Stress Management: Causes, Symptoms, and Coping Mechanisms

This article discusses stress management, including its causes, symptoms, and coping mechanisms. It explores the different models of stress and how to measure stress levels. It also provides suggestions for coping with stress through recreational activities, yoga, and meditation.

Running head: STRESS MANAGEMENT
Stress Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Stress can be defined as the psychological state wherein a person feels a considerable
amount of strain as well as pressure (McEwen 2012). Many experts are of the viewpoint that
the state of stress entails with itself a considerable amount of mental pain (Quick et al. 2013).
Psychologists have identified two kinds of mental stress, namely, positive stress and negative
stress (Quick et al. 2013). Positive stress is generally considered to be beneficial for the
individual concerned as it helps the individual to perform as well as handle the situation in a
much better manner (McEwen 2012). In certain cases it is also seen that positive stress
enhances the motivation level of the concerned individual and thereby propels him or her to
perform in a much better manner (McEwen 2012). Negative stress, on the other hand, is
detrimental for the person who is facing it and often has an adverse effect on the mental as
well as the physical well being of the concerned individual. In severe cases it is seen that
negative stress affects the emotional well being of the concerned individual in a significant
manner and often leads to depression and in some cases even propels the concerned
individual to become suicidal (Quick et al. 2013). In the case study under discussion here,
David is suffering from negative stress which is taking a toll on the emotional as well as the
physical well being of his. Thus, it is seen that he is not only unable to perform his job role as
per the demands of his boss and he head chief but at the same time the negative stress which
is suffering from is taking a toll on his personal relationship with his girlfriend and his baby
boy. The most pertinent effect of the negative stress from which he is suffering manifests
itself in the headaches which he suffers from on a regular basis, his problem of sleeplessness
and also his inability to fulfill the expectations of his family.
Stressors are the biological or the physical factors which cause or trigger the feeling
of stress in an individual (Cummings, Greene and Karraker 2014). Many psychologists are of
the viewpoint that the biological and the chemical factors are not the sole propellers of stress
but the physical environment in which a person resides or works also contributes in a

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significant manner towards the level of stress that the person feels (Cummings, Greene and
Karraker 2014). Thus, various kinds of stressors have been identified by the psychologists
like environmental stressors, workplace stressors, daily life stressors, life changes, social
stressors, chemical stressors and others (Szabo, Tache and Somogyi 2012). It is generally
seen that apart from the environmental stressors and other external ones the majority of these
chemical as well as biological ones are present inside the body of the concerned individual
(Szabo, Tache and Somogyi 2012). These stressors have been identified as the root cause of
the stress which is being experienced by the various individuals and they are responsible for
causing the chain reaction inside the body of the concerned individual which inevitably
causes the person concerned to experience the condition of stress (Szabo, Tache and Somogyi
2012). The primary stressor in the case study under discussion here is the external
environment as well as the workplace stressors which David faces that triggers the chemical
reactions in his body which inevitably leads to the condition of stress.
David has a very hectic professional as well as personal life and the baby boy he and
his girlfriend just had has contributed in a significant manner to the stress that he feels.
Furthermore, he had just been promoted to the level of the assistant chief and at the same
time his relation with the head chief and the manager of the place are not very cordial.
Moreover, he is unable to meet the demands of his profession and the sole reason for which
he is still continuing the job is because of the monetary prospects. In addition to these, his
girlfriend is suffering from post natal depression and after coming from the hectic job he
needs to take care of the baby. These factors have contributed in a significant manner towards
the high level of stress which David is facing at the current moment. Some of the problems
which David is facing at the current moment are constant headache which he feels throughout
the day, sleeplessness at night, his inability to perform his job roles in the ideal manner which
he would have been able to do considering his past work experience as the porter of the

