Essay Example on Stress and Its Effects

Spiritual Stressors

Another common source of stress for individuals is the spiritual demand. The spiritual beliefs and values usually impose pressure on individuals as they try to live by the values. In most cases, ascribing to a higher power is a leading cause of dissonance and alienation, causing stress (Miller & Shelly, 2010).

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Negative Effects of Stress

The adverse effects of stress could result in either physical, mental, emotional and behavioral effects on people. In many cases, these negative effects need to be mitigated or treated as soon as they are identified to prevent it from advancing and becoming a stern condition. The physical effects of stress are usually categorized under health effects. Research conducted recently indicates that about 80 percent of all the health problems are either aggravated or caused by stress (Seaward, 2000). The common disorders associated with stress (especially chronic) are manifested on the hormonal system, nervous system, and the immune system as well. One of the diagnosable effects of stress in most people includes clenched jaws, stiff necks, tension headaches and pains in the lower back (Seaward, 2000). This indicates that several pains and aches are likely to result, which includes migraine headaches, tension headaches, as well as temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Other than that, the stomach is likely to be affected as well, which is evident in stomach troubles like ulcers and colitis and the irritable bowel syndrome (Seaward, 2000). Additionally, an individual is also likely to suffer from issues associated with nervous anxiety, which include bronchial asthma allergies, insomnia, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. As a result, it is clear that the stress will always be a cause of negative effects on the health of individuals.

A number of behaviors are likely to crop up as a result of stress imposed on individuals. For example, misbehavior among the children, the rebellion of teenager, chaotic student life, divorce for parents and the inability for individuals to relate to others appropriately (Miller & Shelly, 2010). As a result, the effects of stress are usually borne on individuals and people that are close to these individuals as well. For example, the spouses and children of people experiencing stress in their daily lives could include experiencing the disconnect with them, and the inability to form a boundary with the other people as well (Seaward, 2000). In the contemporary context, people spend a significant portion of their time in the workplaces; therefore, a significant percentage of their stress is likely to result from their work activities. The effect of such stress includes diminishing job satisfaction, absenteeism, and poor performance.

Positive Effects of Stress

Stress is not necessarily negative. Though to a greater extent, the stress may lead to adverse effects, other times, people are affected positively, especially if they have effective coping mechanisms to any stress that comes about. In technical terms, the positively effective stress is usually referred to as Eustress, and it results in enhanced mental, physical and functional strengths (Miller & Shelly, 2010). For example, in other cases, stress resulting from pressure to perform in the workplace only encourages the individuals to embark on better ways to perform their work more effectively. Also, the pressure to perform in the workplace may even enhance their productivity especially when they would not want to lose their position. Therefore, in this case, Eustress acts as a motivating factor for an individual to become more productive in the workplace. In other words, the stress that the individuals may be experiencing may result in their ability to adapt to the hardships commonly associated. However, the challenges that arise with the situation is the inability of most of the people to adopt to the situation appropriately.

Coping with Stress

Reducing and controlling stress is one of the main ways to control the stress exhibited on a day-to-day basis. Some of the suggestions as to how it could be done include being realistic to avoid getting overwhelmed by activities impossible to achieve, finding a hobby, sharing feelings with people nearby, exercising (yoga) or trying to be flexible with the situation (Folkman, 2013). In other cases, people need to accept that they are perfect and only do what is possible. In most cases, people should start sharing their feelings with people close by and even consulting medical practitioners that can help (Folkman, 2013).

Conclusion

From this discussion, stress is a normal condition for people. Instead of trying to escape from it, the logical thing that people should do is to find a coping mechanism to help wade off the challenges that a come about from it. To make this argument, this discussion has started off with the definition of stress and determining some its causes for people. Additionally, it has explored some of its main effects, both positive and negative, which shows that the negative effects surpass its positive effects in most cases. As a result, it has made recommendations as to how an individual could cope with the challenges more effectively.

Bibliography

Folkman, S., 2013. Stress: appraisal and coping. In Encyclopedia of behavioral medicine (pp. 1913-1915). New York: Springer.

Miller, A. R. & Shelly, S. 2010. Living With Stress. New York: Infobase Publishing

Seaward, B. L. 2000. Negative Effects of Stress. Managing stress in emergency medical services. Boston: Jones & Bartlett. Ch.2.

What is Stress? 2018 The American Institute of Stress. Retrieved from: https://www.stress.org/daily-life/