Category: Stress

Introduction

Stress is a state of mind that alters the mental stability and is considered to interfere in all aspects of life. Depending on the situation the magnitude of stress might vary.

Children or adolescents might also fall victims to this condition of mental disturbance and in the present context the description is concerned with those of African –American origin. It is well known that school going children or students are exposed to a variety of multicultural or multiethnic environmental conditions in some countries. Here, there may a possibility of differences that could keep some groups of students apart from coping with others which might induce a mental stress. So, there is a need to review the literature to understand the role of various factors connected to the present scenario.

In a qualitative research, previous workers studied stress along with nutrition and exercise to determine hypertension in young black male college students (Ludescher et al., 1993). From a health perspective, this study may indicate that stress was associated with hypertension. Therefore, it can be inferred that conditions or risk factors contributing to stress through hypertension need to be explored in students.

Main body

Vaccaro and Wills (1998) investigated the Made Investigations to determine whether the stress coping variables are related to substance (cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana ) use in adolescents comprising of African –American, Whites and Hispanics. They have found that the expected relationship was lower in African –Americans compared to Whites and Hianics.This study may indicate that African –American students are less vulnerable to substance use and its association with stress. However, further studies were warranted to exactly determine substance use induced stress. Previous workers have studied the life style and health behavior of African American nursing students and reported that over 80 % of the students

had excellent scores for cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use (Adderley-Kelly & Green, 2000).This study may support the earlier report that has highlighted the role of cigarette and alcohol in association with stress.

There is also a need to identify other factors that may be likely associated with stress among African American college students.

Thompson, Anderson and Bakeman (2000) determined the role of racial identity in mediating the connection between racial socialization and acculturative stress in African American university students. They have found significant relationship between racial socialization and acculturative stress, racial socialization and racial identity, and racial identity and acculturative stress.In another study researchers have described the role of racial identity and the consequences of perceived racial discrimination in the lives of African American college students (Sellers & Shelton, 2003).This was further strengthened by another report.

Bynum, Burton, and Best (2007) described that racism has negative impact on the psychological health of African Americans. They have investigated to determine whether two types of parental racial socialization messages reduced the impact of racism on psychological functioning in college freshmen.They have found that students with more racism experiences had poorer levels of psychological functioning as indicated by higher levels of psychological stress and psychological distress. This was further strengthened by another report.

Walker et al. (2008) explored the relationships between acculturative stress and ethnic identity to depressive symptomatology and suicidal ideation in college students. They have found that acculturative stress and ethnic identity mediated the depression-suicide ideation relationship for African American but not European American college students. Hence it may be inferred that suicidal attempts were also associated with either high-acculturative stress or poor group identity.

This may act as another marker for evaluating stress in African American students.

These studies may indicate the involvement of racial differences in the episodes of stress among African American students. King (2005) reported that both racial and gender discrimination are associated with poor psychological and physical health outcomes by determining the role of cognitive appraisal as a mediator of the relationship between experiences of discrimination and affective stress reactions. Here, it can be inferred that besides race, gender has also become the target of discrimination that may be identified as another possible link to stress factors.

In view of these stress inducing conditions, there is a need to develop coping strategies that may help to overcome racial differences. Henderson et al.(2003) reported that African American women diagnosed with breast cancer were able to mange the disease by relying on prayer, avoiding negative people, developing a positive attitude, having a will to live, and receiving support from family, friends, and support groups.

This study has suggested that nurses should serve as healthcare advocates for African American women with breast cancer. Therefore, this study may indicate the importance of depending on coping strategies with no signs of racial discrimination that might lead to stress. Hence, it may appear reasonable to assume that similar coping strategies if adopted by African American students may help in better management of stress.

Further, there may be also other sources contributing to the stressful conditions in African American students.

Murphy, Wismar, and Freeman (2003) described that stress reactions are connected to terrorist attacks. They have examined stress reactions to the events of September 11, 2001 among African-American college students not directly exposed to the attacks.

They have found that many students experienced a variety of stress symptoms and distressing thoughts and feelings in response to the events of September 11, including academic problems, concerns about family and friends in the military, and fear about war.

Classen et al. (1998) have used the standard DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for acute stress disorder and examined whether the acute psychological effects of being a bystander to violence involving mass shootings in an office building predicted later posttraumatic stress symptoms. Their results indicated that being a bystander to violence is highly stressful in the short run, but acute stress reactions to such an event further predict later posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Conclusion

In the description mentioned by Murphy group it is obvious that college students were stressful after the attacks indicating the involvement of posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Hence these two reports are closely associated and further indicate a new parameter whicj is terrorism or violence. Therefore, it is reasonable to infer that stress in African -American students was linked with traumatic conditions.

References:

1. Ludescher, G., Nishiwaki, R., Lewis, D., Brown, E., Glacken, D., Jenkins, E. (1993). Black male college students and hypertension: a qualitative investigation. Health Educ Res, 8, 271-82.

2. Vaccaro, D and Wills, T.A. (1998). Stress-coping factors in adolescent substance use: test of ethnic and gender differences in samples of urban adolescents. J Drug Educ, 28,257-82.

3. Adderley-Kelly, B and Green, P.M. (2000). Health behaviors of undergraduate African American nursing students. ABNF J, 11, 7-12.

4. Thompson, C.P., Anderson, L.P., Bakeman, RA. (2000). Effects of racial socialization and racial identity on acculturative stress in African American college students. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol, 6, 196-210.

5. Sellers, R.M and Shelton, J.N (2003). The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination. J Pers Soc Psychol, 84, 1079-92.

6. Bynum, M.S., Burton, E.T., Best ,C.(2007). Racism experiences and psychological functioning in African American college freshmen: is racial socialization a buffer? Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol,13, 64-71.

7. Walker, R.L., Wingate, L.R., Obasi, E.M., Joiner, T.E.(2008). An empirical investigation of acculturative stress and ethnic identity as moderators for depression and suicidal ideation in college students. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol, 14, 75-82.

8. King, K.R. Why is discrimination stressful? The mediating role of cognitive appraisal. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol, 11, 202-12.

9. Henderson, P.D., Gore, S.V., Davis, B.L., Condon, E.H. (2003). African American women coping with breast cancer: a qualitative analysis. Oncol Nurs Forum, 30, 641-7.

10. Murphy, R.T., Wismar, K., Freeman, K. (2003). Stress symptoms among African-American college students after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Nerv Ment Dis, 191,108-14.

11. Classen, C., Koopman, C., Hales, R., Spiegel, D. (1998). Acute stress disorder as a predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Am J Psychiatry,155, 620-4.

Introduction

Stress is a psychological concept it cannot be touched or perceived directly because it is the emotional and physical strain caused to us when we respond to some indirect pressure from the outer world (Stress, 2008a). Stress is usually caused due to some imbalance on the mental and physical conditions which varies from how person to person takes it. Stress makes a person unable to make decisions particularly when he is subjected to workload in operational settings where the stakes are high and data are ambiguous. Stress is doubled or tripled whenever there are time constraints like noise, workload, or threat which can play havoc with the clear thinking needed in work settings (Driskell & Salas, 1996, p. 49).

Stress is an intrinsic element of human biology, psychology, social relationships and organisational structures and is therefore a predictable consequence of being human and alive. In order to reflect on how we might wish to safeguard ourselves from the more deleterious effects of stress, it is first necessary to accommodate this fact psychologically and emotionally. However, not all stress results in a negative outcome. Stress that motivates us to push against the limits of our human experience or learning that we perceive as challenging rather than debilitating is called ‘eustress’. Eustress stimulates teachers to develop their professional competence and perform their roles more effectively.

Pressure and stress come from two main sources, from the outside world and from within oneself. Stress from the environment comes in the shape of unexpected life events, the strain of ongoing, unsatisfactory circumstances, and from daily hassles. Internal sources of stress are unconscious and self-imposed and can come from an ill-maintained, sensitive, or ailing body, from faulty learning, which results in problem behaviours and habits, and finally, from maladaptive patterns of thinking and erroneous beliefs about oneself or one’s world.

