According to The American Institute of Stress (AIS, n.d.), the most common definition of stress is "physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension".
Lazarus, one of the most influential psychologists in the history of the field, defined stress as feeling inexperienced when one lacks the resources to deal with difficult events. The "flight or fight" response is created when the body comes under stress. Hormones are released that increase the heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing. This provides us immediate energy to respond to internal or external stimuli or "stressors."
There is also a difference in both physical and mental reactions to stress, as well as ways of managing stress in men when compared to women. According to the APA survey, women are more likely to report symptoms associated with stress and do a better job of connecting with others about it, while men are less likely to indicate that they need others for willpower support.
The Stress in America Survey (APA, 2014) respondents reported the top physical responses to stress as:
in that order. Psychological symptoms experienced in order of most occurrence were irritability or anger, followed by feeling nervous, lack of energy, and feeling as if about to cry.
It has been said that “middle-aged Americans live to work, while others in the world work to live.” Most Americans spend much of their time performing some form of work outside the home, and restful sleep is often forfeited as a result-creating decreased immunity and less energy. Additional effects of work-related stress (Institute for Innovation and Improvement, 2012) include:
Stress Assessment
When guiding the agenda with clients, use open-ended questions to help them explore their current level of stress, their thoughts about it, how it's affecting their lives, and describe what a typical day or week is like for them. Assess diet, physical activity, personal support, attitude and relaxation efforts.
Effects of Stress
Our stress "response" can be good or bad for us. The physical, behavioral, and emotional manifestations of unmanaged stress levels have been well documented (Mayo Clinic, 2012; APA, 2010). Because these symptoms can stem from other origins, and because we often ignore them, they are often not recognized as stress-related, especially when they develop over time. We often see a practitioner treating the symptoms without really taking a hard look at any current stressors in the client's life that could be the source of the problem.
We understand more now about how stress affects our bodily systems and how it can manifest itself through serious conditions of heart attack, hypertension, overweight or underweight, anxiety, depression, and the like. That's all the more reason to stop and take note of not only how stress is affecting our lives on a daily basis, but also how to manage it more effectively.
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale (1967) was developed to ascertain whether one is at risk for illness due to stressful events having occurred in one's life over the past 12 months. The tool for adults consists of 43 life events, such as a divorce, death of spouse, sexual difficulties, jail term, marital separation, trouble at work, retirement, major mortgage, change in living conditions, and the like. The tool for adolescents consists of 39 life events, such as divorce of parents, failure of a grade in school, beginning to date, becoming involved with drugs or alcohol, becoming a full-fledged member of a church, and death of a close friend.
Developers of the scale, Drs. Holmes and Rahe, assigned "weights” to each of the items allowing a score to be assigned in the end. While not absolute, the measurement has been a reliable indicator and is still one of the most widely used measurements in stress literature. The user should keep in mind that culture affects one's score.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.