Psychology of Stress Management Assignment sample

Introduction Of Psychology of Stress Management

Get free written samples by our Top-Notch subject experts and Assignment Helper team.

This paper aims at explaining the management of stress through different techniques physiological and psychological areas such as Drugs, biofeedback and SIT and Hardiness. This paper also evaluates these approaches by explaining the strength and weakness of each technique.

Stress management

Stress is a difficult phenomenon that can be defined in various ways however, to sum up, it can be referred to as the wear and tear of daily life. Also, stress management implies controlling different kinds of chronic stresses using different physiotherapies, techniques and approaches (Kassymova et al., 2018). When a person is at extreme stress, cortisol, a hormone is released which suppress the proper functioning of the digestive system, reproductive and immune system. Therefore, it is important to practice stress management to have a healthier body and mind. Stress management involves continuous effort to change the lives by its various techniques and methods which also includes prevention of stress through taking self-care and relaxation. Furthermore, stress management also refers to an individual response to the given situation when they occur. The problem becomes more complicated if an individual is under constant stress and have no idea how to manage the stress. With that said, stress management becomes extremely significant in the life of an individual for leading quality life, for having healthy relationships and for prevention of any effect on health (Anghelescu et al., 2018). There are various stress management models which have an individual way of dealing with or controlling the stress. However, the only two approaches each from a physical aspect and psychological aspect have been discussed in this paper in detail.

Physical approaches to stress management

Drugs

Due to the effect of the stress caused in both brain and body, both of which are important chemically driven systems, a large variety of medication can be used to prevent and act as an aid in the stress relief process. Since there is no single group of medications that can be used to control the stress but the physician can prescribe a large variety of medication depending upon the nature of the stress (Glazer and Liu, 2017). However, caution must be followed while prescribing the medication related to treating the stress as it has got properties that can cause addiction in a person who is constantly consuming it. The medicines associated to treat stress can be addictive and non-addictive and can have potential side effects therefore the medicine should be prescribed only by authorized physicians. few medicines that are related to treating stress have been mention below in detail (Awino et al., 2018).

Sedative Medication

The sedative medication slows down the activities of the central nervous systems consisting of the brain and spinal cord which cause a sense of relation, decrease in tension and anxiety, sleepiness and slow breathing (Goutam and Kumari, 2021). When these medications given in a higher dose can cause poor judgement, impaired ability to walk, slurred speech.

Antidepressant Medication

This medication helps in dealing with depression-related conditions however due to its antianxiety properties, these medications can be used to treat stress symptoms. Recently, the most commonly prescribed antidepressant medication is Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). According to Shetgovekar, 2020, these medication works at the level of the nervous system of the brain which talks with the help of neurotransmitters. SSRIs medication is not addictive in a classical way however there are side effects such as dry mouth, dizziness and sleep disturbance (de Nigris et al., 2021).

Beta-Blockers

These medications are generally used to control high blood pressures, and help in treating heart problems however these medications can also help in decreasing the symptoms of stress. The common side effects of beta-blockers include dizziness, impotence, digestive tract problems etc (Schneeberger et al., 2021).

Nutritional Supplements

Various supplements which occur naturally i.e., harvested from plants such as Kava, Passion Flower, Valerian and the herb Skullcap and Oats are common used as stress remedies.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a mind-body technique that involves using visual or auditory feedback to help people know the sign of any physical symptoms associated with stress and anxiety. People are now have known how to cope up with the symptom of stress by learning how to control the psychological and physical impact of stress. This technique helps in the relaxation of muscle slowing of heart rate and reducing the feeling of pain (Schneeberger et al., 2020). The function which people can learn to control with the help of biofeedback includes pain, muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure.

