PROJECT ON

STRESS MANAGEMENT


INTRODUCTION TO STRESS
A lot of research has been conducted into stress over the last hundred years. Some of the theories
behind it are now settled and accepted; others are still being researched and debated. During this time,
there seems to have been something approaching open warfare between competing theories and
definitions: Views have been passionately held and aggressively defended. What complicates this is
that intuitively we all feel that we know what stress is, as it is something we have all experienced. A
definition should therefore be obviousexcept that it is not.
Stress refers to the strain from the conflict between our external environment and us, leading to
emotional and physical pressure. In our fast paced world, it is impossible to live without stress,
whether you are a student or a working adult. There is both positive and negative stress, depending on
each individuals unique perception of the tension between the two forces. Not all stress is bad. For
example, positive stress, also known as eustress, can help an individual to function at optimal
effectiveness and efficiency.
Hence, it is evident that some form of positive stress can add more color and vibrancy to our lives.
The presence of a deadline, for example, can push us to make the most of our time and produce
greater efficiency. It is important to keep this in mind, as stress management refers to using stress to
our advantage, and not on eradicating the presence of stress in our lives. On the other hand, negative
stress can result in mental and physical strain. The individual will experience symptoms such as
tensions, headaches, irritability and in extreme cases, heart palpitations. Hence, whilst some stress
may be seen as a motivating force, it is important to manage stress levels so that it does not have an
adverse impact on your health and relationships.
Part of managing your stress levels include learning about how stress can affect you emotionally and
physically, as well as how to identify if you are performing at your optimal stress level (OSL) or if
you are experiencing negative stress. This knowledge will help you to identify when you need to take
a break, or perhaps seek professional help. It is also your first step towards developing techniques to
managing your stress levels.
Modern day stresses can take the form of monetary needs, or emotional frictions. Competition at work
and an increased workload can also cause greater levels of stress. How do you identify if you are
suffering from excessive stress? Psychological symptoms commonly experienced include insomnia,
headaches and an inability to focus. Physical symptoms take the form of heart palpitations,
breathlessness, excessive sweating and stomachaches.


Definition:

Hans Selye was one of the founding fathers of stress research. His view in 1956 was that stress is not
necessarily something bad it all depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative
successful work is beneficial, while that of failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental. Selye
believed that the biochemical effects of stress would be experienced irrespective of whether the
situation was positive or negative.
Since then, a great deal of further research has been conducted, and ideas have moved on. Stress is
now viewed as a "bad thing", with a range of harmful biochemical and long-term effects. These
effects have rarely been observed in positive situations.
The most commonly accepted definition of stress (mainly attributed to Richard S Lazarus) is that
stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the
personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. In short, it's what we feel when
we think we've lost control of events.
This is the main definition used by this section of Mind Tools, although we also recognize that there is
an intertwined instinctive stress response to unexpected events. The stress response inside us is
therefore part instinct and part to do with the way we think.
Types of stress
Eustress
Eustress is a type of short-term stress that is a positive type of stress. When a person needs to have
some extra energy or inspiration, eustress gives us the motivation we need, to winning or achieving
first place in a competition, achieving a promotion or giving a speech. This stress provides the focus
and energy needed in order to perform at the highest level of the individuals ability.
Distress
Distress is a negative stress brought about by changes or alterations in an individuals life. Distress is
also referred to as anxiety, severe trauma or mental suffering resulting from exhaustion or an accident.
Distress is a reaction to an upsetting event, such as being in a bad accident, barely evading death,
serious injury or losing a loved one. When distress and anxiety go untreated for long enough, people
can get depressed. There are essentially two types of distress: acute stress and chronic stress.
Acute stress is experienced in response to directly perceived threat,either physical or psychological.
The threat can be real or imagined; it's the perception of the threat that activates the response. This
type of stress is short-term and caused by exposure to trauma, such as rape, robbery, combat or natural
disaster.
Chronic stress is long-term stress that occurs frequently and if not dealt with accordingly many
serious health problems may develop, such as depression,diabetes,heart disease or weight-gain or
weight-loss. People suffering from this type of stress get used to it and may even not realize that they
are under this type of stress. Chronic stress is the most serious type of stress that can lead up to
harmful health problems or even death.
Hyperstress
Hyperstress is the type of stress that comes when a person is forced to perform above their normal
capacity. In the fast pace world we live in today, many of us can feel 'stressed out' due to heavy
workloads and tight deadlines resulting into hyperstress. A person experiencing this type of stress can
find that their emotions run higher and the smallest event can trigger a highly emotional outbreak.
Hypostress
Hypostress is actually the opposite of hyperstress. Hypostress happens when a person is constantly
bored. Someone in an unchallenged job, such as a factory worker on an assembly line doing the same
job over and over everyday, may experiences hypostress. When a person experiences this type of
stress they are frequently restless and uninspired. If you are dealing with one of these types stress
disorders, understanding them can help you balance and control the stress in your life. In return you
can live a much healthier and happier life.
7 types of stress
PHYSICAL: intense exertion, manual labor, lack of sleep, travel
CHEMICAL: drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and environmental pollutants such as cleaning
chemicals or pesticides
MENTAL: perfectionism, worry, anxiety, long work hours
EMOTIONAL: anger, guilt, loneliness, sadness, fear
NUTRITIONAL: food allergies, vitamin and mineral deficiency
TRAUMATIC: injuries or burns, surgery, illness, infections, extreme temperatures
PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL: troubled relationships, financial or career pressures, challenges with life
goals, spiritual alignment and general state of happiness
Causes of stress:
There are many different causes of stress, and that which causes stress is also known as a stressor.
Common lifestyle stressors include performance, threat, and bereavement stressors, to name a few.
Performance stressors are triggered when an individual is placed in a situation where he feels a need
to excel. This could be during performance appraisals, lunch with the boss, or giving a speech. Threat
stressors are usually when the current situation poses a dangerous threat, such as an economic
downturn, or from an accident. Lastly, bereavement stressors occur when there is a sense of loss such
as the death of a loved one, or a prized possession.Thus, there are various stressors, and even more
varied methods and techniques of dealing with stress and turning it to our advantages. In order to do
so, we must learn to tell when we have crossed the line from positive to negative stress.

