How to Bust Your Stress before it can Burst You?
Constant stress can ruin your spirit, your motivation level and may even lead to a condition called COD-Compulsive Obsessive Disorder. Stress in you corrupts your motivation and you may even start wondering whether the life that you are leading is a meaningful one or not.
Under stress, you are easily charmed towards negative attributes such as smoking, addiction to alcohol and procrastination. By resorting to alcohol, you will get a false relief and this debilitating trait will enable you to lose your self-confidence and inner strength. At certain level, you will even start questioning the very purpose of your life.
The effects of stress are well known and the moment you feel the stress, you must decide to do something to handle it, lest the stress will burst you. Stressors also capable of affecting your spiritual well being, which lead to suspicion, jealousy, poor interpersonal relationship and sexual problems.The effect of stress is a chain reaction that will lead you to loneliness and a sense of inadequacy.
Under stress, your concentration level will take a beating and this may lead to accidents in factory or on roads.Stress in your life cannot be avoided altogether. You must learn how to bust your stress before it can start affecting you. Normally when you are under stress, you may fail to notice that you are under stress. But, if you can carefully analyse, you will be able to differentiate your stressful situations from that your normal situations.
The first step that you should put forward is to tackle the stress at its initial stage itself. You are aware that there are so many stress-busting techniques and you can start practicing them to get rid of your stress. You should develop your knowledge about possible stressors that can set in stress in you and know the possible ways to cope with them.
Majority of your stressful situations can be converted to a pleasant one with a slight change in your attitude and a strong will. You can learn to take your stress in your stride and start looking the stressors as an opportunity to show your excellence.
If you analyse your mental attitude carefully, you will understand that the stress in you was caused more from your opinion about the situation than that of the stressor itself.In this twenty-first century, stress is the most common cause for many of your ailments today, and the same is likely to continue without any respite. Hence, your life will be a battle against stress on an ongoing basis.
Coping with your stress is an ongoing process and your attitude and ability to cope with stress should not come down at any point of time, lest stress can burst you before you can bust it
Mark Reddy
Showing posts with label Perceived Stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Perceived Stress. Show all posts
UNDERSTANDING STRESS
Stress Made Easy
For most we are lucky enough not to experience real major traumatic events in our lives, this is not to say that we do not routinely experience stress. Stress can be considered as a reaction to stimuli that threatens our psychological or physical well being. This stimulus can be an event, situation or object that we perceive as a threat to our own equilibrium, and this varies from person to person.
We have three components in how we perceive stress.
Behavioural Response. This is termed by our coping ability, be it our ability to address how we think of stress and change this thinking pattern, or by coping with stress by trying to avoid the stressors in our lives or just asking for help in changing the stressful situation. We can also look at the emotions around stress and take part in breathing exercises adapting our way of life to include exercise and healthy living and engaging in activities that bring about pleasure in our lives. It should be noted that coping works when we have control over a situation.
Physiological Responses. Our physical responses to stress are more or less the same. The initial phase as most will know is the fight or flight phase in which our bodies prepare for conflict by increasing our heart rate which leads to sweating, quickened breathing, perspiration and our pupils dilate. All of which prepares us to fight or run from the perceived stress. The second stage is when the stress continues, in this phase we adapt to the prolonged stress reaction, however the physiological responses are still high, if we can not get past this we then reach exhaustion which heightens are risk of disease and illness. Our bodies are susceptible to such conditions and our ability to fight new stressors is depleted.
Emotional Responses. We can experience many emotions during times of stress which need to be brought into perspective and control. Frustration can lead to anger, this can be seen in working situation were one can become frustrated with for example a colleague which may lead to anger. Stress from such life changes can lead to Anxiety and Fear.
Stress related illness is all too common in our lives today. We are bombarded by stressors each day, we work longer hours, are more pressured by technology such as mobile phones that bring pressure straight to us wherever we happen to be. It is therefore vital that we understand the issue of stress in order to be more aware of it and to allow us to take appropriate measures to ensure against it or to reduce it from our lives.
By
Mark Reddy
For most we are lucky enough not to experience real major traumatic events in our lives, this is not to say that we do not routinely experience stress. Stress can be considered as a reaction to stimuli that threatens our psychological or physical well being. This stimulus can be an event, situation or object that we perceive as a threat to our own equilibrium, and this varies from person to person.
We have three components in how we perceive stress.
Behavioural Response. This is termed by our coping ability, be it our ability to address how we think of stress and change this thinking pattern, or by coping with stress by trying to avoid the stressors in our lives or just asking for help in changing the stressful situation. We can also look at the emotions around stress and take part in breathing exercises adapting our way of life to include exercise and healthy living and engaging in activities that bring about pleasure in our lives. It should be noted that coping works when we have control over a situation.
Physiological Responses. Our physical responses to stress are more or less the same. The initial phase as most will know is the fight or flight phase in which our bodies prepare for conflict by increasing our heart rate which leads to sweating, quickened breathing, perspiration and our pupils dilate. All of which prepares us to fight or run from the perceived stress. The second stage is when the stress continues, in this phase we adapt to the prolonged stress reaction, however the physiological responses are still high, if we can not get past this we then reach exhaustion which heightens are risk of disease and illness. Our bodies are susceptible to such conditions and our ability to fight new stressors is depleted.
