stressed about a situation since emotional support helps a great deal. Those who obtain emotional help are less vulnerable to illnesses caused by stress than those who do not sort for help. When you take time to work on your emotional health, then your body will reciprocate and you will have perfect health.

Additional studies that might be interesting to conduct in the future may be the determination of the effects of stress on the performance at the workplace. Since a person’s health and general well-being is a determinant of a person’s performance at work, then stress would greatly affect the performance. A suitable number of participants should be selected from different companies or organizations and it would be important to consider people of different ages and races to avoid biasness.

Test Yourself

1. Stress has been linked directly to cases of illnesses. (True or false). True.
2. Nothing can be done about the stress levels one has since most of the sources of stress such as high bills might be there to stay. (True or False). False.
3. Stress is a great hindrance to a person’s success and can lead to both physical and emotional illnesses. (True or False). True.
4. An increase in the daily hassles causes a decrease in general health and mood of a person. (True or False). True.

References

Creswell, D. J., Welch, W., Shelly, T., Sherman, D., Gruenewald, T., & Mann, T. (2005). Affirmation of personal values buffers neuroendocrine and psychological stress responses. Psychological Science, 16, p. 846-851.

Dutcher, J. M (2006). Improving Performance on a Creativity Task via Self-Affirmation. Health Psychology, 28, p. 554-562.

The contemporary fast speed of life is largely associated with a big amount of stress experienced by people in everyday life. Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any situation forcing the person to feel too much mental or emotional pressure (Hellhammer and Hellhammer 14). It is the way our body responds to any demand or threat. Understanding the diverse nature of the causes of the stress is crucial to the effective elimination of its effects, as these two factors heavily depend on each other.

The causes of stress have various origins and are highly diverse. Though stress is strongly associated with negative events, its causes can include positive experience. The main components of stress, change and pressure, can be associated both with good and bad events and, therefore, there are both negative and positive causes of stress (Aldwin 56). A person experiences significant stress both in the situation of loss of close relative and birth of a child. Besides, stressors can be classified to those that are related to everyday events (micro-stressors), those that are connected to major life events, and those that have an ambient nature.

Micro stressors include personal problems, job issues, social interaction, and other minor events happening in the life of every person on a daily basis (“Stress Management – Causes of Stress” par. 2). The causes related to major life events include marriage, graduation from college, loss of parents, etc. The ambient stressors include the external conditions that have a negative value and constitute a part of our environment, e.g. pollution or traffic jams. Severe natural disasters, such as hurricanes, and social crisis, such as wars, can be unified into a separate group of stressors (Whealin, DeCarvalho, and Vega 6; Wilson and Raphael 936).

The effects of stress include both biological and psychological manifestations. The scope of effects largely depends on the causes and the nature of stress. A person attacked by a homeless dog experience a release of hormones and chemicals associated with stress, which are aimed at making the body ensure the survival. The effects of such stress are short-term and fade after the stressor is eliminated. However, a person that is going through a divorce experience a chronic stress, which has long-term negative effects on his/her body, including problems with digestion, immune system, reproduction, etc. (“Q&A on Stress for Adults” par. 4).

Psychological effects of stress also heavily depend on its nature. A person that experiences stress after becoming a father often faces mild effects of stress, such as over excitation while a person experiencing stress after the death of a parent is more likely to have severe psychological effects, such as insomnia and hysteria, which can lead to depression or other post-traumatic problems. The effects of the stress caused by traumatic life events, natural disasters, or social crisis, can fade after a period, but certain consequences will still be likely to appear, including nightmares, panic attacks, phobia, etc.

The analysis of both causes and effects of stress reveals that these two aspects are closely interrelated. The effective prevention of stress is possible only if the person is aware of the effects of stress caused by a certain condition. For example, only after discovering the risks related to constant pressure put by enormous loads of work, the person is likely to search for a solution able to remove such permanent cause of stress. Besides, effective treatment is impossible without exploring the initial causes of the stress. For example, treating such effects of stress as panic attacks cannot be successful until the traumatic event that caused such consequences is discovered. Being aware of potential causes of the stress and understanding its effects are essential to the prevention of severe stressful situations and dealing with the consequences of prior stressful experience.

