MEETING LIFE CHALLENGES

Introduction probability of one’s survival. 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, etc.

High stress too can produce unpleasant effects and cause our performance to deteriorate. Conversely, too little stress may cause one to feel somewhat listless and low on motivation which may lead us to perform slowly and less efficiently. It is important to remember that not all stress is inherently bad or destructive. ‘ Eustress ’ is the term used to describe the level of stress that is good for you and is one of a person’s best assets for achieving peak performance and managing minor crisis.

Eustress, however, has the potential of turning into ‘ distress ’. It is this latter manifestation of stress that causes our body’s wear and tear. Thus, stress can be described as the pattern of responses an organism makes to stimulus event that disturbs the equilibrium and exceeds a person’s ability to cope . Nature of Stress The word stress has its origin in the Latin words ‘strictus’, meaning tight or narrow and ‘stringere’, the verb meaning to tighten.

These root words reflect the internal feelings of tightness and constriction of the muscles and breathing reported by many people under stress. Stress is often explained in terms of characteristics of the environment that are disruptive to the individual. Stressors are events that cause our body to give the stress response. Such events include noise, crowding, a bad relationship, or the daily commuting to school or office.

The reaction to external stressors is called ‘ strain ’ (see Fig. . ). Stress has come to be associated with both the causes as well as effects.

However, this view of stress can cause confusion. Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the non- specific response of the body to any demand” that is, regardless of the cause of the threat, the individual will respond with the same physiological pattern of reactions. Many researchers do not agree with this definition as they feel that the stress response is not nearly as general and non- specific as Selye suggests. Different stressors may produce somewhat different patterns of stress reaction, and different individuals may have different characteristic modes of response.

You may recall the case of an opening batsman mentioned earlier. Each one of us will see the situation through our own eyes and it is our perception of the demands, and our ability to meet them, which will determine whether we are feeling ‘stressed’ or not. Stress is not a factor that resides in the individual or the environment, instead it is embedded in an ongoing process that involves individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals of those encounters and attempting to cope with the issues that arise. Stress is a dynamic mental/cognitive state.

It is a disruption in homeostasis or an imbalance that gives rise to a requirement for resolution of that imbalance or restoration of homeostasis. The perception of stress is dependent upon the individual’s cognitive appraisal of events and the resources available to deal with them. The stress process, based on the cognitive theory of stress propounded by Lazarus and his colleagues, is described in Figure . .

An individual’s response to a stressful situation largely depends upon Fig. . : Psychological Meaning of Stress the perceived events and how they are interpreted or appraised. Lazarus has distinguished between two types of appraisal, i.e.

primary and secondary. Primary appraisal refers to the perception of a new or changing environment as positive, neutral or negative in its consequences. Negative events are appraised for their possible harm, threat or challenge. Harm is the assessment of the damage that has already been done by an event.

Threat is the assessment of possible future damage that may be brought about by the event. Challenge appraisals are associated with more confident expectations of the ability to cope with the stressful event, the potential to overcome and even profit from the event. When we perceive an event as stressful, we are likely to make a secondary appraisal , which is the assessment of one’s coping abilities and resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat or challenge of the event. These resources may be mental, physical, personal or social.

If one thinks one has a positive attitude, health, skills and social support to deal with the crises s/he will feel less stressed. This two-level appraisal process determines not only our cognitive and behavioural responses but also our emotional and physiological responses to external events. These appraisals are very subjective and will depend on many factors. One factor is the past experience of dealing with such a stressful condition.

If one has handled similar situations very Fig. . : A General Model of the Stress Process successfully in the past, they would be less threatening for her/him. Another factor is whether the stressful event is perceived as controllable , i.e.

whether one has mastery or control over a situation. A person who believes that s/he can control the onset of a negative situation, or its adverse consequences, will experience less amount of stress than those who have no such sense of personal control. For example, a sense of self-confidence or efficacy can determine whether the person is likely to appraise the situation as a threat or a challenge. Thus, the experience and outcome of a stressor may vary from individual to individual.

Stress, includes all those environmental and personal events, which challenge or threaten the well-being of a person. These stressors can be external, such as environmental (noise, air pollution), social (break-up with a friend, loneliness) or psychological (conflict, frustration) within the individual. Very often, these stressors result in a variety of stress reactions, which may be physiological, behavioural, emotional, and cognitive (see Fig. .

