Factors causing Stress

Factors causing stress:

Internal Factors:

The internal factors are affected by the strengths and weaknesses internal to the individual. Internal factors include poor self esteem, poor body appreciation , poor coping strategies, low resilience (resilience is ability to overcome  loss or health as soon as possible), maladaptive lifestyle, eating pattern, maladaptive behavior, poor-interpersonal relatedness and social support, low or excessive use of defense mechanisms,  lack of creative pursuits,  dissatisfaction from self, less or excessive indulgence in recreational activities, lack of adequate sleep and too much of attachment or too much of detachment.

External Factors:

The opportunities and threats presented by the external environment to the organization.External factors include loss of opportunities, unemployment, too much of work pressure, any kind of illness or disability, lack of time to socialize due to work pressure, natural calamities, domestic pressure or violence, civil wars, wars between the nations, pollution in the environment, life events like marriage or birth of a child, children’s illnesses, illness of a spouse or close relation like parents, disabled child or a parent, any novel stimuli, unpredictable stimuli or stimuli  that is uncontrollable in  terms of the individual or  any socially evaluative threat and socio-economic crises.

Common external causes of stress

Not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated:

Major life changes Work Relationship difficulties

Financial problems Being too busy Children and family

Common internal causes of stress

Not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated:

Inability to accept uncertainty Pessimism Negative self-talk

Unrealistic expectations Perfectionism Lack of assertiveness

 

 

Things that influence your stress tolerance level

• Your support network – A strong network of supportive friends and family members is an enormous buffer against life’s stressors. On the flip side, the more lonely and isolated you are, the greater your vulnerability to stress.
• Your sense of control – If you have confidence in yourself and your ability to influence events and persevere through challenges, it’s easier to take stress in stride. People who are vulnerable to stress tend to feel like things are out of their control.
• Your attitude and outlook – Stress-hardy people have an optimistic attitude. They tend to embrace challenges, have a strong sense of humor, accept that change is a part of life, and believe in a higher power or purpose.
• Your ability to deal with your emotions – You’re extremely vulnerable to stress if you don’t know how to calm and soothe yourself when you’re feeling sad, angry, or afraid. The ability to bring your emotions into balance helps you bounce back from adversity. 
• Your knowledge and preparation – The more you know about a stressful situation, including how long it will last and what to expect, the easier it is to cope. For example, if you go into surgery with a realistic picture of what to expect post-op, a painful recovery will be less traumatic than if you were expecting to bounce back immediately.

Major Causes of Stress:

1. Low Self Confidence: Individuals having low self confidence, who are not aware of their positive traits of personality may be in constant state of stress as we could see in the case of Albert described above.
2. Lack of resilience: If you lack positive emotions and resilience like optimism, humor, cognitive flexibility, reappraisal, altruism and pro-social behavior etc. then you would be experiencing more stres

3. Lack of Social Support: The American Institute of Stress reports that the social support that is being valued and recognized is a great stress buster or breaking up the stress. It reduces the risk of coronary heart diseases, cancer and even HIV and AIDS. The institute also reports that social support is simply not being surrounded by people or so called friends. These could only be mere acquaintances. It is the basis for being recognized and valued with appropriate sharing of emotions with each other. In a study it has been depicted that low levels of social support were the most powerful predictors of depression and anxiety in mothers of autistic infants (Boyd, 2002).

4. Maladaptive Life Style and Coping Style: Maladaptive life styles like inadequate sleep, sedentary life style, lack of exercises, irregular eating patterns, eating too much or too less, taking lot of caffeine, chewing tobacco, smoking cigarettes and taking alcohol etc. may prolong your stress rather relieving you from stress.

5. Socio-economic Crisis:  Socio-economic crisis is one of the factors that may lead to stress, even amounting to suicide. The theory of strain proposes four sources leading to suicide: where poverty is one of the factors along with poor coping skills that may lead to suicide (Zhang and Lester, 2008). In India in the state of Orissa several farmers committed suicide due to poverty in the past few years.

6. Job and Work related overburden: Many highly demanding jobs like fire-fighters, ambulance workers, police officers, medical specialists, pilots/astronauts, submarine officers, military officers, high ranking officials of the multi-national companies may be under constant pressure of some kind of specific demands according to their roles and may be  caught for the burnout. This burnout may result in terms of physical impairment or illnesses like hypertension or heart diseases or drowsiness or dullness and difficulties in concentration (Sluiter 2006).

7. Domestic Violence, Abuse and Neglect: Domestic violence is the major stressor in large parts of the world, leading to depression, constant anxiety, physical impairment etc. Lifetime violence was significantly associated with perceived bad general health, disease, abortion, hemorrhage, and body mass index. Recent violence increased the number of doctor visits, and the odds of feeling dizzy, vaginal bleeding, movement and activity problems, pain, taking drugs, and stress significantly (Afifi et al. 2011). Similarly, in a study conducted in USA by Zolotor , Denham , Weil (2009), it was found that Intimate partner violence is a common problem, affecting large numbers of women, men, and children who may have presenting complaints to primary care practices.

8. Life Events and Daily Hassles: Life events are those events that are usually unavoidable part of life causing a change in an individual’s life. The life events could be sad e.g.: death of a family member or happy e.g. the birth of a child, though it is stressful again as it is demanding more time for the family and demanding extra expenditure. Daily hassles are the daily routine where the hectic schedules may cause lot of stress e.g. a packed routine of a general practitioner.

Effects of chronic stress

The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.
Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by stress, including:

Pain of any kind Heart disease Digestive problems Sleep problems

Depression Obesity Autoimmune diseases Skin conditions, such as eczema -  Dr Smita Pandey