External risks on stress include ill health, problem behaviours, or faulty thinking that can exacerbate the impact of external events, ongoing life circumstances, or daily mishaps (Flanagan, 1990, p. 23). Personal causes of stress include accidents, psychological disorders due to some mishap, death of a family member or loved one, financial issues and so on.

Symptoms

The symptoms include tension, mental instability, and lack of concentration, depression, excessive workload, family problems, personal problems, and sometimes physical diseases.

Cognitive Symptoms: The cognitive side of stress includes memory problems, inability to take decisions, lack of confidence, viewing everything from the negative aspect, uncertainty, anxious thoughts and fearful anticipation.

Emotional Symptoms: the emotional drawbacks are loneliness, restlessness, being unhappy with the present situations and inability to take rest or relax.

Physical Symptoms: Physically in stress the person is subjected to over eating or eating disorder, headaches, migraine, nausea, diarrhoea, unnecessary weight loss or gain, insomnia, loss of sex drive, dependency on drugs and alcohol, and overdoing activities (Stress, 2008b). Stress, at work is a common phenomenon which refers to the state of “feeling ill” (Payne & Cozens, 1999, p. 3).

Psychological Effects of Stress

The effects of stress are not consistent with the psychological literature that is, when an organism deviates from biological equilibrium, a stress can be inferred, and if at least one stress can be inferred from the presence of such a strain, then the psychological literature should be replete with reports of the effects of various stresses on human performance and productivity. Stress acts as function that psychologically causes fuzziness with which the concepts of stress and strain are used in the psychological literature, and among behavioural and social scientists generally, than of any real lack of studies of forces, commonplace and otherwise, that are associated with deviations from biological or psychological equilibrium (Alluisi, 1982, p. 2).

Stress effects on Human Performance

Stress effects human performance and effectiveness and proves that worker productivity does indeed depend on many diverse, individualized factors probably too many to provide more than very general, diffuse, organization-wide applications. A worker’s performance depends upon factors like motivation and job satisfaction and stress effects those relevant task and situational variables, which are complex to the aptitude and skill, experience and training variables of worker. Since these variables and factors interact with each other, therefore stress when effects one, all other tasks and situational variables are changed so as to make the job more difficult, aptitude and skill or experience and training requirements can be raised to compensate.

The relationship between stress and depression

Stress when combined with the negative events results in depression which in the context of personality and social behaviour stresses the importance of individual differences in the likelihood of expressing and modulating different emotions. There are individuals who when reacted with stress produce mild stress or novelty which is one of approach towards positive emotions, whereas other individuals display withdrawal responses and negative emotions. Besides, individual differences within these groups in the intensity of emotion expression and in the ability to modulate expression are the differences that generate tendency to express either approach (positive) or withdrawal (negative) patterns in response to stress or novelty and are fundamental to the motivational core of individuals. The differences for which every individual reacts differently to stress are seen as being subsumed by different brain systems, with the tendency to express negative emotions and withdrawal organized and the tendency to express positive emotions and approach-related behaviours organized (Johnson et al, 2000, p. 38).

Stress behind infant crying

Bowlby noticed that among mammalian species, cry vocalizations form the core of the infant’s behavioural stress response. That means behind baby’s first cry stress functions to summon the caregiver and to motivate the caregiver to search for and change the conditions that threaten the infant’s homeostasis. Stress in infants is represented in the form of a cry that is more than just vocalization the state of crying and involves vocalizations, diffuse movements, facial grimaces, entrained breathing, and so on. Thus, it can be argued that the infant mammals’ behavioural stress consists of signal behaviours (crying/grimacing) and locomotors behaviours (movement, search) that increase the likelihood of contact between caregiver and young both by motivating behaviour that brings the caregiver to the infant and by increasing behaviours that bring the infant to the caregiver (Lewis & Ramsay, 1999, p. 41).

Stress during Childhood and Adolescence

Stress in the context of developmental psychopathology is the identification of factors that predict an increased probability for emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. Although stress plays a significant role in disturbing social and biological factors in the life of a child and adolescent maladjustment, research indicating a consistent association between stressful events and psychological disorder in adults suggests that stress may be an important construct to investigate in younger populations. Stressful experiences occurring early in development may contribute to emotional or behavioural problems and disrupt positive development. Further, early events may alter the course of later development either directly or indirectly and may cause many psychological disorders. Stress, stressful events or stressful circumstances going on in children’s lives and maladjustment may be reciprocally related, each contributing to the maintenance of the other.

Among children stress is concerned with vulnerability which is due to a wide range of factors, like effects of poverty, psychopathology of a parent, parental abuse, children’s temperament and other possible sources of vulnerability like coping strategies and styles, age or developmental level, gender and gender-related personal characteristics, social-cognitive factors, including perceptions of personal competence, and stress and symptoms experienced by family members (Cummings, 1991, p. 117).

The Stress Response – Fight or Flight

Stress is due to the problems, pressures, surprises, and disappointments which are an inevitable part of life. Consequently, in the course of stress evolution, man developed a mechanism to help out in adversity called the ‘fight or flight’ response. This ‘fight or flight’ response is an inbuilt coping kit that automatically comes into operation in times of pressure and emergency and makes people function, temporarily, even more effectively and efficiently than they normally would in all three areas of functioning – physical, behavioural, and cognitive.

In a normal stress response the body automatically musters up its resources and works to its own advantage when the sudden need arises. Bodily reactions to stress are complex, and they involve the autonomic part of the nervous system thereby producing a hormone called ‘adrenalin’ which is produced by the adrenal glands. This acts on the muscles, blood vessels, skin, sweat glands, and the digestive system and prepares the body for ‘fight or flight’. Adrenalin makes the muscles relax in order to facilitate the flow of blood to them, because they require more blood than usual for action.

To compensate for this extra blood supply to the muscles, blood vessels in other areas are constricted thus, the pale face of the stressed person. There is also increased pressure on the body’s pump, the heart; so the heart rate is increased. This, in turn, creates a greater need for oxygen, and breathing therefore becomes more rapid. All this autonomic activity results in a depletion of the body’s water supply; people perspire when under pressure (e.g., sweaty palms) and when cooling down after action. Water is drawn from other parts of the body, the most familiar consequence being a dry mouth. Everyone experiences stress symptoms when surprised, frightened, or in an emergency. These reactions are normal and they help people cope with the inevitable stresses of life.

On a behavioural level, if the response is positive, stress would pressurize people ‘get their act together’ more quickly and efficiently than they normally would. For example if one has some workload, he or she would skilfully and purposefully get his head down in the office or at the workplace thereby getting all his actions being comfortably coordinated. Similarly on a cognitive level, if the response is positive there is an increase in speed and efficiency. In a crisis situation, for example, people can find themselves surprisingly calm, their thoughts efficiently and quickly guiding the appropriate coping responses. Likewise, when well-prepared at a pressurized interview, people find that they can think clearly and quickly, all the relevant facts and figures springing to mind.

Coping with Stress

Under a certain amount of pressure, the mind is equipped to cope and react accordingly. People function more effectively than usual with thinking more quick and clear and under excessive or prolonged pressure, people can experience any of a number of disconcerting stress symptoms. When people are worried, tired, stressed, or overstretched, they simply do not have this extra space, this openness to attend to the outside world. Stress makes the people thinking and mental reactions slower, and, frequently, this is obvious to others by their acts.

The coping process is composed of three stages, the stressed individual’s action, the specific context or environment in which he decides to cope, and how an individual’s actions change as the stressful encounter unfolds. The entire coping process may take a few moments or hours or may continue over weeks or even years.

