Stress, Coping and Health

Khadija Ahmad

Department of psychology, Forman Christian College

PSYCHOLOGY 100 D

Ma’am Arman Ashraf

Monday June 21st 2021

 1. Begin your paper with a detailed description of Stress in general and in context of the Covid-19

situation. Be sure to include at least 2 peer reviewed articles in your paper.

Without any hum and haw, stress has become one of the most discussed as well as pertinent issues in the last

few years in general and amid the pandemic, Covid-19, in particular. While discussing human psychology,

stress can be defined as a mental state that normally disrupts human body’s response to anything that requires

attention, action or even force. Every human beings faces stress with varying degree of difference at any stage

of life. The time duration of this kind of situation may be short term or long term depending upon the nature of

mild or severe symptoms of stress. Various psychologists have penned down multiple signs of stress. Some of

them are:

 Frequent mood swings

 Sluggishness and problems in sleeping

 Continual weakness and sickness

 Headache

 Dizziness

 Low energy levels

 Trembling and continuous hand movements

Apart from these signs, there are emotional, physical, behavioural and psychological signs that also affect an

individual. Some of the attributes of more vulnerable people to stress are; financial insecurity, prejudice or

discrimination faced in a community, emotionally weak people and people having poor and deteriorating health

conditions. Some psychologists believe that shattered or broken family systems also contribute in making

people fall prey to this problem.

In addition to it, stress can also be caused by multifaceted factors. These factors may comprise of finances,

relationship, parenting, and day to day unrest and inconveniences. Multiples researches depict that stress is also

linked with the leading causes of death in the world like heart diseases, stroke, diabetes etc. There are mainly

two terms that are being used by psychologists named stressor and stress.
There is no denying the fact that Covid-19 has turned the world upside down. It has shaken the very basis of the

current global order. It has also put a question mark on the current health structure of the world. For the first

time in the recent past, people have come to realize that they have been facing countless mental issues that got

impetus during the pandemic. This pandemic is a blessing in a disguise because common people became very

aware of stress and anxiety. People came to know about their mental health.

This phenomenon of stress and ways to counter it has been discussed in great length and breadth in an article

namely “Stress and coping during COVID-19 pandemic: Result of an online survey” (Nilamadhab K., 2021).

The writers argue that the Corona virus has exposed fault lines as well as make general public and health

workers more vulnerable both in the developing and developed countries. An individual becomes more fearful

and stressful when the fear of losing some loved one constantly hangs over his head that might have fallen

victim of the virus. The authors have conducted an online survey through a questionnaire of Generalized

Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7. All those symptoms that are directly or indirectly linked with stress came under

consideration. For this purpose, according to the article, Primary Care Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

screen is used. Most of the samples are taken from among the age group of 20 to 64 years. It is interesting to

note that symptoms of stress and anxiety dominate the table. As many as one in five (almost 21.2 percent)

participants have moderate stress symptoms. The report also points out that stress disorder has increased from

seven percent to fifty two percent. In United States of America alone, the stress level has boost up particularly

in the youth. It has also been asserted that psychological distress increased following the pandemic. The study

concludes that the problems relating to mental health especially stress may continue to linger as the pandemic

progresses.

Another article titled as “COVID-19 and Mental Health: A Study of Stress, Resilience, and Depression among

the Population in Pakistan” (Mumtaz A., 2021) points out complexities related to mental health of people as a

result of pandemic related stress. The focus of this review is only the stress level. The writer argues that chronic

mental health diseases are the major concerns during any pandemic. The Covid-19 has badly affected the

people in Pakistan. Social isolation in the name of quarantine has caused serious mental health concerns on

people. There are two categories of people; those who have adverse effects on mental health and those having

no psychiatric morbidity. Fear and the virus run parallel to each other. The researchers have found that the fear

of becoming victim of the virus has made people depressed and stressed. The stress level is high among old
people in Europe and other countries. The author of this article has reviewed as many as 43 research articles to

study and investigate about the link between the virus and stress. In China, almost half of the population is

depressed owing to the virus. On the contrary, self-efficacy is the highest among the people of Pakistan as

compared to people of other countries but elderly people are more frequently found to be depressed when they

face stressful situation. The Covid-19 being the stressor and the people as stressed confirm the link between the

Covid-19 related fears, exposure and self-efficacy of people with depression and anxiety during the pandemic

in the country. The study suggests that the creation of self-efficacy is imperative that may be possible through

training. This may help in countering pandemic like situation in future.

 2. Ponder upon the various types of stress (frustration, conflict, change, pressure) that you may have

experienced and provide detailed examples from your life.

The news and emails confirming and notifying students in university about the declaration of pandemic getting

serious in Pakistan proved to be a huge turning point in every student’s life. I remember sitting on my couch

practicing for my research presentation I was supposed to give the next day in my English class. However the

news of closure of institutes made me sit there motionless, trying to make sense of what was happening around

the country or the world as a whole. I tried but failed to digest how this could affect my life. The most chilling

realization struck me when I figured that I will have to wait powerlessly as the fate of the world will unfold

itself, freezing with anxiety as I tried to figure out my place in it all.

