WHAT IS STRESS?

These days it seems that “stress” is something we are all either suffering from, have suffered from or know a lot of people who have or expect to feel it any minute. It is important to realize that in-trays piled high, constantly ringing telephones, demanding jobs and tight deadlines do not automatically mean you are under stress. We all vary a great deal in our susceptibility to stress. Demands that have some of us experiencing bad stress and making for the exit signs have some of us rubbing our hands and excitedly getting stu ck in!!!

The following definitions are suggested:

PRESSURE:  We all have some sort of pressure in our lives – deadlines, performance targets, difficult people, responsibility for others etc. These are the sorts of forces that can act on us more or less continuously, or which may come in a rush from time to time. For most of us pressure is a normal part of our work and life.

STRESS:  Under some types of pressure we may feel stressed. Four types of stress have been identified to show the importance of achieving a healthy balance between ourselves and our environment:

• Overstress (too much stress)
• Under-stress (too little stress)
• Eu-stress (good stress, balance right)
• Distress (bad stress)

This blog concentrates on helping you to identify and deal with bad stress, the kind that is like the grit in an engine – the machine may be working but at a greater cost in wear and tear. Another way of looking at it is that bad stress holds you back from your best performance and in the long term may do you a lot of damage.

One useful definition of stress is:
“A stressful situation is one you cannot cope successfully with, or believe you cannot cope with successfully, resulting in unwanted physical, mental or emotional reactions.”