By adopting healthy activities stress can be coped like taking regular counselling therapies and sessions that emphasize on smoking cessation programs, properly incorporate dietary and exercise interventions for weight control. Exercise and physical activity data for women in the United States, which may be more unfavourable than in some European populations, show that 6 out of 10 U.S. women are sedentary, with a tendency toward a sedentary lifestyle that has been progressive over recent years. Physical inactivity is more likely to be associated with lower educational levels and lower income levels responsible for incorporating stress and depression. Increased levels of physical fitness are associated with more favourable coronary risk profiles, with this association being more powerful for women than for men. Habitual exercise is associated with decreased coronary risk even in old age, although the mechanisms remain conjectural.

There are various ways to reduce stress which vary and are often conflicting. In everyday conversation, stress may be referred to as an affliction or something that happens to a person. An event can be ‘stressful’ or can leave one ‘stressed out’, therefore in popular magazines, articles instruct readers about ways to reduce stress through changes in diet, exercise, work habits, meditation, and numerous other ways.

Stress coping with children and adults require parents and their counsellors to be patient. It is seen that inner stress can be coped up be adopting a healthy life style. The mood states and emotions associated with physical activity have a potentially important role in health promotion and stress balance. If we believe that physical activity is positive health behaviour in order to avoid stress, it would be encouraged and promoted to see how people feel during and after activity that may be critical in determining whether they maintain their involvement. Therefore emotion and mood may have motivational properties in order to retain a stress-free life for an important health-related behaviour.

Self-help Strategies

For many of us, much of the stress we experience results from our relationships, particularly with colleagues and family members. Therefore, it is essential that teachers or counsellors develop the skills of communicating assertively in order to reduce the stress levels in their interpersonal relationships. Full use should be made of the assertion skills including saying ‘no’ when you need to; expressing feelings constructively using ‘I’ messages; being able to both give and receive helpful feedback; and developing behavioural strategies for dealing with criticism or aggression. Assertive behaviour can enable us to develop mutually satisfying relationships with the significant people in our lives and as such is a key survival strategy.

Another important strategy that helps coping stress is the ability develop skills to be prepared to talk through personal concerns with an empathetic listener. Discussing problems with other people can enable us to hear our own stories and make sense of them. If we are lucky and have a skilful listener, they might even challenge us to take back a sense of control by working on strategies for dealing with the situation in a more assertive manner. Sharing your concerns with someone who has experienced similar problems can in itself be calming, since this generates a feeling of ‘being in the same boat’ which is widely acknowledged to be therapeutic. Try to stay aware of maintaining, and if possible expanding, personal support networks, so that during the tough times there will be people available to share concerns and fears.

Another key survival skill for stress is the ability to ask for help. When it becomes really difficult to cope with the happenings of daily life, it is vital for counsellors or teachers to be able to ask for help from colleagues or friends. Asking for help can make us feel vulnerable, exactly the opposite image that counsellors or teachers often feel required presenting to the world at large (Hornby et al, 2003, p. 157). Other useful strategies for coping with stress are those which are based on centring, breathing and relaxation techniques. Hypnotism, massage and various forms of meditation and yoga all involve combinations of these three types of technique and have been used for centuries to help people cope with the stress of living. Techniques which have become popular more recently for facilitating relaxation are guided fantasy and progressive relaxation.

Works Cited

Alluisi A. Earl, (1982) Human Performance and Productivity: Stress and Performance Effectiveness: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ.

Cummings E. Mark, Greene L. Anita & Karraker H. Katherine, (1991) Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Perspectives on Stress and Coping: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ.

Driskell E. James & Salas Eduardo, (1996) Stress and Human Performance: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Flanagan M. Catherine, (1990) People and Change: An Introduction to Counselling and Stress Management: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Hillsdale, NJ.

Hornby Garry, Hall Carol & Hall Eric, (2003) Counselling Pupils in Schools: Skills and Strategies for Teachers: RoutledgeFalmer: London.

Johnson L. Sheri, Hayes M. Adele, M. field Tiffany & Schneiderman Neil, (2000) Stress, Coping and Depression: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Lewis Michael & Ramsay Douglas, (1999) Soothing and Stress: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.

Payne L. Roy & Cozens Jenny Firth, (1999) Stress in Health Professionals: Psychological and Organisational Causes and Interventions: Wiley: New York.

Stress, 2008a. Web.

Stress, 2008b. Web.

Major issues in the article

The article To better cope with stress, listen to your body, talks about the impact of the internal body response to a stressful situation, and the ability of individuals to be resilient. Resilience means the ability of the body to bounce back to its original state when faced with a significant threat. The article shows how people develop resilience and how it affects their ability to manage stress.

According to Gretchen (2016) when an individual is faced with a state of heightened arousal, it destabilizes the ability to the physical and mental performance of the body, which has a direct impact on stress management. The article also argues that when individuals are faced with situations of heightened arousal, their bodies should be able to dissipate completely after the incident is over. Different people show different abilities to bounce back to normal states after heightened arousal, which determines their ability to manage stress. Scientists argue that some people are more resilient due to the ability of the internal body to communicate.

Evidence in the article

This article is well supported by different scientific researchers, which shows the ability of people to become resilient when faced with heightened arousal. The article starts with well-documented research that examined the degree of resilience on adventure racers and special operation soldiers when they are faced with extreme emotional and physical demands of their occupations.

The evidence from this article was conducted on this individual by observing their brain reaction to heightened situations. Each was required to lie on a scanning machine while inserting their head in a facemask. Since the situation heightens the body emotionally, the researchers were able to observe a consistent pattern in all participants. This research is critical in supporting the conclusion of the article because not everyone can be able to bounce back to his or her normal state after heightened arousal.

Moreover, the choice of this research was suitable because most of the special service soldiers experience heightened emotional situations every day compared to normal individuals. Most of these soldiers have to undergo extreme physical and psychological situations, but their inner body can return to a normal state quickly. The suitability of the group gives the article a strong background to support the conclusion.

Furthermore, the result of the study also compelled the reader to believe the authenticity of the study since they observed a consistent brain reaction pattern from all the soldiers and racers who were examined. The study observed that the flow of messages from the brains that receive signals of heightened body arousal was slight when individuals’ masks were about to close. The study confirms that while the body of the soldier and racers panic at the beginning, they were able to dampen completely the stress without overreacting. This research is consistent with the author’s line of argument and supports the conclusion.

The author uses another research drawn from 48 normal individuals who do not undergo extremely heightened body arousal every day to establish if the same pattern would be observed in their brains. It included 48 healthy adults who were required to complete questionnaires before their brain reaction could be observed in a scanning machine. Based on their score, the people who had shown high resilience showed the same characteristic as the racers and the soldiers.

This convergence of information is of particular importance to the study because it supports the conclusion of the article. Moreover, the consistency of the score and the brain reaction was also paramount in reaching the conclusion. However, the study does not explain the partial differences between those men and women who were faced with extremely heightened arousal almost every day, and those who scored high resilience. Although the study does not explain precisely the rationale behind these observations, it shows consistency, which is critical in supporting the conclusion.

Author’s assumptions

The author assumes that there is a direct correlation between the degree of resilience and body awareness. Specifically, the author’s conclusion highly relies on the narrative that improved internal body communication increases resilience. However, this assumption might be incorrect because they are many factors that affect the ability of individuals to be more resilient. For instance, resilience is determined by the problem-solving skills of a person.

The ability of a person to think before reacting plays a critical role in resilience since it enables individuals to generate alternative solutions by weighing the consequences of a situation. I assume that people who experience heightened body arousal every day are more resilient due to repeated internal body communication. Persons in the armed force experience extreme body arousal because there is continuous communication in the international body daily compared to ordinary individuals in the streets. The assumption that improved internal body communication increases resilience can also be affected by other external factors.

Background information relevant to the conclusion

The author gives background information on factors and situations that give rise to heightened body arousal. The article argues that according to new brain research, some people are more resilient than others. It also shows how we face difficult situations in life that can cause stressful emotions in our body such as finances, safety, and personal health status. The article also uses California’s professor argument to support the main argument in the article.