). At the physiological level, arousal plays a key role in stress- related behaviours. The hypothalamus initiates action along two pathways. The first pathway involves the autonomic nervous system.

The adrenal gland releases large amount of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the blood stream. This leads to physiological changes seen in fight-or-flight response. The second pathway involves the pituitary gland, which secretes the corticosteroid (cortisol) which provides energy. The emotional reactions to experience of stress include negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, embarrassment, anger, depression or even denial.

The behavioural responses are virtually limitless, depending on the nature of the stressful event. Confrontative action against the stressor (fight) or withdrawal from the threatening event (flight) are two general categories of behavioural responses. Cognitive responses include beliefs about the harm or threat an event poses and beliefs about its causes or controllability. These include responses such as inability to concentrate, and intrusive, repetitive or morbid thoughts.

As indicated in Figure . , the stresses which people experience also vary in terms of intensity (low intensity vs. high intensity), duration (short-term vs. long- term), complexity ( less complex vs.

more complex) and predictability (unexpected vs. predictable). The outcome of stress depends on the position of a particular stressful experience along these dimensions. Usually more intense, prolonged or chronic, complex and unanticipated stresses have more negative consequences than have less intense, short-term, less complex and expected stresses.

An individual’s experiences of stress depend on the physiological strength of that person. Thus, individuals with poor physical health and weak constitution would be more vulnerable than would be those who enjoy good health and strong constitution. Psychological characteristics like mental health, temperament, and self- concept are relevant to the experience of stress. The cultural context in which we live determines the meaning of any event and defines the nature of response that is expected under various conditions.

Finally, the stress experience will be determined by the resources of the person, such as money, social skills, coping style, support networks, etc. All these factors determine the appraisal of a given stressful situation. Signs and Symptoms of Stress The way we respond to stress varies depending upon our personality, early upbringing and life experiences. Everyone has their own pattern of stress response.

So the warning signs may vary, as may their intensity. Some of us know our pattern of stress response and can gauge the depth of the problem by the nature and severity of our own symptoms or changes in behaviour. These symptoms of stress can be physical, emotional and behavioural. Any of the symptoms can indicate a degree of stress which, if left unresolved, might have serious implications.

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. 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 of the important sources of psychological stress are frustration, conflicts, internal and social pressures, etc. 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. 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 pressurised to take any action that may be against the values held by you. 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.

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. Read the following signs of stress : Lack of concentration, Memory loss, Poor decision-making, Inconsistency, Irregular attendance and timekeeping, Low self-esteem, Poor long-term planning, Frantic bursts of energy, Extreme mood swings, Emotional outbursts, Worry, Anxiety, Fear, Depression, Difficulties with sleep, Difficulties with eating, Misuse of drugs, Physical illness, e.g.

stomach upset, headache, backache, etc. Tick those applicable to you and then discuss in groups of two or three students in class. Can you reduce some of them? Discuss how?

Consult your teacher. Activity . Types of Stress The three major types of stress, viz. physical and environmental, psychological, and social are listed in Figure .

. It is important to understand that all these types of stress are interrelated. 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 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 neighbours 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.

Sources of Stress A wide range of events and conditions can generate stress. Among the most important of these are major stressful life events, such as death of a loved one or personal Box . A Measure of Stressful Life Events Holmes and Rahe developed a life event measure of stress. A measure of stressful life events based on the above scale known as the Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale has been developed for the Indian population by Singh, Kaur and Kaur.

It is a self-rating questionnaire made up of fifty-one life changes, which a person may have experienced. Each of these life events is assigned a numerical value in terms of their severity. For example, the death of one’s spouse is assigned , personal illness or injury , failure in examination , appearing for examination or interview , change in sleeping habits , as the mean stress score. Both positive and negative events are taken, believing that both kinds of changes cause stress.