Emotional Responses. We can experience many emotions during times of stress which need to be brought into perspective and control. Frustration can lead to anger, this can be seen in working situation were one can become frustrated with for example a colleague which may lead to anger. Stress from such life changes can lead to Anxiety and Fear.
Stress related illness is all too common in our lives today. We are bombarded by stressors each day, we work longer hours, are more pressured by technology such as mobile phones that bring pressure straight to us wherever we happen to be. It is therefore vital that we understand the issue of stress in order to be more aware of it and to allow us to take appropriate measures to ensure against it or to reduce it from our lives.
By
Mark Reddy
Acute Stress Disorder
By definition, acute stress disorder is a result of a traumatic event in which the person experienced or witnessed an event that involved threatened or actual serious injury or death and responded with intense fear and helplessness.
Symptoms
Symptoms include dissociative symptoms such as numbing, detachment, a reduction in awareness of the surroundings, derealization, or depersonalization; re-experiencing of the trauma, avoidance of associated stimuli, and significant anxiety, including irritability, poor concentration, difficulty sleeping, and restlessness. The symptoms must be present for a minimum of two days and a maximum of four weeks and must occur within four weeks of the traumatic event for a diagnosis to be made.
Treatment
The disorder may resolve itself with time or may develop into a more severe disorder such as PTSD. Medication can be used for a very short duration (up to four weeks) or psychotherapy can be utilized to assist the victim in dealing with the fear and sense of helplessness.
Prognosis
Prognosis for this disorder is very good. If it should progress into another disorder, success rates can vary according to the specific of that disorder.
Symptoms
Symptoms include dissociative symptoms such as numbing, detachment, a reduction in awareness of the surroundings, derealization, or depersonalization; re-experiencing of the trauma, avoidance of associated stimuli, and significant anxiety, including irritability, poor concentration, difficulty sleeping, and restlessness. The symptoms must be present for a minimum of two days and a maximum of four weeks and must occur within four weeks of the traumatic event for a diagnosis to be made.
Treatment
The disorder may resolve itself with time or may develop into a more severe disorder such as PTSD. Medication can be used for a very short duration (up to four weeks) or psychotherapy can be utilized to assist the victim in dealing with the fear and sense of helplessness.
Prognosis
Prognosis for this disorder is very good. If it should progress into another disorder, success rates can vary according to the specific of that disorder.
STRESS MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW
Stress Management
What happens when you are stressed?
Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger. It makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster, and give you a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response.
Some stress is normal and even useful. It can help if you need to work hard or react quickly. For example, it can help you win a race or finish an important job on time.
But if stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have bad effects. It can be linked to headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, or trouble sleeping. It can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.
What can you do about stress?
The good news is that you can learn ways to manage stress.
To get stress under control:
Find out what is causing stress in your life.
Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in your life.
Learn healthy ways to relieve stress.
How do you figure out your stress level?
Sometimes it is clear where stress is coming from. You can count on stress during a major life change such as the death of a loved one, getting married, or having a baby. But other times it may not be so clear why you feel stressed.
It may help to keep a stress journal. Get a notebook and write down when something makes you feel stressed. Then write how you reacted and what you did to deal with the stress. Keeping a stress journal can help you find out what is causing your stress and how much stress you feel. Then you can take steps to reduce the stress or handle it better.
To find out how stressed you are right now, use this Interactive Tool: What Is Your Stress Level?
How can you reduce your stress?
Stress is a fact of life for most people. You may not be able to get rid of stress, but you can look for ways to lower it.
Try some of these ideas:
Learn better ways to manage your time.
You may get more done with less stress if you make a schedule.
Think about which things are most important, and do those first.
Find better ways to cope.
Look at how you have been dealing with stress.
Be honest about what works and what does not.
Think about other things that might work better.
Take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest.
Eat well.
Do not smoke.
Limit how much alcohol you drink.
Try out new ways of thinking. When you find yourself starting to worry, try to stop the thoughts.
Work on letting go of things you cannot change.
Learn to say "no."
Ask for help. People who have a strong network of family and friends manage stress better.
Sometimes stress is just too much to handle alone. It can help to talk to a friend or family member, but you may also want to see a counselor.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person. Try some of these ideas to see which ones work for you:
Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Walking is a great way to get started.
Write. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you.
Let your feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to.
Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever.
Learn ways to relax your body. This can include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing exercises like tai chi and qi gong.
Focus on the present. Try meditation, imagery exercises, or self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life. Laughter really can be the best medicine.
What happens when you are stressed?
Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger. It makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster, and give you a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response.
Some stress is normal and even useful. It can help if you need to work hard or react quickly. For example, it can help you win a race or finish an important job on time.
But if stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have bad effects. It can be linked to headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, or trouble sleeping. It can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.
What can you do about stress?
The good news is that you can learn ways to manage stress.
To get stress under control:
Find out what is causing stress in your life.
Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in your life.
Learn healthy ways to relieve stress.
How do you figure out your stress level?
Sometimes it is clear where stress is coming from. You can count on stress during a major life change such as the death of a loved one, getting married, or having a baby. But other times it may not be so clear why you feel stressed.
