Stress Management and Coping Strategies

Stress Management and Coping Strategies

Robert Sapolsky’s ‘Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers’ identifies the primary causes of stress as physical crisis, psychological or social irregularities and chronic physical conditions. The theme of stress in this book entails how the body physically, chemically and biologically reacts to these changes through the process of homeostasis in order to maintain optimum balance. The relationship between stress and personality and stress and adrenaline demonstrates similarities and differences in stress coping mechanisms. Stress coping entails the ability to manage anger and resources through conscious focus on both the internal and external environment.

In contemporary urban settings characterized by continuous activity, stressful emotions such as anger occur in a self-perpetuating manner. Stressors in urban life tend to accumulate to a pint of distress and subsequent anger outbursts. At the same time, anger further induces either direct or indirect stress based on the reactions an individual manifests. Therefore, it is important to develop a strong level of consciousness to these ongoing emotional states. The recognition of anger or stress allows an individual to apply strategies such as calm communication or thinking in terms of short-term incidents or more long-term approaches such as leisure, rest, exercise or getting involved with hobbies (Edworthy, 2000). Resource management can also operate as a solution or prevention tool. The rebalancing of resources, greater efficiency and organization reduces the risk of excessive stress and worry by providing a stable and secure framework of resource allocation.

The link between stress and personality can be seen in the theme of social or non-scientific factors in the science of stress management. Personality types A, B, C and D, all exhibit different traits that ultimately alter the reactions to common stressors (Sapolsky, 2004). While stress is mainly affected by hormones such as epinephrine and glucocorticoids, genetic and social factors can potentially alter the biological and psychological interactions that affect reactions. Therefore, it is important to develop coping mechanisms based on these different personality traits in accordance with their dominant characteristics (Sapolsky, 2004).

An interesting area of study within the field of psychology in general and stress coping in particular relates to the concept of stress adrenaline junkies. Aided by the biological process and social construct, people are more inclined to expose themselves to high levels of cortisone release due to the development of chronic stress even after current challenges have passed. Nowhere is this more evident than in workplaces where people become workaholics and by extension, stress adrenaline junkies. As society continues to create more conditions for excessive work and workplace participation, individuals must eliminate such states in order to reduce risk of psychological complications. One suggested solution entails occasionally detaching and breaking from these cycles of the pursuit of achievement (Cooper and Williams, 2002). Undoubtedly, consciousness and awareness of emotions, stressors, biological composition and social structure in relation to stress comprise a strong tool of stress management. Even so, the dynamic nature of the modern-day workplace stress calls for further research to identify the influencing factors and solutions that transcend traditional approaches to stress coping.

References

Cooper, L. and  Williams, S. (2002). Managing Workplace Stress: A Best Practice Blueprint. Chichester: Wiley.

Edworthy, A. (2000). Managing Stress. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Sapolsky, R. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers . New York: St. Martin’s Press.