Evaluating the issues relevant to real-world situations

The ability of an individual to bounce back to normal state after experiencing a heightened emotional situation is paramount in this study and real life. The ability of individuals to remain resilient when faced with adversity is affected by many factors in real life. For instance, when a person has people around him or her who cares about them in tough times increases their ability to be more resilient (De La Rosa, Webb-Murphy & Johnston, 2016, p. 205). Moreover, resilience can improve when an individual has people who believe in their ability to overcome challenges while remaining strong to meet their expectations. Living in a society that allows you to have a meaningful life full of opportunities to prove you can be able to deliver can potentially increase the ability to remain resilient (Courtney, 2015, p. 18).

When an individual is a resilience, they can be able to leverage and harness inner strength to help them overcome different challenges such as disasters, death, and illness. If a person does not have resilience, they might feel victimized or turn to drug abuse to try to overcome those challenges (Besser, Weinberg, Zeigler-Hill & Neria, 2014, p. 1231).

However, in real life, resilience does not solve your problems but gives you the ability to make alternative decisions without being stressed. Resilience can be acquired which will help a person to keep functioning after experiencing trauma, anger, or pain. The ability to remain resilient has more to do with reaching for others’ support rather than being stoic or remaining tough. In real life, resilience is essential because it can protect an individual against mental health anxiety. Moreover, it can help an individual to offset factors that can potentially increase mental health illness because of anxiety.

Clarifying the conclusion

There is a direct correlation between improved body communication and resilience. The author’s evidence supports the conclusion that is consistent with the actual survey conducted by researchers. However, Palm-Fischbacher and Ehlert (2014) noted that they are many factors that determine individual resilience such as problem-solving skills and the ability to feel secure (p. 46). The author opts to have explained other factors that have a direct impact on individual resilience apart from internal communication. However, the information and evidence provided by the author strongly support the conclusion.

The implication of the conclusion

The author’s conclusion has a direct impact on future researchers who might be tempted to base their argument on this conclusion without considering another factor that affects resilience. The conclusion highly relies on international communication of the body as the only factors that affect resilience. However, in real life, this may not be the case. Another external factor determines the degree of resilience such as problem-solving skills. Moreover, the ability of an individual to think before acting has a direct link on individual ability to remain resilient.

References

Besser, A., Weinberg, M., Zeigler-Hill, V., & Neria, Y. (2014). Acute Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress and Dissociative Experiences Among Female Israeli Civilians Exposed to War: The Roles of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Sources of Resilience. Journal Of Clinical Psychology, 70(12), 1227-1239.

Courtney, J. (2015). The war on stress: resilience in the military. Occupational Health, 67(12), 18.

De La Rosa, G. M., Webb-Murphy, J. A., & Johnston, S. L. (2016). Development and Validation of a Brief Measure of Psychological Resilience: An Adaptation of the Response to Stressful Experiences Scale. Military Medicine, 181(3), 202-208.

Gretchen, R. (2016). To Better Cope With Stress, Listen to Your Body. Web.

Palm-Fischbacher, S., & Ehlert, U. (2014). Dispositional resilience as a moderator of the relationship between chronic stress and irregular menstrual cycle. Journal Of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 35(2), 42-50.

Introduction

Feeling stressed out has become more common in this modern age, where the challenges and adjustments required of an individual have increased. This paper is meant for college students and addresses the aspects of stress that are meaningful to them.

Stress and its Implications for College Students

We may believe that stress has only psychological relevance, but the perspective of psychologists is that stress is the physiological and psychological reaction of an individual to a condition that poses a threat calling for some kind of adaptation or adjustment. This is why stress has both physical and emotional components and can affect the health of the individual. The origins of stress can be traced to the fight-or-flight response in any individual.

Such a perspective of stress may give rise to the impression that stress factors are severe. However it is not the significant events in the life of a more stressful individual, but the small problems and hassles that we face in our daily activities. For college students, such small problems and hassles arise from their academic responsibilities, expectations, and interaction with their colleagues. A look at the ten most common causes of stress in college students confirms that stress in college students arises from simple problems and hassles. These ten most common causes of stress among college students are worried about the future; lack of sufficient sleep; time wastage; inconsiderate smokers; physical appearance; too much to do; misplacing or losing things; insufficient time to complete requirements; worries about expectations; and loneliness.

These causes can be translated into the simple failure experiences during the time spent at college and the lack of making the required adjustments. Let’s take the case of physical appearance and loneliness. The more physically attractive friends may find it easy to find a college partner, and this leads to the belief that only if one is physically attractive, does one get a partner. This leads to brooding and loneliness. Instead if one were to take a more positive attitude that it is not just physical looks that bring a partner and the right one will come along, then the stress factor goes away. This brings us to the matter of choice of right action in adjustment to the situation to avoid physical and emotional stress.

Let us take another example in making the right adjustment to avoid stress. Most often submission of assignments on time is a hassle, for the time that has been available for it has been wasted and everything has to be done at the last moment. Besides the lack of time, there is also the worry of getting good grades. This stressful condition can be avoided by a little better responsibility and time management. Yes we all love a good time and we do need it, but let not the having of a good time give rise to stress later. Instead, it is better to choose to complete the assignment work during the week and the early weekend, and then have a good time with the remaining time in the weekend, which leaves one without stress at the beginning of the new week.

There may be occasions when stress factors eat deep into one. To get away from it choose to do the things one likes. This may involve playing a game, or going to a movie with friends, and the like. The issue here is that the time spent in such an activity removes the stress factor and gives a new spirit to the individual. In essence, choosing an adjustment that removes stress makes it easier on college students.

Conclusion

Stress occurs to an individual in various walks of life to the detriment of their health. Stress occurs from small problems and hassles calling for adjustment. College students also experience stress from several simple problems. By choosing the right adjustment, college students can avoid stress and have a more meaningful academic life.

Works Cited

Health and Stress.

Emotion regulation does not have a single definition yet. Different authors define it differently (Macklem, 2008, p.2). All agree that internal processes are involved but many do not consider overt behavior as a lack of regulation of emotions. Whether external regulation can be spoken and whether there is voluntary and involuntary regulation is still ambiguous. There is also no final agreement on anticipatory emotion. Cole et al define emotion regulation as the changes that are associated with emotions once they are triggered by some event or situation (2004). It is a group of processes that a person might use to call up a positive or negative emotion, hold onto the emotion, control it, or change it, and then differentiate between the feelings of emotion and how emotion might be displayed according to Bridges, Margie and Zaff (2001). Ten years earlier, emotions were believed to affect behavioral reactions associated with intrinsic and extrinsic actions (Thompson, 1991). Emotions could also be managed by a person such that a particular emotion could be used for a purpose. There is a difficult to differentiate emotion from emotional regulation.

Emotion regulation is a common everyday experience (Morris & Reilly, 1987; Rippere, 1977). People take it for granted and perhaps only notice when it is absent, e.g. when a child throws a temper tantrum (Thompson, 1991), or a friend shows little interest in our good news (Gross & Mufioz, 1995). The term “emotional suppression” is used by Gross in the sense of an act, which is the conscious inhibition of behavioral signs of emotion, while emotionally aroused (Gross & Levenson, 1993).

Important functions are motivated by emotions. We prepare for action, make decisions, make judgments about the environment or situation we are in and also gauge other’s intentions (Macklem, 2008, p. 3). By controlling the extent is how we regulate emotions which could have positive or negative effects. Involvement of definite aims or goals determines the kind of emotion expressed. Several concepts have been found in literature. Emotion regulation, emotional regulation, affect regulation, mood, coping, stress reduction, self-regulation, effortful control, and self-control are the several concepts (Macklem, 2008, p. 3). Students who face threatening events, cutting remarks by a peer, or a perceived attack on self-esteem experience the emotion of anger or anxiety, or fear. This negative effect has to be coped with and the stress reduced through strategies like “thinking of something else, trying to relax, speaking assertively, or walking away from the situation” (Macklem, 2008, p. 4). This helps to reduce the intensity of negative emotions. Self-control is another concept that helps the students to adjust to their environment by controlling their responses and impulses. Better self-control would help them get better grades, adjust better, have relationships and respond in appropriate emotional behaviors. Good self-control helps them to be more competent social preschoolers and have better social functioning as noted by parents. They are more popular with a higher social status and get good grades (Macklem, 2008, p. 5). Refocusing attention can produce effortful control. In an environmental situation that triggers strong emotion, a student must be able to initiate and inhibit action. Effortful control can reduce the heat of the moment. It is a method of self-regulation and is a predictor of positive social functioning.

