Fresh Start: A Guide To Eliminating Unhealthy Stress

Fresh Start

A Guide To Eliminating Unhealthy Stress

Sarah O'Flaherty

Contents

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1. What Is Stress?

2. What Is Burnout?

3. The Different Ways We Cope

4. Optimism/Pessimism And Stress

5. How Do I Deal With Stress?

6. Additional Tools

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About the Author

Also by Sarah O'Flaherty

References

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1

What Is Stress?

Stress is estimated to cost American businesses up to $300 billion a year and has been labelled the ‘health epidemic of the 21st century’ by the World Health Organisation [1]. Numerous studies show that job stress is by far the major source of stress for many adults, and in a recent global survey, employers identified stress as the number one health risk factor for their employees [2]. However, stress is not limited to the workplace and can be caused by many things. It can be caused by being stuck in heavy traffic, by having overdue bills, or from having an argument with your neighbour.

It is not surprising then that it is challenging to understand how to manage stress as it has been notoriously difficult to define. Hans Selye, considered to be the father of stress, defined it as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand. Unfortunately, this definition is rather generic and vague. Stress has also been described in a medical sense as the rate of wear and tear on the body, or more broadly, as an aversive event (physical, mental, or emotional) that threatens the well-being of an individual. Other definitions are [3]: the perception of threat with resulting anxiety, discomfort, emotional tension, and difficulty in adjustment; and that stress occurs when environmental demands exceed one’s perception of the ability to cope.

However, when considering the many and varied definitions of stress, there was one definition that stood out for me, and that was the three-component definition developed by Kim and Diamond [4]. The authors suggest that this definition can be applied broadly across many settings and situations. First, stress requires heightened excitability or arousal (E). Second, the experience must be perceived as aversive (A). Third, there is a lack of control or uncontrollability (U). Thus, stress can be defined as the product of these three factors and can be shown in the equation outlined below:

S = E x A x U

Having control over an aversive experience is suggested to have a profound mitigating influence on how stressful the experience feels. The element of control is the variable that ultimately determines the magnitude of the stress experience and the susceptibility of the individual to suffer the physical and mental impacts of stress.

So, in summary, stress can be defined as a condition in which an individual is aroused by an aversive situation – for example, a hostile employer, or an unpaid bill – with the magnitude of stress and its physiological consequences greatly influenced by the individual’s perception of their ability to control the presence or intensity of the situation.

WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR BODIES?

The biological response to stress involves the activation of three major interrelated systems. First, the stressor is perceived by the sensory systems of the brain, which evaluates the stress against how we are now