It may help to keep a stress journal. Get a notebook and write down when something makes you feel stressed. Then write how you reacted and what you did to deal with the stress. Keeping a stress journal can help you find out what is causing your stress and how much stress you feel. Then you can take steps to reduce the stress or handle it better.
To find out how stressed you are right now, use this Interactive Tool: What Is Your Stress Level?
How can you reduce your stress?
Stress is a fact of life for most people. You may not be able to get rid of stress, but you can look for ways to lower it.
Try some of these ideas:
Learn better ways to manage your time.
You may get more done with less stress if you make a schedule.
Think about which things are most important, and do those first.
Find better ways to cope.
Look at how you have been dealing with stress.
Be honest about what works and what does not.
Think about other things that might work better.
Take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest.
Eat well.
Do not smoke.
Limit how much alcohol you drink.
Try out new ways of thinking. When you find yourself starting to worry, try to stop the thoughts.
Work on letting go of things you cannot change.
Learn to say "no."
Ask for help. People who have a strong network of family and friends manage stress better.
Sometimes stress is just too much to handle alone. It can help to talk to a friend or family member, but you may also want to see a counselor.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person. Try some of these ideas to see which ones work for you:
Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Walking is a great way to get started.
Write. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you.
Let your feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to.
Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever.
Learn ways to relax your body. This can include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing exercises like tai chi and qi gong.
Focus on the present. Try meditation, imagery exercises, or self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life. Laughter really can be the best medicine.
REBT- Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy
WHAT IS REBT ?
REBT is a practical, action-oriented approach to coping with problems and enhancing personal growth. REBT places a good deal of its focus on the present: on currently-held attitudes, painful emotions and maladaptive behaviors that can sabotage a fuller experience of life. REBT also provides people with an individualized set of proven techniques for helping them to solve problems.
REBT practitioners work closely with people, seeking to help uncover their individual set of beliefs (attitudes, expectations and personal rules) that frequently lead to emotional distress.
REBT then provides a variety of methods to help people reformulate their dysfunctional beliefs into more sensible, realistic and helpful ones by employing the powerful REBT technique called "disputing." Ultimately, REBT helps people to develop a philosophy and approach to living that can increase their effectiveness and happiness at work, in living successfully with others, in parenting and educational settings, in making our community and environment healthier, and in enhancing their own health and personal welfare.
But don't you need to uncover the past in order to really understand people's problems?
Contrary to what some people erroneously believe, REBT does recognize that we may be strongly influenced by events in early life. Much of our philosophy of life—what we think about ourselves and our values—is learned from past experiences. But the past is with us in the form of beliefs that we carry in our head in the present. REBT homes in on the beliefs that are harmful in our current emotional life and behavior—whether those beliefs arose in the distant reaches of our youth or within the past few weeks.
REBT believes that the "nuttiness" of our past exerts its influence in our current-day thinking patterns and beliefs. Although we cannot change the past, we can change how we let the past influence the way we are today and the way we want to be tomorrow. In this sense, REBT is an optimistic approach to living and to solving problems.
I've heard that REBT tries to do away with negative emotions altogether by making people think logically and objectively. Is that true?
This is a fundamental misconception of REBT. Perhaps more so than any other approach, REBT emphasizes the involvement of emotions in just about every aspect of our thinking and actions. REBT proposes that when our negative emotions become too intense (e.g., rage, panic, or depression), not only do we feel very unhappy, but our ability to manage our lives begins to deteriorate. At these times, the quality of our thinking changes and we begin to take things over-personally, blow things out of perspective, condemn others for their transgressions and generally become less tolerant of life's hassles and hardships. REBT helps restore the emotional balance in an individual's life by providing methods for thinking more realistically and level-headedly about ourselves, other people, and the world.
But aren't feelings such as anger and anxiety normal and appropriate?
Of course! But it is the quality of feelings that is important. Experiencing intense irritation and displeasure when things go wrong can motivate you to change frustrating conditions. Feelings of rage, on the other hand, often land you in a smoldering stew, where you're likely not to take any action at all, or to act in ways that are impulsive and self-defeating. A bit of anxiety or some degree of concern about facing the boss can add an edge of excitement that sharpens performance; excessive anxiety, however, can interfere with thinking and action. While REBT tries to minimize debilitating emotions, that does not mean that it's unhealthy to experience keen feelings of sorrow or displeasure when you experience misfortune.
With REBT's emphasis on reducing emotional upsets in the face of unfairness or misfortune, doesn't it encourage the preservation of the status quo? (Not to mention take away energy to make things better?)
One of REBT's favorite maxims (first expressed by Reinhold Neibuhr) is: "Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept those that I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference." REBT seeks to empower individuals both by helping them more effectively handle their own painful emotions, and by enabling them to change their own behavior and improve their world where possible. When you get too upset, it is much more difficult to behave in constructive ways. By gaining better control over upsetting emotions, you become far more able to act assertively to change bad outside circumstances.
With all this emphasis on "me," doesn't REBT encourage selfishness?
Don't we already have too much selfishness in this world?
