Stress In Daily Life

Robert Fettgather is a co-founder of Tashi Lhunpo Buddhist Sangha in Palo Alto, California. A student of Buddhism and a teacher of psychology, he  engages in a daily meditation practice. Robert Fettgather loves many relaxing outdoor hobbies like houseboating, camping, and hiking. Certified in stress management from the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, Robert Fettgather is interested in relaxation techniques.

Stress is the term used to describe our response across domains (physical, cognitive, and psychosocial) to events that are perceived as challenging or threatening. Consider these two response types: when a person’s stress response is unpleasant or undesirable it is referred to as distress, but when it is an optimal response that helps a person function better it is called eustress. In other words, bad stress and good stress.

The events that trigger stress are called stressors and they can be either internal or external events/conditions. Stressors can include external events such as catastrophes, major life changes, and hassles, along with internal experiences such as pressure, uncontrollability, and frustration.

A catastrophe is an unpredictable event that strikes on a large, even massive scale such as a tornado or flood. Catastrophes are one cause of an anxiety disorder referred to as acute stress disorder (ASD) in which a person has recurring nightmares, sleep dysfunction, and flashbacks of the traumatic episode. When the symptoms of ASD endure for more than a one month period, the disorder is then referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

While trauma is a major type of stress, a number of researchers have suggested that any major life change, such as moving, getting married, getting a new job, would also result in stress. Holmes and Rahe developed the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) to measure the amount of major life change and thus stress in a person’s life

There are two additional internal causes of stress that you are no doubt familiar with. The first is uncontrollability, or a lack of control in a given situation; the second is frustration, or being blocked from achieving a desired objective. Common responses  to frustration include  functional persistence, annoyance and aggression, or even actions with the intention to harm. Displaced aggression redirects frustrations toward a more available and less threatening target.  Another possible response to the experience of frustration might be to withdraw or escape from the situation. Employing relaxation strategies like progressive relaxation or basic exercise can help reduce the experience of stress.