Stressors


I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I will follow up with a post about stressors, so here it is. In this post I will talk about stressors.

Stress is caused when a person comes across stressors. Stressors are events, processes or other persons that raise our stress levels. For example – if we just do not like anything about our job then even the mere sight of the workplace can cause us to get stressed. Similarly, the very sight of someone with whom we have an uncomfortable relationship can cause us to feel stress. It could also be a particular aspect of a larger thing that can cause us to feel stress. For example – we like our work but we may not like a particular part of our role and we might feel stressed on the day when we have to perform the duties that we do not like. These stressors can be personal - emanating from and generally affecting personal life or they can be occupational – emanating from and generally affecting our work life. Occasionally there can be an overlap between them. Some common stressors are:

Occupational
·                   Tight deadlines
·                   Poor communication
·                   Harassment
·                   Ambiguousness regarding role
·                   Repetitive and boring work
·                   Conflict with co-workers
·                   Job insecurity
·                   Unsuitable job
·                   Poor relationship with manager
·                   Lack of adequate resources to perform work
·                   Unsafe work practices
·                   Timing of shifts
·                   Irregular and unsocial work timings
·                   Lack of social interaction at work
·                   Frequent long hours of work

Personal
·                   Raising children
·                   Death in the family
·                   Financial commitments and stress (e.g. mortgage repayments)
·                   Family commitments
·                   Providing long term care to another
·                   Divorce
·                   Marital problems
·                   Academic pressure
·                   Disease

While avoiding stress or escaping from it may not be always possible, its effect can be reduced or curtailed by managing it. Some ways to manage stress are:

·       Breathing exercises – One of the easiest ways to manage stress is by doing breathing exercises. When we are under stress our breathing becomes shallow and rapid, which is a product of our evolution and is designed to aid in our fight or flight response. A few minutes of deep breathing also called diaphragmatic breathing effectively lowers our stress levels.
·       Meditation – Meditation has been shown to be very effective in lowering stress levels. Meditation helps in secretion of GABA, which is a neurotransmitter. A neurotransmitter acts as an agent that communicates between neighbouring brain cells. The role of GABA is to reduce the neurons that relate to the fear or anxiety emotions.
·       Yoga – Yoga is a 5000-year-old Indian spiritual and physical discipline. It includes several meditation exercises which aid in moderating breathing and lowering of blood pressure
·       Hobbies and enjoyable activities – This is perhaps the easiest way to manage stress as it links with things that we already enjoy doing and would be willingly to do as much as possible. Doing things, we enjoy and indulging in our hobbies helps in the release of the hormone dopamine which acts as a counter to the stress hormone cortisol and reduces our stress levels. Stress is caused when a person So, next time you are feeling stressed go and do the things that you have been wanting to do anyway but could not find time till now.
·       Experiencing nature – Spending time in nature can help in reducing cortisol levels as well as control blood pressure and heart rates.

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