In September 2015, I was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).Hence the feelings of

helplessness, anxiety, fear, pressure, shame and guilt were all well familiarised by me. I saw people referring

the pandemic as a collective trauma for them but for me the pandemic has been a re-emergence of personal

trauma along with collective trauma.

For me, transitioning to the remote learning system and technology was not too hard, but it was hard for some

professors to adjust their courses to match the difficulties their students were facing during off campus learning.

As days became months in this situation, it became really difficult for me to stay motivated, particularly in

classes that were pre-recorded with little to no face-to-face interaction between students and teachers. At one

point it became hard and frustrating to care about my semester and studies while sitting at home feeling as if it

is already summer and I am on my vacations.

University stopped feeling real and even my classes felt unreal. I still tried to put in my maximum effort but it

always felt like I was not getting much out of my classes. The things that had been long awaited by me from my

freshman year were gone. Time kept passing by and the dates on which I was supposed to attend events,

seminars, present my projects were all missed and it was traumatizing because my batch was the first batch to

miss out on university life and learning experiences due to pandemic. Even the internship I was doing with an

Internationally recognized company was cut short and none of the members got to hold a proper ceremony of

saying goodbyes and I never received recognition for the work and effort I put in.
Constant complaining and nagging at things put me in the feeling of guilt for feeling bad about my own

situation when in reality I was the few lucky ones and people had it much worse than I did. I started feeling like

a spoiled child who complained for having everything while there were workers working tirelessly, people with

constant fear of their family and friends to be safe, and worst of all people coping with the death of their loved

ones. Even though this strong surge of guilt trap took me over I was still pitying myself and anger and grief

were my constant friends to remind me that I was robbed of my university experience, something that I would

have cherished in future. The thing that stressed me out the most was uncertainty about the future. My brain

was filled with questions like how long will the pandemic last. How many people will have to lose their lives

before things start getting back to normal, how long will it take for me to normally meet my family and friends

again and how will my future be like in this pandemic. All these questions and stress kept my brain from

shutting down at night too. I barely slept and my body was constantly struggling between hyper vigilance and a

disturbed sleep cycle. My nights were disturbed by nightmares of news and deaths around the world. The

methods to cope with my PTSD I had developed in the past with hard-won efforts were not helping at all

because of the lockdown. I could not hang out with my friends, go to the gym and look after my physical health

or my mental health and I had to stay at home all the time.

The biggest shock for me came when my mother and I got tested positive for corona. I was devastated and I

kept asking oh god why us?! It was the lowest point in my life where anger, anxiety, fear, and helplessness all

crept in together. During this time, I was asymptomatic and had little or no breathing issues however my mother

was symptomatic. My mother and I were stuck with oximeters on our fingers to constantly track our oxygen

levels. In case of lower oxygen levels we were supposed to call the nearest health care providers. We were also

given a long list of medications to be taken with every meal. I was not able to meet my father and we had to use

separate utensils and we had to wash them on our own too. Whatever things that came in contact with our hands

were to be sanitized immediately. The most difficult night was when I learned that my father had also been

tested positive for the virus even after taking all the precautions. The situation became so messy and my mind

was numb. I wanted to hug and console him but it was not possible and it was frustrating to not be able to

comfort him during illness. The news channels and social media piling up deaths and fear left a constant toll on

my mental health. My family and I recovered from corona in almost a month and my mother took the longest to

get back to normal and even after we were all tested negative for it, I was in a state of worry. I can still
sometimes feel the bad taste in my mouth that virus brought along and cannot smell certain things. Sometimes

my body aches so much that I cannot perform my routine tasks without collapsing in between. But I am

thankful for surviving this deadly virus. I have started to appreciate the resilience I have learned over this time

and the common ground I share with others during this difficult time.
 3. Discuss any 2 constructive coping strategies and 2 destructive coping strategies that you may have

indulged in, during this time.

Constructive coping strategies

1. Acceptance:

When the effects of COVID-19 started taking over everyone’s daily life, it all started to fall apart for me. I

started to realize that there are so many situations and scenarios that I have absolutely no control over. It kept

getting bad since our brains are designed in a way to solve or fix a problem as soon as it arises. At some point

during this time it dawned on me that acceptance is what will help me transform this situation towards a healthy

healing. I simply started to acknowledge the reality as it is- not how I wished it was or how I thought it should

be- but just acceptance of how it is during the present moment with many flaws; since no matter how much I

wished things could be different it did not change the reality of the present. My acceptance of situation did not

mean that I started to like or endorse the reality; it simply was the acknowledgement of what has happened or

what is happening. I had been fighting the situation and reality for months and that only intensified my

emotional reactions and as the renowned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung said: “What we resist persists.” Fighting

the reality created suffering and misery. Although pain is an inevitable part of life, our suffering is almost

always optional and is a result of refusing the acceptance of pain in life. Once I started acknowledging what

was really happening, I started to heal. My energy started to channel towards moving on, planning and

problem-solving. Finally I started seeing clarity and it helped me take stock of my situation, utilise my skills

and assess what was needed in that time. With time I started to spend less time thinking about the situation I

was in and whenever I did, it triggered less emotional pain than before. The only way to describe the feeling

would be “I felt lighter.”

