COPING WITH STRESS (part 1)

Stress could be defined as the “reactions inside an organism when demands exceed its ability to cope”. Chronic stress in the work could be caused by a conflict between demandplace and resources (money, people, expertise). The International Labour Organization( a branch of the United Nations) reports that stress-related injuries and physical and emotional illness claims on the job have climbed from five percent of all occupational disease claims in 1980 to fifteen percent in 1990 to more than 20 percent in 2009. And the global financial crises has not ameliorated the problem. Stress at work occurs as a result of hostile management-employee atmosphere or a destructively competitive environment or strife ridden environment.
In the home, stress can be caused by several problems and experienced by individuals who are parents of rebellious children, professionals trying to care for aged parents, partners with troubled relations are all involved in stress- producing situations. A troubled employee is not able to work at his or her best level of achievement, so it benefits a company to provide help with getting the situation under control regardless of the causes of stress. A spouse or a parent undergoing stress will not be able to fulfill his or her God-given role in the family. A member of the family undergoing stress will cause conflict and strife in the family leading to further stress and an unstable and un-conducive environment and similarly as in the workplace, it is important for the other members of the family to lovingly help any member of the family through a stressful situation.
Psychological factors may initiate or exacerbate a physical disorder. Stress could be specific or non-specific. Both specific and non-specific stress are associated with the development of Psychosomatic (illnesses of psychological origin) disorders. Correlations between life stress and both physical and emotional illness have been demonstrated. For external stress to cause mental or physical illness, a combination of genetic and experiential factors must exist. Each person has a personal threshold of vulnerability to life stress and an innate ability to tolerate it.
Stressful life events may be negative, such as death of a spouse, but may also be positive, such as the birth of a wanted child. Life stressors have been categorized according to a point value system, with 100 points being the highest stress. In a study, about 80% of persons who accumulated 300 points in one year were at risk of illness within the next few years. A Psychotherapist Hans Selye said that stress to an individual results in emotional changes that in turn elicit the classic stress response of the endocrine system which is characterized by rapid release of some hormones and followed by release of steroids These steroids in turn alter a variety of immune functions and usually suppress the immune response. Suppression of the immune system may be reflected in impaired response to some pathogens. Stress is associated with increased heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, body oxygen consumption, skin conductance, and resistance.
When you remember some of your colleagues that may be suffering from chronic ulcerated stomachs, then you may be able to identify an individual who may be repressing the anxiety they are going through. Symptomatic manifestations of stress like high blood pressure and heart attacks are often due to the competitive nature of some workplaces and some professions. (source: ESL book by Elaine Campbell (paraphrased); Behavioral science by Barbara Fadem) ( To be continued in next issue) Be.