- Stress responses differ from person to person based on personality, upbringing, and life experiences.
- Each individual has a unique pattern of warning signs and intensity of symptoms.
- Signs of stress can be physical, emotional, or behavioural.
- Recognising early symptoms is important, as unresolved stress can lead to serious problems.
Definitions [7]
Definition: Stress
Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.”
Give the definition of stress.
The word stress is derived from the Latin word ‘Stringi’ which means ‘to be drawn tight’. According to Richard Lazarus ‘stress is a feeling experienced when an individual feels that the demands exceed the personal and social resource that he/she is able to mobilize.’
Definition: Coping
“Coping refers to constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to master, reduce, or tolerate the internal or external demands that are created by the stressful transaction.” - Lazarus and Folkman
Definition: Life Skills
According to the WHO, life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.
Definition: Health Promotion
Health promotion refers to any event, process, or activity that facilitates the protection or improvement of the health status of individuals, groups, communities, or populations. Its objective is to prolong and improve the quality of life.
Definition: Positive Health
Positive health is the state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. It is not merely the absence of disease. It comprises high quality of personal relationships, a sense of purpose in life, self-regard, mastery of life skills, and resilience to stress, trauma, and change.
Definition: Wellness
According to Cicarelli and Meyer (2007), wellness is the practice of behaviour and lifestyle choices on how to promote both physical and mental health.
Key Points
Key Points: Concept of Stress
- Stress is a state of mental and physical tension when demands exceed coping ability.
- Stressors are internal or external events (like exams, conflict, loss) that disturb balance and block goals.
- Modern life increases stress due to competition, pollution, insecurity, and disasters.
- Moderate stress improves alertness and performance, but too much stress harms health and efficiency.
- Eustress is positive stress, while distress is harmful and long-lasting stress.
Key Points: Symptoms of Stress
Key Points: Nature of Stress
- Stress is a state of physical and mental tension when demands disturb a person’s balance.
- Eustress and Distress – Moderate stress (eustress) improves performance, but excessive or long-term stress (distress) harms health and efficiency.
- Stress and Strain – Stress refers to external pressure; strain is the internal effect like anxiety or illness.
- Cognitive Appraisal – Stress depends on how we interpret the event and judge our ability to cope with it.
- Types of Stressors – Stressors may be environmental, social, or psychological, and may be short-term or long-term.
- Stress Reactions – Stress causes physical (hormonal changes), emotional (fear, anger), behavioural (fight or flight), and cognitive (worry, poor concentration) responses.
Key Points: Types of Stress
- Stress is commonly grouped into three types: physical and environmental, psychological, and social.
- Physical and environmental stress comes from bodily strain and surrounding conditions (including natural disasters).
- Psychological stress arises from internal thoughts, feelings, and mental conflicts, such as frustration and internal pressures.
- Social stress arises from social events, relationships, and everyday interactions with others.
- In real life, these types of stress often occur together and influence each other.
Key Points: Sources of Stress
- Stress Sources: Daily issues (like delays, fights, money) can cause stress if seen as important.
- Life Events: Big changes (e.g., moving, breakups) disturb life. Stress is measured using event scales such as the Holmes-Rahe and Indian PSLES.
- Life Events & Illness: More events may link to illness, but the connection is weak and depends on support and other factors.
- Daily Hassles: Small, frequent problems (e.g., traffic, noise) often affect mental health more than big events.
- Trauma: Serious events (e.g., accidents, disasters) can cause lasting stress like anxiety and flashbacks; long-term effects need help.
Key Points: Effects of Stress on Physical Health
- Physical Health: Stress can cause or worsen many health problems, such as ulcers, asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and weakened immunity.
- Psychological Impact: Stress affects emotions (e.g., mood swings, anxiety), thinking (e.g., poor concentration), and behaviour (e.g., sleep issues, substance use).
- Examination Stress: High exam stress can reduce performance by causing anxiety, negative thoughts, and poor focus.
- Burnout: Prolonged stress leads to physical and mental exhaustion, lowering energy, mood, and health—called burnout.
- Lifestyle & Immunity: Chronic stress weakens immunity and leads to unhealthy habits; good diet, exercise, and social support improve health.
Key Points: Coping with Stress
- Coping with stress is more important than the stress itself for maintaining mental and physical health.
- Coping is a dynamic and situation-specific response aimed at reducing stress or solving the problem.
- Endler and Parker identified three coping strategies: task-oriented (dealing directly with the problem), emotion-oriented (managing feelings), and avoidance-oriented (ignoring or avoiding the stressor).
- Lazarus and Folkman divided coping into problem-focused (changing the situation) and emotion-focused (controlling emotional reaction) strategies.
- Effective coping improves well-being, while poor coping can weaken the immune system and overall health.
Key Points: Stress Management Techniques
- Stress causes health issues like heart disease and is increasing due to lifestyle changes.
- Coping skills can be improved through education, training, and practice.
- Relaxation, meditation, and biofeedback calm the mind and body.
- Visualisation and stress inoculation help control negative thoughts.
- Exercise and simple lifestyle changes reduce stress and improve health.
Key Points: Promoting Positive Health and Well-Being
- Positive Health: It means complete well-being—physical, mental, social, and spiritual—not just being free from illness. It includes strong relationships, life purpose, and stress resilience.
- Health Promotion: Activities and efforts that help improve and protect health at individual and community levels, aiming to enhance life quality and longevity.
- Wellness and Life Skills: Wellness is making healthy lifestyle choices. Life skills (like communication and rational thinking) help us deal effectively with daily challenges.
- Key Influencers of Health: Regular exercise, a balanced diet, self-care, and strong relationships support good health. Avoiding habits like procrastination and perfectionism is also important.
- Positive Mindset: Having a stress-resistant personality and optimistic thinking helps handle problems better and promotes mental and emotional strength.
Important Questions [7]
- Wasim is always brushing everything under the carpet and refuses to face the stressor or even accept it. Which kind of unhelpful habit is this?
- Which of the following statement is not true about coping with stress?
- Many ailments like hypertension, ulcers, etc, could be stress related. To prevent this from happening, we need to be aware about stress management techniques. Explain any four of these techniques.
- Describe How Life Skills Can Help Meet Life’S Challenges.
- Ranjan has faced a lot of mishaps in his life. However, he shows low levels of illness despite high levels of stress. What makes people like Ranjan resistant to stress?
- What is well-being?
- To deal effectively with environment, the individuals must possess the right life skills. Explain any four of these life skills.
