What is stress, Causes, Types of stress, Concept of Eustress & Distress

Stress is not only associated with Patients with mental illness but it is also associated with our everyday life.

First, we will discuss what stress is?

Stress is a bodily reaction to any situation which is perceived as threatening, dangerous to our own self. Our own perception plays a crucial role to make a situation stressful. Our bodily reactions can be physical (muscle tension, headache, stomach upset); emotional (anger, anxiety over trivial issues) and behavioural reactions include difficulty in concentrating, losing interest in work, fatigue, etc.

Causes Of Stress Or Types Of Stressor:

Stress has become increasingly common in organizations, largely because individuals experience increased job complexity and increased economic pressure. In exploring the causes of stress, it is important that a clear distinction be made between stress and the stressor (the source of stress).

It is confusing and technically incorrect to speak stressful situations though anyone placed in that situation would experience stress. For understanding, stressors are divided into 2 types.

1. Motivational Level: People who are ambitious and highly motivated to achieve are more likely to experience stress than those who are content with their career status.

• External Stressors: Environmental or external conditions that lie beyond an individual's control are called external stressors. Such can have a considerable impact on work performance and adjustment.
• Task Demands: These are factors related to a person’ job. Changes and lack of control are two of the most stressful demands people face to work.

2. Lack Of Control: It is the second major source of stress, especially in work environments that are difficult and psychologically demanding.

• Role Ambiguity: It is created when role expectations are not clearly understood and the employee is not sure what he/she is to do.
• Interpersonal Demands: These are pressures created by other employees. Lack of social support from colleagues and poor interpersonal relationships can cause considerable stress, especially among employees with a high social need.
• Physical Demands: Non-work demands create stress for people, which carry over into the work environment or vice versa.

These demands are more or less stressful, depending on their compatibility with the person's work and family life and their capacity to provide alternative satisfaction for the person. (I use work-related situations; just for example).

Symptoms Of Stress

It is believed that there are a lot of symptoms to be seen from stress. You can easily identify Stress Symptoms.

1. Headache Pain: If you take more stress then your head starts to ache, taking more stress affects the nerves of a person's brain. Some people believe that the pain in the head is only due to the problem in the eyes but Sometimes taking too much stress also hurts your head.
2. Sleeping Problem: By taking more stress, we also face sleep issues during early bed hours, if you have trouble sleeping at night, then it means that there are some things going on in your mind because of that you are stressed and unable to sleep.
3. Feeling of Weakness: By taking stress, a person starts feeling weak, if you feel weaker then it means that you are thinking about any topic more than necessary, thinking about anything is a different thing and taking stress is different. Therefore, if you move with the stress of something more than necessary, then it is not right for your health.
4. Stomach Pain: Normally stress starts with stomach pain because sometimes we believe that if we do talk with anyone, then our stomach keeps hurting, it is also right to some extent, because If you have a bad stomach, then it can be a reason for stress.

Types Of Stress:

   Mainly 3 types of Stress are there: These are the following:

1. Acute Stress: The common form of stress is called acute stress. It mainly occurs before performing a task, which motivates a person to adopt a positive or serious attitude.
2. Chronic Stress: When the acute stress does not go away and lasts for a long time, then the condition is called chronic stress in medical language.
3. Episodic Acute Stress: This is the Second level of Stress. Whenever a person sees acute stress increasing too quickly, then it should be understood that you start having episodic stress.

Concept Of Eustress & Distress:

Imagine a situation, where you need not wake up early in the morning, need not go to work, you have to just sit idle on your bed. And eating your breakfast and enjoying your day and Night, after sometime boredom will affect you. I am attaching a diagram which indicates the relationship between the amount of stress and level of one’s performance.

So the relationship between stress and performance can be described by the inverted shaped curve. Everyone needs a certain amount of stress to deliver performance, for example- if a student has no strive for a good result, he/she will not give any effort in his/her study. Everyone has an optimum point where their performance is the best, but if stress increases beyond that point, the performance will start dipping.

So, where the stress level and performance are directly proportional, that is called EUSTRESS and the opposite side is called DISTRESS where our performance and stress are inversely proportional, For example- imagine a student has potential to get 70-75% marks in the examination if he/she has a strive for 80% marks, that can be achievable and that goal helps him/her to get a better result (eustress) but the same student set a goal to get 95% marks, that is an unrealistic goal which may lead him/her to distress.

Dealing With Stress Among Teachers:

Teaching is becoming more challenging as a profession of the most significant and visible profession in the world. Mature and organized work makes teaching decently difficult. They face many challenges and opportunities from increasingly diverse and needy student populations.

As we can see today’s life is full of challenges. A Teacher needs to use a lot of energy in her daily chores in the classroom. A teacher must be over his clear role to build up the nation. Teachers are overburdened with regular teaching load. Occupational satisfaction is a necessary condition for the healthy growth of a teacher’s personality.

Methods Of Identifying Stress:

The best way to have stress identified easily is to remain active in his social circle and readily accept any recent psychological or behavioural changes observed by stress in the group and family.

1. Self-analysis:

Any change in these should be noted and necessary remedial measures are taken immediately to overcome this situation. Self-analyzing will help you to identify your stress or which can be useful for determining your own mental state.

2. Mutual:

Another way is to maintain close relations with other members of the faculty that are likely to create stress for the Teachers, office politics, the burden of work, demotivation, monotony. This is one way to identify the issue which is likely to become the cause of stress beforehand.

3. The role of management:

Feeling of being used or manipulated, lack of flexibility in times of need, lack of support from management, etc. are some of the major stressors in a Teacher’s Life

Causes of stress for teachers:

From the outside teaching seems all together with a dissident job with some vacations. But considering everything that a teacher has to go through every day.

1. Excessive working hours or workload
2. Rising class sizes
3. Changes in curriculum and courses
4. Workplace bullying
5. Lack of public esteem
6. Poor management
7. Lack of control over the job
8. Risk of violence from pupils, parents

The threat to early retirement arrangements:-

1. Adopt Hobbies

It is very important for a teacher to have a hobby which is totally different from he/she teaches at school. Music, Gardening, Liking and Painting are a few examples of hobbies that they may adopt. These can give them on the outlet and take their minds off from the problems that they face at school. This is one way of getting the days to stress from their minds.

2. Healthy Habits:

It is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle for a healthy living follow the followings instructions:-

1. Reducing caffeine intake will help you stay focused and reduce stress.
2. Eat breakfast as it is the most important meal of the day as it will help you stay healthy.
3. Don’t let your life just roll by itself. Set realistic goals in life and then pursue them.
4. Make it a point to visit the guidance counsellor, as it can help you identify any underlying psychological or behaviour problems related to workplace stress.
5. Learn and practice anger management as it will help in managing stress.
6. Be your own best friend
7. Positive self-talk is vital. Decide to talk to yourself as you would talk to your best friend.
8. Think about how this is contributing to your stress, learn to love yourself and enjoy the things around you. And finally, are all remembered and inspiring.
9. Positive Teacher and also remember those teachers who were stressed and not enjoying their teaching keep yourself motivated if you want to keep your students motivated.

Conclusion:

At last, I am going to tell You that Stress is very harmful to your mind and health. So, You don’t have to take STress in your life, Stay happy in every situation and live your life with happy moments. I hope you liked this article and If You want to get help from a psychologist in India, then You can visit My Fit Brain.