2. Self reflection and growth:

The whole concept of growing close to something and someone especially if that someone is my own self

induces anxiety in me. Every time I was asked by my teachers to self-reflect on paper during school or college,

I treated it as some other assignment which required choosing a couple of traits I had in me and pick them apart.
To my surprise or frustration I had a moment of self-realization during the pandemic. As I started to spend more

time with myself and away from my friends or family, I started pondering on the thing that was always scary to

me: self-reflect. In other words, I started to learn about myself. During college and university I realized that I

had completely forgotten that what made me unique because I had been so obsessed with pleasing people who

were around me only to end up neglecting my own self. As long as people thought I was a good person and I

fitted with them, I was doing everything right. But the more time I spent with myself during lockdown, the

more it made me realize that self-reflecting was not a bad idea after all. The whole idea of getting close to

myself was so intimidating for me that I never pushed myself to try it because whenever I did, it always

involved criticism and very harsh evaluations of life events. But with all the free time in my hands, I realized I

had to learn myself to the bottom without victimizing myself. It did not have to stress me out, instead it was a

way to lower my stress and make me have a period of self growth. Self-care is important for everyone, but it

was the pandemic which made me realize that self-reflection is a form of care too. I stopped looking back at

myself with guilt or regrets and get anxious instead I started accepting and learning from the mistakes I had

made.

Destructive coping strategies

1. Stress eating:

Before corona pandemic struck the world, I had a lot of healthy habits. I went to the gym twice or thrice a

week, cooked my food at home including chicken and vegetables, and I used to snack on healthy food like

yogurt, fruits, and tuna. I was a person to look after my fitness no matter what! However, this all changed when

lockdown started. I was stuck at home with constant rise in my anxiety levels. This made me go back to a very

sedentary life which was because of less daily commuting and more time to spend indoors. Even when I

convinced myself to engage in some physical activity at home, it always ended up to be very low intensity than

what I used to do before lockdown. I slowly started to give in to my food cravings: sugar, beverages, bakery

items and fast food. Less healthful habits led me to gain weight which stressed me out even more and it started

to affect my sleep cycle and I started to believe that I cannot be healthy again which consequently made me eat

even more. I ate more than my body required, did not exercise and made sure to eat things that made me feel

better about the whole situation. I know instead of stressing out and engaging in unhealthy habits, I should have
been more proactive about my health; I should have prioritised sleep and found ways to exercise at home and

cook healthy food. But at that time my body was coping with the stress in its own way and I am back on my

usual track after months and I still get cravings and I still get off tracked but it is not as bad as before.

2. Self pitying:

One of the unhealthiest forms of sadness is self-pitying. Engaging in self pity means overestimating one’s

problems and underestimating the ability to cope. It is the root cause of hopelessness and helplessness. During

the time of pandemic, I fell prey to self pity and I started imagining worst case scenarios like my life and future

being completely ruined. My way of thinking turned self-destructive as I started to believe that there wasn’t

anyone or anything that can help me feel better. Reaching this point made me believe that any effort I will put

into changing my life or situation will prove to be fruitless so I stopped taking any action at all. I started staying

in my dark place. The cycle started to get worse because the worse I felt, the more negative thoughts my mind

had. The more negative thoughts crossing my mind made it much less likely to take any action and the

inactivity as a result put me into a darker place. The unfairness of the circumstances made me complain about

my life constantly to my family and friends. I stopped being creative and all I could think or talk about was

how I deserved better than this. I wasted time and energy by feeling sorry for myself and I kept wishing for

things to be different. It took me a lot of time to start paying gratitude and have a more positive outlook on life

but I am so glad to be out of that dark mental state where everything seemed to be dark and dull.
 References:

1. Mumtaz A., (2021). “COVID-19 and mental health : A Study of Stress, Resilience, and depression

among population in pakistan.” Health Care.

2. Ethan H., (April 2019). “A day in my life during Covid” The New York Times.

3. Nilamadhab B. k. (2021). “Stress and coping during Covid-19 pandemic: Result of an online survey.”

Psychiatry Research.

4. Casarella J., (2020 March 19). “Causes of stress” WebMD

https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/causes-of-stress

5. Zelman, M.K. (2019, February 26) “Stress and Stressors” [PowerPoint Slides] SlideShare

https://www.slideshare.net/ronniex44/stress-and-stressors