Stress is a person's reaction to internal and external stimuli. In other words, it is the individual's response to things that bothers him. Our bodies show both biochemical and psychological responses to stimuli. Stress is also a biochemical reaction because when we experience stress, our body perceives a threat and this creates some biological changes. For example, the heart rate in our body accelerates, our breathing rate increases to increase the amount of oxygen, the spleen produces more blood, and our liver produces more glucose (sugar) into the blood. The energy in our body goes more to the muscles. On the other hand, stress; causes psychological reactions because when we experience stress, we feel emotional distress, anxiety, uncertainty and anger.
IS STRESS A BAD THING?
In fact, all physical and psychological responses are all normal and necessary for the person. The important issue to be considered is: the amount/intensity of stress and the time/ duration of stress. Actually, stress is both necessary and important in terms of being motivated and protecting ourselves against life threats. Stress management and coping with stress means not trying to escape and get rid of stress completely, but to manage and cope with it.
WHAT CAN BE SOURCES OF STRESS?
Sudden changes can play a role in our stress. For example, having a physical illness or some emotional changes may be the main reasons for our stress. Positive and negative factors such as promotion, marriage, birth, death and job change may also cause us to experience stress.
ACCORDING TO WHAT ARE WE GETTING STRESSED OR NOT?
Notice that when I wrote the sources of stress, I wrote "can cause" instead of "causes". This is because we have personal differences in whether we experience stress or not. While one person experiences stress when he needs to prepare a project, another may not feel stressed and feel very comfortable. There are two reasons for such a difference. The first reason is: our personality structures are different from each other.
Researchers say that people with type A personality are more likely to experience stress than type B personalities. Individuals whose A-type personality traits predominate are usually in a hurry and want to do more than one job at the same time. They have focused on success by overcoming all kinds of difficulties. They want to do their job in the best way as soon as possible. Therefore, these people are prone to experience more stress. Individuals with B-type personality traits are non-hasty, comfortable people. Even if they work hard, they do not put themselves under pressure as much as A type people. They do not get angry easily and are not competitive; these traits cause them to experience less stress.
The second factor affecting our stress is the difference in our thinking and interpretation skills. Our feelings change according to the way we interpret the events. For example, the stress level of the person who thinks “I do not have any problem with the project” will be less than a person who thinks that “it is impossible for me to complete this project”. In this example, I try to emphasize that the level of the stress rate will change according to our interpretation. Whether or not a situation creates stress depends on the person for the two reasons described above, it certainly does not depend on the event!
HOW TO COPE WITH STRESS?
Many people use coping methods that work in a shorter term to deal with stress. For example, eating plenty, sleeping for a long time, smoking or drinking alcohol are some of the short-cut ways that are used to cope with stress. But the level of damage is greater than the benefits with these coping ways. Even if such methods relieve us at that moment, they do not solve the problem and cause harm in the long run. To deal with stress, it is necessary to pay attention to two important issues. The first issue is: we need to physically protect ourselves against stress cause stress causes physical reactions and biochemical reactions,. Paying attention to our nutrition, getting our sleep efficiently and exercising are very important in coping with stress. Also yoga, breathing exercises and relaxation exercises are very important in dealing with stress.
The second issue is; we need to protect ourselves psychologically because stress causes different emotions,. Being aware of our emotions, expressing them and, most importantly, being aware of why we experience stress are among the most important of them. An individual who knows that all his feelings are caused by his own thoughts and interpretations will be more successful in protecting himself. A person with a high awareness will try to find out the thoughts that cause stress and try to analyze them according to the reality. He will probably not be relieved of stress completely, but he will make more meaning out of his stress. In summary, none of us can expect a stress-free life, but we can manage our stress!
RAHEL LAYIKTEZ