What is Stress?


According to Dougal and Baum (2001), there is no universally accepted definition of stress. Most theorists agree that stress is or can be adaptive, that it is associated with threatening or harmful events, and that it is typically characterized by aversive or unpleasant feelings and mood. Some theorists have argued that stress can be positive, but others have insisted that it is a fundamentally aversive state. Some suggest that stress is an emotion and some have described stress as a general state of arousal associated with taking strong action or dealing with a strong stimulus.


Stress can be described as a negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, and behavioral changes that are directed toward adaptation either by manipulating the situation to alter the stressor or by accommodating its effects. Stress is an adaptive process with the goal of either altering a stressful situation or adjusting to and minimizing its negative effects.


Dr. Hans Selye defined stress as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it (Kreitner and Kinicki, 1992). The demand can be a treat, a challenge or any kind of change, which requires the body to adapt. The response is automatic and immediate. Stress can be good (eustress) when it helps us to perform better, or it can be bad (distress) when it causes upset or makes us sick.


 


I consider stress not as an emotion or feeling. I think of it more of a response to a challenging or threatening situation. I learned that stress has physical and emotional effects on humans. Some argue that stress can create positive feelings while some believe that it elicits negative emotions. I believe that stress can have both negative and positive effects. It cannot be prevented. Stress arises with change. As long as we experience changes, we experience stress. It is also my firm belief that we eliminate stress altogether, because we cannot. Rather we must find ways to manage it correctly and deal with it in an advantageous (for both the individual and the organization) way.


I noticed that there are a variety of definitions and meanings of stress. Theorists have different, often conflicting meanings but the unifying thought is that stress is our reaction to a challenging situation or demand. If a situation poses small challenge, we experience less stress. If the situation is poses a big challenge or if it is threatening we experience a lot of stress. I think the reason why there are many definitions of stress is because it is a personal/individual experience. It varies from person to person. An event or situation that causes me stress may not have the same impact to another person. There are also different ways to deal and cope with stress.


 


Objectives of Managing Stress


Stress management, as what I have learned does not aim to eliminate stress. One of the most important things that I learned for the module is that stress can have a positive effect on us. Therefore, I think there is no need for us to eliminate stress. The key is “Management”. It is merely a technique (or an art) in deal with stress more effectively. It aims to prevent us from being overwhelmed by stress. It aims to help us cope and avoid the adverse effect of stress. The module taught me that the objectives of stress management are to eliminate stressors, develop resiliency, and cope with stress temporarily. Enactive strategies (eliminating stressors) aim to create a new environment for an individual where in there are no stressors. Proactive strategies (developing resiliency) aim to enhance the individual’s capacity to handle stress. Developing resiliency involves strategies that will initiate action that resists the negative effects of stress. When an immediate response is required, reactive strategies can be effective in dealing with stress. Reactive strategies (coping with stress temporarily) are applied on the spot remedies to reduce the effects of stress.


The effectiveness of a strategy depends on the individual’s situation. In a working environment where there is a high risk of stress among employees. I think the best way to minimize the negative effect of stress is developing a proactive strategy (developing resiliency). The employees with the support of the management must develop strategies that will increase their level of self-resiliency. It is more important for individuals to be able to cope with and manage their stress level. For example, if an employee is working in a stressful environment or the nature of work is considered stressful, for example a Nurse, it would be quite impossible to create or move her to a new environment where there are no stressors. I think the more effective strategy is developing the person’s resiliency. This could be accomplished through the promotion of proper diet, balanced lifestyle, and supportive social relations. Mentoring, teamwork and coaching can also enhance a person’s resiliency.


 


Reactions to Stress


Researchers divide the body’s reaction to stress into the following three stages:


1. Alarm


This stage occurs when the body recognizes that a stressor is lurking and mobilizes the body’s biological/chemical defenses to cope with it. Certain hormones are pumped into the blood stream, which speed up the heart rate, increase respiration and slow down digestive activity.


2. Resistance and Adaptation


In this stage, the body tries to repair the damage caused in the first stage and bring the body back to a “normal” condition. This defense system works so well that most of the time we are not even aware of it. We are all bombarded by stress – but we are not all sick.


3. Exhaustion


A person’s body cannot be under stress all the time. Release must occur or illness may result. Exhaustion happens when the body stops to defend itself against stress.


 


The body’s reaction to stress is divided into three stages. The first stage, the alarm stage is when our body recognizes that a stressor is present. In response, the body alarms its biological/chemical defenses. During the second stage, the body tries to repair the damage brought about by the alarm stage. When the body is unsuccessful in repairing the damage or when the stress is not positively dealt with, the third reaction takes place. The third reaction is exhaustion. Continuous stress exhausts the body. Release must occur or illness may result.


 


Now I understand why people who are always “stressed out” and unhappy often fall sick more than those who are happy and enjoy life. Apparently, the mind and the body are connected. They affect each other. Prolonged stress has a negative effect on the physical health. Employees fall sick or become fatigued as deadlines, peak seasons or any challenging and demanding situations occur. When exhaustion takes place, the employees may feel weak and they may lose motivation. It is also important to understand that stress does not always lead to exhaustion. If the body is able to deal with stress during the second stage (Resistance), exhaustion will not happen.


 


Stress management teaches us ways to control stress. If we can effectively control our reaction to stress, we can turn it into a positive force that may improve our performance in the workplace. I learned that stress management is always a personal effort. There are stressors that we cannot avoid but if we learn how to control our reactions to stress we can minimize (or even eliminate) the adverse effects of stress on our health, performance at work and our over all well-being. The module helped me to learn that we can effectively deal with stress in an advantageous way.