Emotion regulation is a series of events as described by Menesini (1999). It consists of the input regulation, central regulation and output regulation. A disturbance of the sequence could prevent the regulation. Failure cannot occur due to any individual factor (Behncke, 2002).

Many skills help in regulating emotions. Facial and bodily expressions can help one to interpret the emotion involved. The clarity with which a young person can express his emotions, how aware he is of his own emotions, how well he can understand his emotional triggers, the way he can manage the intensity of the emotion are all skills of his handling emotional stress (Ziedner, Mathews and Roberts , 2006.).

The regulation of emotions identifies 5 processes: Situation selection, Situation modification Attentional deployment, Cognitive change and Response modulation (Gross, 1998 b). The four processes at the beginning are antecedent focused and the fifth is response focused.

(Beauregard, Levesque, and Paquette, 2004). Emotion regulation has components of “the latency, rise time, magnitude, duration, and offset of responses in behavioral, experiential or physiological domains” (Gross 1998a, p. 288). The student must be able to have emotions without being overcome by them and maintain social appropriateness. His behavior should not disturb the thread of interaction proceeding. Young people who can regulate emotions are less vulnerable to stress and inappropriate behavior (Pardini, Lochman, and Wells, 2004). Those who find it difficult to control emotions are more vulnerable to stress (Salovey, 2006).

Central emotion regulation is significant in modulating the functioning of students. Cognitive processing has a relevance for practitioners who are helping students. The work of the practitioners includes designing specific interventions for helping students to plan and prioritize, learning to distract themselves in challenges, to reframe events and situations where they react excessively and challenging the concerns of others (Macklem, 2008, p. 9).

Culture has a definite influence on the students. Considering the vast number of cultures evident in universities and colleges, efforts must be made to have more research in this field (Eisenberg et al, 2004). Measures of emotion regulation applicable to students need to be made available. Evidence-based practices to strengthen emotional regulation must be studied further. Strategies to help the students modify their emotional regulation need to be identified for the implementation among them. They must be identified and grouped so that the interventions which are best suited to each of them are understood. The students who need help may be the ones who are more vulnerable than their peers. The highly dysregulated ones with a history of trauma would require another set of interventions. Much research has been done in this field and good interventions are available even now. However, more research would give better ideas and streamline according to individual needs. It is believed that training can modify an approach or intervention. Exercise and relaxation can improve emotional regulation as found in recent research (Muraven and Baumeister 2000). “Every child capable of developing a resilient mini-set of strategies will be able to deal more effectively with stress and pressure, to cope with everyday challenges, to bounce back from disappointments, adversity and trauma, to develop clear and realistic goals, to solve problems, to relate comfortably with others, and to treat oneself and others with respect.”(Goldstein and Brooks, 2005). This just suggests more strongly that training can help.

In each class of school a child’s emotional regulation would have advanced and it demonstrates age-appropriate competency (Cole, Dennis et al, 2004). This adequacy is demonstrated at college and university levels too. Many children do not achieve their age-wise competency. Affective dysregulation begins from childhood trauma (Plattner, 2007, p.156). The factors which influence their progressing competency are “personal history, early development and training, the context in which an emotion is felt, and the culture or cultures in which the student must function” (Macklem, 2008, p.10). Insecure attachments, temperament, language are some of the factors which affect emotional regulation. The point must be remembered that some instances accept intensity of emotion as in a cheering field and when opening a much-desired gift. Variation in expectation and tolerance level may also influence a child’s emotional regulation. Some college lecturers tolerate intense emotion while others prefer quiet students. Variation in cognitive abilities, knowledge and the ability to use strategies influence regulation. The same children who had problems in school would go on to being problematic youth studying in universities. They would be carrying their problems into university life.

Research has shown that individuals are able to suppress or control their responses to different stimuli depending on culture, social context or emotional intelligence. They can consciously hold back on/inhibit an unacceptable impulse, thought or feeling. There is an increasing recognition that individuals exert control of their emotions using a wide range of strategies, “individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them and how they experience and express them” (Gross 1998b, p. 275). Other researchers have attempted to determine that individuals differ systematically in their use of particular emotion regulation strategies and question if these differences have important implications for adaptation.

This study aims to explore in more detail how emotional regulation may vary depending on gender. The role of emotions in students’ life would be understood better with this research. It is worthwhile knowing how attention and behavior are influenced by emotions (Macklem, 2008, p. 12). Emotion could be a motivator for studies (Cole, Martin, et al, 2004). Students have different reasons for studying well. Most work hard not to fail and others avoid work to reduce anxiety. It would be useful to study more about what students do for emotional regulation and how it affects their life stresses and their academic performances. The objective is to help them learn that their emotions can be regulated and there are definite methods to do so. The information obtained may be imparted to their mentors in university, psychologists and all staff so that the students may be helped on occasions that call for them. The staff needs to understand the relationship between emotional regulation and general adjustment (Macklem, 2008, p. 12). “Healthy socialization, positive relationships with others and academic success” depend greatly on emotional regulation. The significance of training the students in emotional regulation must be stressed. This study has framed many relevant questions for investigation. Is there a difference in the emotional regulation suppression of women compared to men? Are women more prone to emotional expression than men or that men are conditioned to hold back/hide their real emotions? Is there any relationship between the approach of academic exams and the level of stress for the students? Are there any differences between female and male students in their academic and life stress? Is there any relationship between self-esteem and the level of both academic and life stress? The study will explore the hypothesis that individuals differ systematically in their use of particular emotion regulation strategies.

A questionnaire is being used to gather the information. Questions will be targeted to try and encourage/promote different responses from different genders. The questionnaire has been selected as the tool for this study since the area of interest is in the considered response of different genders to a question. The exact content of the questionnaire will be provided by the University. Participants for the survey will be from the students of different Universities. The relationship between the effect which stress can have on both academic and outside life for the students is being focused upon. The study is aimed at finding out if there is significant evidence of emotion regulation suppression resulting from the subordinate nature of this relationship. Does the individual student behave according to how they are treated? Does this produce any effect on the individual student’s well-being/health? Is difference between men and women expected? What effect, if any, will there be on the individual student’s academic progress?

Analysis of the results of the survey will be carried out using either Factorial Variance Analysis (ANOVA) or Regression Analysis (based on correlation design) or both if necessary.

The proposed timetable for this study from initial approval date is as follows:

The primary sources of academic research will be; Morris & Reilly (1987); Rippere, (1977), Thompson (1991), Gross & Mufioz (1995), Abouserie R. (1995), Gross & Levenson, (1993) and J.J.Gross and fellow associates (1998), Mackelm, (2008), Plattner (2007).

The participants in the targeted survey size will be 80 – 100 students from different Universities. Each participating student will be given one questionnaire which would take approximately 30-40 minutes to complete. All surveys would be completed within 1 month of distribution so that sufficient time is made available to analyze data and propose any conclusions from the study. Targeted students will be invited to participate in this research using the letter of introduction. The letter covers a brief description of the research, how the individual will be involved and explains that the questionnaire survey will be conducted anonymously and the output stored in a secure location. The participants need not fear trespass on their privacy. Ethical considerations concerning willingness and the secrecy of the findings would be specially taken care of.

The remainder of the study will be based on the research into the series of researches that have dealt with the subject of emotion regulation and its expression in students and how different researchers have investigated the subject and the outcomes. Any gaps in the literature would hopefully be revealed and the significance of this study would be evident. Chapter 3 would outline the methodology for conducting the research.