A very good question. Yes, many people are too selfish for their own and others' good. REBT provides people with the skills and attitudes to become less selfish. Selfishness is often motivated by ego-gratification. Many selfish people tend to be very needy and demanding and are intent on getting what they want at any cost in order to feel good about themselves. REBT helps people to reduce their own neediness and specifically their need to prove themselves to others. To discourage selfishness, REBT teaches what Albert Ellis calls the value of rational self-acceptance. According to Ellis, healthy people are usually glad to be alive and accept themselves just because they are alive and have some capacity to enjoy themselves. They refuse to measure their intrinsic worth by their extrinsic accomplishments, materialistic possessions and by what others think of them. They frankly choose to accept themselves unconditionally; and then try to completely avoid globally rating themselves—meaning their totality or their "essence." They attempt to enjoy rather than prove themselves. Thus, rather than acting out of selfishness, they learn to operate from responsible self-interest.
Isn't REBT just about intellectual disputing?
REBT does help people by teaching them to recognize and change those aspects of their thinking which are not sensible, accurate or useful. This is probably what is meant by intellectual disputing. However, it also uses a host of other emotional and behavioral methods designed to reduce upset feelings and increase personal effectiveness. These include rational-emotive imagery; assertiveness, self nurturance, risk-taking, and other behavioral homework assignments; communication skill training; and "shame-attacking" exercises.
I've heard that REBT is only really useful with very intelligent people.
REBT can work very well with very bright people. Good brain power can help certain people analyze more quickly the ways in which their thinking is illogical when they are upset. However, just because you have the potential to quickly see the irrational qualities of your thinking, doesn't mean you will use your potential to help yourself. Many very bright people are more motivated to argue the "rightness" of their beliefs than to consider they might be wrong.
Over the years, REBT methods have been adopted for children as young as five or six years old, and even for the learning-impaired. Rational emotive behavior therapists are trained to tailor REBT to meet the wide variety of intellectual, cognitive-developmental and other personal characteristics of clients.I've heard that REBT therapists do a lot of confronting. This doesn't sound very empathic or supportive.
REBT practitioners are very concerned about establishing a helpful, supportive, and facilitative alliance with people. They realize that not all people come to therapy ready for action and change, and that some people—because of their personalities and problems—require a great deal of support and empathy before they are ready to change. At the same time, REBT practitioners tend to take an active role with their clients. They help provide people as quickly as possible with the tools to help them change their beliefs leading to disturbing emotions, thus freeing them to confront their everyday problems with all their resources.
By being so active, aren't REBT therapists "controlling" the client?
REBT practitioners have excellent insight into the nature of problems in living and how to help clients free themselves from their emotional misery about them. They are conscious that many clients find it difficult to address the main problems in their lives and their own inner obstacles to happiness. Rational emotive behavior therapists work collaboratively with clients to clarify existing problems, and to identify important general problems to work on together. And yes, REBT practitioners are active in teaching clients new methods for changing their thinking, feelings and behavior. However, REBT does not control the client. Rather, it empowers people to manage their own emotional problems more effectively and to take control of their own behavior in order to try to obtain more of what they want in life.
Does REBT force its own beliefs about what's rational on people?
REBT defines rational beliefs as those which help people live satisfying, healthy, and fulfilled lives. Over the years, Albert Ellis has identified a set of rational beliefs or values which abet a person's happiness and survival. For example, rational self-acceptance—which involves people giving up the self-rating game—seems to help people significantly reduce anxiety and increase feelings of self-acceptance.
High frustration tolerance, which encourages people to accept (not like) life's hardships and other people's imperfections, leads to greater perseverance, patience, and the ability to get along with others. REBT practitioners are careful, however, not to impose "rational" beliefs. REBT accepts that there are also other "non-rational" belief systems that can help people achieve happiness. REBT accepts the value system of the client and works within that framework to facilitate the client's goals.By emphasizing the individual's beliefs and values and eliminating "shoulds," isn't REBT incompatible with religious values?
REBT has discovered that when people impose rigid expectations on themselves, other people, and the world they are likely to experience unnecessary emotional distress.
In REBT, these expectations are expressed as absolutistic "shoulds," "oughts," and "musts." For example, "I should be successful in important things I do at work" can get you into emotional hot water when you make mistakes or fail. REBT affirms the value of achievement, but helps clients give up their demandingness for total success at all times. REBT advocates instead a more preferential system of values: one which encourages people to work toward their professional goals, but never to condemn and damn themselves when they fail to achieve them. In a similar way, REBT is useful in helping people from diverse religious backgrounds to be more self-accepting, as well as more accepting of other people who may not share their particular values.
REBT makes sense, but I can't seem to apply it to myself—I understand it "intellectually," but not "emotionally."
When you think about it, what REBT sets out to accomplish sounds pretty ambitious: its goal is no less than changing core irrational beliefs that you've spent your whole life rehearsing, living, and "feeling." For many people, it takes some time before the emotional "gut" follows what their head already "knows." Learning new ways of thinking and new beliefs can be compared to a horse-driven carriage which has had the same driver and horse for years. The horse knows where to go without having to be told by the driver. Once you change the driver (new ways of thinking), the horse still goes in the same direction (old emotions and behaviors), but the driver has to strain at the reins to produce a change in direction (new emotions and behaviors). The positive aspect of the strain you may experience in using REBT is that it shows you are learning new ways of feeling and behaving and that you are taking charge of your own direction in life.
