Keiran Bibbs
Stress Management
Wednesday 8-1030
Professor Vicky Czyznikiewicz
Stress and Coping Term Paper
Stress, regardless of how hard you try your body is constantly under some form of or
experiencing stress. What exactly is stress? Stress essentially is a state of mental,
emotional/physical strain, or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.
Stress is also known as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change (AIS
1)”. What exactly causes stress? Any event, situation, or pressure that elicits causes stress is
called a stressor. These stressors vary from individual to individual depending on what your,
values, goals, needs, etc. are and mean to you. There are two different types of stress distress and
eustress. Distress originates from events such as major or even minor changes such as school,
death, financial difficulty, busyness, relationship difficulties and many more. Eustress is the
better stressor, things such as buying a house, getting married, a job promotion, going to college,
having children. There is some “research shows that some stress is good. Stress ‘revs up’ the
body thanks to naturally-occurring performance enhancing chemicals like adrenalin and cortisol
This heightens ability in the short term (Stress Management Society 1)”. Moreover there are
more factors to the classification of stress. For example there are internal and external factors
that create stress. External factors are what I named above such as school, work, your
environment, business, and so on. Some internal factors are pessimism, worry, selfish attitude,
negative internal talk, and being a perfectionist to name a few.
Getting more in depth to stress, there are more dynamic factors to stresses. One is acute
stress which “is the most common form of stress, and it comes from demands and pressures of
the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future (Miller 1).” An example
of this would be playing a football game. A football game is stressful but provides enough stress
to where it isn’t overwhelming to the individual. In a ways it provides a certain amount of thrill
and excitement to the players. Other stressors such as injury, pain, soreness etc. may occur but
they are very short lived and can be treated. Then on the other hand we have chronic stress. The
word chronic means existing for a long time or constantly occurring. The difference between the
two is that acute stress is more manageable and passes within shorter time or can just be defined
as a daily occurrence.
Chronic stress can destroy your body from the inside out with the combination of internal
and external factors as mentioned above. It is also mentioned to be “the stress of poverty, of
dysfunctional families, of being trapped in an unhappy marriage or in a despised job or career.
It's the stress that the never-ending "troubles" (Miller).” Chronic stress typically develops when a
person cannot get out of certain events or situations that may be involved in. It seems as though
the stress of the situation(s) are completely relentless and will not go away making them lose
hope, motivation, and has the individual constantly searching for the answers to their problem(s).
Some of these chronic stressors/stresses can come from events from the past that the individual
may have never made peace with or let go of due to their experiences with them. This is also
known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is common in children and war veterans.
More than likely this form of stress will require more medical or professional interventions to
help.
Chronic stress can physically alter a person’s personality by changing their views of
themselves, others, the world, even their beliefs. Moreover, chronic stress may also make a
person physically ill by lowering their immune system. A study conducted from 1982 to 1992
by “psychologist Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD and immunologist Ronald Glaser, PhD, of the Ohio
State University College of Medicine proved this to be accurate. The study involved medical
students that were shown over a three day period of exams their immunity dropped due to their
levels of natural killer cells and T cells which fight off bacteria, virus, and infection. This
sparked further evaluation of this idea that stress lowers immunity. For another reference in
“2002 a study by Lyanne McGuire, PhD, of John Hopkins School of Medicine with KiecoltGlaser and Glaser reported that even chronic, sub-clinical mild depression may suppress an older
person's immune system. Participants in the study were in their early 70s and caring for someone
with Alzheimer's disease. Those with chronic mild depression had weaker lymphocyte-T cell
responses to two mitogens, which model how the body responds to viruses and bacteria. The
immune response was down even 18 months later, and immunity declined with age. In line with
the 2004 meta-analysis, it appeared that the key immune factor was duration, not severity, of
depression (APA).” With this being said, stress and chronic stress (distress) are no joke and can
wreak havoc on the body if not managed or treated in a reasonable time.
So how exactly do people prevent/handle the stresses that occur? Among many ways to
handle and prevent stress the top two strategies you have is a support system and specific
activities that you enjoy that you may partake in to alleviate the stress. Your support system will
typically include friends, family, spouses, etc. that understand you and your stressors and can
help you cope with what you are experiencing. It is difficult to deal with stress alone because if
you do not have a sense of control, a positive attitude/ outlook, or have the ability to deal with
emotions it ends up being a prolonged issue. People may also handle stress in a more negative
way for example turning to alcohol, food, or even drugs. Chronically stressed individuals are
more are more likely to hurt themselves or sometimes others. Some different factors that
influence stress that many people overlook are their daily diet and exercising habits. The food
that you eat may have an effect on your mood based off of their nutritional benefits each specific
food provides. Eating junk foods such as candies, refined sugars/carbohydrates, and unhealthy
snacks will make you feel sluggish and potentially amplify your symptoms of stress. Whereas a
more nutritionally sound diet will provide more of what the body needs to help manage the
events life throws at you by detoxifying and keeping your immunity system high.
In reference to exercise it helps especially activities such as lifting by relieving stress,
anxiety, worry, anger, and frustration. Exercising releases endorphins that help you feel good and
it is recommended that you exercise for approximately 30 minutes or more for 3 or more days of
the week. Yoga is also a great way to relieve stress and promote health by draining your lymphs
and boosting immunity, regulates adrenal glands, helps you relax, helps focus, maintains your
nervous system, increases self- esteem and much more. Another way to prevent unwanted or un
needed stress is to simply remove yourself from things that are giving you stress. If you don’t
like your job quit, if you don’t have healthy relationships get out of them, and if you begin to
stress let it out/ manage it before it gets worse. How much stress we bring upon ourselves are
typically related to the things we can change or remove ourselves from but due to internal factors
we feel inclined to stay around the current situation we are facing.