References

Beauregard, M., Le´vesque, J., and Paquette, V. (2004). “Neural basis of conscious and voluntary self-regulation of emotion”. In M. Beauregard (Ed.), Consciousness, Emotional Self- Regulation and the Brain (pp. 163–194). Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Behncke, L. (2002). Self-regulation: A brief review. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 4(1). 2009. Web.

Bridges, L. J., Margie, N. G., and Zaff, F. J. (2001). “Background for community-level work on emotional well-being in adolescence: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors”. Child Trends Research Brief. Washington, DC: John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Cole, P. M., Dennis, T. A., and Martin, S. A. (2004). Emotion regulation: A scientific conundrum. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, Ghent, Belgium. 2009. Web.

Cole, P., Martin, S., and Dennis, T. (2004) “Emotion regulation as a scientific construct: Methodological challenges and directions for child development research”. Child Development, 75(2), 317–333.

Eisenberg, N., Champion, C., and Ma, Y. (2004). Emotion-related regulation: An emerging construct. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50, 236–259.

Goldstein, S., and Brooks, R. B. (2005). “Why study resilience?” In S. Goldstein and R. B. Brooks, Handbook of Resilience in Children (pp. 3–15). New York: Springer Science þ Business Media, Inc.

Gross, J. J. (1998a). “Sharpening the focus: Emotion regulation, arousal, and social competence”. Psychological Inquiry, 9(4), 287–290.

Gross, J. J. (1998b). “The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology”, 2(3), 271–299.

Macklem, G.L. (2008). “The Importance of Emotional Regulation in Child and Adolescent Functioning and School Success”. Chapter 1 in “Practitioner’s Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children”. Springer, New York.

Macklem, G.L. (2008b). “Emotional Dysregulation”. Chapter 2 in “Practitioner’s Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children”. Springer, New York.

Macklem, G.L. (2008c). “Emotion Regulation in the Classroom”. Chapter 6 “Practitioner’s Guide to Emotion Regulation in School-Aged Children”. Springer, New York.

Menesini, E. (Chair) (1999). Bullying and emotions. Report of the Working Party. The TMR Network Project. Nature and Prevention of Bullying: The causes and nature of bullying and social exclusion in schools, and ways of preventing them. 2009. Web.

Muraven, M., and Baumeister, R. F. (2000) “Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle?” Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 247–259.

Pardini, D., Lochman, J., and Wells, K. (2004). “Negative emotions and alcohol use initiation in high-risk boys: The moderating effect of good inhibitory control”. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32(5), 505–518.

Plattner, B. et al. “State and Trait Emotions in Delinquent Adolescents”. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2007) 38:155–169 DOI 10.1007/s10578-007-0050-0.

Salovey, P. (2006). “Applied emotional intelligence: Regulating emotions to become healthy, wealthy, and wise”. In J. Ciarrochi and J. D. Meyer (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life (pp. 229–248). New York: Psychology Press.

Thompson, R. A. (1991). “Emotional regulation and emotional development.” Educational Psychology Review, 3(4), 269–307.

Zeidner, M., Matthews, G., and Roberts, R. D. (2006). “Emotional intelligence, coping with stress, and adaptation”. In J. Ciarrochi and J. D. Meyer (Eds.), Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life (pp. 100–125). New York: Psychology Press.Everyday Life (pp. 229–248). New York: Psychology Press.

Key Causes of Stress for Students

Stress is a natural response of the body to the challenges and problems around. This concept is old enough, and every person is free to develop different meanings and experiences to associate them with stress (Selye 14). Students, as well as other people, could experience stress because of different reasons and of different forms. Some students suffer from stress because of the inabilities to learn and memorize some new material. Dissatisfaction with grades, problems with physical or emotional health, poor sleep, and the presence of other poor habits could be the main stressors for students.

Seaward explains that stress for college students could be classified accordingly regarding roommate dynamics, professional pursuits, academic deadlines and pressure, financial aid and school loans, lifestyle behaviors, exploring sexuality, etc. (15). Some students suffer from stress that is caused by the necessity to follow full schedules and the inabilities to meet deadlines. The necessity to work and study in a hurry could confuse students or make them angry with personal powerlessness. Therefore, stressors could be found everywhere, and students have to know how to deal with them and understand their effects.

Key Effects of Stress on Students

The fact of stress is not the worst outcome that could be observed among students. Some students cannot even understand what effects of stress they should be ready for. In fact, stress is neutral by its nature and defined as the way of how students perceive events. However, it could also be negative and positive. Positive stress includes situations when students are motivated to improve their performance and achieve success (FitzMaurice 21).

Negative stress is when a person tries to do something, but no positive results are observed (FitzMaurice 22). Besides, stress could affect a student’s health and leads to some autoimmune, hormonal, or neuromuscular problems (Mensah 12). As a result, stress could promote the worsening of academic performance, increased penalties for deadlines, and the inabilities to cope with the amount of work gathered in a short period of time. Regarding such effects and outcomes of stress, students have to know how to deal with it as soon as it is identified.

Results of Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale

The Perceived Stress Scale developed by Cohen at the beginning of the 1980s is one of the most famous and frequently used tools to measure the level of psychological stress among people (Lee 121). It does not take much time to take this questionnaire and give the answers to several simple questions. Students could evaluate their past experience and investigate if their lives are unpredictable or boring.

The result I got was 14. It is defined as considered average. It means that stress is not my problem. Still, I have some reasons to start worrying about and protect my health against some cardiovascular diseases and problems. I agree with the result because I believe that students cannot live without stress all the time. Sometimes, students worry about their grades, and sometimes, students want to achieve better results. Therefore, the presence of stressful factors cannot be ignored. The way of how a person could manage stress and choose the right behavior is what actually matters.

Personal Experiences of Stress

One of the latest stressful situations I had to survive was connected with the necessity to meet the deadlines of two impressive projects almost at the same time. Due to my family problems, I had to postpone doing one of my projects for several weeks. As soon as I began to work on it, another important project had to be developed as well. I had to work on two different projects and develop various ideas. It was difficult and challenging.

I had to do my best to meet the deadlines and introduce interesting and appropriate works. As a result, the goal was achieved, and the projects were defended. Still, I was exhausted. Stress was the outcome of my hurry and thoughts about academic deadlines and performance. I was not angry or frustrated. At the moment, I found that I could not cope with all the things I had to do. I was not able to control all things and felt nervous from time to time. These were the main reasons for the stress I experienced during the last two months.

Ways to Manage Personal Stress

Stress management is a crucial practice that helps to identify the causes of stress and take the actions that help to reduce the level of stress in future and improve college experience (Austin and Lockmiller 54). There are many ways of how students could try to cope with stress and manage personal lives. Regarding my situation and the presence of stress because of the inabilities to control my time and things around, I believe that I got some kind of work stress that could be managed with the help of properly organized schedules and the established deadlines that cannot be removed.

Meditation before sleeping is another method to try to find out the required portion of harmony and focused on the goals and tasks set. Finally, I had to understand that there were a number of people around, who could help me. What I had to do was to ask for help and clarify my problems. I thought that even tutors could understand my situation and support me. Still, my desire to achieve academic perfection prevented me from asking for help and led to stress.

Works Cited

Austin, Don, and Blake Lockmiller. “An Examination of How Traditional and Non-Traditional Students Differ in Perceived Stress and How They Manage Stress.” Missouri Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance 26 (2016): 48-55. Print.

FitzMaurice, Kevin Everett. Stress for Success, Portland: FitzMaurice Publishers, 2013. Print.

Lee, Eun-Hyun. “Review of the Psychometric Evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale.” Asian Nursing Research 6.4 (2012): 121-127. Print.

Mensah, Joseph Nii Abekar. Stress Management and Your Health, Houston: Strategic Book Publishing, 2013. Print.

Seaward, Brian Luke. Essentials of Managing Stress, Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2013. Print.

Selye, Hans. Stress in Health and Disease, Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2012. Print.