REBT is a practical, action-oriented approach to coping with problems and enhancing personal growth. REBT places a good deal of its focus on the present: on currently-held attitudes, painful emotions and maladaptive behaviors that can sabotage a fuller experience of life. REBT also provides people with an individualized set of proven techniques for helping them to solve problems.
REBT practitioners work closely with people, seeking to help uncover their individual set of beliefs (attitudes, expectations and personal rules) that frequently lead to emotional distress.
REBT then provides a variety of methods to help people reformulate their dysfunctional beliefs into more sensible, realistic and helpful ones by employing the powerful REBT technique called "disputing." Ultimately, REBT helps people to develop a philosophy and approach to living that can increase their effectiveness and happiness at work, in living successfully with others, in parenting and educational settings, in making our community and environment healthier, and in enhancing their own health and personal welfare.
But don't you need to uncover the past in order to really understand people's problems?
Contrary to what some people erroneously believe, REBT does recognize that we may be strongly influenced by events in early life. Much of our philosophy of life—what we think about ourselves and our values—is learned from past experiences. But the past is with us in the form of beliefs that we carry in our head in the present. REBT homes in on the beliefs that are harmful in our current emotional life and behavior—whether those beliefs arose in the distant reaches of our youth or within the past few weeks.
REBT believes that the "nuttiness" of our past exerts its influence in our current-day thinking patterns and beliefs. Although we cannot change the past, we can change how we let the past influence the way we are today and the way we want to be tomorrow. In this sense, REBT is an optimistic approach to living and to solving problems.
I've heard that REBT tries to do away with negative emotions altogether by making people think logically and objectively. Is that true?
This is a fundamental misconception of REBT. Perhaps more so than any other approach, REBT emphasizes the involvement of emotions in just about every aspect of our thinking and actions. REBT proposes that when our negative emotions become too intense (e.g., rage, panic, or depression), not only do we feel very unhappy, but our ability to manage our lives begins to deteriorate. At these times, the quality of our thinking changes and we begin to take things over-personally, blow things out of perspective, condemn others for their transgressions and generally become less tolerant of life's hassles and hardships. REBT helps restore the emotional balance in an individual's life by providing methods for thinking more realistically and level-headedly about ourselves, other people, and the world.
But aren't feelings such as anger and anxiety normal and appropriate?
Of course! But it is the quality of feelings that is important. Experiencing intense irritation and displeasure when things go wrong can motivate you to change frustrating conditions. Feelings of rage, on the other hand, often land you in a smoldering stew, where you're likely not to take any action at all, or to act in ways that are impulsive and self-defeating. A bit of anxiety or some degree of concern about facing the boss can add an edge of excitement that sharpens performance; excessive anxiety, however, can interfere with thinking and action. While REBT tries to minimize debilitating emotions, that does not mean that it's unhealthy to experience keen feelings of sorrow or displeasure when you experience misfortune.
With REBT's emphasis on reducing emotional upsets in the face of unfairness or misfortune, doesn't it encourage the preservation of the status quo? (Not to mention take away energy to make things better?)
One of REBT's favorite maxims (first expressed by Reinhold Neibuhr) is: "Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept those that I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference." REBT seeks to empower individuals both by helping them more effectively handle their own painful emotions, and by enabling them to change their own behavior and improve their world where possible. When you get too upset, it is much more difficult to behave in constructive ways. By gaining better control over upsetting emotions, you become far more able to act assertively to change bad outside circumstances.
With all this emphasis on "me," doesn't REBT encourage selfishness?
Don't we already have too much selfishness in this world?
A very good question. Yes, many people are too selfish for their own and others' good. REBT provides people with the skills and attitudes to become less selfish. Selfishness is often motivated by ego-gratification. Many selfish people tend to be very needy and demanding and are intent on getting what they want at any cost in order to feel good about themselves. REBT helps people to reduce their own neediness and specifically their need to prove themselves to others. To discourage selfishness, REBT teaches what Albert Ellis calls the value of rational self-acceptance. According to Ellis, healthy people are usually glad to be alive and accept themselves just because they are alive and have some capacity to enjoy themselves. They refuse to measure their intrinsic worth by their extrinsic accomplishments, materialistic possessions and by what others think of them. They frankly choose to accept themselves unconditionally; and then try to completely avoid globally rating themselves—meaning their totality or their "essence." They attempt to enjoy rather than prove themselves. Thus, rather than acting out of selfishness, they learn to operate from responsible self-interest.
Isn't REBT just about intellectual disputing?
REBT does help people by teaching them to recognize and change those aspects of their thinking which are not sensible, accurate or useful. This is probably what is meant by intellectual disputing. However, it also uses a host of other emotional and behavioral methods designed to reduce upset feelings and increase personal effectiveness. These include rational-emotive imagery; assertiveness, self nurturance, risk-taking, and other behavioral homework assignments; communication skill training; and "shame-attacking" exercises.
I've heard that REBT is only really useful with very intelligent people.
REBT can work very well with very bright people. Good brain power can help certain people analyze more quickly the ways in which their thinking is illogical when they are upset. However, just because you have the potential to quickly see the irrational qualities of your thinking, doesn't mean you will use your potential to help yourself. Many very bright people are more motivated to argue the "rightness" of their beliefs than to consider they might be wrong.
