Stress has been the focus of much research over the years. Understanding of stress has developed rapidly since the 1950s when stress came to be perceived as a non-specific response of the body to any demand made on it. The concept of stress as a process mediated by body-systems became widely accepted; stress was considered to be a dynamic, fluctuating and changing process of adaptation, defined as being the interaction between an individual's coping skills and the demands made on that person by the environment, internal as well as external.
The term stressor is used to describe situations that have the potential to be harmful or are perceived to be unpleasant. Such situations always demand a response from the individual. Examples of common stressors would include a separation or divorce; the death of a friend; moving house or job; and work pressures. Stress affects the way people live their lives: these varying impacts of stress may be seen in changes in thinking, in emotions and in behaviors. Psychological changes are accompanied by physiological and hormonal changes in the body.
Stressors may also be generated inside the individual. Such internal stressors may be psychological in origin or may result from physical states. Examples of the first would include severe conflict of belief or religious faith; doubts about self esteem; or conflict over goals which are hard to resolve without giving up some cherished notion. Stress may have physical origins. Infectious agents - viruses, bacteria, and many parasites challenge the body's physical defenses and reserves, and coping capacity may decline in the face of such assaults, making the stressful challenge even more stressful; or the stress may directly affect psychological functions and capacities - such as self esteem, concentration and thinking skills, abilities to enjoy and relate- all capacities which are undermined in, for example, depressive illness.
It is essential to take a holistic view. When people complain of being stressed or demonstrate the effects of being stressed, it is important to search for causes in both the external and the internal environments.
Good versus bad stress
It is commonly accepted that there is both good and bad stress depending on the severity or level of the stress. People need a certain amount of arousal or stress to be motivated to function and the amount they need - or can cope with - varies widely from person to person, depending on the nature of their personalities, other internal functions and other coincident stressors.
Up to a point, levels of performance improve as the level of challenge and arousal increases. However, past a critical point the level of arousal may become too much and performance then starts to become impaired. This is why prior to sitting a test or before a race, a person may be helped by feeling a bit 'hyped up'.
Performance benefits from this state of tension. Initially, attention and focus are intensified and sharpened, preparing and enabling the contender, intellectual or athlete to think more quickly and more clearly for the effort ahead.
Increase in heart rate and breathing prepares the brain and the body of both scholar and athlete for the demands that will be made for sustained concentration, memory and thinking or for unusual levels of physical exertion. However, if these physiological and emotional changes are excessive performance may become impaired.
Negative or unpleasant events, such as the death of a loved one, becoming unemployed or experiencing conflict with a spouse, cause stress. However, it is important to be aware that so-called positive life events, such as buying a new house, getting a new job or getting married, can also be stressful. This is because these events require a change or a response from the individual. They represent a challenge. If a person experiences too many major stressors over a short period of time, the resulting additive stress may sometimes lead to the development of a mental illness, usually depression or anxiety.
Various specific theories related to the causes of stress
Listed below are some different theories about stress, most of which are also concerned with ideas about the causes of anxiety.
- Psychoanalytic theories: these theories are based on Freud's interpretation of anxiety as a sign of underlying intra-psychic conflict, leading to internally experienced or externally evident symptoms.
- Learning and behavior theories: these are based on the belief that anxiety is a learned response to a preceding stimulus becoming more ingrained through repeated reinforcements (repeated episodes of learning).
- Developmental theories: these involve the processes of learning at various stages of growth and maturation. Learning may be intellectual, emotional, situational and will involve learning control and also various sets of responses to stimuli. If stressors of certain types occur which make demands beyond the level of the young person's stage of development of coping strategies, then adverse outcomes may result.
- Sociobiological theories: these are based on the belief that the development and maintenance of self-esteem is a human drive, leading to complex socio-behavioral motives which drive and direct the need to maintain personal power balance and position in social hierarchies.
- Ethological and physiological theories: involve the link between the 'fright, fight or flight' response of the sympathetic nervous system to challenge and the alarm reaction induced by adrenalin and other stress hormones.
- Neurobiological theories: these involve understanding of the body's response to stress as a complex and total response of brain and body in which major neurological changes, in the face of stress, lead to states of feeling (e.g. rage or fear) and, at the same time, trigger activity in various glands in the body (pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands mainly) which, in turn, causes its own set of acute and chronic symptoms.
Lifestyle and stress
An assessment of a person's lifestyle, in particular the situations or events that seem to have led up to a mental illness, can be important in understanding his/her illness. Considering lifestyle factors can help an individual recover from an acute episode of depression and help prevent another episode in the future. However, there are a number of lifestyle factors that may increase the likelihood of relapse.
Some types of depressive illness - for example a depressive relapse of a bipolar disorder - can occur out of the blue with no apparent triggers. Nevertheless, often, there are unfavorable lifestyle situations which provide fertile soil for a depressive episode to occur and/or help maintain or even worsen illness once it has occurred. Below are some of the lifestyle factors that may exert this negative effect.
- Poor diet, lack of exercise and lack of self-care.
- Excessive alcohol use, i.e. men more than 4 standard drinks per day and women more than 2 standards drinks per day.
- Regular illicit drug use, e.g. cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines etc.
- Unemployment as a way of life.
- Social isolation, living alone.
- Lack of leisure time.
Some of these factors may be difficult to change but most can be tackled with a view to producing health benefits. One of the most common and troublesome lifestyle contributors is the regular overuse of alcohol.
How do I recognize if I am tense?
- Do you notice any pain or discomfort in your muscles even though you have not been exercising?
- Do you often suffer from headaches?
- Does your jaw often feel tight?
- Do your neck and shoulders feel tight and stiff?
- Do you often get headaches, such as a tight band around your head?
If your answer is yes to any of these questions, then you may be suffering from muscle tension and you may find stress management techniques beneficial.
Stress management techniques
Stress management techniques bring about relaxation. There are many advantages of relaxation including:
- the mind becomes more tranquil and yet more aware and alert;
- the breathing rate decreases;
- the heart rate decreases and blood pressure drops;
- sweating decreases;
- muscles relax; and
- a feeling of calmness develops.
Some useful stress management techniques include:
- progressive muscle relaxation;
- regular exercise regime;
- breathing exercises;
- problem solving;
- time management;
- yoga and other martial arts; and
- healthy lifestyle.
