To what extent have life events been shown to be a source of stress?
Life events can play a big part in causing stress. They don't have to be big negative events such as getting a divorce or a spouse dying but also normally good events such as holidays or getting married can also be stressful.
Holmes and Rahe (1967) studied into life events as a source of stress. They had noticed that certain life events in their patients, which seemed to be associated with stress and poor health. They noticed that these events in particular could be characterised as those that involved change from a steady state, such as getting divorced or moving house. However they also noticed that positive events, such as getting married, seemed to be associated with stress in their patients. They suggested that the changes associated with major life events absorb psychic energy, leaving less available for other matters such as physical defence against illness. Holmes and Rahe demonstrated this by creating the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). It consisted of 43 events and ratings of how stressful they were, then they asked respondents to say which had happened to them over the last six months. They then added up the event ratings, which gave them a life event score. Their results were that participants who had a life event score over 300 life score units over a period of 1 year were more at risk from physical illness and heart attacks.
This therefore shows that life events can be shown to be a source of stress. However there are numerous problems with Holmes and Rahe's evidence obtained from their study. Firstly it isn't always easy to know whether life events have caused stress related illness at times, or whether it was stress that caused the life events, such as divorce. For example stress may cause a change in eating habits, but a change in eating habits won't cause stress. Another problem with the study is that the impact of life events varies from person to person depending on things such as personality types or whether they are already stressed from something else. Another example is a person who gets a divorce may find it easy to cope with if they have already developed an intimate relationship with somebody else. Martin (1989) did research in to the SRRS study; he said that the scale tends to muddle together different types of events, most particularly those you have some sort of control over.
It’s not a big surprise that stress is a factor in heath, the phrase “stress will kill you” is used often enough that people get the concept quite well. However most ignore the common warning signs of high level stresses leading to endless health issues, breaking down the quality of life. In the movie “Stress of a Portrait killer”, focuses on living and work environments capable of increasing stress levels effecting health. The study by a researcher in Holland linked stress induction during fetal life from people born during the Dutch Holland Winter of 1944. Her study results concluded, during pregnancy when the mothers were exposed to high levels of stress, the fetus was negatively affected in levels that lasted throughout their lives. The
Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
In the past thirty years there have been a significant number of studies done to establish a connection between psychological stress and the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD refers to the negative change towards the normal process of the heart and blood vessel system (What Is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?, online). Psychological stress is defined, but not limited to being a demanding condition in which the normal behavioral conditions are exceeded thus overwhelming the behavioral resources of the organism (Kamarck, 2012). In the world today it has been shown that the impacts of psychological, social, and environmental stressors from daily lives are increasing the physical well being of individuals. Two different types of stressors can attain cardiovascular responses: "acute major life stressors and chronic exposure to continuing stressors" (Dimsdale, 2008). A stressor is any condition which causes stress on an individual. One may be exposed to acute stressors during periods of intense stress that are not regular to one’s lifestyle. Those who are exposed to constant chronic stressors are at an increased risk for hypertension, atherosclerosis, and stroke (Hojt, online). The increased levels of psychological stress present in individuals lives is providing for alarm due to the direct correlation it has with risk for cardiovascular disease.
There are different ways in which one can experience stress and it is important to remember that stress is an essential part of life. Not all stressful situations are negative. Receiving a promotion at work, the birth of a child or taking a trip can all be stressful but are not threatening. The reason why one may see these situations as stressful is because they may feel unprepared to deal with them. To eliminate confusion and misuse of words Hans Selye gave names to the different types of stress one may experience, he described damaging or unpleasant experiences as distress and pleasurable or satisfying experiences are called eustress (Rice, 2012).
The term ‘stress’ was generally thought to have been a concept created by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. He worked on the design of physical structures, such as bridges; his concept of stress came from how much pressure a structure could withstand. However, Lazarus (1993) pointed out that the term ‘stress’ has been used as far back as the 14th century, when it meant hardship or adversity. Back then it referred to the external stressor, such as the death of a spouse or financial worry; in the 20th century, there are many different schools of thought on this area. Hans Selye (1956), brought together the work of Cannon and Bernard and devised a comprehensive system of physiological stress; which he termed the ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’, and is a 3-stage process. He theorised that a certain level of stress called ‘eustress’ (Cox, 1978) could actually be beneficial to our overall performance. Later In 1976, Cox & Mackay devised another model called the ‘Transactional model’. This model takes into account the individual differences in the perception of the amount of stress experienced by the person. The main difference between these two models is that Selye’s model only accounts for the physiological side of stress, whereas Cox’s model takes into account both the physiological and psychological aspects of stress. Therefore, both models will have slight similarities and differences in their explanation for how stress occurs in individuals, which is the main focus of this essay.
Stress can come from any event or thought that makes us feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. All of us experience stress and usually cope with it well. Stress is an omnipresent part of life and is a reaction to external stimuli that disturb our physical or mental equilibrium. It is a system in our body that helps us to deal with real danger and / or perform at our best. Any event or happening that induces stress is called stressor.
Second are stressors caused by major live events, which includes marriage, going to college, death of a loved one and birth of a child, to name a few. These events can be either positive or negative, depending on how an individual perceives it. One can see going to college as exciting while the other sees it as threatening and stressful. Thus, it should be noted that positive life events are not associated with stress, only the negative ones, but only you can tell if it’s positive or
The human body has different ways of responding to stress; one quick responding nerve-hormonal system involving adrenaline, another long-lasting system involving cortisol, and perhaps others. These systems not only determine the intensity of our anxiety reactions but also our attitudes, energy level, depression, and physical health after the stressful events are over. As individuals, our nervous systems differ; however, according to Richard Dienstbier at the University of Nebraska, we may be able to modify our unique physiological reactions by learning coping skills. The genetic, constitutional, and intrauterine factors influence stress. Some of us may have been born "nerv...
Everyone deals with stress at some point in his or her life. Most people deal with it daily. As defined in the book called Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness, stress is, “The mental, emotional, and physiological response of the body to any situation that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). This stress is caused by a stressor, which is also known as “a stress-causing event” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). Stressors can take all different forms, from moving to a new town, having a baby, or even writing a paper (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). One major stressor in life can be going to college. If not coped with properly, these stressors can leave a person with too much stress that could end up harming them mentally and physically, such as developing an illness (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). There are several ways to cope with stress. Some healthy ways to cope with stress would be practicing emotion-focused coping, building time-management techniques, and practicing meditation.
Stressors, the sources of stress, include three types of events, referred to as daily hassles, major life events, and catastroph...
Stress is a normal part of everyday life. From what happens to you and around you, plus the many things that one does to themselves put stress on the body. The common causes of stress that most people encounter are problems in personal relationships, starting a new job, financial situations, daily hassles, illnesses and legal problems (webmd.com). When the body encounters long periods of stress like those our body begins to give off warning signs that something is not right. When we encounter these warnings they shouldn’t be ignored. Our body is telling us that we need to take it down a notch and give
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous
Stress is in our everyday lives. We allow things such as the way we live, school, work, family, relationships etc to stress us out. Some people deal with stress way different from others. Some may know how to cope with stress better than others. We allow stress to take a major toll over our lives when we are suppose to fight it, but a lot of people can’t do that. Stress makes you act and do things that are not like yourself. Stress is a negative word; it comes in all different shapes and forms.
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations and deadlines. People have to suffer stressful from many directions and they seem to be consent to live with stress. Many people think that they can stand with stressful and it is harmless, but it is not. If people live in stress during a long period of time, it has bad effect to health and spirit. Therefore, there is actually that you can protect yourself by understanding stress and how to reduce these harmful effects caused by stress.