Stress majorly impacts the emotional equilibrium and physical health of an individual. Effective stress management helps to break the hold stress has on life, so that an individual can be happier, healthier, and more productive. The term ‘stress management’ refers to any program of behavioural and cognitive techniques that are designed to reduce psychological and physical reactions to stress (Sarafino & Smith, 2014).
In the present times, various psychological interventions to stress management have come up. Firstly, Relaxation, refers to the emotional state of a person, of low tension, where there is an absence of arousal coming from sources such as anger, anxiety, or fear. This helps people to cope with everyday stress and related health problems, such as heart disease and pain. Autogenic relaxation, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Visual or Guided Imagery Techniques are the most common types. Secondly, Systematic Desensitization by Joseph Wolpe (1958) specifically aims at the alleviation of maladaptive anxiety. The process involves pairing relaxation with imagined scenes depicting situations that the client has indicated to cause them to feel anxious. Thirdly, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), helps an individual to learn about the influence of thought on their behaviours and emotions. CBT therapists teach rational self-counselling skills and the clients’ learn and implement them to change their thoughts and behaviour. Cognitive restructuring is another technique, it includes the act of identifying stress-inducing thought habits and ineffective thinking patterns and replacing them with less rigid, more constructive and accurate thinking habits to decrease the experience of stress in an individual (Scott, 2007).
Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) is a technique that uses a variety of methods that are designed to teach people skills for alleviating stress (Meichenbaum & Cameron 1983; Meichenbaum & Turk 1982). The training involves three phases to empower and enhance the coping skills of individuals – conceptualization, skills acquisition and consolidation and application and follow-through.
Problem-solving training is another technique that helps individuals to learn strategies for identifying, discovering, inventing effective or adaptive ways to address problems in everyday lives (D’Zurilla 1988; Nezu, Nezu & Perri, 1989). This is important as a person has the chance to experience stress whenever they face a problem, whose solution is not readily available to them.
Regular exercise and physical activity increase the production of endorphins in the brain which in turn increase self-confidence, improve mood, help one to relax, and lower symptoms of mild depression and anxiety (Jackson, E.M., 2013). Likewise practising yoga targets stress by lifting positive affect, by allowing for increased mindfulness, and by increasing self-compassion (Riley & Park 2015). Massage helps the body to produce hormones like endorphins and oxytocin maintaining the heart rate levels, blood pressure and relaxing the body muscles; it helps the individual to prepare themselves better for stress management. (Birmingham & Light 2008).
Another very effective stress management technique includes meditation; the process includes an individual bringing focus on a single thought or stimuli and in doing so trying to eliminate the stream of interfering thought which induces stress in oneself. Meditation produces a deep state of relaxation. The most common among them are – Transcendental meditation by Maharshi Mahesh Yogi (Wallace & Benson 1972) and Mindfulness meditation (Siegel, 2007).
A much newer concept introduced in this field is biofeedback. It is psychophysiological in nature, involving both mind and body. The process involves measuring various bodily functions such as cardiovascular activity and then providing audio-visual feedback to the individual with the guidance of a therapist, this, in turn, aids in increased awareness of physical symptoms of stress and anxiety that one experiences and its careful management (Lemaire, J.B., Wallace, J.E., Lewin, A.M., de Grood, J., & Schaefer, J.P., 2011). There are various types of biofeedback, such as Electromyogram (EMG), Temperature Biofeedback, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Electroencephalogram (EEG).
Therefore, the existence of all the above-mentioned techniques reflects the importance of the multifaceted negative consequences of stress. It is extremely vital to recognize the source and to take the step in the correct direction, for leading a healthy mental and physical life.
– Urveez Kakalia and Annesha Datta.