RECOGNIZING STRESS AND ITS EFFECTS

                                     RECOGNIZING STRESS AND ITS EFFECTS

Physical effects of stress
Stress arises when a real or perceived threat triggers a physical alarm response in us. The endocrine system, which governs the stress response, stimulates  our adrenal, pituitary and hypothalamus glands to release hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol, testosterone and thyroxin) into the bloodstream. These  stimulate us into action, mobilising our strength, speed and stamina in the following ways – many of which you’re bound to recognize from your own experience of being stressed: • Blood flow is instantly directed away from the skin, digestive tract, kidneys, liver and immune system, towards the brain, heart and muscles.
 • The heart beats faster, pumping more blood to muscles. 
• Blood pressure rises.
• Muscles tense up, ready for action.
• Breathing becomes fast and shallow, to increase oxygen intake.
• Pupils dilate, taking in more light.
• The liver releases stored sugar – levels of sugar, fat and cholesterol rise in the bloodstream, providing extra energy.
• Levels of platelets and blood clotting agents increase in the blood, to protect from excess bleeding in case of injury.
• Perspiration increases.
As you can imagine from this list, prolonged stress takes a considerable toll on the body. 


How to measure my own stress levels?
The more something changes your life, the more stressful it’s likely to be. Some student stressors are listed below (on a life change scale of 0–100):
• Death of close relation (63) or friend (37)
• Illness/injury to self (53) or family (44)
• Cohabitation (50)
• Splitting up (65)
• Getting back together (45)
• Pregnancy (44)
• Sexual problems (39)
• Large loan (31)
• Outstanding personal achievement (28)
• End of school (26)
• Change in living conditions (25)
• Change in personal habits (e.g. more/less exercise) (24)
• Change in working hours/conditions (20)
• Moving house (20)
• Change of educational establishment (20)
• Change in recreation (19)
• Change in social activities (18)
• Change in sleeping habits (16)
• Holidays (13)
• Christmas (12)
• Minor violations of law (11)
Stress scores between 100–199 indicate a mild life crisis;between 200–299: moderate life crisis; 300 upwards: major life crisis. That’s without exams. Adapted from Holmes, R.H. and Rahe, R.H. (1967) Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11.


Other effects of stress
So much for the physical effects of stress. Here’s how it manifests
itself in students’ work:
• Performance below par
• Muddleheadedness
• Exhaustion
• Depression
• Aggression
• Agitation
• Disorganisation
• Procrastination
• Forgetfulness
• Being persistently late
• Making up excuses
• Missing lectures, tutorials and deadlines
• Socialising too much


Misinterpretations of stress
As stress signals go, many of these are fairly discreet. Many can be mistaken for laziness. Consequently, students who fail to meet targets are commonly told, somewhat unimaginatively, to ‘get their act together’ or ‘pull their finger out’. They may even be the first to chastise themselves. Unfortunately, self-condemnation 
 tends to make us less likely to tackle a problem constructively. To do so, most students need to talk to someone and get help. Yet, very few students admit they  have a problem. Most suffer in silence. There’s a very good reason for this. As children, many students were routinely praised for being right, and blamed for .Why students being wrong. Success was rewarded with a pat on the back; failure,  with a sharp rebuff. When this happens to children, they very quickly put two 
 and two together and equate making mistakes with being bad. In order to gain love and acceptance from their family, teachers and peers, they learn to hide their weaknesses. They may even lie and cheat in order not to get found out. Although it’s an enormous effort for them, they usually manage to hand in their work and keep up with their course, albeit in a chaotic fashion. Then, there are students who cover up their problems so well that everyone thinks they’re terrific. The admiration they receive from others prevents them from fulfilling their true potential: the more they are praised, the more trapped they become. Once people learn
to present a polished mask to the world, it becomes very difficult for them to seek help. The mask may come to feel like an integral component of their identity; they may lose any awareness that they are stressed. Apart from spending too much time alone in libraries or at the computer, tell-tale signs are usually psychosomatic:
• Asthma
• Skin complaints
• Recurring bouts of ill health
• Stomach problems
• Bowel problems
• Muscular pains such as back pain
• Eating disorders
• Oversleeping (an escape from the difficulty of being awake)
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Frequent accidents
• Hyperactivity or exhaustion
• Vomiting.

