Stress Management

UNIT 5

Stress
Stress can be explained as pressure upon a persons psychological system which arises our of complexity of ones life. We generally use the word "stress" when we feel that everything seems to have become too much - we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed upon us. Stress typically describes a negative concept that can have an impact on one's mental and physical well-being. It is a situation where a person is not in his normal state or satisfied in life.

Causes of Stress (at work place)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. High expectations Excessive competition Instability and insecurity Over burden of work Conflicts with co-workers Misbehavior from management Personal problems Unhealthy working conditions Desire for status and self esteem etc

Effect of Stress
1. Psychological reaction
Anxiety Anger Depression Decreasing satisfaction Fear Frustration Impatience Inability to relax

2. Physical Reaction
Fatigue Headache Uneasiness High/low blood pressure Heart problems Asthma Insomnia

3. Behavioral Reaction
In cooperative Aggressive Inefficient Dependent Low performance Lack of concentration Disturbed schedule

4. Cognitive Reaction
Reasoning Thinking Concentration Memory Incapability in decision making

How to avoid Stress

The word itself explains: S Strength T Traffic Control R Re-design E Erase S Sharing S Surrender to God

1.

Strength Physical Emotional Intellectual Spiritual 2. Traffic Control

We need to regulate and control our thoughts Eat while eating Work while working Leave the home at home and office in office

3.

Re-design
We tend to view our life and ourselves through our own philosophy. A re-design in this philosophy increase our capacity to bear heavier loads.

4.

Erase
Ego Anger Fear Jealousy

5.

Sharing
Share your wealth Knowledge Workload Anything else that can be shared

6.

Surrender to Lord
Free your mind from weight of worries Adopting a positive attitude This attitude will ensure efficiency, success and freedom from stress.

Eustress
Eustress is a psychological term that refers to the good form of stress that that helps an individual or business grow and remain healthy. A business might find it desirable to add types of Eustress to its work environment to promote higher performance and the pursuit of excellence within its workforce. Eustress is common in the examples below. However, the examples depend on how an individual perceives the stress.

 The examples below are most often perceived as eustress.

Meeting or engaging in a challenge. Desired physical exercise (e. g. weight training, running, biking) Playing sports Watching a suspenseful or scary movie. Riding a roller coaster Competing in a tournament Gambling

Distress
Distress is in short psychological suffering. It is a state of great pain, anxiety, sorrow and trouble which can be physical or mental. People under constant distress are more likely to become sick, mentally or physically.

 People often find ways of dealing with distress, in both negative and positive ways. Examples of positive ways are listening to music, calming exercises, sports and similar healthy distractions. Negative ways can include but are not limited to use of drugs including alcohol, and expression of anger, which are likely to lead to complicated social interactions, thus causing increased distress.

How do people cope up with Distress

Distress

Positive way

Negative way

Listening to music, exercises, yoga, Meditation, sports etc

Addiction to alcohol, drugs, anger, Smoking, no control over oneself

Indian perspective of Stress Management

The Indian ways of Managing Stress are :
Introspection Brain stilling Meditation

1. Introspection
Introspection is the self-examination of one's inner thoughts and feelings. Introspection can determine any number of mental states including: mental, physical, cognitive, emotional. It involves self examination of thoughts, feelings and sensations and finding out solutions. Regular introspection discards unwanted thoughts and behavior and cultivate good values to purify our mind and heart.

2. Brain Stilling
Indian philosophy also supports Brain stilling. It believes for taking a rational decision silent mind is an effective way to get long lasting solutions for the management problems. Stilling is free from sound, motion or agitation. It mean to calm down. It is the most reliable method to discover solution to the problems which cannot be tackled by arguments and reasons.

3. Meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual trains the mind and induces a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit. It can be spiritual or non spiritual. It relaxes ones body and soul. Recent investigations of mediation have linked it to increased intelligence through physical growth of the brain. It builds confidence and helps to gain the inner strength. It reduces anxiety an anger which in turn helps in decision making and problem solving.