Free Essay Sample on Stress: A Silent Killer of Health and Wellbeing

Introduction

Stress is the process by which the body responds to emotional, physical, or mental tension by producing chemical substances that may alter the functioning of the body. Individuals who are stressed experience body aches and pain, nausea, chest pain, flu, and even diarrhea. Stress has adverse side effects on the health system, such as suppressing the immune system, and this makes one vulnerable to diseases. It can also upset the body's systems and increase the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease. Within this context, this paper aims to discuss ways in which one can cope with a high level of stress.

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Determine the sources of stress

The best way to deal and cope up with stress is to determine the cause of stress. Sometimes, one may be stressed and not quickly realize it; however, experiencing the signs and symptoms of stress will show that one is stressed. Identifying the sources of stress will help one find the appropriate ways of finding the solution. It is always difficult to solve a problem if one does not understand the problem. An individual should check his/her habits and any attitudes and the changes that have happened within a specific time (Othman et al., 2018). Coming up with a stress journal may help an individual find the cause of stress. For instance, the individual should be able to predict or guess the cause of stress, express their emotions and how they were affected under stress, how they responded, and what can they do to make them feel better.

Apply the 4 A’s of managing stress

The four A's of managing stress include Avoiding, Altering, Adapting, and Accepting.

Avoiding stressing situations

It is vital in some situations to avoid unnecessary ways of stress. This may include family gatherings that give one pressure, and workplace meetings that cause tension. An individual can easily avoid stress by saying “no”, especially to situations or things that are likely to cause stress. One should be able to understand their limits what they can do best, and what they need to improve on. Taking tasks beyond what they can handle increases the risk of stress. An individual should understand that they can not handle everything. Being responsible and handling what one can reduce tension, especially in the workplace.

Understanding and controlling your environment will also help to avoid unnecessary forms of stress. One should learn to avoid people or things that make them stressed. For instance, a relationship that makes one nervous and angry always is a direct cause of stress, and one should find ways to terminate the relationship. If it is difficult to escape the relationship, one should consider reducing the time they spend with things or people that stress them. Analyzing the schedules, and responsibilities will help to drop down stressful moments and people.

Altering the stressful circumstance

Altering a stressful situation involves changing the usual way of dealing with stress. One should be able to express their feelings rather than pressing them. For instance, if the boss talks to you rudely, and it stresses up, it is important to notify him/her that it affects you. Changing the way of communication in a relaxed way may help release some stress (Seaward, 2017). One should also be willing to compromise if that would be the only option to reduce tension. An individual should also be able to learn how to balance their life. Balancing family responsibilities, social activities, and work responsibilities helps to release stressful environments.

Adapting stressful situations

An individual needs to adapt to the stress if he/she can not alter or avoid it. An individual can adapt to stress by changing their attitude or the normal ways of seeing things. For one to adapt, one need to be optimistic and see the positive side more than the negative side. One can also adjust to stressful situations by adjusting their standards. This is possible by avoiding the perfectionist attitude and becoming real in life. This will help solve the matters better, than putting higher standards put a lot of pressure. Practicing gratitude is also a simple strategy that will help to keep things orderly.

Accepting the stressful issues, you can not change

An individual should be able to accept the things they can not change. For instance, it is impossible to correct the behavior of people. It is also difficult to change issues like losing a loved one. One can only move on, and deal with this stress when they accept that they have lost it, and find appropriate ways to cope up with the situation. To reduce the tension and deal with stress, it may take time to accept. However, an individual will find it easy to move on if they accept and continue with life. One can cope with this by listening to favorite music, taking a walk, and play their favorite game.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

To cope with stress, one needs to maintain a healthy lifestyle. An unbalanced lifestyle leads to depression and anxiety, which increases tension in life and causes stress. To live a healthy lifestyle, one should eat an adequate balanced diet. Eating healthy is living healthy (Dobson, 2019). Therefore, an individual should be able to eat a balanced diet to maintain a well-nourished body; which enhances the functioning of the body. Eating healthy also gives the body enough energy and produces hormones that stimulate happiness.