Various causes lead to stress, and diverse consequences are related to it. Understanding the causes and effects of stress is crucial both for preventive activities and elimination of negative effects of the phenomenon.

Works Cited

Aldwin, Carolyn. Stress, Coping, and Development. 2nd ed. 2007. New York: The Guilford Press. Print.

Hellhammer, Dirk, and Juliane Hellhammer. Stress: The Brain-Body Connection, Basel, Switzerland: Karger, 2008. Print.

Q&A on Stress for Adults: How It Affects Your Health and what You Can Do about It. n.d. Web.

Stress Management – Causes of Stress. 2014. Web.

Whealin, Julia, Lorie DeCarvalho, and Edward Vega. Strategies for Managing Stress After War, Hoboken, New Jersey: Kohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008. Print.

Wilson, John, and Beverley Raphael. International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes, New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Print.

Introduction

According to the American Psychiatric Association (2013), Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by exposure to disturbing events. Such occurrences could include; injury, sexual assault, or death. As a result of the shock and trauma associated with these events, a person experiences mental disturbance, distress, and inability to function or interact normally. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) also acknowledges that traumatic events must be present for patients to be diagnosed with PTSD. Other symptoms associated with the disorder include; negative changes in mood, changes in arousal patterns, and differences in reactivity, evasion, and intrusion. Generally, the disorder affects the quality of life and social interacts of the individuals affected.

Hoge, Clark, and Castro (2007) report that majority of previous research studies have concluded that women are more predisposed to PTSD than men. Research studies supporting these findings argue that violence incidences such as rape occur more in women. Additionally, they point out that depression, anxiety, and trauma incidences are more likely to occur in women. On the contrary, other researchers argue that there is lack of scientific evidence to support the claim that PTSD occurs more in women. Moreover, most of the research does not provide conclusive explanations for the gender variances in PTSD.

Understanding gender variances in PTSD is likely to eliminate any misdiagnosis, as physicians will have evidence that men and women have equal probability of getting PTSD. Currently, physicians tend to concentrate more on diagnosing PTSD in women due to the misconceptions that women get PTSD more than men do. Furthermore, PTSD cases in men tend to be misdiagnosed. In this regard, the aim of the current research is to provide evidence that women have the same probability of getting PTSD as men. This research confirms that gender variations in PTSD are mere misconceptions.

Gender and PTSD

Breslau and Anthony (2007) report that epidemiological studies continue to provide evidence regarding gender variation in PTSD. In a research undertaken by these authors across the United States, young women were reported to have a higher probability of getting PTSD (relative risk=4.9) after exposure to violence compared to men. This means that women were 4.9 times more likely to get PTSD after exposure to violence compared to men. Similar to previous research, their study also concluded that sexual assault or violence in women was the major cause of PTSD. In an empirical research by Tolin and Foa (2006), the authors provide evidence that women are more likely to get PTSD than men.

This research included a systematic review of findings reported in the past twenty-five years. According to the research, women report more occurrences of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse in contrast to men. The authors note that these crimes have been reported to affect women more than they affect men. Consequently, men have a higher possibility of reporting shock after accidents and witnessing violence during wars, and disasters. In the meta-analysis, Tolin and Foa (2006) indicate that regardless of the epidemiological research designs employed and sample sizes, the research articles analyzed found a strong link between the female gender and occurrence of PTSD. The authors also explain that women have a higher probability of being subjected to trauma compared to men.

In an attempt to explain the gender variances related to PTSD, Armour and colleagues (2011) note that the kind of violence (sexual assault) that women are subjected to is more traumatic than the violence experienced by men. However, the authors also indicate that some studies have reported higher rates of PTSD among women even after controlling for sexual assault and domestic violence as potential confounders. In reference to Breslau and Anthony (2007), the gender disparities could also be explained by the fact that the female gender is more open when talking about their symptoms compared to the male gender.

