Page 42 - Ai Book - 10

Dr Hans Selye is popularly known as Father of Stress for first introducing the concept of stress in a
medical context. According to him, stress is a normal part of life and adapting to stress is a natural
mechanism.

IMPORTANCE OF STRESS MANAGEMENT

Stress management is all about taking charge of your lifestyle, thoughts, emotions, and the way you deal with
problems.
Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This is not as easy as it sounds. The
true sources of stress are not always obvious, and it is all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts,
feelings, and behaviour. Sure, you may know that you are constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe
it is your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress. To identify the true
sources of stress, look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses. Until you accept responsibility for the role
you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.
Being well versed with stress coping mechanisms helps people lead and healthy and happier life.
Adequately managed stress prevents medical and physical illnesses. Stress management is vital because it leads
to following benefits.

u Improves mood
u Boosts immune system

u Promotes longevity
u Leads to burst of physical strength, which is vital for goal achievement
u Complete mental and physical engagement for task accomplishment
u Increases efficiency and effectiveness

u Prevents psychological disorders and behavioral problems
SOURCES OF STRESS

On the basis of its stimulus, these are the factors that are the sources of stress.

u Mental Stress: It is often spoken of as emotional stress and involves powerful feelings and emotions. It
hampers the power of our own mind in how we think, rationalize and make meaning of our stress, hassles
and worries. It is about how our brain perceives the stress in our life. Very high expectations from our own
selves can leave us with chronic anxiety and mental stress.
Students may feel this stress, if they are unable to handle their assignment submission deadlines or their
examinations grades drop. Such events give rise to high degree of mental stress and anxiety. They are often
associated with continuing trauma after the event for an unnecessary longer period, often referred to as
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

u Physical Stress: Physical stress refers to how our body reacts and responds to stressful
situations. It is a common response to situations where do-or die situation arises. This
kind of stress puts us on high alert with instinctive fight or flight response. During
this type of stress, the adrenal glands of the body naturally respond with a surge of
hormones like adrenalin and cortisol in the bloodstream which pumps burst of energy
in the body helping us to deal with the stress. Physical stress is often generated by the
fatigue and overwork that we build up over a period of time.

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