The technique of biofeedback is considered a kind of training rather than a treatment as with the help of biofeedback people can develop new skills which may help the people in coping up with their day to day performance. There is various type of biofeedback. Choosing the kind of approach to depend on the requirement or what the physician has recommended (Canetti et al., 2020). The different types of Biofeedback treatment include;

1. Respiratory Biofeedback
2. Galvanic Skin response
3. Thermal Biofeedback
4. Heart rate variability biofeedback
5. Blood pressure
6. Neurofeedback
7. Thermal Biofeedback
8. Electromyography

Psychological approaches to stress management

Stress Inoculation Training (SIT)

As stated by Meichenbaum, 2017 Stress Inoculation Therapy is psychotherapy that helps patients to prepare for themselves in advance for any stressful situation. In this method, the patients are trained to become resistant to any stressful situation. For example, vaccination is being done to control any specific disease in advance. At the end of the stress inoculation efforts, the patient may have the idea about the possibility of any stressful event which may be likely to occur in future and may have a plan in advance to deal with such situation (Thomassen et al., 2018). Stress Inoculation Training involved three phases.

Phase 1

 The first phase is the conceptualization step in which the therapist explains the concepts of the general nature of stress and also explains important concepts such as cognitive misrepresentation which plays an important role in shaping the stress reactions. In this method, the patients are being communicated that the stressor is rather an opportunity or a puzzle to be solved rather than thinking of them as mere obstacles (Maddi, 2020).

Phase 2

This phase revolves around providing skills to the patients which must be individually tailored as per the patient requirement. The patients are made to realize their strength and vulnerabilities.

Phase 3

 In this stage, the application and follow-through of the above two steps are being directed to the patients . in this method the therapist provides coping skills with the help of different methods to help increase the realism of coping practices (Maddi, 2020).

Hardiness

It is the psychological method of dealing with stress which deals with coping, withstanding and actively engaging in transformational coping when faced with a stressful situation. Transformational coping enable a person to perceive the stressful situation as an opportunity rather than a threat. This method is based on three factors which include, a sense of control over external events, commitment in daily life and a challenging perspective if there is an unexpected change (Eklund et al., 2018). Therefore, these characteristics develop it forms a route for resistance in a stressful situation which ultimately result in improvement of performance through coping up actively.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of these methods in managing stress

Evaluation of Drug treatment of stress

Strength

Researchers have demonstrated that drug treatment is extremely helpful in treating the negative effect of stress. One of the pieces of evidence of this finding is that Breitenbecher and Sellar, 2021, differentiated between the placebos and anxiety drugs to around 250 patients. Few of the patients were given the anxiety drug and others were given placebos. It was found out that the anxiety drug was significantly superior to that of placebos. From the strength, it can be evaluated that the physiological and biological treatment of stress is as effective as psychological treatment (Ghannam et al., 2020).

Weakness

The drug treatment for stress has been criticized due to the medication side effects. It has been found out that the patients who are on medication also suffers from dry mouth, dizziness and other side effects (Hoffmann, 2020). The medication can cause more harm than other treatment such as psychological treatment such as CBT which may be more effective in reducing the negative symptoms of stress.

Evaluation of Biofeedback of stress

Strength

The biofeedback treatment does not depend on the conscious mind and can be applied to the animal as well since the animal does not possess the power of thought.

Weakness

Biofeedback therapy is more to do with relaxation than any unconscious operant conditioning. The biofeedback is only successful as it involves only relaxation as a technique that reduces concerned activity (Aziraj-Smaji? et al., 2021).

Evaluation of Hardiness

Strength

The hardiness technique has been an effective technique that can be used by different populations and cultures. Also, it involves real-time application. For example, hardiness training is being used for swimming athletics in Olympics so that they do not have to worry about the stress and can just focus on training (Kupa and Geyer, 2020).

Weakness

Hardiness is ineffective if any bad addiction or habits are not overcome and also, the hardiness training requires a lot of time and cannot be seen as a short term solution.

Evaluation of Stress Incolution Therapy

Strength

Besides reducing the level of stress the SIT techniques can help the student who has been tested improve their academic performance (Hoffmann, 2020). It also gives a person to deal with future stress.

Weakness

This method is as well time-consuming and requires high motivation and will power to complete the training (Meichenbaum, 2017).

