A review of literature about stress management

Thèmes abordés

stress, management, theories, review of litterature, concept, sources, distress, eustress, internal factors, external factors, alter, stressors, effects

Résumé du document

Competitiveness in all sectors is increasing because of the global financial crisis and globalization. The demands of work are ever increasing and organizations are expecting people will do more and more with less and less. All employees are now under pressure and stress as they have to achieve results rapidly and efficiently (Baldwin 2008).Furthermore, stress is an inevitable part of being alive and everybody is sure to encounter stress. We are daily confronted with stressful situations in our relationships, when we move to a new place, when we experiment with new things etc (Montgomery 1984).

I generally suffer from stress when I am not sure about something I care about, especially during exams or internship and it prevents me from being totally efficient. I am also really anxious when I begin new activities. I chose this subject in order to learn factors of stress and how I can thrive on it.
In addition, in an average lifetime the average employee loses one and a half years from work because of stress-induced illness (Coleman 1988). As I would like to start my career by having a job as a product manager, I will have to manage people. Then, it is important to me to be prepared to help others to deal with stress.

The first part of this report will deal with the nature of stress and its impact on the mental and physical health of people. In the second part, the review of literature will provide different strategies for improving our ability to deal with stressful situations.

Extraits

[...] I waste too much time thinking about it. But it can work in the other way: you may overestimate your competence or underestimate the demands; you may not give the task the time or attention it truly demands, thus creating stress far beyond that inherent in the assignment (Brehm 2004). Symptoms of stress depend on people Physiological and psychological stress: two related notions A simplistic model of effects Cranwell-Ward (1990) lists the effects of stress on people. Physical conditions commonly associated with stress are nightmares, wheezing attacks, diabetes, constipation and headaches. [...]

[...] The first part of this report will deal with the nature of stress and its impact on the mental and physical health of people. In the second part, the review of literature will provide different strategies for improving our ability to deal with stressful situations. Concept and sources of stress Stress means many things to people and the definition is not always the same. Before talking about strategies to manage our stress, it is essential to be able to know what stress is and understand this process to be able to react. [...]

[...] In this review of literature, we will concentrate our attention on the main techniques. Alter the stressor Direct coping or instrumental coping tries to eliminate the source of the problem (Rice 1992). Importance of decision making process D'Zurrila (1990) shows that training in problem-solving techniques has been found to reduce depression and improve stress resistance, self-esteem, and life satisfaction (Brhem 2004). Montgomery (1984) describes a rational six step procedure to solve problems. First, we must define the problem in terms of wants (what does each of the people affected want?). [...]

[...] Co, Pacific Grove, California, US. Selye, H Stress in Health and disease, Butterworth, Boston, US. [...]

[...] This review of literature has some limitations. First, the length of this report does not permit a review all aspects of stress, especially all manners to reduce it. My experiences with stress and my personality impact the choice of items tackled because I tried to emphasize aspects of stress which were stranger for me and techniques which seem to be more relevant for my case. Another limitation is the fact that stress is sometimes explained by chemical reactions including hormones or different parts of the brain. [...]