The respondent’s stress score is the weighted sum of all the items/life change events in the past one year checked by her/him. Some sample items of the measure are : Life Events Mean Stress Score Death of a close family member Unexpected accident or trauma Illness of a family member Break-up with friend Appearing for examinations Change in eating habits The mean number of stressful life events experienced over a period of one year without producing overt physical or mental illness is approximately two. However, the correlations between life events and susceptibility to any particular illness is low, indicating a weak association between life events and stress. It has been argued as to whether life events have caused some stress-related illness or whether stress caused the life events and illness.

The impact of most life events varies from person to person. Factors such as age at which the event was first experienced, frequency of occurrence, duration of the stressful event and social support must be studied in evaluating the relationship between stressful life events and the subsequent illness episode. injury, the annoying frequent hassles of everyday life and traumatic events that affect our lives. Life Events Changes, both big and small, sudden and gradual affect our life from the moment we are born.

We learn to cope with small, everyday changes but major life events can be stressful, because they disturb our routine and cause upheaval. If several of these life events that are planned (e.g. moving into a new house) or unpredicted (e.g. break-up of a long-term relationship) occur within a short period of time, we find it difficult to cope with them and will be more prone to the symptoms of stress.

Hassles These are the personal stresses we endure as individuals, due to the happenings in our daily life, such as noisy surroundings, commuting, quarrelsome neighbours, electricity and water shortage, traffic snarls, and so on. Attending to various emergencies are daily hassles experienced by a housewife. There are some jobs in which daily hassles are very frequent. These daily hassles may sometimes have devastating consequences for the individual who is often the one coping alone with them as others may not even be aware of them as outsiders.

The more stress people report as a result of daily hassles, the poorer is their psychological well-being. Traumatic Events These include being involved in a variety of extreme events such as a fire, train or road accident, robbery, earthquake, tsunami, etc. The effects of these events may occur after some lapse of time and sometimes persist as symptoms of anxiety, flashbacks, dreams and intrusive thoughts, etc. Severe trauma can also strain relationships.

Professional help will be needed to cope with them especially if they persist for many months after the event is over. E FFECTS OF S TRESS ON P SYCHOLOGICAL F UNCTIONING AND H EALTH What are the effects of stress? Many of the effects are physiological in nature, however, other changes also occur inside stressed individuals. There are four major effects of stress associated with the stressed state, viz.

emotional , physiological , cognitive , and behavioural . Emotional Effects : Those who suffer from stress are far more likely to experience mood swings, and show erratic behaviour that may alienate them from family and friends. In some cases this can start a vicious circle of decreasing confidence, leading to more serious emotional problems. Some examples are feelings of anxiety and depression, increased physical tension, increased psychological tension and mood swings.

Box . presents the phenomenon of ‘Examination Anxiety’. Physiological Effects : When the human body is placed under physical or psychological stress, it increases the production of certain hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones produce marked changes in heart rate, blood pressure levels, metabolism and physical activity.

Although, this physical reaction will help us to function more effectively when we are under pressure for short periods of time, it can be extremely damaging to the body in the long-term effects. Examples of physiological effects are release of epinephrine and nor - epinephrine, slowing down of the digestive system, expansion of air passages in the lungs, increased heart rate, and constriction of blood vessels. Cognitive Effects : If pressures due to stress continue, one may suffer from mental overload. This suffering from high level of stress can rapidly cause individuals to lose their ability to make sound Identify the stressful events, which you and two of your classmates have experienced in the past one year.

List the stressful events and rank them from to that have had negative impact in your day-to-day functioning. Then select those that are common to all three of you. Find out how much ability, skill, and family support your friends and you have in order to deal with each of these stresses. Discuss these results with your teacher.

Activity . decisions. Faulty decisions made at home, in career, or at workplace may lead to arguments, failure, financial loss or even loss of job. Cognitive effects of stress are poor concentration, and reduced short- term memory capacity.

Behavioural Effects : Stress affects our behaviour in the form of eating less nutritional food, increasing intake of stimulants such as caffeine, excessive consumption of cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs such as tranquillisers etc. Tranquillisers can be addictive and have side effects such as loss of concentration, poor coordination, and dizziness. Some of the typical behavioural effects of stress seen are disrupted sleep patterns, increased absenteeism, and reduced work performance. Stress and Health You must have often observed that many of your friends (may be including yourself as well!) fall sick during the examination time.

