Modern life is full of routines, frustrations, deadlines, and demands. As a result, many people perceive stress as an ordinary event in daily activities. Everyone has experienced stress, but often a person does not know exactly its definitions and effects. This paper is aimed at analyzing general causes of stress, its physiological influence on human nature, and effective copying skills and strategies in handling this state of health.
Stress is a challenge to individuals’ well-being undermining both physical and mental health. Different things or events can cause stress. The most common of them are family problems, financial matters, illness, job issues, academic exam results, lack of time, noisy neighbors, to list a few (Nordqvist, 2014). Identifying the reason of stress is often the first step in finding a way to deal with it. In reference to the character of stress, it can affect humans in multiple ways. According to Feldman (2011), “It may directly cause illness, make us less able to recover from a disease, and reduce our ability to cope with future stress” (p. 477). Moreover, feeling stressed, one cannot sleep well, has blood pressure risen, and his or her immune system weakens (Nordqvist, 2014).
Effective copying with stress depends on the nature of the stressor. For many people, such relaxation techniques as breathing exercises, massages, aromatherapy, meditation or yoga are extremely effective strategies of addressing the problem (Feldman, 2011; Nordqvist, 2014). In my opinion, an ability to build balanced relationships with others is the most effective skill in dealing with stress. What is more, social and emotional support from others enables people to experience stress less frequently and better cope with it. If usage of these skills is not successful enough, there is one more great strategy for copying with stress. It is preparing for stress before it happens. For instance, students should arrange the schedule with more time to study before having an exam.
To conclude, individuals face stressful situations everywhere in daily life. In accordance with the cause, stress can have psychological and physiological effects on a person’s health. In order to overcome them, humans should choose copying skills or strategies that may be the most effective for them individually.