Naumair Khilji Markus Bohlmann ENG106BA 11/20/2018 Stress, is it all bad?Stress is something that everyone has in their lives and it can be caused by anything. Most people, especially young ones, are affected by it due to school when they have homework, assignments, and tests; and some professional people get it at work. Children can also cause stress to parents by keeping them up all night, doing dangerous activities and by disobeying their parents. Some people are fine with experiencing stress because they feel as if they are working hard.
Others, however, are against it because they believe stress gets in their way when they are working hard and trying to achieve a certain goal. Stress on the other hand, is nothing too serious because it is only caused when you sense danger. Stress can be real or imagined; for example, when one has finals coming up and one is studying, one starts getting stressed; this is because one is thinking about what will happen if one did not study thoroughly and fail the test. Learn to identify what is causing stress when one is under stress; also find different ways to deal with it to improve your mental and physical well-being. Now that one knows the basics of stress, one might be wondering what causes stress? There are many aspects that can cause stress that is physical and emotional. (Hyman 28) Physical meaning, having a fear, something scary and dangerous will happen to one and due to that, physically hurting one. Emotional meaning, being worried about one’s job safety or the well-being of family.
To deal with stress one should first figure out what is causing it. (Hyman 30) A common source of stress is survival; this is stress when you are afraid of something that will injure one, and one has a decision to make to either fight it out or run away to survive. (Hyman 45) Another is internal stress, where one causes stress to oneself because one worries about what may happen if one does not achieve a certain goal. (Kugelmann 57) Lastly, there is environmental stress where things around one can cause one to stress; for example crime, noise, chemicals, etc.
Stress is not always a bad thing. (Kugelmann 62) There is good stress and bad stress. Small amounts of stress are good for one. If one was always stressed free, then one could become bored and would never live up to max potential.
But, if one has a huge amount of stress in one’s life that could result in health and other family problems. (Kugelmann 75) Zero stress and too much stress are bad for you. Small amounts of stress is good for you, it keeps you competitive.
Avoid heavy stress because heavy stress can lead to high blood pressure, drug addiction, cigarette use, depression, etc. Stress has gone up huge amounts and drugs prescribed for the treatment of stress have also increased. There is also short-term stress and long-term stress.
To find out if one is going through stress one should be aware of warning signs. (Edworthy 106) Warning signs for short-term stress are increased breathing and heartbeat, sweating, feeling sick to your stomach, dry mouth, and frustration or anger. (Edworthy 107) Long-term stress signs are been appetite changed either eating more or less, change in sleep habit, worrying and feeling anxious, feeling out of control or confused, and forgetting about important work. (Edworthy 110) These are just a few signs but there will be more short-term and long-term signs that one must now while under stress. Dealing with stress physically is not impossible; these stress dealing examples are more immediate ones. First example; one’s children or family are getting on one’s nerves, go in another room shut the door and experience the quietness, breath, and feel the tension exiting the body. (Cooper 53) Second example; spending too much time studying or doing something for work, stop and roll the head and shoulders, rub hands together to warm them up, and close the eyes and breath for a moment and slowly the stress will go away.
(Cooper 55) These were just a few examples to deal with stress with physical strategies, and remember when one feels stressed relax the body and breath, it will go away. One cannot avoid stress but the best thing is to go through it with planning and useful strategies. I f one is thinking to diagnose stress, that can be only done by doctors. They will diagnose stress by asking the patient about their life events and symptoms they had. Diagnosis is not a simple thing that can be done, there are a lot of factors that have to be taken under consideration for example; questionnaires, biochemical measures, and physiological techniques they may or may not be effective. (Collins 78) There is a lot of treatment out there which includes self-help and certain medications. One that does not want to undergo medications can seek help from therapies which will relax the person, and it also includes aromatherapy or reflexology.
(Collins 86) For the people who do take medicines, doctors prescribe medications for dealing with stress, unless the patient is dealing with depression or anxiety, if that is the case then the doctor is dealing with mental illness, not stress. (Collins 92) If one does feel stress building up one should get medication or treatment before stress gets out of control. Lifestyle choices that can manage stress are; exercise, it is true exercise can cure anything and studies have shown that exercise can benefit mental and physical state. Reducing intake of alcohol, drugs and caffeine, these alternatives will not help one deal with stress; it will do the opposite and make it worse. Nutrition, having a healthy and balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables help with stress, an unhealthy diet will lead to illness and additional stress. Time, set aside time each day for yourself to relax, and organize your life.
(Catherall 84) In conclusion, stress is an advantage as well as disadvantage. If people can handle stress and follow steps effectively, then this can lead to advantages. But if people cannot effectively handle stress due to lack in understanding concepts behind stress like different kinds of stress, is stress always bad for you, and how to deal with stress before it gets out of control; that will lead to disadvantages. Stress is common in modern life, stress is normal for everyday life and there is no way to escape, stress will occur some day in one’s life. This is why it is important to understand how to effectively manage stress.
Remember this stress is not always bad for one, depending on what lifestyle one chooses to live will signify the amount of stress that will occur, for example; if one is a lawyer who is trying defend or accuse a client in court, for this one is working all day and staying up all night going through files about their client will experience stress because they are not taking a break for themselves plus ruining their sleeping schedule. On the other hand if one works in the day and comes home to relax and spends few hours alone, will experience less amount of stress.Work CitedEdworthy, L. Stress: Why Does It Happen and How Can We Manage It?. 6 Mar.
2012, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145855.php.Collins, R.
Commons Signs and Sympotons of Stress | The American Institute of Stress. 17 Sept. 2014, https://www.stress.org/stress-effects/.Cooper, J. 403 Forbidden. 27 May 2014, https://www.
psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/stress.Hyman, G.
Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes: Improving Your Ability to Handle Stress. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-signs-and-causes.htm.
Kugelmann, G. Stress | CAMH. 12 Sept. 2005, https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/stress.
