On the BBC website yesterday they asked the question, “Is it a good idea to measure stress?”. There are those that say you can’t do it, or it is unreliable, and others who say it is dangerous to do it because we then medicalize it! Let’s first define it. There is ‘pressure’, which is stimulating and motivating, whereas ‘stress’, is defined as ‘when the pressure exceeds an individual’s ability to cope with it’. Stress is less positive and can lead to ill health or anti-social behaviour.
The reality of life is that there are times when we are under excessive pressure which we are unable to cope with, ultimately leading to physical or psychological outcomes, mostly negative. If we can identify the sources of this stress, whether it is a dysfunctional relationship, being bullied at work or an overload of negative life events (such as death of a parent/spouse at a time when you have just lost a valued job), then maybe the individual can be helped to find an appropriate and positive coping strategy to deal with it. By acknowledging the reality of stress in our lives, we then enable people to talk about it, whether it is with a GP or close friend or relative. We need to de-mystify the concept and allow people to openly discuss their problems if they so wish, rather than bury their emotions, which may have longer term damaging effects.
The difficulty of measuring something like stress is that it comes in different forms, for some people they may get depressed or anxious, for others they may reflect a physical manifestation (e.g. irritable bowel syndrome) and for others it may lead to a change of behaviour (e.g. becoming more withdrawn or excessive alcohol consumption). The potential negative indicators, in whatever form, do however bring the issues to the surface, which can then be dealt with. So although measuring stress may be difficult, openly acknowledging it is necessary to confront the issues underpinning it.
For this reason it is important that stress be recognised – although not necessarily scored. The risk of responding with a ‘that’s life’ attitude is that people will feel unwilling or unable to seek help when they really need it.
Unfortunately “stress” got off to a bad start, a little like “bad back” did in the old days of physical labour; well it is hard to see on an X-ray. There are some who don’t believe it (stress) exists and scoff at the idea of somebody actually suffering from it. As mentioned another problem is that it may manifest itself in many forms, many physical and some emotional, in extreme cases almost all debilitating. To suffer from stress is also seen as a sign of weakness, of not being able to cope in today’s “always on” lifestyle.
Breaking through these barriers and misconceptions is not easy especially when the stigma of suffering from stress can mean a loss of career or promotional prospects. It has to be done however. If the world we live in is not right then we are fools to ignore the signs and stress may be a sign: a big red warning sign.
I once read that there is “good stress” and “bad stress” and that a little stress is good for you. To me this shows a total misunderstanding of what stress is. As mentioned stress is when an individual can do nothing about the circumstances causing the pressure. It is a subtle but important point. People can cope with a great deal if they are in control of a situation. Remove their ability to control or influence and stress levels multiply exponentially.
Stress robs people of their creativity, it can paralyse their ability to think or form relationships; it can kill. Stress stops people finding their own “way out” or solution and hence they need help. Next time somebody tells you they are stressed take the time to enquire. If somebody you know shows signs of stress let them know it is OK to talk about it with you.
Perhaps we should adopt the same strategies we saw for AIDS, for not long after the campaign started we could mention contraception in polite company and not get sniggered at.
STRESS: Stress Triggered Reactive Emotional Support System
Kevin Hewitson
Advocation Creativity in Education Ltd (ace-d)