An Insight to Stress

Studying the human mind not only enables us to understand how we think, feel and act in certain ways, but it also allows us to address psychological disorders, such as understanding the symptoms and the impact they have on the individual and society.

Everyone has mental health. It can be categorised in 2 directions, positive or negative. A positive mind benefits us with a healthy and comfortable lifestyle. On the other hand, with a negative mind, things could become worse if we do not intend to strive to take care of our mental and physical health……just like a ball of snow rolling down the hill.

According to the WHO, a great number of people have reported psychological distress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress. And there have been worrying signs of more widespread suicidal thoughts and behaviours.

Keep reading to gain insight!

Key topics:

• What is Stress?
• Definition of stress
• Why do we feel stressed?
• Common causes of stress

What is Stress?

Stress is a natural and common reaction that our body responds to when we get under pressure from daily life events and challenges or problems (WHO, n.d.).

A small amount of stress can be beneficial because it motivates us to achieve our goals. However, stress could feel out of control, especially stress that has been accumulated for a long period. This may result in negatively affecting our mood, physical and mental well-being, and relationships.

Why do we feel stressed?

Stress is often triggered when we experience something new or face an unexpectedly difficult problem. And if you are living in an urban area, you are more likely to experience stress than in rural areas.

Compared to rural residents, researchers have found that urbanites are 21% more likely to have anxiety disorders and 39% more likely to have mood disorders (Fraga J., 2019).

Here are some common causes:

1. At Work

Are you having a hard time at work? City life keeps you busy. To survive, you tend to work so hard to ensure that your hard work satisfies your daily essential needs and suppliance. You tend to push yourself with the highest standards, pulling all-nighters because of heavy workloads and wanting to meet your job requirements. Long-term stressing out and restless nights could worsen your mental illnesses. Mental illnesses like anxiety and depression could develop easily.

  2. At School

How much more homework is there to do? We practice so that we could absorb and digest the pieces of knowledge. Although meeting the deadlines for our projects is essential, getting enough sleep is the top priority. Loss of sleep could cause tiredness and lack of concentration. Long-term experiencing loss of sleep may cause negative effects on our health.

Taking entrance exams can also be stressful. Last year, there were numerous cases where young students committed suicide because they fear failure. The report does not mention any specific reasons behind suicides, it said that 'failure in examination' was one of the reasons (Ians, 2022).

Besides, comparing ourselves with other students happens quite a lot, because we compete to produce the best quality of our performance to achieve our goals. The group of students who has learning difficulties, as well as their ability to manage stress, tend to experience stress much easier; discrimination, bullying, hate or abuse are more likely to take place everywhere, especially in schools. Long-term experiencing this type of stress could cause losing interest or motivation in doing things we used to enjoy. If it worsened, social anxiety and depression could develop easily.

3. At Home

There are no deeper bonds than that between mother and child. With all the care, surrendering a full income to stay at home, and nurturing that children require, most mothers feel a shortage of time (Scott E., 2020).

Each mother may face unique stresses. Mothers constantly re-evaluate whether they did a good enough job of fulfilling their child’s needs and joys. As children grow each day, there must be some behavioural changes over time. Sometimes, fights could occur due to sensitive conversations. The mother tends to experience pressure and trauma easily because of the sudden breakdowns of the longstanding relationship.

On the other hand, children can also experience trauma and depression if parents show abusive behaviours, such as physical abuse, emotional abuse, manipulation, sexual abuse, neglect and etc. Such abusive actions could worsen their mental illnesses into suicidal thoughts.

4. Individuals and Relationships

“Love is Commitment,” being there is what a real relationship needs. And it is something that requires lots of effort to restrain the relationship from falling apart. All couples experience stress especially when we try our very best at finding the solution to deal with even the tiniest problem. Stress could come from a couple’s issues, such as arguments, differences in wants or needs, or feeling neglected. Furthermore, the common cause of anxiety in relationships is because of the loss of trust.

Everyone needs love. Individuals who are lacking love could cause low self-esteem, leading to stress, social anxiety and depression because they lack support and guidance from their loved ones.

5. Environmental Stress

Life in a megacity is not as easy as you might think. Although technological advancement brought us conveniences, environmental pollution could still severely impact our lives, leading to the development of more negativity to our mental health. Humans are born to look at green plants and enjoy natural environments. Because of massive air pollution, urban areas tend to be hazier and greyer. Psychologically, grey symbolises neutrality, boredom, gloomy atmosphere. Long-term living in a dismal environment may negatively affect our physical and mental health. Besides, too much exposure to noise pollution could trigger anxiety, especially if you are sensitive to stress.

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Stress: Symptoms & Impacts

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