 


Stress Defence Mechanisms


The stress defence mechanisms (aggression, regression, repression, withdrawal and fixation happens during the resistance stage. I learned that aggression is not a good way of coping with stress. Instead of dispersing the conflict, it usually intensifies it. Withdrawal for a short period can afford us the time to find more acceptable coping techniques. Regression occurs when a person returns to a form of behavior characteristics of a younger age of development. Repression is purposely and consciously avoiding stressors in order to avoid dealing with them. I learned that aggression, regression, repression, withdrawal, and fixation are not proper ways of dealing with stress. I used to think that these behaviors cannot be avoided and that they are natural. They are our natural defense mechanisms to stress but because of this module, I learned that stress can be managed in a more proper way. There are more effective ways of dealing with stress.


 


Type of Stressors


1. Time stressors when temporarily present may have a significant effect on productivity and performance. However, continuous time stress can be harmful.


2. Encounter stressors are those that result from inter-personal interactions. Encounter stressors generally arise from three types of conflicts: role conflicts, in which roles performed by group members or subordinates do not fit expectations; issue conflicts, in which disagreement exists over how to define or solve a problem; and interaction conflicts, in which individuals fail to get along well because of mutual antagonism.


3. Situational stressors arise from the environment in which a person lives or from an individual’s circumstances.


4. Anticipatory stressors include potentially disagreeable events that threaten to occur unpleasant things that have not yet happened, but might happen.


 


I learned that there are different types of stressors. Each type has a negative effect on people. Temporary time stressors may have a positive effect on the employee’s performance. However, prolonged time stressors such as work overload and lack of control over one’s job is harmful. Interpersonal conflicts produces encounter stressors, which also have negative effects on the employees. I think that encounter stressors have significant effects on productivity and satisfaction. I found out that encounter stressors is one of the major causes of organizational dysfunction. Situational stressors arise from unfavorable working conditions and rapid change. Anticipatory stressors arise from unpleasant expectations and fear.


 


Eliminating Stressors


In this lecture, I learned the ways to eliminate stress in the workplace.


1. Time stress can be eliminated through proper and efficient time management. The importance of proper and efficient time management is one of the significant things that I learned in this module. Now I see time management as a way not only to eliminate stressors but also to increase productivity and avoid a chain of stressors from arising.


2. Encounter stress can be eliminated through team building and collaboration. Collaboration eliminates stress by giving an employee membership in a stable, closely-knit group or community. I am still unsure about the how to effectively eliminate stress through teambuilding and collaboration. Maybe encounter stress can be eliminated but up to some degrees only. I think that this topic must be discussed more deeply.


3. Situational stress can be eliminated through work redesign. An effective job redesign model includes skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback. Changing the aspects of work can eliminate stress and increase productivity.


4. Anticipatory stress can be eliminated trough goal setting and small wins. Small wins strategies include identifying the things that can be controlled; changing these things is a way that leads toward a desired goal; finding another small thing to change and change it; keeping track of the changes made; and maintaining the small gains made through change.


 


Temporary Stress Reduction


I found out that there are temporary stress reduction techniques that can be employed in case an individual is faced with stress that needs immediate response. These are muscle relaxation, deep breathing, imagery and fantasy, rehearsal and reframing. I am particularly interested in these techniques and I hope it can be discussed deeper.


 


Workplace Stress Reduction


I learned that both individuals and organization can use different methods to reduce stress. Individual strategies include physical exercise, hobbies, meditation, group discussions and assertive training. Organizational strategies like meeting with employees to discuss the extent of stress, conducting a survey and inspecting the workplace for stress causing factors, improving job design, improving communication, developing stress policy and training managers to recognize stress are also effective. The organization is responsible for the safety and well-being of the employees. The organization must make sure that the employees are working in a stress free environment or the employees are properly educated and equipped to cope with stress in the workplace. Each employee is responsible for managing his/her stress. He/she must find ways to effectively deal with stress. I learned that stress is also related to lifestyle. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important.


 


This lecture taught me so many things. It taught me that stress management is a key to management competency. The most important things that I learned about this module are the nature of stress, its impacts on individuals and the ways that it can be managed. Stress management is an interesting topic. I used to think that the only way to deal with stress is to avoid it, but now I know that there are many effective ways to deal and cope with stress. Another thing that I learned from this lecture that change the way I view stress is that is can be a good thing. It is a driving force that keeps us on our toes and ensures that we push to the best we can be. The issues that interested me a lot, and that I would like to study in more detail are the reactions to stress and stress defense mechanisms. I think it is important that we study these issues in order to make an effective stress management strategy. The definition of stress remains unclear. What I know is that it is our reaction to challenging or threatening situations. I also want to know if there are differences on how male and female employees deal with stress.


 


The knowledge and ideas that I learned for the module can be applied to my personal life. I now know that I can manage stress and there are a number of ways to do it. When I face stress in the workplace, I will know how to deal with it.  The module was effective because it was able to educate its intended audience about stress and stress management. I learned many things form it.


One the interesting facts that I learned from this lecture is that stress has overtaken traditional workplace illness and injuries to become the biggest cause of sickness and absence in Britain. Another interesting and new fact that I learned is stress costs U. K. industry £3.7 billion each year.


 



Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com


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