There are several causes of stress. For example, you are under stress when you are worried about
something, worried about your children, worried about the illness of your father, worried about your
job security, or worried about your loans or similar things.
Causes of Stress at Work
To meet out the demands of the job.
Your relationship with colleagues.
To control staff under you.
To train your staff and take work from them.
Support you receive from your boss, colleagues and juniors.
Excessive work pressure.
To meet out deadlines.
To give new results.
To produce new publications if you are in research area.
Working overtime and on holidays.
New work hours.
Promotion or you have not been promoted or your junior has superseded you.
Argument or heated conversations with co-workers or boss.
Change of job.
Work against will.
Harassment.
Sexual molestation.
Other Causes of Stress
Fear, intermittent or continuous.
Threats: physical threats, social threats, financial threat, other threats.
Uncertainty.
Lack of sleep.
Somebody misunderstands you.
Setback to your position in society


Stress Management in Work Place: -
There is no doubt that stress is one on of the leading factors in illness and absenteeism among
employees. Besides lowering a person's immune response, stress makes us want to avoid whatever is
causing it. If there is stress at work, workers who feel mildly off will feel even worse and resist
coming to work. This costs many hours of productivity, especially when key personnel or production
workers are absent-in fact, it's estimated that $300 billion is lost on stress-cause illnesses and
absenteeism.
A workplace that supports stress management through workplace wellness programs not only helps
their employees to handle pressure better and stay healthier during times of stress, it also sends a
message that their company cares about them. This provides emotional support as well as physical
support for fighting the effects of stress.
How a Workplace Wellness Program Can Help
when your employees are stressed, very likely there is one primary cause and several secondary
causes. For instance, a worker may suffer stress due to poor interpersonal relationships with other
workers and problems communicating. Addressing stress will help the worker feel better and regain
connections to other workers, thereby reducing the stress in those areas.
Although a workplace wellness program can't de-stress everything a worker faces-like layoffs,
cutbacks, firings, etc.-it can help with the physical effects of stress and help the worker cope when
getting the pink slip. A healthy employee will have enough energy to move on and find another job
but the unhealthy employee may suffer even more physical maladies from stress and plunge into
depression. An employee who is watching others get fired or laid off will always be thinking, "When
am I going to get the axe?"








There are several steps you can take to reduce job stress.
Get a clear job description to avoid miscommunications that cause stress, and to make sure
you are doing tasks within your sphere of responsibility only.

Get a new job. While this is not always an ideal solution, sometimes it's the only one-a
workplace wellness program will help with the stress of this change.

Find supportive agencies and programs to help you either deal with the stress-such as the
workplace wellness program-or find a new position. Isolation is destructive.

Change positions within the company. Perhaps your training is not in the field where you are
working, or you are being asked by a supervisor to do things far outside work hours and
described responsibilities. If you like the company you work for but hate your job, this
may be the answer.
company has an employee assistance program, which is sometimes part of a workplace wellness
program, if there are layoffs and firings going on around you. If so, use these services even if you
have been told you will remain at the company-things change daily in the business world.

