Stressed out ? Identify the trigger and tackle it
THERE are many definitions of stress, just as there are many definitions of fatigue, mental health and upset. These terms describe a wide range of experiences and are not entirely clear cut.
Stress is a negative experience/feeling, associated with new physical symptoms. These including increased heartbeat, swiftness of breath, dry mouth, upset stomach and sweaty palms and, over the longer term, more serious digestive issues, cramp and raised blood pressure/cardiovascular disease.
Psychological symptoms range from racing thoughts and speech, lack of impulse control, and feelings of being overpowered, losing control and general fearfulness. People deviate from their ‘normal’ behaviour when under stress. They may be angrier, more confrontational, show less time for others and impose an urgency on situations which is unrealistic for those around them.
Other characteristics can include fatigue, proneness to upset, withdrawal, self-neglect and depression. There is no telling which way a person will react to a stressful situation, but each person will behave differently to
their previous non-stressed state.
When we are aware of our feelings, thoughts and behaviours, as well as our bodily reac tions, we can assess ourselves as either relaxed, under slight pressure which we are coping with, under pressure we are finding challenging but acceptable, or under excessive pressure which is causing stress.
COPING WITH STRESS
WE ALL have different coping abilities and a different tolerance for stress. There are those, often categorised as Type A personalities, who tolerate relatively high stress levels and thrive on the stimulation and alertness brought on by stress. Meanwhile, there are others who have very low tolerance levels and thrive in slow-moving environments with low stimulation and even-paced work.
Coping skills can be improved through regular training for specific tasks — for instance, if a person finds meeting and greetased ing people stressful, increased exposure to this, skills training and familiarisation can give them the coping skillls to reduce their stress from this experience.
Stress-management training, increasing self-awareness and learning to react effec tively when we become stressed are all important in helping individuals deal with
their stress reaction. We may need to take more exercise, build in more relaxation time, alter our social habits, change the way we view things, change the work system in some way or re-engineer our work so as to reduce our exposure to the cause of the stress.
The occupational health approach is to initially reduce the stress from source, then reduce the person-stressor interaction, and finally, give protection to the person, when they are exposed to stress.
The approach usually involves the individual, the department or section in which the individual works and the organisation, so that general and specific stressors are reduced or eliminated, as far as it is possible to do so.
Many aspects of personal, family and work life can cause stress — there are pressures embedded within all of these areas of our lives.
Social support is a mediator of stress. It helps to reduce the effects of a stressful situation. We all know that when we feel we have a person or people with whom we can talk, problem-solve or share a difficult experience, it can relieve some of our distress.
In stressful environments, where support is available and accessed, the perception of the stressor and the resultant stress will be reduced.