Stress, Symptoms, Causes and How to Deal With It

Stress is a word that is familiar to you, isn't it? But if you ask a dozen people to define stress, or explain what causes stress for them, or how stress affects them, you'll probably get 12 different answers to each request. The reason for this is that there is no one definition of stress that everyone agrees with, what is perceived as stress for one person may even be pleasurable or have even the slightest effect on others, we all react to different causes of stress.

The term "stress", coined and used by Hans Selye in 1936, is defined as "the non-specific response of the body to any request for change".

Stress is not a useful term for scientists because it is a very subjective phenomenon that challenges that definition. And if you can't determine stress, how can you measure it?

At the time it had been believed that most diseases were caused by special, but distinct pathogens, for example: Tuberculosis caused by basil tuberculum, anthrax by anthrax basil, syphilis by spirochete, etc. However what Selye proposed was the opposite, namely that various insults (which cause stress) can cause the same disease, not only in animals, but in humans as well.

Selye's theory attracted attention and stress soon became a popular buzzword that was completely ignored by Selye's original definition. Some people use stress to refer to an arrogant or bad boss or other unpleasant situation in which they are targeted. For many people, stress is their reaction to the condition in the form of chest pain, heartburn, headaches or palpitations. Stress is also used to refer to what they perceive as repeated end results of responses to circumstances such as ulcers or heart attacks. Many scientists complained about this confusion and one physician concluded in a 1951 issue from the British Medical Journal that, "Stress is besides itself, also the cause itself, and the result itself."

Selye managed to fight her whole life to find a satisfactory definition of stress. Stress, he redefined as "The level of wear and tear on the body". This is actually a pretty good picture for biological aging so it's no surprise that growing stress can accelerate many aspects of the aging process. In the years that followed, when asked to define stress, he told reporters, "Everyone knows what stress is, but nobody really knows."

Stress seems to have been experienced by anyone. Whether the old or the young, whether the poor or the rich. Even a little baby who wants to get out of his mother's womb is stressed for the first time before he meets the world. He fought hard to get out of his mother's womb. The elderly can also experience stress. A grandmother can experience stress due to her approaching death. A young entrepreneur can experience stress if you see a stock index that changes all the time. Teenage girls also experience stress if the moon comes. This proves that stress has become a part of human life. Stress cannot be avoided. Therefore, you are the one who should control the stress that comes in your life.

Negative stress is called distress.

Stress can mean something that puts pressure on us. Stress can also be interpreted as the body's reaction to the environment through increased internal pressure of the body and the voltage between the body's muscles. Stress that occurs for a long duration can bring disease in the body. In addition to illness, stress can also steal the happiness you have in this life. If you live life with unhappiness, of course life will feel more difficult.

Stress is often known as something to avoid, because it makes a person feel uncomfortable. Stress is often considered to bring negative things.

Positive stress is called eustres.

Eustress or positive stress is stress that causes you to adapt and improve your adaptability. Eustress can also warn you if the ability to cope with stress is not enough so that it can improve coping skills. In essence, eustress challenges you to live better.

Have you ever felt the body suddenly sweat cold, tongue becomes slur, and heart palpitations when doing presentations in front of many people. Maybe these three signs are the stress you are experiencing. To be able to handle stress better, it is necessary to recognize the reaction to stress, so that you can choose which coping strategies you can do.

There are 50 symptoms that are the effects of stress, divided into 4 groups, namely physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral, among others as follows:

• Symptoms of stress that can be seen through the effects on the physical, among others are stuttering in speech (difficulty to speak), increased heart rate, dizzy head, body shaking, vomiting, difficulty breathing, excessive fatigue, and difficulty sleeping.
• Cognitively, the effects of stress that arise are reduced concentration, easy forgetting, the emergence of a negative view of yourself, decreased creativity, and loss of control in yourself.
• While emotionally, the stress reactions that arise are easily anxious, irritable, irritable, depressed, withdrawal in the social environment, easy crying, decreased self-confidence, and the emergence of negative views on self and others.
• Judging from the behavior, the visible stress reactions are impatient, being careless, nervous laughter, withdrawing from the surrounding environment, smoking, decreased and increased appetite, the use of illegal drugs, drinking alcoholic beverages, and the emergence of aggressive behaviors such as driving a car at a very high speed.

The cause of your stressor can come from any angle of life. Small events in your life can also be a source of stress that makes your life destroyed. The problem that arises is actually neutral, you are the one who plays a role to turn it into a positive or negative thing.

From the bioecological aspect, the source of stress is divided into four parts, namely time and body rhythms, eating and drinking habits, noise pollutants, and climate and altitude.

• time and body rhythms usually occur due to jet lag. For those who often travel abroad who have a different time lag with Indonesia and fatigue for hours on a plane can be a source of stress. For women, hormonal time can also be stressful. For example, at the time before and during menstruation, as well as when facing menopause. Women become more sensitive and irritable.
• eating & drinking habits. There are some people who are malnourished, but there are also some people who experience overnutrition. Another thing that can be a source of stress is consuming too much junk food, coffee, tea, drugs, and alcohol. Consuming dangerous foods is sometimes stressful for many people because it can cause illness to them.
• noise pollutants. Noise disorders often occur in those of you who live in big cities. There office activities, industry and traffic jams often cause noise. This sound often interferes with our concentration in doing something and is stressful for most people. For people who like a calm atmosphere, noise pollutants can be one of the main causes of stress in their lives.
• climate & altitude. Stress usually occurs due to climate change. For example, for those of you who like to climb mountains, often extreme weather changes can cause hyperthermia. For those of you who like to travel to Western states, often cold air temperatures make us uncomfortable with ourselves.

Aside from the bioecological aspect, stressors can arise from work. A person can experience stress on work that comes from the organization itself, the work environment, biological factors in the work environment, as well as personal fatigue. You can certainly experience stress if you get a salary that is not in accordance with your ability, whether a small or large salary. In addition, regular working hours can also cause boredom for some people so that it causes stress if not handled properly.