Need of Stress Management: -
In the past decade, the news headlines have definitely made it clear that the need for stress
management should be one of the top agendas in modern day society. The rages alone such as Road
Rage and the trends of violent acts in life today prove a lot of it well.
Living today is a lot tougher than it was even in the days of the great depression. It's been coming out
in many ways such as all time occurrences of stomach and intestinal ulcers. Others find sleep
disorders and wind up zombies during their busy days. Insomnia is growing in leaps and bounds.
Today stress management is important in everyone's lives. It's necessary for long happy lives with less
trouble that will come about. There are many ways to deal with stress ranging from the dealing with
the causes of stress to simply burning off its effects.








Advantages of Stress Management: -
Business advantages of stress management:
Less absenteeism due to stress-related disorders
Less worker's compensation loss due to stress-related illness or accidents
Improved job performance
Less stressful, more efficient workplace
Improved employee attitude
Improved employee overall health

Health advantages of stress management:
Decreased stress-related symptoms
Improved slee
Decreased anxiety
Decreased use of medications
reduced pain, increased ability to manage pain
Increased ability to relax physiologically
Increased sense of control and improved self-esteem
"Research studies demonstrated that stress management techniques can lower cholesterol levels and
blood pressure independent of diet."
-Dean Ornish, Reversing Heart Disease
Consumer advantages of stress management:
No side-effects
Non-pharmacological
Non-surgical
Cost-effective




7. Disadvantages of Stress Management: -
Stress can be a motivator. For example, if youre stressed out because you have a big assignment due,
this may motivate you to work on it and complete it. The stress can help you to put in your very best
effort. If you're afraid of losing your job, stress may encourage you to raise your own standards and
make improvements you most likely would not have made without the threat of unemployment.
Stress is a disadvantage because it can potentially raise your heart rate and weaken your immune
system. Also, it can be a factor in poor decision making because under stress we may not think
logically or consider the consequences of the choices we make.
While we all experience stress frequently in our daily lives, not everyone handles it in positive ways.
The key for us all is to learn what strategies and behaviors help us to cope with stress in a positive
manner.
Finding a friend or family member who'll listen as you vent about the stresses in your life is a much
better way to handle tension than isolating yourself and worrying.
Going for a walk, listening to music or doing something you enjoy are much better ways to clear your
mind than drinking, eating, smoking etc.
To me the key is realizing that some of the ways we choose to deal with stress can make our situation
worse than just weathering out the hectic time.
Realizing that we always have choices when dealing with stress is the first key to making stress work
for us and not against us.

















Stress Management
Stress management is the need of the hour. However hard we try to go beyond a stress situation, life
seems to find new ways of stressing us out and plaguing us with anxiety attacks. Moreover, be it our
anxiety, mind-body exhaustion or our erring attitudes, we tend to overlook causes of stress and the
conditions triggered by those. In such unsettling moments we often forget that stressors, if not
escapable, are fairly manageable and treatable.
Stress, either quick or constant, can induce risky body-mind disorders. Immediate disorders such as
dizzy spells, anxiety attacks, tension, sleeplessness, nervousness and muscle cramps can all result in
chronic health problems. They may also affect our immune, cardiovascular and nervous systems and
lead individuals to habitual addictions, which are inter-linked with stress.
Like "stress reactions", "relaxation responses" and stress management techniques are some of the
body's important built-in response systems. As a relaxation response the body tries to get back balance
in its homeostasis. Some hormones released during the 'fight or flight' situation prompt the body to
replace the lost carbohydrates and fats, and restore the energy level. The knotted nerves, tightened
muscles and an exhausted mind crave for looseness. Unfortunately, today, we don't get relaxing and
soothing situations without asking. To be relaxed we have to strive to create such situations.





A bank is a financial institution that provides banking and other financial services to their customers.
A bank is generally understood as an institution which provides fundamental banking services such
as accepting deposits and providing loans. There are also non banking institutions that provide certain
banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank. Banks are a subset of the financial
services industry.
A banking system also referred as a system provided by the bank which offers cash management
services for customers, reporting the transactions of their accounts and portfolios, throughout the day.
The banking system in India, should not only be hassle free but it should be able to meet the new
challenges posed by the technology and any other external and internal factors. For the past three
decades, Indias banking system has several outstanding achievements to its credit. The Banks are the
main participants of the financial system in India. The Banking sector offers several facilities and
opportunities to their customers. All the banks safeguards the money and valuables and provide loans,
credit, and payment services, such as checking accounts, money orders, and cashiers cheques. The
banks also offer investment and insurance products. As a variety of models for cooperation and
integration among finance industries have emerged, some of the traditional distinctions between
banks, insurance companies, and securities firms have diminished. In spite of these changes, banks
continue to maintain and perform their primary roleaccepting deposits and lending funds from these
deposits.