Specifically, women find it easy to discuss the symptoms relating to anxiety and depression than men do. Based on this view, there is a likelihood that the occurrence of PTSD in men is under-reported. Accordingly, Tolin and Foa (2006) acknowledge that the gender disparities in PTSD could be brought about by the high prevalence of psychological disorders among women. In view of this, these authors argue that PTSD like any other psychological disorder is more likely to occur in women. The ‘Criterion A’ used in the diagnosis of PTSD could also explain the gender-based differences in its prevalence (Armour, et al., 2011). According to this criterion, the occurrence of a traumatic incidence and an emotional reaction to it is the main diagnosing feature of the disorder. In this respect, the ability of women to disclose the initial emotional reaction to trauma could explain the findings that the disorder occurs more in women. The acquisition of conditioned fear has also been reported to predispose more women than men to PTSD (Inslichta et al., 2013).

Research has found out that women report more occurrences of conditioned fear. The brain regions responsible for conditioned fear are hippocampus and amygdala. These brain regions contain receptors for sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. These receptors elicit conditioned fear more in the presence of estrogen than testosterone and hence the occurrences of this fear more in women than in men. In this view, women who exhibit conditioned fear are likely to develop Post-traumatic Stress Disorders.

Misconceptions regarding gender and PTSD

As mentioned above, PTSD results in grave consequences within the family setting. Therefore, it is crucial that the correlates of the disorder be identified beyond any reasonable doubt. This would ensure that cases of PTSD are not missed during diagnosis. Speculating that women are more predisposed to the condition would result in under-reporting of male cases. In this regard, it is important to determine whether women are actually more predisposed to PTSD compared to men. Although previous epidemiological studies have reported that women have higher possibility of developing PTSD compared to men, very few have attempted to explain these findings (Fullerton and Co-authors, 2001). The lack of epidemiological and scientific evidence is an indication that the findings are just fallacies. Thus, both women and women have equal likelihoods of getting PTSD.

Research supporting the claim that women are more likely to get PTSD indicates that gender differences in PTSD are confounded by depression and anxiety disorders. On the contrary, in a study undertaken by Fullerton et al. (2001), a history of anxiety disorder seemed to predispose men to PTSD compared to women. This is contrary to previous findings that women are more predisposed to anxiety disorder and depression compared to men. In a different research by Armour and colleagues (2011), the researchers found no evidence that depression and anxiety in women makes them more susceptible to PTSD. The researchers concluded that incidences of anxiety and depression occur equally across gender. This is an indication that gender variance in PTSD is a myth.

As mentioned previously, Breslau and Anthony (2007) report that occurrence of child abuse could be used to explain the gender variation in PTSD. On the contrary, research by Stewart, Grant, Ouimette, and Brown (2006) elucidates that the notion that child abuse could result in gender variances in PTSD is misconstrued. This is due to the fact that child abuse reports are not accurate and there are many factors that could interfere with memory accuracy. There is likelihood that child abuse is over reported or under-reported across both genders and should not be used to support gender variance in PTSD. Major depression has also been identified as one of the symptoms in PTSD. In this view, various researchers have reported that the possibility of having major depression is higher in women compared to men (Hoge, Clark, & Castro, 2007). As a result, the prevalence of PTSD is predicted to be higher among females than males. However, research by Fullerton et al. (2001) indicates that major depression does not vary across gender. Similarly, PTSD does not vary across gender.

Conclusion

Majority of the research on gender and PTSD recognizes that more extensive epidemiological investigation needs to be undertaken on the topic. Currently, most research studies provide no conclusive findings to explain the gender inconsistencies in PTSD (Inslichta, et al., 2013). While some authors support the possibility of gender variations in PTSD, others seem to refute these claims. In this respect, one cannot assume that PTSD occurs more in females than males. The current research provides evidence that gender disparities in PTSD are mere misconceptions. Such misconceptions can be confusing and can affect the effectiveness of diagnosis across gender. Specifically, physicians are more likely to diagnose more women with PTSD compared to men. As a result, many cases of PTSD among men in the population are likely to be missed or misdiagnosed. Therefore, this research concludes that there are no gender differences in PTSD and the association can only be justified after further extensive research.

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Web.

