Stress: Wrestling with Shadows

The concept of stress is the state of both physiological and psychological reactions towards challenging situations.

Experiencing stress is normal to some extent in order for us to handle the problems in the best way.

Think, for example, we have an important meeting and we need to be there on time. Feeling stressed about it helps us take it seriously and get prepared well. Stress becomes a problem when it affects us physically and psychologically, after we experience it intensely and frequently for a long time. Stress reveals itself in three dimensions; Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioural.

First, we experience it in our mind, our cognition. Cognitively we evaluate that there is a challenging or demanding situation that we need to respond to effectively. We reflect on it by assessing how much we can handle the situation. During the cognitive assessment, we develop emotional and sensational responses according to our decision. We feel, for example, worry, sadness, fear, anxiety, hesitations, agitations or restlessness, depending on our estimation of the severity of the situation. For example, some people may be very comfortable with giving a speech in public while some people may feel stressed while initiating a conversation with one person. We also develop physiological responses such as increased heartbeat, sweating, trembling, heavy breathing, and increased blood pressure. Eventually, we make a behavioural decision and, depending on our estimation, we either choose to handle the situation in a way we deem effective, or avoid confronting it.

Considering that cognitive assessment of a situation varies from person to person, each of us may name different factors that cause stress. It can be a sudden change in weather conditions or fear of losing one’s job. Therefore, we can say that anything which makes us think that we are in danger and gives us a feeling of distress or anguish causes stress.

Stress can be short-term or chronic. Short-term stress is an uncomfortable emotional response towards temporary or one-time events, such as a sudden threat or an unexpected situation. For example, being late for a meeting or a short-term problem at work can give us experiences of short-term stress. Chronic stress, on the other hand, is an ongoing feeling of stress over several situations in our lives. We develop chronic stress gradually and unwittingly due to chronic life problems such as a problematic child, an unhealthy relationship, and lack of self-confidence.

Chronic stress shows itself with one or more signs affecting our daily functioning. If we are, for example, experiencing sleep disorder, stomach aches, headaches, muscle tension, heart palpitation, and/or having difficulty in concentration, we need to think of potential chronic stress.

As it is in all mental problems, stress also needs to be treated holistically.

We need to address the problem on the cognitive level, psychological level, spiritual level, and physical level. Reflecting on the situation, our values, and our strengths would help us change our perspective towards the factor that causes stress. On the behavioural level, we can consider one or more physical activities such as physical exercises, volunteering, socializing, and handcrafts depending on the availability. Religious or spiritual resources can be great assets in searching and finding meaning and purpose in life.