Abstract

The paper evaluates the article devoted to the analysis of stress-related dietary behaviors and severe obesity. The research sample included 101 low-income women, and the evaluation of the sample let researchers find the correlations between stress and severe obesity, independent of unhealthy eating behavior. The article provides a review of stress factors associated with weight gain, as well as health complications provoked by obesity and excess stress. Although unhealthy eating is commonly associated with stress, the poor and unhealthy diet maybe not the sole factor contributing to the development of obesity, and the examination of other non-dietary factors is required.

Stress and Eating Behavior

In their quantitative research study, “Perceived stress, unhealthy eating behaviors, and severe obesity in low-income women,” Richardson, Arsenault, Cates, and Muth (2015) evaluate the sample of 101 culturally diverse overweight, moderately obese, and severely obese women from the low-income families to identify the correlation between stress, eating behavior, other stress-related physiological factors, and severe obesity. The data collected through questionnaires and interviews are exposed to statistical analysis which allows the researchers to find the links between stress level and weight status. The findings demonstrate that excess stress is associated with alterations in eating behavior. However, Richardson et al. (2015) suggest that there may be an indirect relation between uncontrolled or emotional eating and moderate obesity while, at the same time, severe obesity, “independent of eating behaviors and diet quality” is positively associated with stress (p. 4).

In their article, Richardson et al. (2015) test several hypotheses identified through a review of previous literature findings. First, the researchers hypothesize that the excess level of stress is associated with severe obesity both through eating behavior and “non-diet-related risk factors” (p. 2). Another hypothesis suggests that the stress-related mechanisms of weight gain function differently in women with moderate and severe obesity.

The background information introduced in the study reveals that obesity is a common disorder among the low-income US population, and low-income people face many stressors of social and financial character which increase the risk factors for the development of obesity. Obesity is associated with multiple health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, respiratory system disorders, cardiovascular diseases, etc. At the same time, excess stress correlates to weight gain and the development of unhealthy eating behaviors, including the increase in the level of sugar, fat, and overall energy intake, as well as the deterioration of diet quality. Nevertheless, the researchers also suggest that stress may provoke the risk factors the excess weight gain which is independent of individual eating behavior, i.e. lipid metabolism disorder caused by the increased regulation of the process by cortisol.

Uncontrolled and emotional eating are the major types of dietary behaviors associated with stress. Such abnormal dietary behaviors and poor quality of food (snacks, fast food, and high-fat food) serve as the methods of coping with stress. Previously, to explain the mechanisms of stress-related eating behavior development, the researchers claimed that distress causes the impairment of cognitive restraints that may lead to an increase in food intake. But Richardson et al. (2015) argue that stress may provoke the activation of neurologic “reward signal pathways” that foster overeating (p. 2).

The effect of stress on obesity through eating behaviors is complex, and the researchers could not find a direct association between them. The study has some limitations including the small sample size and the lack of evaluation of the non-dietary obesity factors such as physical activity. While focusing on the analysis of stress-induced severe obesity, the study fails to examine the correlations between stress, dietary behaviors, and overweight or moderate obesity. Nevertheless, the study findings lead to the conclusion that there may be a positive association between overweight and stress-related overeating which increases the individual propensity to severe obesity.

References

Richardson, A. S., Arsenault, J. E., Cates, S. C., & Muth, M. K. (2015). Perceived stress, unhealthy eating behaviors, and severe obesity in low-income women. Nutrition Journal, 14(122), 1-10. doi:10.1186/s12937-015-0110-4

Criminal justice specialists are exposed to stressors that can lead to burnout and professional disability. Factors that lead to excessive stress at work can include constant contact with victims of violence, poor management, work overload, and lack of equipment and employees (May et al., 2020). The increased level of stress among criminal justice workers is directly related to the field of criminal justice. Tired and unmotivated employees pose a threat to public safety.

Working in the field of criminal justice is dangerous due to the threat to life. It is also emotionally exhausting because of the work’s specifics. The social factor of stress in the work of criminal justice professionals is aggression and threat from citizens and criminals (Paoline III & Gau, 2020). From a political perspective, criminal justice professionals are given an undue responsibility for public safety, which can be a major stressor. Culturally, there has been a tendency of distrust to criminal justice officials (Bell, 2019). Due to such attitude, professionals may feel misunderstood and not receive enough support, which also leads to stress.

The organization of the justice system itself may have contributed to increased staff stress. Lack of employees due to insufficient motivation leads to overwork, which provokes stress. Representatives of all departments, from law enforcement specialists to correctional institutions’ professionals, can face an overestimated workload. Insufficient funding can lead to a loss of a sense of security among representatives of law enforcement agencies, which results in emotional stress. Poor management causes employees to perform a varied range of tasks, leading to burnout.

The criminal justice system is aware of the seriousness of the current problem and is trying to adapt to the emerging trend. The national justice system is currently looking into the effects of PTSD and bystander syndrome on its workers (Dawson, 2019). The importance of reducing stress to guarantee labor rights and ensure the stability of society is recognized. Stress management programs include medical testing for police officers (Dawson, 2019). The judicial and correctional systems are less adapted to the current trend.

For criminal justice professionals, the most important contribution of national policy is recognizing the importance of the problem and finding ways to address it. In practice, the workload begins to decrease, additional funding appears to ensure the functioning of the structures (Tan et al., 2022). However, the efforts made may not be enough, because attention is mainly focused on those specialists who accept a direct threat to life and health. National psychological assistance programs should take into account the interests of all criminal justice personnel.

Increasing stress on criminal justice workers is a danger not only to them, but to society as a whole. A person who is constantly exposed to stress and is in a phase of emotional burnout cannot effectively perform their duties. The criminal justice officer must be motivated to help, empathize, and enforce law, which cannot be done under constant stress (Endsley, 2021). Because of this factor, the level of security of the whole society is reduced.

In conclusion, excessive stress on criminal justice professionals poses a threat to public safety. Social, cultural and political factors impose responsibility on employees while leaving no opportunity for staying motivated to work. At the moment, the system is moving towards recognition of the current problem and is looking for ways to eliminate it, such as psychological assistance programs. To truly reduce the stress of criminal justice staff, a concerted effort of the state and society is needed.

References

Bell, M. C. (2019). The community in criminal justice: Subordination, consumption, resistance, and transformation. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 16(1), 197-220. Web.

Dawson, J. (2019). Fighting stress in the law enforcement community. National Institute of Justice. Web.

Endsley, K. (2021). Criminal justice professionals: A practical career guide. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

May, D. C., Lambert, E. G., Leone, M. C., Keena, L. D., & Haynes, S. H. (2020). Stress among correctional officers: An organizational justice approach. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45(1), 454-473. Web.

Paoline III, E. A., & Gau, J. M. (2020). An empirical assessment of the sources of police job satisfaction. Police Quarterly, 23(1), 55-81. Web.

Tan, Y. S., Zalzuli, A. D., Ang, J., Ho, H. F., & Tan, C. (2022). Understanding the workload of police investigators: A human factors approach. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 37(2), 447-456. Web.

Having survived a crisis, one is likely to remain affected by the traumatic event. The aftermath of traumatic experiences is recognized as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It represents a complex psychological problem whose treatment varies due to its diverse nature. In particular, different people tend to respond differently to traumatic situations and the situations themselves are unique for each individual. This paper will cover evidence-based practice strategies that can be applied to working with crisis survivors using CBT and IPT.

CBT and IPT Strategies

As noted by James and Gilliland (2017), PTSD occurs as a response to catastrophic events of natural and man-made character. Since situations that cause PTSD are unique and the experiences are individual for each person, the development and manifestations of PTSD tend to vary as well. Consequently, there are several approaches to treating this disorder. In particular, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is known as one of the most effective treatments for PTSD. Trauma-focused CBT includes such strategies as cognitive processing and prolonged exposure. The former strategy stands for the focus on beliefs that occurred due to a traumatic event. Such beliefs tend to shape perceptions, lifestyle, choices, behaviors, responses, and habits of crisis survivors thus affecting their daily lives. The application of this strategy to work with clients includes concentration on the ideas received due to the traumatic events of the past for the purpose of reevaluation of behavior patterns they dictate. Prolonged exposure stands for the intentional immersion of clients into recreated scenarios similar to the traumatic events they had experienced in the past. This is done for the purpose of helping patients develop a different view on their experiences and emotions thus letting go of the fears they had brought.

