INTRODUCTION ON STRESS

Today’s age is called “ THE AGE OF ANXIETY” and this century is called “The Century of Stress
“.Today vast majorities of people are in a state of stress .their fast –paced lifestyle demands that
they are raring to go always and are always under pressure to perform .This pressure usually leads to
Stress. Stress can be due to various reasons .And Stress in many cases causes
tension,depression,anxiety ,etc.

A lot of research has been conducted into ‘ Stress over the last hundred years .some theories
about it are now settled and accepted; others are still being researched and debated.Hans Selye was
one of the founding fathers of research. He stated in 1956 that “ STRESS IS NOT NECESSARILY
SOMETHING BAD – IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW WE TAKE IT “. The stress of exhilarating ,creative
successful that of failure , humiliation or infection is detrimental .since then , a great deal of further
research has been conducted on the subject , and a new ideas have come to light.

Stress is now viewed as “bad thing”, with a range of harmful biochemical and long-term
effects. These effects have rarely been observed in positive situations. Stress is that stress is a
condition of feeling experienced when a person perceives that “demands exceed the personal and
social resources the individual is able to mobilize.” In short, it is what we feel when we think we have
lost control over events. There are very many proven skills that we can use to manage stress. These
help us to remain calm and effective in high – pressure situation, and help us avoid the problems of
long term stress.

Stress is something that occurs all the time and affects everyone one way or another at least
some of the time. Stress can be a good thing. It can be a source of motivation to help get something
done or help one to react quickly to a potentially dangerous situation.

HISTORY OF STRESS

Since the origin of the term ‘ stress ‘ it is ambiguous ‘ STRESS ‘ began life as a variant on ‘
distress ‘ in the 14th century. It means that experience of physical hardship, starvation, torture, and
pain. These days, however, the term revolves around the medieval definition, in which ‘Stress’
simply meant ‘hardship’. The recent scientific developments inform us that ‘Stress’ is actually good
for us. Stress is derived from the Latin word stranger, meaning to draw tight, and was used in the
17th century to describe hardships or affliction. During the late 18 th century stress denoted “force,
pressure, strain or strong effort.” Referring primarily to an individual or to an individual’s organs or
mental powers (Hinkle, 1973).

As has already been noted, stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response, or the
result of an interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance
between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance between the person
developed. Particularly surrounding the person –environment (P-E) interaction, researches have
considered the nature of interaction and, more importantly, the psychological processes which it
takes place ( DEWEY ,1992).

Stress is a physiological and psychological imbalance. It arises due to the demands on a

person and the person’s inability to meet these demands. Stress is the body’s way of reacting to any
situation and it can have serious repercussions on an individual’s life. Yet, people fail to realize the
importance of stress management in their lives. Effective managers can stay in control of life,
without panicking even under stressful situations. They handle stress by planning work , taking
regular breaks , and rejuvenating them.