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kitchen, his inability to cater to the emotional requirements of his girlfriend because of the
kind of hard effort he needs to put in for the completion of the work life roles and others.
Thus, David resorts to the use of painkillers for the purpose of relieving the high level of
headache which he faces thinking that it is completely normal and an effect of the excessive
work load of his new position at the job. These in short are some of the symptoms of stress
which David is facing at the current moment that is affecting his normal work as well as
personal life.
In the present times it is seen that various models of stress have gained prominence
because of the extensive research which is being conducted in this particular sphere.
However, the earliest as well as the most popular model of stress which is used by the various
psychologists of the present times is the “General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Model Of
Stress”. This particular model of stress was developed by Hans Selye in the year 1956 and it
considers stress to be a response action on the part of the individuals to the external
environment (Selye 2013). As per this model, stress is a dependent variable and comprises of
three factors, namely, alarm, resistance and exhaustion (Selye 2013). Therefore, it would be
apt to say that this particular model views stress as a part of the defense mechanism of the
individuals which helps them in their interactions with the outer world. Another important
model of stress which has gained popularity in the recent times is the “Stimulus Based
Model of Stress” which was proposed by Rahes and Holmes and is generally considered to
show the relationship between the stressors and the life events of a particular individual
(Levine 2017). This particular model of stress states that the external life events of a
particular individual impacts the level of stress experienced by that particular individual in a
significant manner and in most cases acts as the stressor which triggers the chain reaction
which inevitably leads to stress (Levine 2017). Furthermore, this particular model of stress
states that the stressors affect the adaptation capability of a particular individual either in a

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positive or a negative manner which indirectly leads to the psychological as well as
physiological reactions that ultimately affects the normal well being of the individuals
(Levine 2017). The above discussion clearly indicates that the two models of stress are
completely different from each other. Thus, whereas the first model of stress views stress as a
normal defense mechanism of the body whereas the second model of stress views stress as
the end result of the life events of the concerned individual.
The most commonly used method to measure the level of stress which a particular
individual is having is “Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)” which was developed
by Rahes and Holmes (Figley 2013). This particular stress measuring scale is based on the
presumption that the people who have a higher rate of life events are more prone to stress in
comparison to the people who have a lower rate of life event changes (Figley 2013). As per
this particular stress measuring scale David is likely to have a higher rate of stress since the
life events changing rate is high at the current moment. The “Perceived Stress Scale” is
another commonly used scale which is used to measure the level of stress from which a
particular individual is suffering from (Folkman 2013). This particular stress measuring tool
requires the individual to fill a questionnaire which is basically designed to find out about the
recent life events which the individuals had (Folkman 2013). Thus, a person on this particular
scale is likely to have a higher level of stress if the rate of life events which the person has
experienced in the recent times is high (Folkman 2013). The stress measurement technique
which has been used for David is the “Perceived Stress Scale” since the doctor asked him to
fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire as already mentioned was intended to find out
about the recent life events which had happened in the life of David.
In the present times there are various kinds of mechanisms which have been
developed to cope up with the high level of stress which the individuals normally face.
However, the most commonly used methods are recreational activities, taking the help of

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yoga sessions and meditations and others (McEwen 2012). The best possible solution for
David would be to take the help of various kinds of recreational activities like taking a family
outing, spending more time with his family and others which is likely to reduce the high level
of stress which he is experiencing at the current moment.
To conclude, stress is a common problem which the majority of the individuals face
at some point or the other in their lives. There are various factors which trigger stress some
are intrinsic to the individual whereas the others are extrinsic. Furthermore, in the present
times there are various kinds of measuring scales by means of which the level of stress faced
by an individual can be measured. Moreover, to relieve the high level of stress the individuals
can take the help of various kinds of recreational activities, yoga sessions and others.

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References
Cummings, E.M., Greene, A.L. and Karraker, K.H. eds., 2014. Life-span developmental
psychology: Perspectives on stress and coping. Psychology Press.
Figley, C.R., 2013. Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in
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Folkman, S., 2013. Stress: appraisal and coping. In Encyclopedia of behavioral medicine (pp.
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Levine, S., 2017. Social stress. Routledge.
McEwen, B.S., 2012. Brain on stress: how the social environment gets under the
skin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(Supplement 2), pp.17180-17185.
Quick, J.C., Wright, T.A., Adkins, J.A., Nelson, D.L. and Quick, J.D., 2013. Preventive
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Selye, H., 2013. Stress in health and disease. Butterworth-Heinemann.
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