One can also maintain a healthy lifestyle by reducing limiting foods, chunky foods, and fast foods. This is because the continuous consumption of these foods leads to excess energy with zero nutrients. Thus, it increases the risk of obesity which increases the risk of chronic diseases. One should also avoid alcohol and other drugs that ruin the functioning of the body (Dobson, 2019). However, some people may abuse drugs as a way of coping with stress. It is not the best way of coping with stress. For instance, an individual who smokes increases the chances of damaging respiratory diseases and even cancer. However, he /she may feel relaxed after using the drug, abusing these drugs deteriorates the health system of the individual. Sleeping adequate hours is also another way of living healthy to cope with stress. Enough sleep refreshes the mind and refuels the body to adapt to different situations.

Set apart time to relax, and have fun

Many people are stressed up because their schedules are too busy or tight. They lack time for friends and even their own family. To cope with stress in this situation, one has to plan their schedules well and indicate the time to relax and have fun. Setting aside leisure moments helps to release stressful moments. However, responsibilities may be burdensome; people need to rest for at least thirty minutes every day. One can also do something they love. For instance, calling friends, chatting, listening to music, and playing. Living within a humorous environment may also help to release stress by at least forgetting the tension (Brcic et al., 2018). The body will also find appropriate ways to release the pressure in an environment of joy, and happiness, as compared to anger and nervousness.

Build appropriate relationships

It is important to connect with people who can help you in life. Friends who are ready to hear about your story, who will not judge you and you feel comfortable sharing with them. This type of friendship encourages the sharing of stressful moments. Communicating issues in life that seem to have tension is a proper way to release pressure. Friends can also help by giving advice or knowledge that can help solve the issues. People who care about you, are ready to listen, and help you go through the stress, provide an individual with a resilient environment that releases stress (Gloria & Steinhardt, 2016). One can strengthen bonds with friends through regular communication, inviting them for dinner, taking a walk together, and volunteering to help them out when they have problems.

Set priorities right and manage time appropriately

An individual should be able to prioritize their duties and responsibilities appropriately. This will help to reduce the strain and pressure of work, and family. It is also important to delegate responsibilities to avoid overwhelming situations. The delegation also helps to find time for other essential tasks like attending to family roles. Individuals should be able to know what needs immediate attention and what can be done later. This will help to reduce tension from overworking.

Conclusion

In conclusion, one can cope with a high level of stress by determining the source of stress, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, having confidence in avoiding, altering, adapting, and accepting a stressful situation, building beneficial relationships, setting priorities right, and managing their time appropriately, and set apart time to relax and make fun. It is possible to cope with stress and deal with it healthily.

References

Brcic, J., Suedfeld, P., Johnson, P., Huynh, T., & Gushin, V. (2018). Humour as a coping strategy in spaceflight. Acta Astronautica, 152, 175-178. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576518303618

Dobson, P. (2019). Self-efficacy for eating a healthy diet can moderate the impact of stress on diet quality. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/honors_theses/bn999b98t

Gloria, C. T., & Steinhardt, M. A. (2016). Relationships among positive emotions, coping, resilience, and mental health. Stress and Health, 32(2), 145-156. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/smi.2589?casa_token=GkRkogGnnO0AAAAA%3AZUKxat0kRpcUoMlHdxazkNUslbcTUh8M6n__4MzLTN6p5FdTeoA7WUffji14xfuGKMCHqPZMc7wI_ROB

Othman, C. N., Farooqui, M., Yusoff, M. S. B., & Adawiyah, R. (2018). Stress coping level among health science students in a Malaysian university. Journal of ASIAN Behavioural Studies, 3(9), 131-139. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/hsic-17/25885827

Seaward, B. L. (2017). Managing stress. Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=OFgnDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=