Over the years, REBT methods have been adopted for children as young as five or six years old, and even for the learning-impaired. Rational emotive behavior therapists are trained to tailor REBT to meet the wide variety of intellectual, cognitive-developmental and other personal characteristics of clients.I've heard that REBT therapists do a lot of confronting. This doesn't sound very empathic or supportive.
REBT practitioners are very concerned about establishing a helpful, supportive, and facilitative alliance with people. They realize that not all people come to therapy ready for action and change, and that some people—because of their personalities and problems—require a great deal of support and empathy before they are ready to change. At the same time, REBT practitioners tend to take an active role with their clients. They help provide people as quickly as possible with the tools to help them change their beliefs leading to disturbing emotions, thus freeing them to confront their everyday problems with all their resources.
By being so active, aren't REBT therapists "controlling" the client?
REBT practitioners have excellent insight into the nature of problems in living and how to help clients free themselves from their emotional misery about them. They are conscious that many clients find it difficult to address the main problems in their lives and their own inner obstacles to happiness. Rational emotive behavior therapists work collaboratively with clients to clarify existing problems, and to identify important general problems to work on together. And yes, REBT practitioners are active in teaching clients new methods for changing their thinking, feelings and behavior. However, REBT does not control the client. Rather, it empowers people to manage their own emotional problems more effectively and to take control of their own behavior in order to try to obtain more of what they want in life.
Does REBT force its own beliefs about what's rational on people?
REBT defines rational beliefs as those which help people live satisfying, healthy, and fulfilled lives. Over the years, Albert Ellis has identified a set of rational beliefs or values which abet a person's happiness and survival. For example, rational self-acceptance—which involves people giving up the self-rating game—seems to help people significantly reduce anxiety and increase feelings of self-acceptance.
High frustration tolerance, which encourages people to accept (not like) life's hardships and other people's imperfections, leads to greater perseverance, patience, and the ability to get along with others. REBT practitioners are careful, however, not to impose "rational" beliefs. REBT accepts that there are also other "non-rational" belief systems that can help people achieve happiness. REBT accepts the value system of the client and works within that framework to facilitate the client's goals.By emphasizing the individual's beliefs and values and eliminating "shoulds," isn't REBT incompatible with religious values?
REBT has discovered that when people impose rigid expectations on themselves, other people, and the world they are likely to experience unnecessary emotional distress.
In REBT, these expectations are expressed as absolutistic "shoulds," "oughts," and "musts." For example, "I should be successful in important things I do at work" can get you into emotional hot water when you make mistakes or fail. REBT affirms the value of achievement, but helps clients give up their demandingness for total success at all times. REBT advocates instead a more preferential system of values: one which encourages people to work toward their professional goals, but never to condemn and damn themselves when they fail to achieve them. In a similar way, REBT is useful in helping people from diverse religious backgrounds to be more self-accepting, as well as more accepting of other people who may not share their particular values.
REBT makes sense, but I can't seem to apply it to myself—I understand it "intellectually," but not "emotionally."
When you think about it, what REBT sets out to accomplish sounds pretty ambitious: its goal is no less than changing core irrational beliefs that you've spent your whole life rehearsing, living, and "feeling." For many people, it takes some time before the emotional "gut" follows what their head already "knows." Learning new ways of thinking and new beliefs can be compared to a horse-driven carriage which has had the same driver and horse for years. The horse knows where to go without having to be told by the driver. Once you change the driver (new ways of thinking), the horse still goes in the same direction (old emotions and behaviors), but the driver has to strain at the reins to produce a change in direction (new emotions and behaviors). The positive aspect of the strain you may experience in using REBT is that it shows you are learning new ways of feeling and behaving and that you are taking charge of your own direction in life.
How Much Stress Is Normal?
The truth is, everybody is different; if you're high-strung, your daily stress level will be greater than that of someone who is laid-back. A good way to judge if you're too tense is if your relationships, job and mental or physical health have deteriorated. Has your sleep or appetite changed? Do you still enjoy things that have given you pleasure in the past?
If any of those factors have shifted, you may be in stress overdrive, which means you need to pinpoint the source of your tension and, ideally, eliminate it. If your biggest thorn is something you can't get rid of, such as nagging in-laws, try to minimize your exposure.
Perhaps more vital is recognizing how you react to stress. Do you shut down or spread negativity? Once you have a handle on that, you can work on developing a healthier response, like releasing those bottled-up feelings at the gym or chatting with a supportive friend. Learning to prepare for stress can help, too. If talking to your landlord gets you riled up, put yourself in your comfort zone by listening to soothing music before you pick up the phone so you're less affected by the conversation. Remember, once you recognize the problem, you have the power to fix it.
If any of those factors have shifted, you may be in stress overdrive, which means you need to pinpoint the source of your tension and, ideally, eliminate it. If your biggest thorn is something you can't get rid of, such as nagging in-laws, try to minimize your exposure.