Armour, C., Elhai, J. D., Layne, C. M., Shevlin, M., Durakovic-Belko, E., Djapo, N., & Pynoos, R. S. (2011). Gender differences in the factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in war-exposed adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(4), 604-611. Web.

Breslau, N., & Anthony, J. C. (2007). Gender differences in the sensitivity to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An epidemiological study of urban young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(3), 607–611. Web.

Fullerton, C. S., Ursano, R. J., Epstein, R. S., Crowley, B., Vance, K., Kao, T.-C., Baum, A. (2001). Gender differences in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after motor vehicle accidents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(9), 1486–1491. Web.

Hoge, C. W., Clark, J. C., & Castro, C. A. (2007). Commentary: Women in combat and the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. International Journal of Epidemiology, 36(12), 327–329. Web.

Inslichta, S. S., Metzler, T. J., Garcia, N. M., Pineles, S. L., Milad, M. R., Orr, S. P., Neylan, T. C. (2013). Sex differences in fear conditioning in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(1), 64–71. Web.

Stewart, S. H., Grant, V. V., Ouimette, P., & Brown, P. J. (2006). Are Gender Differences in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder rates attenuated in Substance Use Disorder patients? Canadian Psychology, 47(2), 110-124. Web.

Tolin, D. F., & Foa, E. B. (2006). Sex differences in trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A quantitative review of 25 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 959–992. Web.

Human society has been accumulating vast knowledge in various spheres. This knowledge has been usually utilized to address numerous issues people face. The development of such studies as psychology and applied psychology illustrates this tendency. It is possible to look into the way the applied psychology helps people solve particular issues in many spheres of their lives. This paper includes a brief account of the peculiarities of applied psychology and focuses on the way it helps people address such problems as stress.

First, it can be beneficial to understand the background of applied psychology and take a brief look at the wider study. Psychology is a study that focuses on human behavior. The study has its roots in philosophy and has been researched for centuries. Greek philosophers tried to understand the peculiarities of the human soul. Aristotle contemplated on memory, imagination, will, and reason in his famous essay De anima ‘Of the Soul’ (Bekerian & Levey, 2012). Philosophers also introduced the system of people’s temperaments that explained individuals’ behavior. Philosophers of the Enlightenment period were more specific.

Descartes with his scientific approach is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of psychological development. Modern researchers and later practitioners have tried to explain and shape people’s behaviors if necessary. It is possible to single out major theoretical themes that acquire the most attention. These topics of major interest are individual differences, motivation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge retention, information processing, habituation, task analysis, memory and so on (Bekerian & Levey, 2012). The accumulation of knowledge on these aspects has led to its application in various spheres.

It is possible to note that the development of applied psychology was a natural stage of the evolution of psychology as a field of study. Applied psychology can be referred to as “the professional application of psychological knowledge to the solutions of problems associated with human behavior” (Davey, 2011, p. 2). In other words, the theoretical knowledge available is applied to solving particular issues that arise in a variety of spheres.

Thus, psychology can be applied to personal problems through counseling and treatment of mental issues. It can also be used at the level of organizations. For example, occupational psychology involved the development of strategies to improve the work environment. More so, it can be used to address issues at the level of entire nations through the creation of a specific background to set particular health behaviors (Davey, 2011). To understand the extent to which applied psychology is instrumental in solving particular issues, it is necessary to focus on a specific problem many people face.

One of the most widespread issues modern people face is stress. This topic has acquired considerable attention, and many researchers, as well as practitioners, have worked on defining, describing stress and developing methods to prevent it or overcome the outcomes. The studies concerning stress are often associated with psychological, biological and environmental approaches (Dewe, O’Driscoll & Cooper, 2012).

According to one of the most common definitions, stress is “a process in which environmental demands tax or exceed the adaptive capacity of an organism, resulting in psychological and biological changes that may place persons at risk of disease” (as cited in Contrada, 2010, p. 1). Stress can be a result of the changing environment. It can trigger the development of various health issues including cardiovascular disorders, mental issues and so on. Hence, researchers have attempted to solve this issue.