So specifically what is stressful to me? I believe the biggest stressors that I have are
sports, my goals, school, family, and friends. If I had to choose out of the few stressors that I
have mentioned, I believe the biggest weakness that I have would be my family. I believe they
are the most impactful people in my life whether it is negative or beneficial. I have a lot of
uncles, aunts, and cousins etc. Am I close with all of them? No not necessarily, but they do have
an impact on me whether others would agree with me or not. What my intermediate family does
affects me on a different level than say my household does. When I hear of my cousins, aunts,
and uncles struggling or going through a hard time it worries me and can affect my mood
depending on what the situation. In a sense I feel as though I am more susceptible to feel
something because of the “blood ties” I have with them.
Moreover I would say they know me better than most of the people around me today do.
Excluding my cousins my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and so on have been around since I was
born. Hearing their approval, disapprovals, and indifferences about my behavior can begin to
stress me out because their opinion carries more meaning than others. The individuals that have
the biggest impact, influence, and knowledge on me are those that actually live within the house
hold. My mother, father, sister, brother, and even pets know how to get under my skin and could
ruin my day/ stress me out at any given time. Within my family I am the middle child of which
many do not understand is more like the middle man between the my two siblings. My parents
look to me (due to my personality) for information about my siblings and what goes on within
their respective lives. This being said, my parents also seek me for information about the other
parent making it stressful for me. I am not a fan of telling ones information to another person
because I want to be fair to everyone. This was the way it has been since I was a very young age.
So, what exactly happens when the middle man or the person who is deemed as the peace keeper
within the household leaves for college at months at a time? Essentially things begin to fall apart
and began to fall apart which followed suit my freshman year of college.
During my first few years at Rowan University I played college football as a defensive
back receiving playing time as a freshman and starting as a sophomore. At the time I majored in
athletic training and it seemed as though things were great. After a while the new environment,
people, curriculum, football, and other factors began to give me a little stress as it should. When
I went to turn to my family for support I was then bombarded with more stress because of the
issues that were at home. In addition to this the amount of support received from my family was
very minimal because they didn’t understand what being a student athlete was truly like. I was
often told “you should quit”, “get out while you can”, “its only division 3”. While I could have
done just that, I didn’t appreciate that my family were not willing to listen to me yet, they wanted
me to listen to what was going on within the household. These events were a common
occurrence during the fall semester of my freshman year. Eventually with my new horrible
sleeping habits, lack of nutrition, going out at night, and change in environment in conjunction
with stress from my family I physically became ill. This happened on multiple occasions and
until this day I believe it was due to my stress levels being as high as they were.
Individually each member of my family added stress in their own respective ways. For
example my father will typically call me to complain about a specific topic or about other
members of my family and how he should go about it. My mother on the will call to mention
some small issues she has but often would tell me she misses me. She also would wonder the
next time I would be able to come home making me home sick thus adding more stress. My
sister texts, calls, or contacts me for advice and shows me what I am missing out on at home. As
a bigger brother that she looks up to, and wants assistance from when I am not there to help it
stresses me more than it would if a friend or acquaintance would do the same thing. Often I feel
like a pessimist because I feel hopeless and worthless when I am unable to help others. Lastly is
my brother, who is a little brash in comparison to everyone else in my family. I often try to look
to him on specific aspects of life because he is older. More often than not he ends up being more
cut, dry, and almost harsh about realities that I may face. He often doesn’t give me the benefit of
the doubt, or doesn’t give me ways to be more optimistic on the topics I come to him for.
How exactly do I cope with the stresses they give me? Ironically I turn to some of my
family members as long as I feel as though they are in a neutral standpoint with me at that point
in time. The best ways I relieve stress that have never failed to and has been the most reliable is
working out, lifting weights or boxing more specifically. Here I am able to provide myself with
an environment where I can relieve stress positively, and increase health benefits. I may also
come to a trustworthy friend for support because I believe that is second best to a trusted family
member(s). Lastly if I am in the proper mental state I will try to back track and re-evaluate the
situation and analyze what I can do to fix the situation that is actually in my control. Even though
I did say my family is the number one source to my stress they are one of my bigger sources of
providing eustress and relieving any distress I have. Truly it is about finding the proper balance,
stress is normal and un avoidable but can be dealt with and managed with the right tools, and
people around you.
Works Cited
AIS. "What Is Stress?" The American Institute of Stress. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.stress.org/what-is-stress/>.
APA. "Stress Weakens the Immune System." Apa.org. American Psychological Association, 6
Feb. 2006. Web. 03 Dec. 2015. <http://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.aspx>.
Miller, Lyle H., PhD, and Alma Dell Smith, PhD. "Stress: The Different Kinds of Stress."
Http://www.apa.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apa.org%2Fhelpcenter%2Fstress-kinds.aspx>.
Seagel, Jeanne, PhD, Melinda Smith, M.A., and Lawrence Robinson. "Stress Symptoms, Signs,
and Causes." Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes. N.p., Sept. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-causes-and-effects.htm>.
Stress Management Society. "About Stress." About Stress. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.stress.org.uk/About-stress.aspx>.