Coping with stress

Introduction

Stress, a strong cause of anxiety and sometimes fatal illness, has long been under the scrutiny of psychologists. As we deepen our understanding of the complex psychological mechanisms of human beings, especially the inner workings and interactions of innate systems(cognitive, physiological, affective, psychological, neurological), our misconceptions of stress as a negative influencer gradually cleared out and multiple theories were since introduced to better explain stress. In this essay, I will review a stress relief strategy called “Problem-focused Coping” in terms of effectiveness and limits. I will use a particular scenario, “a college student trying to finish assignments and prepare for exams during the midterm season”, under which the strategy will be demonstrated and evaluated. I’ll rest my arguments around the thesis statement aforementioned.

Understand Stress

Research regarding stress can be traced back to the 1950s with Hans Selye first pointing out that stress can be viewed as a response model. He established the three stages of how an individual reacts to stress, namely, alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. For example, in our chosen scenario, the first stage will be somewhere around a month before the exams, during this period, our college student begins to feel threatened by the stressor but his mind triggers the defense mechanism to try to downplay the stress. He might convince himself that the exam is still a long way away or even avoid thinking about it altogether. The second stage is the resistance stage, this is the most productive and efficient stage of stress relief. During this period, the exam is so close that our college student can no longer ignore it, so he decided to put himself to work. As he immerses into total concentration on his study, his productivity increases dramatically due to the stress hanging at the back of his mind, which, at this point, serves as a positive stimulus. Now comes the third and last stage, exhaustion. This is a particularly painful one that kicks off when our young college student comes to the unfortunate realization that the exam is so near and the work is so immense that there’s no point to even continuing trying. At this point, the resistance of stress is so weak that the stress overwhelms the individual,  shedding negative influences such as insomnia, anxiety disorder, heart disease, just to name a few.

Problem-focused Coping

As shown in the last section, the challenge of stress coping is the third and last stage where the stress usually overwhelms the individual, to avoid this, a good trick is to prolong the second stage, where the efficiency and positivity are running high, as long as possible, until the problems are resolved and stressor eliminated. Here’s where the problem-focused coping strategy comes into play, this strategy targets the root of the problem and, by means of problem-solving and time management, dismantle the problems into small pieces and tackle them one at a time. In our particular scenario for example, if our college student were to avoid falling into the abyss of the third stage, then what he has to do is, first of all, to break up the seeming “gigantic” problem (prepare for the midterm) into several smaller components(review slides, memorize notes, do past papers). To view the matter in smaller pieces is less likely to be overwhelmed by the prospect of finishing them. Secondly, shift the mindset, look at the matter in a different light, don’t think of it as something that has to be done (I must get a straight-A!), but instead, view it as a challenge to oneself (Can I get more points than last time?). This will bring out the curious nature and adventurous desire of ourselves, subsequently releasing stress. Thirdly, make a timeline and stick to it. Time management is the essence of problem-focused coping since we need to utilize the efficiency of the second stage as much as possible. We have a tendency to procrastinate until all the work is piled up to the end, thus scheduling all the heavy work earlier in the itinerary will relieve the pressure nearing the exam, hence guaranteeing a higher success rate.

Possible Barriers and Suggestions

(Side comment of mine, doesn’t count toward the essay: It is very hard to judge the shortcomings of a strategy and give suggestions accordingly when we have never applied this treatment on ourselves, as per directed in the guideline “but you have NOT tried or used it consistently”. Thus, all I can offer is some wild conjectures. )

As far as the barriers go, all I can think of is that its usage is limited to those situations where the stressor is an explicit problem at hand (like exams, physical illness). It would be quite powerless when it comes to stresses related to deep emotions such as divorces, loss of family members, loneliness, etc. In that case, the individual will have to resort to the “Emotion-focused Coping” strategy to relieve stress.

Conclusions

Stress, when viewed under different lights, can be either a source of anxiety or a precious chance of challenging oneself. Positivity is the best weapon against stress, maintain a positive mindset, manage the workflow to suit the three stages of stress accordingly, then there won’t be anything standing between you and a healthier, stress-free life.