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Stress Management
Introduction
STRESS. Just looking at the words makes the heart rate go up, the blood pressure
rise, and the anxiety sets in. Everyone experiences stress; furthermore, stress comes in all
varieties. Stress with family, stress with work, stress with school, etc. the list goes on and
on. STRESS. Why does this six-letter word cause so many problems for people? What is
stress? Why do we have stress? Is stress avoidable? And probably the most important
question, what can we do to manage stress? I hope that by the end of this paper you a
have a little more understanding of what stress is and how to manage it.
Literature Review
Before we begin to try and manage stress, we need to first answer the question,
What is stress? As it mention in our book, stress is defined as the physical and
psychological response to internal and external stressors. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, &
Nock, 2014). Internal and external stressors, what does that mean? The book also defines
stressors as specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or
threaten the persons well being. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2014). The
University of Maryland Medical Center talks about external and internal stressors. They
state that external stressors include physical stimulus (such as pain or hot or cold
temperatures) or stressful psychological environments (such as poor working conditions
or abusive relationships. Internal stressors can also be physical (infections, other
illnesses, or inflammation) or psychological (such as intense worrying). Stress. (2013,
January 13) Retrieved from http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/stress. Now,
as mentioned by the University of Maryland Medical Center there is not one specific

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stressor that causes stress for the entire population. Stress is different for everyone. One
persons stress could as big as a catastrophic disaster and another persons could be as
little as keeping a secret for you best friend. Although each stress is different, the body is
unable to tell the difference between the two and treats them as the same.
Now that we have defined was stress is, we need to take a look at the body and
learn about what happens to the body when it is stressed. Take this scenario:
You are in Africa, on safari, and the tour truck stops in the
middle of the Serengeti plains. The tour guide tells you
that your and the rest of the tourists are welcome to get out
of the truck and collect some rocks and flowers to take
back with you to the hotel. You are pre-occupied with
collecting your trinkets when all of a sudden you are face
to face with a lion, and it looks like he hasnt had anything
to eat for two weeks. What do you?
Luckily the body has been equipped with the automatic response for this exact
situation. This response is called the Fight-or-Flight response. The fight-or-flight
response is defined as an emotional or psychological reaction to an emergency that
increases readiness for action. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2014). In order for
you fight-or-flight to respond appropriately, efficiently, effectively, and fast, your body
has to go through what is called the HPA Axis. HPA stands for hypothalamic, pituitary,
and adrenocortical. From the moment you see the lion, your hypothalamus sends a
message to your pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), this
hormone goes into the bloodstream and travels to your adrenal glands, your adrenal

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glands then release catecholamines and cortisol, which energizes the fight-or-flight
response. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, & Nock, 2014). This process allows you to run
faster, see better, hit harder, hear better, jumper higher, and think faster. It is basically a
way for your body to say to you, Hey! Should I stay and fight or is it better for me to run
away, a.k.a. flight.
The fight-or-flight response is an amazing bodily function that happens in lifethreatening occurrences; however, since most of us are not on African safari, what
happens when this response is triggered doing mundane tasks. Lets say for instance that
you are sitting behind your desk at work and you receive a phone call from you wife. You
pick up the phone and say hello. She responds with, Honey, we need to talk when you
get home. Not necessarily life threating, in most cases, but still a stressor nonetheless.
Having too many fight-or-flight responses can affect the body in many ways. Here are a
few:

Aging
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Premature Death
Immune system disorders

10 Health Problems Related to Stress That You Can Fix. (2014, April 1) Retrieved
from http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10-fixablestress-related-health-problems?page=3

Now that we have learned what stress does to the body, and how harmful it can be
to be stressed all the time. How do we cope with stress? How do we manage? Well you
are in luck, because like most things in the world, everything action has a reaction. So

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what is stress management? Well, it is just that; managing your stress, knowing different
ways to stay in a balanced state. So what are some ways we can manage stress. The
American Heart Association provides some really great ways to manage stress. Here are
some things that you can do:

Meditate
Physical activity
Sleep
Reward yourself
Having a optimistic outlook

Fight Stress with Healthy Habits. (2015, November 11) American Heart
Association. Retrieved from
https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement/FightStres
sWithHealthyHabits/Fight-Stress-with-Healthy-Habits_UCM_307992_Article.jsp
Application
Everyone has experience stress at least once in his or her lifetime, and for the
majority of people stress is an everyday thing. I know that when I am stressed out I like
to take five minutes to be alone and I breath deeply. I find that that activity seems to calm
me down. Also, when I am not at work I love to cook. I find cooking to be very
therapeutic and very controlled. I like that I can just read a recipe and I know that, for the
most part, the dish I am preparing will turn out. There is something very calming that I
find to that type of aspect of cooking. I work at a hospital, in the emergency room, and it
can be a very high stress environment. There are very many different people with many
different attitudes and personality and it can become overwhelming at times. With this in
mind, I decided that I was going to interview a few people that I work with, and see what
their stress management practices are. I interviewed three nurses: Devon was the name of

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the first nurse I interviewed. She stated that her favorite thing to de-stress is to go to the
gym. She likes to get on the treadmill and run until she no longer feels stressed out. The
next nurse, Mary, stated that she does kick boxing four times a week and that really helps
to take out any frustrations she has. Mike was the last nurse I interviewed and he stated
that he meditates every morning and every night. He says that by meditating, it gives him
the chance to clear his head and get rid of any negative thoughts.
Conclusion
It was really interesting to find out that there are many different things that people
do to manage their stress. As it was mentioned earlier, not all stressors all and the same
and not all stress management techniques are the same. I found that the way the body
uses physiological functions in order to perform the fight-or-flight response was
absolutely fascinating, and that it happens automatically, which is really amazing. I know
for a fact that I can use and practice my stress management techniques. There are times
that I feel like I am carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders and I know that by
having great stress management techniques I will be better person. I learned a lot from
this topic in psychology and am very excited to be able to apply what I learned to my
everyday life.

References
Schacter, D., Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Nock, M. (2014). Psychology. New York, NY:
Worth Publishers.
Simon, H. (2013). University of Maryland Medical Center. Stress
Retrieved from http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/stress

Fighting Stress with Healthy Habits. (2015, November 11).

Retrieved from
https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/StressManagement/FightStres
%20sWithHealthyHabits/Fight-Stress-with-Healthy-Habits_UCM_307992_Article.jsp
10 Health Problems Related to Stress That You Can Fix. (2014, April 1).
Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10fixable-stress-related-health-problems?page=3