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) uses an approach different from the one used by CBT. Namely, instead of focusing on the events that caused trauma, IPT concentrates on interpersonal relations of clients and the ways they were affected. Practically, non-exposure is an important characteristic of IPT treatments (Markowitz et al., 2015). For instance, one of the IPT strategies is focused on grief and is applied when working with clients whose crisis included the loss of a close person (Rafaeli & Markowitz, 2011). Another strategy revolves around role transition and can be applied when working with clients whose issues include divorce and separation with children or the loss of close people.

PTSD Diagnosis Prior to the Current Trauma

It is possible that people who had already been diagnosed with PTSD may find themselves in another crisis situation. In this case, the strategies used as treatments need to be adjusted in accordance with the clients’ changes in behaviors and reactions. In particular, a new traumatic event may add to the past experience and evoke new types of responses of emotional, physical, and cognitive nature. In this way, patients who were treated with the help of cognitive-behavioral therapy and prolonged exposure strategy may have to switch from focusing on the current trauma instead of the past one. In such situations, it is critical for the therapists to find out the impact that the new trauma made on the old experiences. In some cases, a disorder known as complex PTSD may develop as well because it is characterized by repetitive traumatic experiences (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016).

The clients whose core therapy is IPT may have to go back to the initial stages of therapy and reevaluate their current state, acknowledge the new responses, and become aware of the changes developing the new goals. In particular, as specified by Marotta (2000), PTSD reactions include the avoidance of activities related to trauma, re-experiencing of the traumatic event, increased arousal, and emotional numbing. If the two traumatic events (the current trauma and the one from the past) are unrelated, it is necessary to sort out which responses are linked to which event. In CBT, the two groups of responses are the most likely to be treated separately. In IPT, the treatment for both events may be combined as reflected in a client’s interpersonal relationship crises that followed.

Military Personnel and Civilians

The major period of research and development of the base of knowledge concerning PTSD was the time of the War in Vietnam when many soldiers displayed similar symptoms that were caused by their combat exposure (James & Gilliland, 2017). However, PTSD can be inflicted by events unrelated to military conflicts and occur in the civilian population. It was noted that PTSD in military personnel is different to the one experienced by civilians. In particular, among the symptoms that match (relationship crises and distrust), there are also behaviors that are found specifically in soldiers – compulsive checking and desensitization to pain, loss, and death (Vincenzes, 2013).

The strategies applied to military personnel suffering from PTSD are to be similar to those aimed at the treatment of multiple trauma or complex PTSD. This is the case because combat exposure stands for repeated traumatic experiences as the soldiers continue to deploy and experience new traumatic events. Specifically, in order to diagnose PTSD in military and civilian clients, it is necessary to use two different forms that reflect the difference in experiences leading to PTSD in military personnel and civilians.

References

James, R. K. & Gilliland, B.E. (2017). Crisis intervention strategies (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Markowitz, J. C., Petkova, E., Neria, Y., Van Meter, P. E., Zhao, Y., Hembree, E.,… Marshall, R. D. (2015). Is exposure necessary? A randomized clinical trial of interpersonal psychotherapy for PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 172(5), 430-440.

Marotta, S. A. (2000). Best practices for counselors who treat posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 492-495.

Rafaeli, A. K., & Markowitz, J. C. (2011). Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for PTSD: A case study. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 65(3), 205-223.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2016). Complex PTSD. Web.

Vincenzes, K. A. (2013). Comparison of civilian trauma and combat trauma. Web.

Introduction

Stress is one of the most misused words in the medical profession according to one Dr. Cecil Myer in a recent commentary in The Sun. Why? Because Psychiatrists have admitted being at pain at times to explain to lay men what stress really is all about. Any uncomfortable situation in life is labeled as stress. Some people even confuse boredom with stress and at times blame it for random illnesses and poor performance in school. Stress being a medical issue forms the basis of this research and the sample to be used for the purpose of the above research will be medical students in different institutions of learning.

Hypothesis

The question is “Are the academic related sicknesses in the medical students caused by stress that comes with the hard course that the students take or is stress caused by the hard medical course taken by the medical students? The question of whether poor academic performance among medical student’s results from stress due to the hard course they take or stress is caused by poor academic performance persists though silently among many medical researchers. In a quest to find a substantive answer to the above query we sought to conduct a research to help as conclude on this matter hypothesizing that the issue may go either way; stress causes poor academic performance among medical students or poor academic performance among medical students results into stress.

Research design

The kind of information required in the above research topic calls for a wide coverage of medical students in various institutions of learning who are our main specimens of observation are. In order to carry out the research efficiently and to ensure that the information obtained is reliable, we would have to select a number of students from every institution who are willing to disclose their side of view and their health status without interfering with their privacy. Again the research would call for the same medical students to allow us access their original and unaltered health reports.

The idea here is to compare their health status before enrolling for the medical courses with their current medical history after they enrolled and are studying the medical course. In addition the research will also establish when the stress is high, that is, when the students perform poorly or is it caused by the fact that the medical course is hard or the perception that the medical course is hard. In doing so we shall be relying on the findings of psychiatrist Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe. In their findings on the relationship between stress and performance in medical related studies, they found out that there is a strong relationship between the two. Subsequent support and validation of their findings by other psychiatrist gave way to the use of Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale as a standard measure for stress.

In our research therefore, we are to use the scale in guiding us to tell the level of medical studies that acts as a triggering tool that causes stress. In doing so a common ground has to be found as it might be hard to quantify stress. In reaching a common ground we have to admit the fact that the problems might be cyclical in that the hard medical studies followed by poor performance may trigger stress and vice versa.

Data collection

In obtaining information from the chosen respondents we have first to cultivate confidence and earn their trust. Due to a good number of constraints including time and resources we limit ourselves to a sample of 40 medical students drawn from all levels of medical studies and at different levels of medical studies.

Due to the diversity in our chosen respondents, interviews are the best way of data collection on the grounds that we hope that the respondents will be honest. Where possible close personalities acquainted to our respondents such family, friends and room mates will be contacted to verify suspect information from the respondents. This might appear rude but sticking to the basic has no harm as it adds credibility in our research.

Descriptive Statistic

Handling this kind of research is obviously to be met with some kind of resistance by the respondents in divulging information. To take care of this the respondents are first to be brainstormed about issues surrounding the relationship between medical studies and stress. Much as we may like to do so, utmost care must be observed to avoid instilling fear to the respondents to avoid pushing them in altering their would be responses.

In case of the interviewer asking questions, qualitative measure should be used in order to draw answers from the respondents. For example, a question can be framed this way, “Almost all medical students in your grade don’t get worried by stress when they perform badly in their exams, and do you get worried yourself? The answer to such questions or the framing of such questions gives the researcher the idea of the qualitative measures to use in presenting his/her findings.

Other considerations

Though our research may be small scale it has to involve some legality in that we may require parental/guidance or the institution administration consent especially in cases involving students whose health records show that they have in one way or the other suffered from stress related diseases as they form a crucial part of the study. Parents of such respondents have to be contacted before initialization of the research and necessary arrangements made plus the explanation of the whole business.

On another front, we appreciate the time and energy spent by the respondents in taking part in our research. As a show of appreciation, the respondents are to receive the final findings of the research free of charge.With such considerations put in place, then our research is ready to commence.

References

Myer, C. (2001). In The Sun, New York: New York Press, pp 34-89.

Thomas, H. (2004). What Results into Stress, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 123-125.

Richard, R. (2003). In the causes of Stress, New York: Macmillan Publishers, pp 45-78.

Stewe, K. (2004). Relationship between stress and medical related sicknesses in medical Students, New York: McGraw Hill, pp 34-90.

Morno, J. (1997).Medical Research Designs, New York: Macmillan Publishers, pp 12-78.