What is Stress? And how do you cope with it? By: Tori

BY: TORI

 

PICTURE LINK

Stress is something we all encounter in some point of our lives, some sooner than later. It is a part of our everyday lives, and over the years it has been used in many different ways by various theorists. Some of them state that stress is the response of physiological arousal elicited by a troublesome event while others view stress as an emotional event or situation that forces you to make difficult decisions.

People have many different ways of coping with their stress. A number of researchers have attempted to identify the many different coping techniques and there has been said to be over 400 distinct methods.

In this blog we're going to talk about the five ‘Common Coping Patterns Of Limited Value’

1  Researchers identify the first one as ‘learned helplessness’. Otherwise known as giving up. When being confronted with stress sometimes people just throw in the towel and give everything up. They may no longer feel the need to fight. Overall giving up is not a highly regarded method of coping.

2   The second is ‘Acting aggressively’ and I can honestly say this is one that I see very often especially in a few people that I have a very close relationship with. Aggression is any behavior intended to hurt someone whether it's physically or verbally. When you're stressed it comes with frustration, which causes you to act out in a childish manner. A good example of this is road rage.


3  The third is ‘indulging yourself’. Ever heard of “sad eaters”? Well that's what this is. Stress can sometimes lead to reduce impulse control or self-indulging.
 

4  Number four, the big one in my opinion, ‘blaming yourself’. I do this often, even when it's something I have no control over. 


5  Lastly we have the ‘defense coping’. Usually this shields people from unwanted emotion or discomfort.

Now that you know a few different ways people cope with stress. Feel free to comment the different ways that you cope with whatever it is that stresses you, or if you have a different out look with the methods I chose to use.