Miranda Pickering
To find
out how to reduce stress, you have to find the source. Worrying about money,
your job, weight, bills, relationships those are all examples of things in our
life that can cause stress. Now that we know where the stress is coming from it
is important to find ways to reduce it because stress can have serious effects
on one’s health, and quality of life. I’ve found that being with other people,
particularly someone you are close with during stressful times will help, time
flexible work policies/ schedules, and also meditation. When one can learn to
reduce the stress in their life it can increase their efficiency. However
having some stress in your life can be beneficial because it can help give you
enough motivation to get the tasks accomplished.
During one study I found, adults deal with stress in two ways; “control coping”, and “secondary control coping/ relinquish control”. Control coping is where one would try to change the stressful situation the best they can into something less stressful to deal with. The second way would be to change the situation or just to ignore the stressor completely. When a study was done with children the results showed that only 3.5% were able to relinquish the control of any situation given. It also stated that school issues resulted in control coping, while medical issues resulted in secondary control. Although the study was done on children, they seem to find similar results in adults (Weisz, and Band, 1988).
One way that can help reduce stress in life is to surround yourself with people you are familiar with or related too. It helps to have those particular people around because they are able to share the stress, and help manage it. Also being with family when in stressful situations can make the outcome positive, and helpful rather than negative and harmful. It helps when you have someone with you to help you understand and make sense of the situations, and cope (Kissel, 1965).
Meditation is one of the best ways found to reduce stress, as well as many other added benefits. In a recent study done, it showed that daily meditation made the cerebral cortex in the brain thicker. The cerebral cortex can help reduce stress, help with decision making, and help with memory. When practicing meditation you focus on your breathing. This technique calms your nerves, and helps you cope with certain situations. Many corporations are offering free meditation classes as an added benefit for their employees. When you can control your stress you will be much happier overall, and improve productivity in the work place (Takeuchi Cullen, 2013 ).
Setting up ways to manage time in your life can also help reduce stress. When you manage your time you are able to let some of the stress go. For instance you should plan each day accordingly, prioritize your tasks, delegate, take breaks, get plenty of sleep, and take time out for yourself. When each of these techniques comes into play, you will find it a lot easier to deal with stress at work and in everyday activities.
I believe when working in high stress environments it is important for employers to provide resources for the employees to deal with situations. For instance police officers have shrink evaluations, and they have access to physiologists when situations become too difficult to handle. I do not believe every job needs to have a physiologist available; however I do think other options should be available for the employees. Employers should provide benefits such as yoga classes, gym memberships, and flex time. I think it is beneficial for students to know this information because stress is something that everyone deals with on a daily basis. It is good for the students to know what outlets they can use to help reduce stress, rather than the negative alternative (drugs and alcohol).
During one study I found, adults deal with stress in two ways; “control coping”, and “secondary control coping/ relinquish control”. Control coping is where one would try to change the stressful situation the best they can into something less stressful to deal with. The second way would be to change the situation or just to ignore the stressor completely. When a study was done with children the results showed that only 3.5% were able to relinquish the control of any situation given. It also stated that school issues resulted in control coping, while medical issues resulted in secondary control. Although the study was done on children, they seem to find similar results in adults (Weisz, and Band, 1988).
One way that can help reduce stress in life is to surround yourself with people you are familiar with or related too. It helps to have those particular people around because they are able to share the stress, and help manage it. Also being with family when in stressful situations can make the outcome positive, and helpful rather than negative and harmful. It helps when you have someone with you to help you understand and make sense of the situations, and cope (Kissel, 1965).
Meditation is one of the best ways found to reduce stress, as well as many other added benefits. In a recent study done, it showed that daily meditation made the cerebral cortex in the brain thicker. The cerebral cortex can help reduce stress, help with decision making, and help with memory. When practicing meditation you focus on your breathing. This technique calms your nerves, and helps you cope with certain situations. Many corporations are offering free meditation classes as an added benefit for their employees. When you can control your stress you will be much happier overall, and improve productivity in the work place (Takeuchi Cullen, 2013 ).
Setting up ways to manage time in your life can also help reduce stress. When you manage your time you are able to let some of the stress go. For instance you should plan each day accordingly, prioritize your tasks, delegate, take breaks, get plenty of sleep, and take time out for yourself. When each of these techniques comes into play, you will find it a lot easier to deal with stress at work and in everyday activities.
I believe when working in high stress environments it is important for employers to provide resources for the employees to deal with situations. For instance police officers have shrink evaluations, and they have access to physiologists when situations become too difficult to handle. I do not believe every job needs to have a physiologist available; however I do think other options should be available for the employees. Employers should provide benefits such as yoga classes, gym memberships, and flex time. I think it is beneficial for students to know this information because stress is something that everyone deals with on a daily basis. It is good for the students to know what outlets they can use to help reduce stress, rather than the negative alternative (drugs and alcohol).
Resources:
Kissel, S. (1965). Stress-reducing properties of social stimuli. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2(3), 378-384. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0022223
Takeuchi Cullen , Lisa. "Scientists find that
meditation not only reduces stress but also reshapes the brain." TIME MAGAZINE.
n.d. n. page. Web. 3 Mar. 2013.
<http://williammartino.com/content/time-magazine-scientists-find-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-also-reshapes-brain>.
Weisz, John, and Eve Band. "How to feel better when it feels bad: Children." Developmental Psychology . 24.2 (1988): 247-253. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. <http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/24/2/247/>.
Weisz, John, and Eve Band. "How to feel better when it feels bad: Children." Developmental Psychology . 24.2 (1988): 247-253. Web. 3 Mar. 2013. <http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/24/2/247/>.
No comments:
Post a Comment