stress

much of the stress that people feel doesnt come from having to much to do, it comes from not finishing what they’ve started

Stress is the perceived threat to one’s physical or psychological well being. Because of the silent nature of the perceived threat, stress is often called a ‘silent killer’.

The term perceived is important because what is stress to one may not be stress to another because of the perceptual difference.

Stress is caused due to the secretion of adrenalin into the blood in response to a danger. This chemical increases our breathing, heartbeat, etc and gives the extra energy to fight the threat. Without this adrenalin cycle, life will not be possible as we may not respond to a threat and may be harmed.

Thus stress is useful and is called eustress. But when the threat goes away, the cycle should get cut off, and we should come to normal.

In the case of psychological stress and especially due to the intensity and frequency of threat in modern life or because of the make of an individual, the cycle does not get cut off. Then, it becomes bad and is called distress.

Hence, all stress start as eustress and then convert into distress.

Stress has three stages namely:

Alarm stage – This stage starts with anxiety and panic. For example, when a dog chases us or when we are told that some of the employees may be laid off and that you could be one of them.

Resistance – Here, the person summons the resources to cope with the stressor and channels the energy for this. The symptoms of the alarm stage vanish. It is seen that the immune system function tends to decline during periods of stress.

Exhaustion – Many stressors are short term and tend to vanish. For example, examination stress vanishes after the examination. But occasionally, a stressor persists. Then the person may enter the third stage, i.e., exhaustion. In this stage, the symptoms of the alarm stage return and the person eventually uses up his or her adaptive energy.

Consequences of Stress

This can be emotional such as anxiety, anger, depression, irritability, frustration, over-reaction to everyday problems, memory loss, and a lack of concentration for any task.

-Anxiety is exhibited as a response to loss, failure, danger, or a fear of the unknown.

-Anger is a response to frustration or social stress and can become a danger to other individuals, if not kept in check.

-Depression is frequently seen as an emotional response to upsetting situations such as the death of a loved one, illness, or failure.

It can also be psychological, i.e., long-term stress can cause psychological problems in some individuals. Symptoms may include social isolation, phobias, compulsive behaviors, eating disorders, night terrors, etc.

We will discuss in next article Managing stress …part2 the causes of stress and how to managing stess

Source

Management Process and Organisational Behaviour

Tags » Consequences Of Stress

Managing stress …part1