Stress has become the “buzz word” of our times. The twentieth century has been called the “Age of Anxiety”. The history books that our grandchildren read will most probably speak of the alarming increase in health problems related to tension and anxiety in what may be called the “Century of Stress”. More people are dying today as a result of stress related illness than ever before.
The question may be asked if people have always been nervous and anxious. In fact, our nervous responses can be traced back to the prehistoric caveman.
Imagine a caveman sitting next to a fire and the next moment he is attacked by a saber-toothed tiger. He reacts immediately by either fighting or running away.
In modern times, people are faced with different stressors, pressures, threats and demands than those faced by our ancestors. The rate of change in our lives is accelerating. Smaller stressors can add up to hundreds a day i.e. no warm water at home, traffic on your way to work, constant telephone calls, unscheduled meetings or visitors, etc.
In short, every person in society today, experience some form of stress.
Stress refers to the reaction of people to their environment. It involves both a physiological (bodily) and psychological (emotional) response to the environment.
Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he/she desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important. Therefore, two conditions are necessary for potential stress to become actual stress. There must be uncertainty over the outcome and the outcome must be important.
Stress can be caused by our need to adapt physically, mentally and emotionally to change. It all depends on how we perceive the situation. In other words, stress is not just generated by circumstances but your attitude towards the circumstances will have a significant impact on how you cope. What might be perceived as stressful for one person might not be stressful to another.
Stress is a normal reaction in all human beings. We all perceive changes and stressors in our own unique ways. Depending on our background, upbringing and present circumstances, we may find ourselves coping with stress much better than our neighbour or colleague at work.
There are three ways in which stress can be managed:
- Change the situation that is causing the stress
- Change the meaning of the stressful situation
- Manage the stress symptoms
Extract from a non-accredited one day workshop: Gerhard Schoeman – Industrial Psychologist