Stress : Meaning and types of stress

Meaning Of Stress : 

  

 The word stress originated from Latin word- ‘strict us’ meaning tight, narrow – internal feeling of tightness, constriction of muscles and breathing reported by many people under stress.

 Stress is like electricity. It gives energy, increases human arousal and affects performance. However, if the electric current is too high, it can fuse bulbs, damage appliances. Similarly, high stress too can produce unpleasant effects and cause our performance to deteriorate.

Conversely, too little stress may cause someone to feel listless and low on motivation leading to slow and less effective performance.

Hence not all the stress is inherently bad or destructive. Eustress is the term used to describe the level of stress which is good for us and is one of the person’s best asset for achieving peak performance and managing crisis.

However, it also has the potential of turning into distress, causing our body’s wear and tear.

Types of Stress

1 Physical and Environmental Stress

2 Psychological Stress

3 Social Stress

             

1 Physical and Environmental Stress : 

Physical stresses are demands that change the state of our body. We feel strained when we overexert ourselves physically, lack a nutritious diet, suffer an injury, or fail to get enough sleep. Environmental stresses are aspects of our surroundings that are often unavoidable such as air pollution, crowding, noise, heat of the summer, winter cold, etc. Another group of environmental stresses are catastrophic events or disasters such as fire, earthquake, floods, etc.

2 Psychological Stress :

These are stresses that we generate ourselves in our minds. These are personal and unique to the person experiencing them and are internal sources of stress. We worry about problems, feel anxiety, or become depressed. These are not only symptoms of stress, but they cause further stress for us.

Some important source of Psychological Stress :

1 Frustration

2 Conflicts 

3 Internal pressures

4 Social pressures

1 Frustration :

frustration results from the blocking of needs and motives by something or someone that hinders us from achieving a desired goal. There could be a number of causes of frustration such as social discrimination, interpersonal hurt, low grades in school, etc. 

2 Conflicts :

 Conflicts may occur between two or more incompatible needs or motives, e.g. whether to study dance or psychology. You may want to continue studies or take up a job. There may be a conflict of values when you are pressurized to take any action that may be against the values held by you.

3 Internal pressures:

Internal pressures stem from beliefs based upon expectations from inside us to ourselves such as, ‘I must do everything perfectly’. Such expectations can only lead to disappointment. Many of us drive ourselves ruthlessly towards achieving unrealistically high standards in achieving our goals.

4 Social pressures:

 Social pressures may be brought about from people who make excessive demands on us. This can cause even greater pressure when we have to work with them. Also, there are people with whom we face interpersonal difficulties, ‘a personality clash’ of sorts.

    

3 Social Stress:

These are induced externally and result from our interaction with other people. Social events like death or illness in the family, strained relationships, trouble with neighbors are some examples of social stresses. These social stresses vary widely from person to person. Attending parties may be stressful for a person who likes to spend quiet evenings at home while an outgoing person may find staying at home in the evenings stressful.