It is noteworthy that applied psychology has played an essential role in defining stress and developing numerous strategies to mitigate its outcomes. Different types of stress have been defined and addressed. Psychological theories developed are employed to address particular issues in specific situations. Clearly, the methods used are consistent with the nature of stress and involve environmental, biological and psychological paradigms.

First, it is possible to focus on the nature of stress. The psychological stress is well-researched, and it has been acknowledged that gender, age, employment, income, and education are major factors affecting the development of stress. Cohen and Janicki-Deverts (2012) state that unemployed people reported significant levels of stress while those retired reported much lower levels of stress. The financial crisis had little impact on the majority of people, but “middle-aged, college-educated White men with full-time employment” reported high levels of stress (Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012, p. 1320). People with lower income, younger generations as well as people who are at risk of losing wealth or status are often exposed to stress.

Clearly, these findings were beneficial for the development of particular strategies to address stress. The understanding of the nature of stress is instrumental in mitigating the outcomes, shaping the environments as well as people’s attitudes and behaviors. For example, Riva et al. (2010, p. 21) utilized the “inter reality” approach when treating stress. This paradigm involves the creation of the loop between the real and virtual worlds. Thus, the therapist helps the individual to learn emotional regulation and coping skills as well as identify basic stressors. This is an illustration of the implementation of a mix of psychological and environmental paradigms. The specific attention is paid to the influence of social support on the individual’s psychological state.

Several techniques are central to stress management. For instance, relaxation is a commonly used method (Jones, O’Connor, Abraham & Conner, 2011). Again, this is a mix of psychological, biological and environmental paradigms. The individual reduced tension in his muscles, which leads to his psychological and emotional relaxation. This holistic approach enables people to reduce anxiety levels, which is a good coping strategy.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is also an example of the efficient application of psychological knowledge. CBT is often utilized to manage stress (Jones et al., 2011). Thus, it is well-known that people tend to engage in rather negatives ideas and thoughts when exposed to stressors. This is an automatic process, and people may be unaware of their ideas that are later manifested in their being stressed out. CBT approach involves training aimed at developing a more positive approach.

People are taught to find a positive (and usually more realistic) explanation for various situations and circumstances. This positive attitude is favorable as people are less stressed. Benefits finding is similar to the strategy mentioned above, but it is more precise. People try to find the positive side of any situation. For instance, Jones et al. (2011) state that a natural disaster can be seen as an opportunity to get closer to others, to make new friends. Even an illness of a close one can be associated with a positive aspect as people can learn to appreciate things they never noticed before.

Another illustration of the use of applied psychology is the scope of knowledge on stress management associated with work-related stress. It has been found that the working environment is seen as one of the most common stressors. Jones et al. (2011, p. 178) note that researchers have identified a number of “coping families” or types of strategies. These are problem-solving, information seeking, helplessness, escape, self-reliance, support seeking, delegation, isolation accommodation, negotiation, submission and opposition (Jones et al., 2011). All these methods are appropriate for particular situations as there can be no universal strategy.

In conclusion, it is possible to state that applied psychology has been instrumental in developing stress management strategies. Of course, researchers are still working on the analysis of the nature of stress as well as the creation of efficient coping methods. The bulk of theoretical knowledge and various practices suggests that people will be able to overcome negative outcomes of stress. The way stress management approaches are evolving can be seen as an illustration of the way applied psychology affects many spheres of people’s lives. The scientific and theoretical knowledge is applied to address particular issues in individuals’ (or even communities’) lives.

Reference List

Bekerian, D. & Levey, A. (2012). Applied psychology: Putting theory into practice. Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford.

Cohen, S. & Janicki-Deverts, D. (2012). Who’s stressed? Distributions of psychological stress in the United States in probability samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(6), 1320-1334.

Contrada, R.J. (2010). Stress, adaptation, and health. In A. Baum & R. Contrada (Eds.), The handbook of stress science: Biology, psychology, and health (pp. 1-11). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Davey, G. (2011). Introduction. In G. Davey (Ed.), Applied psychology (pp. 1-13). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Dewe, P.J., O’Driscoll, M.P. & Cooper, C.L. (2012). Theories of psychological stress at work. In R.J. Gatchel & I.Z. Schultz (Eds.), Handbook of occupational health and wellness (pp. 23-38). New York, NY: Springer.

