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Understanding Stress

A consensual yet approximate view of stress is that it is a depressing experience involving painful mental pressure. It occurs when a person perceives that the expected demands of a project or a situation exceed their existing physical and mental resources. Both employers and employees, especially in the financial sector, can become stressed because of ever-expanding financial targets and competition in achieving them before the deadline. It is human nature to become stressed when people cannot cope with the demands put upon them.

Our Biological Response to Stress

Our stress response depends partly on our instincts and partly on the way we intellectually perceive them. Our instinctive stress response can be of two types. One is the short term ‘fight or flight’ response. The second type is the long term ‘general adoption syndrome’. While the short term response is generated by the immediate survival instinct, the long term response exposes us to stress. Both these response mechanisms are affected by the way we think and interpret the situation.

Fight or Flight Response

The fight or flight response is generated in the form of shock from the situations occurring suddenly. In such situations, the biological system releases neural and hormonal messages that initiate a chain of changes in the body. The heart beats faster and with more force. Blood pressure and breathing rates rise. Fat and sugar levels in the blood increase. Fortunately all these changes are adaptive in the short term, in that they occur only to provide fuel and oxygen to empower the muscles to either fight the danger or take flight from the situation. They thus prepare the body for physical action. The process may increase sweating in an effort to cool the muscles so that they can work efficiently. The hormones divert blood supply from the skin to the core of our body to recoup the blood if it is lost due to some accidental damage. These hormones help us focus our attention to the cause of the threat to the complete exclusion of everything else. These actions spend out the energy from the stress response and the body returns to its normal state.

Quotes from the Team at Stress Management
~ to help you relieve stress in your life ~

Blame is a senseless action. You are the master of your own destiny, you can achieve whatever you desire and the only force that stands in your way is your own fear. So utilise your power to decide and do it!

DISCLAIMER
Our mission is to sustain healthy stress free living. The information accessed through this website is for educational and positive self awareness purposes. It should not in any way replace professional advice where appropriate.