Stress Relievers:
Regarding natural stress relievers, i have already discussed in previous posts. Click here . Out of all, autogenics, is the best tool i have ever found. It takes a bit time to master, but when its done, its positive impacts are countless.


Conclusion: Therefore, its very necessary to catch or recognize the stress at proper time and act immediately before it grows and turns to mental or physical or psychosomatic illness.

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Body Language (Part III-Gestures)

                              Body Language (Gestures):

Facial expressions and hand gestures-

Our face is the most visually expressive part of our body. There are six universal facial expressions:-Happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger and distrust. Each of the expressions is accompanied with a combination of recognisable gestures. After the face, the hands are the most expressive part of our body. We use them to reinforce our speech or on occasions even as its replacement.

Palm Gestures-

(i) Open palm--> The open palm gesture indicates truth, sincerity, trustworthiness and agreement. For example, the palm is held in the air when testifying in a court of law or placed on a Holy Book while bearing witness.

* There are two basic palm positions-the palm facing upward and the palm facing downward. In the upward-facing position, a person may be asking for something, as in the case of a beggar, and in the downward-facing position, he may be trying to hold down or constrain something *

* When a person wishes to be totally sincere and truthful, he hold out one or both palms (exposed) to the other person and conveys his desire to be frank with him *

* A child may hide his palms behind him when he is not telling or hiding something *

* A husband, trying to explain his wife why he was coming so late at night, may either hold his palms together or have them in his pockets; the hidden palms indicating to the wife that he is withholding the truth *

* A sharp salesman, noting a customer's open palm gesture, will understand that the customer is genuinely not interested in his product *

Palm Power Gestures-

There are three main palm command gestures- palm-up, palm-down, palm closed-finger-pointed position.

* The palm-up position signifies submission, a non-threatening gesture. The palm-down position denotes authority and depending upon the relationship between a worker and his senior, the situation could be explosive or just routine. In the palm-closed-finger-pointed position, the speaker compels his listener into submission *

* One of the most irritating and annoying gestures is to see the speaker pointing a finger at you (esp. index finger), and beating, time or punctuating his words with it. A habitual finger pointer, will learn to create a more relaxed attitude, with a positive effect on people, if he only learns to use the palm-up or palm-down positions more often *

Handshakes-

The age old custom of shaking hands, practised even today, involves the interlocking and shaking of the palms. In English-speaking countries, the handshake gesture is used both during initial greeting and when leaving. During such handshakes, the hands are generally pumped five to seven times. While shaking hands, one of the following three basic attitudes is conveyed---> dominance, submission or equality:

* When your palm faces upward, submission is denoted. For an instance, an arthritic patient, being weak, can be submissive; a surgeon, an artist or a musician, wanting to protect his hand, might be submissive too *

* Dominance is conveyed when your palm faces down in the handshake, in relation to the other person's palm *

* Two dominant people shaking hands would like to see the other submissive, hence there is every likelihood of the hands being held in a vice-like grip *

* In order to intimidate the other dominant person, step forward with your left foot as you reach to shake hands, the bringing your right foot forward, place it in his person space, then bring your left foot beside the other foot and shake the person's hand. This allows you to take command, by invading the other person's personal space *

* Most right-handed people are at a disadvantage when they get a dominant handshake, for they have very little manoeuvrable space or flexibility to move within the confines of the handshake, letting the other person gain mastery *

* Another way to dominate the other person, is to grasp the person's hand on top and then shake it, for then your hand, which will be in a palm facing down position, is in a superior position on top of his. This, of course, should be done judiciously and cautiously *

* Though, a handshake is a sign of welcome, sales people are taught that if they initiate the handshake with a buyer on whom they have called without appointment, the result could be negative as the buyer may not want to receive them *

Rubbing Palms Together-

Rubbing the palms together denotes some positive expectations from the doer. Foe example, the master of ceremonies or a dice thrower or a magician, rubs his palms in anticipation of something positive.

* The speed at which a person rubs his palms together suggests that he expects the other person to benefit. For example if someone goes to a car dealer and describes what he is looking for, the dealer rubs his palms together quickly and says that he has the right car for him. The signal here is that the dealer expects the buyer to benefit *

* If you rub your palms very slowly, then the message the other person gets is that you are crafty or devious and applied to the car dealer-buyer example, the buyer would think that he is not going to benefit and that the dealer would be benefiting himself *

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