They suffer from stomach upsets, body aches, nausea, diarrhoea and fever etc. You must have also noticed that people who are unhappy in their personal lives fall sick more often than those who are happy and enjoy life. Chronic daily stress can divert an individual’s attention from caring for herself or himself. When stress is prolonged, it affects physical health and impairs psychological functioning.

People experience exhaustion and attitudinal problems when the stress due to demands from the environment and constraints are too high and little support is available from family and friends. The physical Box . Examination Anxiety Examination anxiety is a fairly common phenomenon that involves feelings of tension or uneasiness that occur before, during, or after an examination. Many people experience feelings of anxiety around examinations and find it helpful in some ways, as it can be motivating and create the pressure that is needed to stay focused on one’s performance.

Examination nerves, worry, or fear of failure are normal for even the most talented student. However, stress of formal examination results in such high degrees of anxiety in some students that they are unable to perform at a level which matches the potential they have shown in less stressful classroom situations. Examination stress has been characterised as “ evaluative apprehension ” or “ evaluative stress ” and produces debilitating behavioural, cognitive, and physiological effects no different from those produced by any other stressor. High stress can interfere with the student’s preparation, concentration, and performance.

Examination stress can cause test anxiety which adversely affects test performance. Persons who are high in test anxiety tend to perceive evaluative situations as personally threatening; in test situations, they are often tense, apprehensive, nervous, and emotionally aroused. Moreover, the negative self-centred cognitions which they experience distract their attention and interfere with concentration during examinations. High test anxious students respond to examination stress with intense emotional reactions, negative thoughts about themselves, feelings of inadequacy, helplessness, and loss of status and esteem that impair their performance.

Generally, the high test anxious person instead of plunging into a task plunges inward, that is, either neglects or misinterprets informational cues that may be readily available to her/him, or experiences attentional blocks. While preparing for examinations, one must spend enough time for study, overview and weigh one’s strengths and weaknesses, discuss difficulties with teachers and classmates, plan a revision timetable, condense notes, space out revision periods, and most importantly on the examination day concentrate on staying calm. exhaustion is seen in the signs of chronic fatigue, weakness and low energy. The mental exhaustion appears in the form of irritability, anxiety, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

This state of physical, emotional and psychological exhaustion is known as burnout . There is also convincing evidence to show that stress can produce changes in the immune system and increase the chances of someone becoming ill. Stress has been implicated in the development of cardiovascular disorders, high blood pressure, as well as psychosomatic disorders including ulcers, asthma, allergies and headaches. Researchers estimate that stress plays an important role in fifty to seventy per cent of all physical illnesses.

Studies also reveal that sixty per cent of medical visits are primarily for stress-related symptoms. General Adaptation Syndrome What happens to the body when stress is prolonged? Selye studied this issue by subjecting animals to a variety of stressors such as high temperature, X-rays and insulin injections, in the laboratory over a long period of time. He also observed patients with various injuries and illnesses in hospitals.

Selye noticed a similar pattern of bodily response in all of them. He called this pattern the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). According to him, GAS involves three stages: alarm reaction , resistance , and exhaustion (see Fig. .

). . Alarm reaction stage : The presence of a noxious stimulus or stressor leads to activation of the adrenal- pituitary-cortex system. This triggers the release of hormones producing the stress response.

Now the individual is ready for fight or flight. . Resistance stage : If stress is prolonged, the resistance stage begins. The para- sympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious use of the body’s resources.

The organism makes efforts to cope with the threat, as through confrontation. . Exhaustion stage : Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its resources and leads to the third stage of exhaustion. The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction and resistance become ineffective and susceptibility to stress-related diseases such as high blood pressure becomes more likely.

Selye’s model has been criticised for assigning a very limited role to psychological factors in stress. Researchers have reported that the psychological appraisal of events is important for the determination of stress. How people respond to stress is substantially influenced by their perceptions, personalities and biological constitutions. Stress and the Immune System Stress can cause illness by impairing the workings of the immune system.

The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside. Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the brain and the immune system. It studies the effects of stress on the immune system. How does the immune system work?

The white blood cells ( leucocytes ) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign bodies Fig. . : The General Adaptation Syndrome ( antigens ) such as viruses. It also leads to the production of antibodies .