Stress Management

Techniques > Stress Management

The effects of stress | Stress management | Using stress to persuade | See also

Stress is something that affects us all. If we can learn to recognize it, then we can learn to manage it. Management of stress often seeks to reduce it in ourselves, friends and clients. It also can be a tool for motivation and persuasion, as increasing tension also increase the desire to reduce it. It thus be used, with care, to effectively move both ourselves and others.

The effects of stress

The effects of stress on us are physical, cognitive and behavioral. Gaining a good understanding of these things will place you well over half-way towards being able to manage them.

Stress affects our bodies and thoughts and can eventually kill us. It triggers primitive reactions and we cope with it in ways that are often dysfunctional.

Stress management

The effects of stress on us are physical, cognitive and behavioral. To manage stress, you can do it either from the outside, physically, or from the inside, transforming stress into a positive force for good.

Physical relaxation

Stress occurs in the body, felt as physical muscular tension. It also works backwards. Acting to relax the body also acts to relax the mind. There are two ways to relax physically: exercise and direct relaxation.

Physical exercise works by giving the body the workout that it is designed to receive. The body then does the relaxing that it is supposed to do also. When muscles are tired, they are forced to let go and relax. Exercise can also be gentler, and combined with meditative techniques, such as Tai Chi and Yoga.

Direct relaxation is at the floppy end of the scale, and is usually done in conjunction with something that distracts the mind from those things that are causing stress. Thus watching a movie or reading a book whilst ensconced in a nice comfortable armchair (perhaps with a beer in your hand) is a great method for many people.

Making stress positive

Sublimation is the method we use when we displace negative stresses into positive and useful actions. Thus we can take the tension of being a student and use it to motivate ourselves to work hard, or take the frustrations of work and sublimate these into a useful and creative hobby.

Stress can also be converted to a positive force by gaining a deeper understanding of the people who are causing stress for you. When you realize that much of their behavior towards you is actually displaced frustrations about themselves, you can convert your own fear and anger into genuine concern for them.

Using stress to persuade

Using stress to persuade is pretty much how persuasion works. Virtually all persuasive activities involve manipulation of stress levels, whether this is realized or not. For example, the Hurt and Rescue principle appears in many different forms of persuasion. Conditioning involves association of stress and comfort with undesirable and desirable things.

The biggest trick in using stress is in the appropriate levels being used. Too much and you will trigger the Fight-or-Flight reaction. Too little and you will not get any motivated response. To find the right level of stress requires a great deal of attention and sensitivity. People who lack empathy often go about motivating others with a sledge-hammer, and consequently largely are unsuccessful.