What is stress? The pressures of our world cause physical, mental and emotional strain. This strain is what we call stress. When stressed out, our bodies react by releasing chemicals into our blood which can create more energy and strength. The most common reaction to stress is losing your temper, getting irritated, losing concentration, headaches, increased heart rate, etc. Stress is not always a bad thing to have; some level of stress is good because it adds excitement and spice to a dull life. But over stressing can be harmful physically and emotionally. Many relationships are damaged because of stress, and a lack of control over life situations. Stress is the way your body responds to any demands, due to good or bad experiences. Let’s take a look at few stressful situations that can occur on any day of our lives.
- A husband and wife are both working full time while their parents are dependent on them for help with shopping due to health conditions.
- Someone is living paycheck to paycheck and is denied a raise. They can barely make ends meet and save any money.
- Divorced parents sharing custody of their children are arguing with each other on matters concerning the children. These arguments tend to arise out of nowhere and happen frequently.
- Ever increasing competition at work makes you feel pressure and for survival you work day in and day out. You may take on more work than you can handle. Working very early, staying up too late to complete your job.
Types of stresses
1. Survival stress
It is a common response to fight danger or run away from it, depending on the situation. If you feel that someone is trying to hit you, you’ll react by hitting them before they hit you, or you’ll get clear and avoid getting hit. There is a sudden burst of energy in you enabling you to survive this physical danger.
2. Internal stress
You must have come across a crossroad in your life where you felt that you were not capable of handling the situation, or you started worrying for no reason at all. This kind of stress is very difficult to understand and manage. This happens when we put ourselves in stressful situations and start worrying about things irrelevant to the issue.
3. Environmental stress
Responding to the situations which surround you is natural. For example, when passing by a noisy area, we tend to cover our ears. We react differently to noise, pressure from family, friends and work. Identifying environmental stress and getting control over them will help reduce stress level a great deal.
4. Stress due to fatigue and overwork
Working hard throughout the day takes a heavy toll on the body. One of the common reasons for such stress is the inability to manage time properly. Find ways to relax when you are uncomfortable, and stressed out.
What is stress? Our body’s natural response to external events. Some stress is good but we need to learn new strategies for managing it when it gets to be too much.
