The pressures and experiences of life cause stress to people in several ways. Stress is a change in one’s body due to pressure that occurs emotionally, physically, or psychologically. Stress is, therefore, a response mechanism that the body applies to the changes it experiences. Informatively, different situations and experiences in life can cause stress to an individual. Recently, there has been an increased prevalence of stress among the general population. Depression, anxiety, and physical stress may increase due to diseases such as covid-19, causing stress to the entire population. Stress affects the general population, from children to the elderly. Therefore, it is an important matter that requires to be addressed and managed. This article discusses the causes, types, prevention, and management of stress.
Causes of Stress
Several incidents, situations, people, or even objects can cause stress. Besides, the causes of stress differ from one person to another depending on their situation. One thing that causes anxiety among people is financial problems. Therefore, people experience unemployment or low-paying jobs, lacking enough income for sustainability. Lack of enough finances does not allow people to maintain basic needs and desires. When they cannot do so, people get stressed out by the conditions. Approximately 72% of Americans experience stress because of a lack of money. Financial issues are, therefore, a significant cause of stress for most individuals.
Another cause of stress is work. People sometimes are stressed due to the pressures they find at work. Dealing with the work environment can be stressful for an individual. Sometimes meeting work deadlines can also be challenging hence being stressful. In addition, one can worry about particular work-related projects. Besides, an individual can be unfairly treated at work, causing stress. Therefore, different pressures that come with work affect a person physically, emotionally, or psychologically. Personal relationships also cause stress that affects young people as well as adults. Everyone, especially young people, always wants to make friends, whether romantic or not. However, when relationships do not work, it causes stress to the respective people. Besides, adults in their marriage relationships also experience stress when marriages fail to work. Moreover, relationships are associated with conflicts and violence that expose one to depression.
Lastly, daily activities and getting busy are also causes of stress. Minor issues that cause stress in our daily activities include forgetting to carry something to work or misplacing an important document or object that originates stress. Consequently, when such things become so frequent, it can lead to depression or feelings of anxiety. Further, having a busy schedule also increases the incidents of stress for an individual. People’s lives are full of pressure since they have a busy schedule and several complete tasks within a day. Therefore, a minor or significant situation can cause stress, hence depression.
Types of stress
Stress affects people differently, therefore showing different signs and symptoms. The following are the signs and symptoms of different types of stress. They include psychosocial anxiety, physical stress, and psychological stress. Psychological stress is associated with issues dealing with emotional or cognitive responses. Psychological stress stimulates the emotional and psychological reactions of an individual. Besides, a person with psychological will demonstrate different symptoms. They include frustration, panicking, jealousy, fear, sadness, grief, and anxiety. The differences in an individual’s behavior; regarding the mentioned signs and symptoms demonstrate psychological stress. The second type of stress is physical stress. It is the type of stress that exhibits through the body’s physical responses. The signs include dehydration, lack of oxygen, hormonal imbalances, injury, substance abuse, and injection. Physical stress causes the body not to function normally. Another type of stress is psychosocial stress associated with relationships with other people. People experiencing challenges with their marriages or romantic relationships experience psychosocial stress. Psychosocial challenges include isolation, social support, unemployment, and losing a loved one.
Moreover, it is also another way of grouping other types of stress. One type of stress is acute stress, which occurs after a short period and goes away quickly. Acute stress can bring pleasure in one’s life and sometimes is associated with sadness. Acute stress can be experienced more frequently and is called episodic acute stress. The experiences in episodic stress are similar to acute stress, only that it occurs more regularly. Consequently, the challenges in life may be experienced differently, but one challenge comes immediately after the other hence different episodes of stress. Chronic stress usually occurs for a long time. Besides, individuals with chronic stress get exposed to stress stimulants for that long periods. The leading cause of chronic stress is the accumulation of different pressure, harming health.
Further chronic stress deteriorates both mental and physical health. Thus, chronic stress is more associated with adverse effects. Situational stress is a kind of stress brought about by a particular condition. Usually, such type of stress goes away after the situation. In addition, anticipatory stress is characterized by anxiety when someone expects something or an event to happen in the future. For instance, a bride can experience anticipated stress just before the wedding day.
Management and Treatment of Stress
Stress is a problem that can be managed, and one gets free from it. Stress management methods relieve an individual from psychological, physical, or psychosocial torture. Therefore, they are the skills one uses for coping with stress. One way that people cope with stress is by exercising. Regular physical activity helps the body to relax and therefore relieves stress. Exercise also boosts moods, making a depressed person more relaxed and happier. Besides, frequent exercise needs to be done for it to be effective. Another way to relieve stress is through proper dietary intake; fruits and vegetables provide the body with nutrients essential to boost moods. Besides, foods rich in antioxidants are also necessary for reducing oxidative stress in the body.
Furthermore, some stresses are caused by being busy or too much work. Such stress can be removed by taking a break or slowing down. A break from the daily pressures is a crucial way of managing stress. However, getting adequate sleep and relaxation can help control stress.
Informatively, there are ways of treating stress as well. The treatment techniques include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acupuncture, meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and massage. MBSR applies the concept of meditation to help people deal with stress, especially psychological stress. The treatment method enhances relationships, reduces anxiety, and increases focus. On the other hand, CBT works by analyzing the negative thought that causes anxiety and depression. Analyzing negative thoughts creates a positive mind that improves psychological stress. Acupuncture stimulates the nervous and immune systems when thin needles are inserted under the skin. The process, therefore, deals with many issues, including stress. Acupuncture is best used in situations where one is having insomnia. Massage is also another form of treating some types of stress. Massage stimulates body relaxation, therefore suitable for solving anxiety and insomnia issues. Stress should be a problem since there are ways of treating or coping with it.
Preventive Methods
Fortunately, people do not have to deal with stress. There are ways of preventing the occurrences of stress. Controlling pressure means avoiding the stressors that will cause emotional, psychosocial, or physical disturbances. However, adequate supervision and employee management can prevent work-related stress; addressing employees’ and supervisors’ needs will help reduce stress at work. Organizational workers require a friendly environment to work. Again, they need enough time to work on tasks with slight pressure, preventing stress. Another way to avoid stress is to live a positive life and socialize with positive people. Hanging out with positive people is crucial since they will only help you look at life’s positive aspects. Besides, they will also focus on what they enjoy, having no time for negative thoughts that cause stress.
In conclusion, stress is a health issue that affects everybody in life. Besides, different types of stress affect people physically, emotionally, and socially. Moreover, various situations in life also expose people to other kinds of stress. For example, financial problems, relationships, and busy schedules can cause stress. Fortunately, stress can be prevented, managed, or tread using various ways. Therefore, people can explore multiple ways, such as regular exercise, healthy eating, proper time management, and avoiding loneliness in stress management. Even though stress harms people’s health, it also has positive effects since it teaches an individual’s life experiences, enabling them to cope with different stressors. Therefore, stress is part of life, and its solution is to deal with it appropriately for healthy living.
