Mills (2001) defined stress as the anxiety that people have due to their inability to respond to the demands that arise from their physical and social environments. In such an event, people tend to develop negative attitudes because they are incapable of responding in an effective and efficient manner to the challenges that they are facing. From experience, most psychologists have stated that stress develops in an individual when their demands surpass the personal resources that are at their disposal. In the process, people are always taxed while trying to cope with such pressures. As a result, their physical and mental well-being is usually affected.
Stress and Wellness
Wellness can be defined as the overall health of an individual (Fairbanks 5). To determine the health of an individual, several wellness domains are considered. For instance, stress affects the emotional wellness of an individual. Due to stress, the ability of an individual to understand and control his/her feelings and emotions in an effective and efficient manner is affected. In severe cases, an individual might end up suffering from depression. In such a situation, it will be difficult for such an individual to make rational decisions and to maintain favorable relationships with other people such as family members, friends, and colleagues.
Stress also affects the physical wellness of an individual. It has been determined that the main cause of stress is the inability of an individual to meet the demands that arise from his/her physical and social environment. In the process of trying to meet these demands, there are people who will overwork themselves hence surpassing the limits that their bodies can withhold resulting in fatigue, body injuries, and other factors that might affect their physical wellness.
People who are under stress find it difficult to relate with other individuals in a normal manner. Thus, stress plays a significant role in disrupting the interpersonal wellness of an individual. Stress is one of the main factors that has led to an increase in divorce rates in the world (Fairbank 5). Consequently, intense stress might lead to the development of behaviors such as alcoholism and drug abuse that not only affect the relationship that an individual has with other people but also his/her overall reputation within the society.
Stress in the Contemporary World
The recession that the world has been experiencing since 2008 has had detrimental impacts on the economy of the nations, corporations, and individuals as well. In the United States for example, over 2.6 million people lost their jobs in 2008 alone (Goldman 1). Most of these people were married, had families to support, and loans to pay. Given the fact that most of these individuals had no alternative sources of income, their financial demand surpassed their personal capabilities leading to the development of stress in most of them. As a result, their physical wellness was affected since some of these people had to work in odd jobs for long hours.
Consequently, their emotional wellness was also affected due to their inability of controlling the pressure and emotions that they were facing. The interpersonal wellness of these individuals was also affected since some of them separated with their spouses (divorce) while others could not keep up with their friends or family lifestyles. Due to high levels of stress as a result of the recession, many people committed suicide especially in Greece as a means of escaping the problems that they were facing.
Personal Significance
Personally, I feel that it is essential for people to learn how to control stress. This will greatly increase their self-efficacy levels especially in challenging situations in life. To avoid stress, I engage in physical activities such as playing soccer and basketball to relieve any pressure that I may be facing. I also try to maintain a good relationship with my friends, family, and colleagues. Most importantly, I try as much as possible to control my emotions by facing challenging situations as they come by making rational decisions and seeking help and advice whenever necessary.
Works Cited
Fairbanks, Kelly. The Relationship Between General Health Perception and Wellness Perception Across Multiple Dimensions. New York: ProQuest, 2008. Print.
Goldman, David. Worst Year for Jobs since ’45. 2009.
Mills, Harry 2001, Positive Psychology and Stress. 2001.