Essay/Term paper: Stress

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Miscellaneous

This report is on stress, what causes it, how and why, and how it can be cured. It will tell

you all about stress, why it's important for people to

understand, and what it can do to you and other people.

Stress affects everyone and everything, that's why it's

important that we all be properly educated on it. First We

need to understand what stress is. Stress is basically the

body's nonspecific response to any demand. Another way

of describing stress is any nervousness or anxiety. Almost

all people relate the word stress to discomfort or pressure.

What they are actually thinking of is distress, which is often

referred to as stress. There are many things that cause

stress. In my opinion, this is the most important part of this

whole report because knowing the cause for stress can

help you avoid stressful situations. Just about any problem

using thought can cause stress. One of the most stressful of

all things, especially for teenagers, are social events.

Popularity, friends, relationships, and looks are more

stressful things to teenagers than parents. However, adults

tend to face such stressors as meeting deadlines, fear of

failure, anger, and frustration at the workplace. Everybody

is effected by stress when it comes to things like wars,

pollution, poverty, overcrowding, and crime. It is important

to learn how to live with these situations, because it is

nearly impossible to get through life without encountering

them. Most people know that stress could be bad, but how

bad? Physicians have proven that stress-related disorders,

diseases brought on or worsened by psychological stress,

are more likely to happen to people with very busy lives.

The sad results of too much stress can be: depression, drug

use, crime, dropping out of school, accidents, and even

suicide. These psychosomatic disorders commonly involve

the autonomic nervous system, which controls the body's

internal organs. Some kinds of headache and back and

facial pain, asthma, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure,

and premenstrual stress are examples of stress-related

disorders. (Funk & Wagnall's.) Respiratory disorders also

can be affected by stress. Most common of these is asthma

which may be caused by emotional upsets. (Funk &

Wagnall's.) In addition, emotional stress can cause or

aggravate many skin disorders, from those that produce

itching, tickling, and pain to those that cause rashes and

pimples. Treatment of stress-related disorders is sometimes

limited to relieving the particular physical symptom

involved; for example, hypertension may be controlled with

drugs. (Funk & Wagnall's.) Psychological treatments are

attempts to help the person to relieve the source of stress

or to learn to deal with it. Combinations of physical and

psychological treatments are often recommended. There

are many type of "toys," that help deal with stress also,

these are things that you can buy at a local store or make at

home. These things consist of toys like the stress balloon,

this lets you get rid of stress and frustration by tightly

gripping a balloon filled with flour. Another stress toy

would be the stress puppet, a doughy-like figure shaped as

little person, or a cotton filled doll that you can slam to

temporarily to get rid of your stress and frustration. More

accessible methods are drumming your fingers, shaking

your feet, or deep breathing. You can test your stress by

taking the stress test or exercise electrocardiography, a test

that evaluates the performance of the heart by subjecting it

to controlled amounts of physical stress. (Appley, M. H.,

and Trumbull, R. A.) Some examples of these tests would

be walking on a treadmill while measuring the heart's

reaction to an increased demand for oxygen. The test ends

when the patient reaches a predetermined heart rate or

experiences chest pain or fatigue. Not very long ago some

Physicians realized that many people are much more

vulnerable to disease and illness when they suffer from

mass amounts of stress. Negative events such as the death

of a loved one seem to cause enough distress to lower the

body's resistance to disease. Something not so obvious

though, is that even positive things such as a new job or a

new baby in the house, can also worsen a person's ability

to fight off disease. Below is a chart that some social

scientists have devised. It is a list of life events rating the

stressfulness of each. The death of a spouse rates a 100 on

the scale, but something like trouble with one's employer

rates 23; being fired, 47; going to jail, 63; and a change in

sleeping habits, 16. Change, both good and bad, can

create stress. Stress, if sufficiently severe, can lead to

illness. Drs. Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe,

psychiatrists at the University of Washington in Seattle,

developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. In their

study, they gave a point value to stressful events. The

psychiatrists discovered that in 79 percent of the persons

studied, major illness followed the accumulation of

stress-related changes totaling over 300 points in one year.

The Social Readjustment Rating Scale Life Event Value

Death of Spouse 100 Divorce 73 Marital separation from

mate 65 Detention in jail or other institution 63 Death of a

close family member 63 Major personal injury or illness 53

Marriage 50 Being fired at work 47 Marital reconciliation

with mate 45 Retirement from work 45 Major change in

the health or behavior of a family member 44 Pregnancy 40

Sexual difficulties 39 Gaining a new family member (e.g.,

through birth, adoption, moving in, etc.) 39 Major business

readjustment (e.g., merger, reorganization, bankruptcy,

etc.) 39 Major change in financial state (e.g., a lot worse

off or a lot better off than usual) 38 Death of a close friend

37 Changing to a different line of work 36 Major change in

the number of arguments with spouse (e.g., either a lot

more or a lot less than usual.) 35 Taking out a mortgage or

loan for a major purchase (e.g. for a home, business, etc.)

31 Foreclosure on a mortgage or loan 30 Major change in

responsibilities at work (e.g., promotion, demotion, lateral

transfer) 29 Son or daughter leaving home (e.g., marriage,

attending college, etc.) 29 In-law troubles 29 Outstanding

personal achievement 28 Wife beginning or ceasing work

outside the home 26 Beginning or ceasing formal schooling

26 Major change in living conditions (e.g., building a new

home, remodeling, deterioration of home.) 25 Revision of

personal habits (dress, manners, association, etc.) 24

Troubles with the boss 23 Major change in working hours

or conditions 20 Change in residence 20 Changing to a

new school 20 Major change in usual type and/or amount

of recreation 19 Major change in church activities (e.g., a

lot more or a lot less than usual) 19 Major change in social

activities (e.g., clubs, dancing, movies, visiting, etc.) 18

Taking out a mortgage or loan for a lesser purchase (e.g.,

for a car, TV, freezer, etc.) 17 Major change in sleeping

habits (a lot more or a lot less sleep, or change in part of

day when asleep) 16 Major change in number of family

get-togethers (e.g., a lot more or a lot less than usual) 15

Major change in eating habits (a lot more or a lot less food

intake.) 15 Vacation 13 Christmas 12 Minor violations of

the law (e.g., traffic tickets, jaywalking, disturbing the

peace, etc.) 11 In conclusion, if we learn to understand

where stress comes from, it will be easier to deal with.

Stress can not always be avoided, but it can almost always

be treated. Rest and relaxation are the best ways to

prevent illness due to stress. Vacationing, taking time to

relax, and venting out your anger are also good ways to

relieve stress. With this proper practice, we will be on the

road to healthier, happier, better lives.