Perhaps more vital is recognizing how you react to stress. Do you shut down or spread negativity? Once you have a handle on that, you can work on developing a healthier response, like releasing those bottled-up feelings at the gym or chatting with a supportive friend. Learning to prepare for stress can help, too. If talking to your landlord gets you riled up, put yourself in your comfort zone by listening to soothing music before you pick up the phone so you're less affected by the conversation. Remember, once you recognize the problem, you have the power to fix it.
APPROACHES TO MEASURING STRESS
Approaches to measuring stress
A literature review
© Copyright 2007, Ed Mulligan
A literature review
© Copyright 2007, Ed Mulligan
Permission granted to reproduce for academic purposes.
Disclaimer.
This literature review is similar to one submitted as part of an MSc course in
Psychological Research Methods. Since the Open University prohibits posting
assignments on the Internet, this review has been altered and is different to
the one submitted to the Open University.
Approaches to measuring stress - A literature review
Introduction
“Stress” has spawned a vast body of research in both the health and occupational literature. For example, Jones and Bright (2001) estimated over 1000 academic articles on stress were published each year in the decade prior to 2000. Jones and Kinman (2001) divide stress research into three areas: stressors (the environmental causes of stress), intervening variables and strains (the outcomes of stress). They add that these areas are interlinked and these categories are not mutually exclusive, which has led to much confusion in academic and popular writing on stress. Given the vast body of research, this review is necessarily selective so focuses mainly on differing ways of measuring stressors.
The Social Readjustment Rating Scale
An early attempt to provide a quantitative measure of stressors was Holmes and Rahe’s (1967) highly influential Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS). Holmes and Rahe’s model of stress was a simple one: readjustment to change resulting from social events is significantly associated with onset time of illness. They used a survey to quantify the readjustment required for each of 43 major life events, selected on the basis of prior clinical experience. Participants (N=394) used their experience to estimate the relative readjustment required for each life event (regardless of its desirability) where “marriage” was given an arbitrary scale value of 500. The mean rating for each event was divided by 10 to determine its SRRS value. Holmes and Rahe reported correlations between ratings for discrete subgroups within the sample to justify the scale’s reliability.
In practise, the SRRS is used by adding together the weighted scores for the each event that a person has experienced in the past year. The total has been found in many studies to correlate with health outcomes as Holmes and Rahe intended (e.g. Dinis, Schor, & Blay, 2006; Masuda & Holmes, 1967b; Scully, Tosi, & Banning, 2000) and is used to identify those at risk of stress-related illness. The validity of the scale, however, has been questioned. The claim that the SRRS is a ratio level scale (made in Masuda & Holmes, 1967a) has been challenged by Hough, Fairbank and Garcia (1976). They argue that the scale ignores cultural variance in populations, suffers inconsistencies in the method of administration (Holmes and Rahe used different methods on different occasions, which Hough, et. al argue could lead to different weights being assigned to the items) and depends on the order of presentation of items
(which was not random and may have affected the scores given by participants). A different criticism comes from Lei and Skinner (1980) who suggest that the weights given to each life event in the SRRS are irrelevant. They found in a clinical sample (N=353) that using unweighted events (simply counting the number of events rather than using the SRRS weights) and randomised weights correlated as well with measures of strains as did the original SRRS score.
Daily Hassles and Uplifts
Lazarus (1980) proposed a transactional model of stress, the Daily Hassles and Uplifts (DHU) as an alternative to the major life events that underpin SRRS. Whereas a life event (such as the death of a spouse) is perceived to be of major importance and usually occurs infrequently, hassles and uplifts are “the relatively minor stresses and pleasures that characterise everyday life” (Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, & Lazarus, 1981, p. 2). Kanner et al. compared the SRRS with DHU. Their methodology was a longitudinal survey (N=100) with monthly questionnaires completed for a year. The use of a longitudinal study is crucial, since the transactional model is a dynamic one, as Lazarus has argued (1990). Hassles and uplift scales were administered each month along side different strain measures and were found to be a better predictor of health outcomes than life events. The multiple measures allowed test-retest validity to be confirmed. They also found that hassles and uplifts were moderately correlated with positive and negative affect (see below).
As with the SRRS, lists of DHU are widely used in clinical practise and research. Kanner et al. (1981) provide normative data on the most frequent hassles and uplifts. The use of hassles and uplifts checklists has been validated by a number of researchers. Chamberlain and Zika (1990), for example, used four homogeneous samples (N=161,120,194,150) and reported that different groups reported different patterns of hassles which were stable over time. They concluded hassles were a valid and reliable stressor metric, which was significantly related to adaptional outcomes.
Subjective and perceived stress
Many theorists argue that it is the evaluation of stressors that is associated with positive or negative outcomes so what is needed is a measure of subjective stress. Of the many scales for this purpose, two will be reviewed here. Horowitz, Wilner and Alvarez (1979) devised the Impact of Event Scale (IES) as a scale of current subjective distress related to a specific event. Their method was a survey (N=66) asking participants to rate twenty items indicating intrusion and avoidance for their severity and frequency. Using cluster analysis they reduced the scale to 15 items, which they tested on a second sample (N=25) twice to evaluate the test-retest reliability.