Jones, F., O’Connor, Abraham, C. & Conner, M. (2011). Stress, coping and health. In G. Davey (Ed.), Applied psychology (pp. 171-191). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Riva, G., Raspelli, S., Pallavicini, F., Grassi, A., Algeri, D., Wiederhold, B.K. & Gaggioli. (2010). Interreality in the management of psychological stress: A clinical scenario. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 154(20), 21-25.

Introduction

Psychologists and researchers have argued that an individual can develop stress based on the type of food that is taken. The rationale for this topic is to investigate the truth behind this claim. It is necessary to determine if it is true that the type of food that one eats may lead to stress. The two variables that are used in this study are stress and eating. Eating is the independent variable that naturally takes place in one’s life.

Stress is the dependent variable that is triggered by the type or quality of food taken. Scholars have argued that although there are other causes of stress such as the social environmental factors, food can be one of the most common factors that may cause stress. Some of the effects of such health complications include stress. The purpose of this study is to investigate this claim and come up with an explanation on the relationship between stress and food. The researcher hopes to come up with a comprehensive explanation of any possible relationship that exists between the two variables, and eliminate any misconceptions that exist when defining the relationship of the variables.

Literature Review

Researchers have been interested in analyzing the relationship between stress and food. It is important to start by defining the two variables used in this study. According to Taylor (2005), stress is an emotional feeling of deep and prolonged sadness that may be directly associated with physical harm, biological problems, or social stressors. Mosier (2011) defines food as a substance that is eaten in order eliminates hunger and provides nutrients to the body.

Scholars have developed theories related to the two variables in different contexts. Behavioral and cognitive theories are closely related to stress. On the other hand, food has a number of theories, some of which have not been scientifically proven. The theory that organic foods are healthier as opposed to genetically modified foods is very common. There is another theory which claims that an individual’s blood type predicts how one should eat (Daniel & Yun, 2007). Most of these theories about food have not been scientifically proven, while others have raised massive controversies in the society. For instance, the issue about the genetically modified foods being unhealthy to the body still remains a controversial debate that is yet to be proven.

The major studies that the researcher used in the literature review were specifically focused on factors that contribute to stress. Studies about different types of food and their effect to the body and mind were considered useful. The researcher also analyzed literatures that directly linked food and stress. However, these studies had some limitations. Only a few of them discussed the direct relationship between stress and food. Most of them did not relate these two variables. Those that related the variables were either shallow in their arguments, or had unconfirmed theories. This complicated the process of using them in this study. The research by Thaker and Barton (2012), which was conducted in the context of the diet in United Arab Emirates, indicates that some of the popular foods in the Arab society, especially the red meat, may have serious health consequences on an individual.

The findings from the literatures reveal that there is a link between stress and food that one takes. The relationship may be directly felt, such as when one develops a bloated stomach, or have indirect impacts that may take years to manifest. In conclusion, it is clear that when an individual plans to manage stress, one of the factors that should not be ignored is the type of food taken. The following hypotheses were developed based on the findings from the review of the literatures.

• H1. There is a close relationship between food and stress
• H2. Food may directly cause stress when taken in excess quantities
• H3. Some types of food may cause diseases if taken for a long time which may cause stress to the affected individual

The researcher seeks to confirm the above hypotheses by collecting and analyzing the primary data from the field.

Method

Methodology is one of the most important stages in a research process. Choosing an appropriate research strategy does not only make the process of data collection simpler, but also helps in ensuring that the research is of high quality. In this research there were 20 participants. 10 were male while the other 10 were female participants. They were aged between 20-40 years. Data was collected using a survey method. The researcher used questionnaires to collect data from the respondents. All the participants were given questionnaires to fill. The questionnaires had closed and open-ended questions. This approach was considered appropriate because of the limited time available to collect the data, and the busy schedule of the participants.