Conclusion

To conclude, stress management is the management of stress through different techniques and methods. This paper focuses on the different approaches of physiological and psychological areas such as Drugs, biofeedback and SIT and Hardiness. This paper also evaluates these approaches by explaining the strength and weakness of each technique.

Reference

1. Kassymova, K., Kosherbayeva, N., Sangilbayev, S. and Schachl, H., 2018, September. Stress management techniques for students. In International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Personality Formation in Modern Society (ICTPPFMS 2018). Atlantis Press.
2. Anghelescu, I.G., Edwards, D., Seifritz, E. and Kasper, S., 2018. Stress management and the role of Rhodiola Rosea: a review. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice, 22(4), pp.242-252.
3. Glazer, S. and Liu, C., 2017. Work, stress, coping, and stress management. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.
4. Awino, B.Z., Ogutu, M. and Musyoka, M., 2018. Work Culture: Stress Management in Reducing Stress and Improving Organizational Performance. China-USA Business Review, 17(3), pp.1537-1514.
5. Goutam, L. and Kumari, N., 2021. STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN ORGANIZATIONS. Jamshedpur Research Review.
6. Shetgovekar, S., 2020. Unit-7 Stress Management Techniques I. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.
7. de Nigris, F., Ruosi, C. and Napoli, C., 2021. Clinical efficiency of epigenetic drugs therapy in bone malignancies. Bone, 143, p.115605.
8. Schneeberger, T., Sauerwein, N., Anglet, M.S. and Gebhard, P., 2021, April. Stress Management Training using Biofeedback guided by Social Agents. In 26th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces(pp. 564-574).
9. Schneeberger, T., Sauerwein, N., Anglet, M.S. and Gebhard, P., 2020, October. Developing a Social Biofeedback Training System for Stress Management Training. In Companion Publication of the 2020 International Conference on Multimodal Interaction(pp. 472-476).
10. Canetti, E., Orr, R.M., Schram, B., Chapman, C., Kornhauser, C., Holmes, R. and Dawes, J., 2020, February. The physiological impact of stress inoculation training in police cadets and its relationship to physical fitness. In Poster session presented at 5th International Congress on Soldiers' Physical Performance, Quebec, Canada.
11. Meichenbaum, D., 2017. Stress inoculation training: A preventative and treatment approach. In The Evolution of Cognitive Behavior Therapy(pp. 101-124). Routledge.
12. Thomassen, Å.G., Hystad, S.W., Johnsen, B.H., Johnsen, G.E. and Bartone, P.T., 2018. The effect of hardiness on PTSD symptoms: A prospective mediational approach. Military Psychology, 30(2), pp.142-151.
13. Maddi, S.R., 2020. Personality Hardiness. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Health Psychology, pp.439-445.
14. Maddi, S.R., 2020. Resiliency and Hardiness. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Clinical, Applied, and Cross?Cultural Research, pp.393-398.
15. Eklund, C., Elfström, M.L., Eriksson, Y. and Söderlund, A., 2018. Evaluation of a Web-Based Stress Management Application—a Feasibility Study. Journal of technology in behavioural science, 3(3), pp.150-160.
16. Breitenbecher, K.H. and Sellers, J., 2021. Evaluation of Psychological Techniques for Coping with Acute Pain. Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science, 81(1), pp.23-35.
17. Ghannam, J., Afana, A., Ho, E.Y., Al-Khal, A. and Bylund, C.L., 2020. The impact of a stress-management intervention on medical residents' stress and burnout. International Journal of Stress Management, 27(1), p.65.
18. Hoffmann, A., 2020. The iterative development and evaluation of the gamified stress management app “Stress-Mentor”.
19. Aziraj-Smaji?, V. and de la Fosse, C., 2021. EMDR Techniques and Behavioral Therapy in Group Training Dealing with Stress. Psychiatria Danubina, 33(Suppl 1), pp.24-28.
20. Kupa, P.M. and Geyer, L.S., 2020. A qualitative evaluation of a stress management programme for HIV and AIDS home-based care workers in Tshwane, South Africa. SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS, 17(1), pp.1-15.