Stress management

 Q. 1. Define Stress and its management Techniques.

Write an essay on four A’s techniques of stress management.

Ans- Stress

Stress is the emotional, physical, or psychological tension because of worry, frustration, anger, or nervousness. It is an unwanted or uninvited situation. It happens whenever there is an odd situation with an unexpected result. Happy events, such as a wedding, and unhappy events, such as work overload, can cause stress.

Types of stress:

There are two main types of stress:

a)    Acute stress:

The little stress that someone experiences daily is called acute stress. These are short-term stressors. Short-term stress can help avoid danger, The body releases a hormone, called cortisol, in response to stress. It alerts the brain, tenses the muscles, and increases the pulse rate. In the short term, this helps individuals avoid danger; and sometimes perform better. Acute stress can be manageable and sometimes may bring good results. For example, during examinations, students have the stress of their revision. This stress helps them to learn and pass the examination. 

b)    Chronic stress:

More severe stress that can be built up when someone is exposed to a stressful situation over a longer period is called chronic stress. Long-term stress can harm the mind and body. Cortisol can increase the risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, diabetes, and menstrual problems. It can also worsen existing health conditions.

Stress management (Application of 4As)

(Strategies for coping with stress)

Stress is an unwanted or uninvited situation. It happens whenever there is an odd situation with an unexpected result. Happy events, such as a wedding, and unhappy events, such as work overload, can cause stress. When stress is going heavier one must find ways to reduce the stress because too much stress can make life difficult. Stress management is an effective tool to Reduce stress. It has four A's (avoid, alter, accept, or adapt) for coping with stress. The four A's of stress management are to avoid, alter, accept, and adapt.

1.   Avoid

This is the most straightforward strategy for stress management. Avoiding many things is always in control. One can learn how to avoid situations, environment, people, etc. One must be very careful while avoiding things. A lot of stress can be avoided by planning ahead & rearranging surroundings. Some examples are given below-

a)    Avoid aggression-

Be calm and cool. Listen and wait for your time

b)    Avoid Loosing control ( means Taking Control)-

Stress can be avoided by taking control of certain things in life.  For example- Avoid the route if traffic gives you stress.

c)    Avoid bothersome people-

Learn proximity rules and avoid irritated people. For example - sitting with people who irritate you.

d)    Avoid procrastinating things-

Never delay in doing work. It will heap up lots of work and increase stress.

e)    Avoid saying ‘yes’-

If the time is less and responsibilities are more, it is better to avoid saying ‘yes’ to less important things. For example-entertainment during the examination. 

f)    Avoid time killing-

Avoid doing unproductive work and killing your precious time.

g)    Avoid haphazard listing (means Prioritize a to-do list)- 

Preparing a to-do list with the priority of the work to be done. For example- Give priority to completing projects over watching movies.

2.    Alter (Change)

Alter means ‘change’. This is another technique for reducing stress. It is not easy to change oneself or another. But this technique sometimes works well. Alter unfavorable and unmanageable circumstances with wit, patience, negotiation, persuasion, and tactics.

a)    Alter emotional attitude

Change emotional attitude into emotional intelligence to reduce stress.

b)    Ask others to Alter their behavior

If someone's behavior hurts you talk to him/her directly in person and request him/her not to repeat the same again. For example- If someone insults you then and now, ask him to change this attitude.

c)    Alter yourself

Alter your habits and attitude, if required for a stress-free life.

d)    Alter Communication Style (Communicate openly)

Someone is best when he/she is honest. Always try to be honest in conversation. It helps to reduce maximum stress. For example - openly change the course of action if given instructions are difficult to follow.

e)    Alter the ‘I’ approach

Alter the ‘I’ approach to the ‘you’ attitude. It helps to build rapport with others.

f)    Alter Time management techniques- 

Try to change your working style and save time by grouping similar works together rather than doing those works one by one. For example- Alter your way of working and do two tasks simultaneously. Like replying to emails and messages while traveling.

g)    Alter shy nature (State limits in advance)- 

If you have limits, please inform others so that they may change according to your limit. For example- A request for a change in time schedule due to an urgent unplanned meeting.

3.      Accept

Sometimes you may have no choice but to accept things as they are. Accepting things can also reduce stress.

 

a)    Accept the past- 

Past incidents that cannot be altered. Accept the things which had happened and to reduce your stress talk to someone whom you think is your friend.

b)    Accept people and forgive them

Accept the people as they are by forgiving their mistakes.  Forgive others releases negative energy from the mind and body.  Accept people or things with their faults and start living with them.

c)    Accept the challenges positively

Take challenges positively and face them with courage and strategically.

d)    Accept positivity (Practice positive self-talk)

Negative thoughts attract many more negative thoughts. Positive self-talk can reduce stress and help maintain objectivity. For example - Accept positivity in self and talking to self about it.

e)    Accept and Learn from mistakes

Mistakes are inevitable and should be used as teachable moments. Don’t regret but learn from them. Accept your mistakes but don’t repeat them.

4.   Adapt (Adjust)

One of the reasons for stress is expectation. The technique of ‘Adapt’ means adjusting to a situation. If expectations/standards are not met, one feels stressed. hence one should adapt to the situation.  

a)    Adapt to the environment-A person must adapt to the environment, he is in.

b)    Adapt to any hobby- Hobby can do miracles and it also keeps someone away from negative thoughts.

c)   Adapt to 'no expectation' Tag- Nothing is perfect. Trying for perfection can cause feelings of frustration and guilt. Adjusting expectations can reduce stress.

d)  Adapt to exchange bad to better- Negative thoughts should immediately be replaced with positive ones. If you think positively, things turn out to be positive.

e)    Adapt to Reframe the issue - If something looks odd then start looking at situations from a different viewpoint. Take advantage of a bad situation and turn it into a nice way with planning.

f)    Adapt to mantra sayings- Mentally repeating confident sentences, such as, “I can do this,” has a positive effect on stressful situations.

g)    Adapt to happy resources- Rather than feeling stressed with a list of to-do, make another list of happy experiences, situations, and thoughts that can put things into perspective.

h)    Look at the big picture- if things are quite close then complete those but if things are quite far take them at rest for some time and take rest for a while.