Stress has devastating effects on one’s life. Coping with stress demands one to have an idea of what gives rise to the stressed condition, a case that will enable him/her adopt appropriate steps to deal with it pragmatically. Stress can be caused by external and internal factors, which are both positive and negative. For instance, the desires to get married are a positive stressor while difficulties of a non-working marriage are on the other extreme a negative stressor. Personally, stress has affected me mentally, physically as well as socially.
The worst forms of physical and mental stress impacts remain attributed to chronic stress. Physically, stress has affected my entire body based on the various diseases I have suffered as a result. For instance, I am a victim of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, skin problems, immune system suppression, and neurological disorders among others, all of which stand associated with stress. As a result, my body has significantly deteriorated in terms of weight and activity. “…Continual stress may place you at a risk for having heart disease” (Halgin, and Whitbourne 87). It holds true especially when the heart has to raise its rate in response to repeated exposure to stress. Stress has devastating physical effects especially to patients who are recovering from cancer. The development of cancers related to suppression of the immune system such as “virus related tumors” (Halgin and Whitbourne 89) has left me virtually lonely as all have discriminated me making my life difficult day-by-day. Mentally, I have suffered the effects of stress including panic attacks, depression, hypochondriasis, multiple personality disorders, compulsive disorders, panic disorders among others. Crucial to note, mental impact of stress, is posttraumatic stress disorder. Stress has the ability to trigger majority of past traumatic stress associated disorders among them traumatic flashbacks, and failed relationship problems, as it is evident in my life. All these amounts to worsening of an existing stressed condition. Stress has also deterred my social inclinations. One particular case is that of social phobia condition. As a result, mingling with other people especially the ones who do not subscribe to my ways of perceiving different issues in life has become a nightmare.
The stress video comes in handy in helping me out of stress. I have tried to manage it using the possible means. Stress management entails maintaining and controlling situations in which people exert excessive demands on your person. Keeping far from stressors proves one of the most important ways of dealing with stress that I have adopted (The Nature of Stress Video). I have learnt to say no, keeping off people who are likely to stress me, avoiding hot topics and also learning how to plan on how to isolate the DOs and DON’Ts from my life. I have also learned how to control my reactions to issues changing the ways is perceive situations by looking for alternative perspectives point of view and learning how to relax myself. Changing perspectives of view renders me able to adapt to the stressors rather than stressors adapting to afflict me. Many people suffer from stress because of setting goals in life that seem unrealistic. It therefore follows from (The Nature of Stress Video) that a person needs to select few objects and goals in life that are within an individual’s capacity of reach. Where one cannot achieve some preset goals, acceptance of the unattainable is essential.
Many have stated that ‘stress is part of our daily existence and it is not the stress itself that impede us but rather our reaction to it’. In response to the statement, it proves true particularly upon exposing our reactions to stressors to amicable scrutiny. Mild depression or anxious feeling exhibits almost everybody’s reaction to stress. In the temporally mode, mild depression and anxiety mirrors the vicissitudes encountered in daily life indulgencies. If people escalate further the reactions to the stress, they lead for the demand of professional intervention: something that many refer to as the ‘search for stress management professional help’.
References
Halgin, and Whitbourne. Abdominal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders. New York: Mc Graw-Hill, 2010.
The Nature of Stress Video. The World of Abnormal Psychology Videos, 1992. Web.