Reliability and validity

The data collected is highly reliable because of the measures taken by the researcher to eliminate any form of biasness when sampling the participants. The information was collected within the United Arab Emirates, which means that its validity was proven within the local context. The procedure used involved the distribution of the questionnaires to the participants who were expected to respond to the questions. The questionnaires were then retrieved from the participants by the researcher. Analysis of the collected data was done quantitatively using simple mathematical tools.

Results

The results that were obtained from the primary sources of data were analyzed mathematically and below are some of the findings based on the three hypotheses.

The results obtained from the respondents clearly show that there is a close relationship between food and stress. 17 out of 20 participants strongly believed that food and stress have some form of relationship. Only 3 of the 20 participants had a contrary opinion. This confirmed the first hypothesis.

The majority of the participants, 14 out of 20, felt that food may cause stress directly when taken in excess. Four of the participants had a contrary opinion while 2 were not sure. Basing the argument on the view of the majority, it can be argued that excessive intake of food may lead to direct stress which comes as a result of complications in the stomach. This confirmed the second hypothesis.

Finally, the third hypothesis was confirmed by 19 out of the 20 participants who felt that prolonged intake of some foods may cause diseases to which may result into stress. Only one participant had a contrary opinion.

Discussion

From the above primary and secondary data, it is clear that food may cause stress to an individual either directly or indirectly. For instance, when one takes excessive food, there will be discomfort in the stomach which would lead to stress. It is also a fact that some types of food may contain high levels of cholesterol. In the United Arab Emirates, red meat is common, and this food has high level of cholesterol. Continued intake of such types of meal may cause some illnesses that may make an individual to feel stressed.

Limitations

This research paper had a number of limitations. The first limitation was that the time available for the research was limited. The primary data for the research was also limited to the country, making it difficult to generalize the information to the entire world population.

Implications

This study is expected to impact on the eating habits among the residents of the United Arab Emirates. They should avoid foods that may lead to any bodily harm.

References

Daniel, S., & Yun, J. (2007). Low-stress food. Palo Alto: Palo Alto Institute. Web.

Mosier, H. (2011). Stress less, weigh less: Follow Holly to increase energy, eat the food you love, and enjoy and ageless body. Austin: Greenleaf Book Group Press. Web.

Taylor, S. L. (2005). Advances in food and nutrition research: Volume 49. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Web.

Thaker, A., & Barton, A. (2012). Multicultural handbook of food, nutrition and dietetics. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Web.

Stress is an everyday occurrence for all people in the world. Children are exposed to stress at school; later, young people feel it in university, and adults struggle with it throughout life at work. Constant psychological pressure negatively affects the body, resulting in illnesses, mental disorders, and other medical issues. Therefore, stress management strategies are crucial to eliminating the adverse impact of tension and anxiety.

Stress management techniques offer various benefits if used correctly and regularly. They include improved sleep and digestion, reduced blood pressure and tension in the body muscles, as well as enhanced mental health and well-being (Dasgupta, 2018). Furthermore, managing anxiety lowers cholesterol and glucose levels and helps prevent the development of diseases, infections, and long-lasting mental issues such as depression and neurological disorders (Dasgupta, 2018). Obstacles to performing stress management strategies include a lack of motivation, time, energy, or financial resources for self-care (Dasgupta, 2018). Moreover, unexpected life challenges can become a barrier to managing anxiety effectively.

Physical activity and socializing are the techniques I have successfully applied to manage stress. I exercise three times a week, meet my friends on weekends, and spend time with family at least once a week. These methods help me sustain physical and mental health and overcome feelings of frustration and tension. Furthermore, when socializing, I maintain my relationships, strengthen my bonds with people, and improve my self-esteem due to the support I receive. Other benefits that I have experienced include improved mood, self-discipline, and confidence.

To conclude, constant stress tends to cumulate into serious health issues, such as high blood pressure, diseases, and mental health problems. Stress management techniques can help eliminate risk factors and adverse health outcomes. For instance, socializing and expressing ones feelings to loved ones reduces tension and burnout. Physical activity is another example of a stress management strategy that shows positive results. By handling anxiety, people can avoid many problems of physical, psychological, and emotional nature.

Reference

Dasgupta, A. (2018). The science of management: A guide to best practices for better well-being. Rowman & Littlefield.