The IES scale was devised for use in a specific clinical situation (treating post traumatic stress). Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein’s (1983) global measure of perceived stress (PSS) is a very widely used 14-item instrument designed to measure the degree to which life events are appraised as stressful. They provided evidence from three samples (N=332, 114, 64) on the reliability of the scale. They showed it correlated with both life events and various health outcomes. They argue that the PSS correlates better with health outcomes than “objective” scales of either life events or daily hassles. The PSS has been used in many subsequent studies as a simple measure of stress (e.g. Golden-Kreutz et al., 2005; Pbert, Doerfler, & DeCosimo, 1992)
The role of evaluation
Pbert et al. (1992) reported that perceived stress was correlated with negative affect, a conclusion reached by other researchers such as Watson and Pennebaker (1989). Their argument is that negative affect correlates highly with health complaints but not with measures of actual health. This, they claim, casts doubt on the use of self-reports in stress research. Lazarus has written extensively on the processes that underpin the evaluation of events as stressful, e.g. coping (Lazarus, 1993). He also argues that research needs to progress from viewing stress as a measurable cause or effect to a more integrated, field-based (Lewin, 1952) approach in which the meaning and emotional content of stressful experiences is emphasised (Lazarus, 1990). This view has met with considerable resistance from researchers with a quantitative approach to research (e.g. Breznitz, 1990; Brown, 1990).
Conclusion
Although much of the research covered in this review is old, the SRRS, DHU and PSS scales are still very much in current use, both in research environments and in clinical practise. For all their differences, the three scales are each based on survey and selfreport measures. Hurrell, Nelson and Bret (1998) in their review of methodologies note that self reports often confound stress and strain (the cause and the outcome) which can lead to spuriously high correlations. Their suggestion is to use methodological triangulation in research. While this is an admirable stance, it still requires a good understanding of the strengths and limitations of individual measures.
Refeerences
Breznitz, S. (1990). Theory-Based Stress Measurement? Not Yet. Psychological Inquiry, 1(1), 17-19.
Brown, G. W. (1990). What About the Real World? Hassles and Richard Lazarus. Psychological Inquiry, 1(1), 19-22.
Chamberlain, K., & Zika, S. (1990). The minor events approach to stress: Support for the use of daily hassles. British Journal of Psychology, 81, 469-481.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 386-396.
Dinis, D. H., Schor, N., & Blay, S. L. (2006). Stressful life events and painful
recurrent colic of renal lithasis. Journal of Urology, 6(1), 2483-2487.
Golden-Kreutz, D. M., Thornton, L. M., Well-Di Gregorio, S., Frierson, G. M., Jim, H. S., Carpenter, K. M., et al. (2005). Traumatic Stress, Perceived Global
Stress, and Life Events: Prospectively Predicting Quality of Life in Breast
Cancer Patients. Health Psychology, 24(3), 288-296.
Holmes, T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213-218.
Horowitz, M., Wilner, N., & Alvarez, W. (1979). Impact of Event Scale: A Measure of Subjective Stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 41(3), 209-218.
Hough, R. L., Fairbank, D. T., & Garcia, A. M. (1976). Problems in the Ratio
Measurement of Life Stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 17(1),
70-82.
Hurrell, J. J. J., Nelson, D. L., & Simmons, B. L. (1998). Measuring Job Stressors and Strains: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, and Where We Need to Go. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3(4), 368-389.
Jones, F., & Bright, J. (2001). Stress: the concept. In F. Jones & J. Bright (Eds.), Stress: Myth, Theory and Research. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Jones, F., & Kinman, G. (2001). Approaches to Studying Stress. In F. Jones & J. Bright (Eds.), Stress: Myth, Theory and Research. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life
event. Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 4(1), 1-39.
Lazarus, R. S. (1980). The stress and coping paradigm. In C. Eisdorfer, D. Cohen & A. Kleinman (Eds.), Conceptual Models for Psychopathology (pp. 173-203). New York: Spectrum.
Lazarus, R. S. (1990). Theory-Based Stress Measurement. Psychological Inquiry, 1(1), 3-13. Lazarus, R. S. (1993). Coping Theory and Research: Past Present and Future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 234-247.
Lei, H., & Skinner, H. A. (1980). A Psychometric Study of Life Events and Social Readjustment. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 24, 57-65.
Lewin, K. (1952). Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers.
London: Tavistock.
Masuda, M., & Holmes, T. H. (1967a). Magnitude estimations of social
readjustments. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 219-225.
Masuda, M., & Holmes, T. H. (1967b). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale: a cross-cultural study of Japanese and Americans. Journal of Psychosomatic
Research, 11(2), 227-237.
Pbert, L., Doerfler, L. A., & DeCosimo, D. (1992). An evaluation of the perceived stress scale in two clinical populations. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioural Assessment, 14(4), 363-375.
Scully, J. A., Tosi, H., & Banning, K. (2000). Life Event Checklists: Revisiting the.Social Readjustment Rating Scale after 30 years. Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 60(6), 864-876.
Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Health Complaints, Stress, and Distress: Exploring the Central Role of Negative Affectivity. Psychological Review,96(2), 234-254.
Ed Mulligan has kindly given permission for his work to be republished here. His work will help students, those interested in the subject and those in need a very clear insight into how stress is measured along with a comprehensive list of references for those interested in further exploring this subject. My Sincere thanks goes out to ED for the oppurtunity to share his work.
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