Stress has become an inherent part of modern people’s lives and is a prevailing pattern in middle adulthood. Numerous factors might contribute to stress. Among emotional problems, there are anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, anger, fear. When people hear about terrorist attacks in their country, it can cause them to feel stressed as they have no control over the situation. It can also be work stress when people have a heavy workload, poor management, or dangerous conditions.
Gender differences significantly affect the physiological response of an organism to stress. For example, men tend to use “fight or flight” responses, during which their bodies release oxytocin (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2018). This hormone improves performance in men for competition recognition. In turn, women use the “tend and befriend” approach as their bodies release oxytocin for different purposes. It helps to perceive social interaction accurately and improves performance for kingship recognition.
To reduce stress and eliminate potential hazards for health, several coping mechanisms have been created—problem-focused coping aims to solve the problem first-hand (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2018). Spending more time on preparation for the exam or taking up medications are problem-focused coping examples. Another way of coping strategy is emotion-focused coping that is used to deal with one’s emotions. An example of this approach is when a person expresses frustration or anger in response to a failed exam.
What I find helpful is to take care of yourself, regardless of the coping strategies used. It includes sleeping and eating well, treating yourself with something you like. In short-term stress, I would recommend taking up natural sedatives, such as camomile or melissa tea. It is also helpful to talk about the problem and feelings with a counselor, a parent, or a friend as can help to feel relief.
Reference
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2019). Human development: A life-span view. Cengage Learning.