CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

Background of Study

The main objective of this research is to find out the definition of stress and its
significance in our lives. We also want to find out and learn how to manage stress
through stress management techniques. We also intend to gauge the level of stress
among our colleagues.

Statement of Problem

Stress is a common problem among the members of the society today. Everyone
experience stress at times - adults, teens, and even kids. Stress is actually a feeling that
is created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge
and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened
alertness. However, when stress could not be handled appropriately, it can lead to
disastrous consequences such as hypertension and even death.

We realized that stress is unavoidable and everyone should know how to cope
with it. That is why this topic had caught our attention and we decided to choose it as
our research topic.

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 Conceptual Framework

DO WEB-SURFING & READING OTHER READING MATERIALS TO FIND INFORMATION

CHOOSE A TOPIC CREATE QUESTIONNAIRES

GATHER AND ORGANIZE DATA

COLLECT QUESIONNAIRESDISTRIBUTE QUESTIONNAIRES

ANALYZE COLLECTED DATA

COMPILE ALL THE INFORMATION

SUBMIT THECHECK
RESEARCH
FOR GRAMATICAL ERROR AND CORRECT IT THERE

Aims of the Study

The aim of this research is to educate ourselves and hopefully others about the
importance of knowing how to correctly handle stress and how we can use stress to
make ourselves better in our work or studies.

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Objective of the Study

The objectives of this study are:

- To find out the definition of stress and its sources

- To find out the causes of respondents’ stress
- To find out how they cope with their stress
- To find out the symptoms that they usually encounter
- Underline/ Suggest positive steps on how to deal with stress
- Counselors’ part in dealing with stress (what counselors can do to help them
cope with their stress)

Research Questions

- Ask what they know about stress

- Finding out how much stress the respondents have to cope in their life (does it
reach the level of critical stress?)
- Are the stress that their dealing with is positive (motivational) or negative (lower
their performance)?
- Source of their stress (workplace/home/relationship)
- What are the things that contribute to their stress?
- What are the things that they usually do to release their problem/stress?
- Do they understand the role of a counselor?
- Have they ever had any counseling session with a counselor?

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Significance of the Study

This study is very important in terms of equipping ourselves with the knowledge
needed to cope with stress. In today’s world, stress can get to us really fast and if we
failed to address it properly, it could lead to disastrous events.

Limitation of Study

Our research is limited to the students of Institut Perguruan Gaya, aged between
19 to 22 years old.

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CHAPTER 2 : CONCEPT DEFINITION

Stress

Stress is an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people

experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-
being. The word stress means different things to different people. Some people define
stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure, or negative
emotions such as anxiety and anger. Others view stress as the response to these
situations. This response includes physiological changes—such as increased heart rate
and muscle tension—as well as emotional and behavioral changes. However, most
psychologists regard stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and
response to a threatening event.

Stressors

The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in

severity and duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick parent may be
an ongoing source of major stress, whereas getting stuck in a traffic jam may cause
mild, short-term stress. Some events, such as the death of a loved one, are stressful for
everyone. But in other situations, individuals may respond differently to the same event
—what is a stressor for one person may not be stressful for another. For an event or
situation to be a stressor for a particular individual, the person must appraise the
situation as threatening and lack the coping resources to deal with it effectively.

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, mental illness that some people develop after

experiencing traumatic or life-threatening events. Such events include warfare, rape and
other sexual assaults, violent physical attacks, torture, child abuse, natural disasters
such as earthquakes and floods, and automobile or airplane crashes. People who
witness traumatic events may also develop the disorder.

Stress Management

Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with

effective coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress. Stress management
is effective when a person utilizes strategies to cope with or alter stressful situations.

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

Methodology is the methods used in a certain process or study. The main

purpose for using a research method is to get the information that we need. There are
many types of method that can be applied such as internet surfing, questionnaire,
interview and so on and so forth. For our project we used library research and field work
as the method of research.

LIBRARY RESEARCH

Library research is one of important element in our research. This is the first step
that we have used to seek all information that we needed. Books, articles from the
magazine and web surfing are some of the sources that we used. From these sources,
we are looking for the definition of stress, the causes or factors that can lead to stress
the type of stress and last but not least the solution to cope with stress. We went to the
Sabah State Library to do our library research. Sabah State Library has an abundance
of resource regarding the topic that we are currently researching on. So, we do not have
any difficulty in searching for the information about stress.

We also used a web surfing as one of the source while doing the library
research. We chose this source because it helps us by saving our time, energy and
money. Furthermore, the institute has provided the students with wireless connection.
So, we could get the information about stress at anytime that we want.

Diagram 3.1: The sources in library research

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Go to the Sabah State Surfing the internet
Library

Selecting information Selecting

relevant to our topic information relevant
to our topic

Gather the information

Create a questionnaire based on the

information we have gathered

Diagram 3.2 : The procedures in library research

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FIELD WORK

Field work is the second method that we used to collect information and data. We
applied questionnaire and interview as the application of our field work.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Questionnaire is a set of questions that we distributed to our respondents. It

helps us to make an analysis about stress based on the respondents’ responses.
Generally, the questions that were asked are designed to analyze the level of stress
and finding out the number of people who are experiencing stress.

INTERVIEW

Besides questionnaire, we also decide to do an interview with Encik Mohmin

from Gaya Teaching Training Institute. Encik Mohmin is the head of guidance and
counseling unit in the institute. Furthermore, we chose him because we can save our
time and it is easy for us to arrange the time when both of the parties have time
constraint.

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Diagram 3.3 the procedures for field work

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CHAPTER 4 : LIBRARY RESEARCH REPORT

Definition

Stress is an emotional and physical response to threats from the outside world.
Common stress reactions include muscular tension, irritability, inability to concentrate,
and a variety of physical symptoms, such as headaches and an accelerated heart rate.

The term stress was first used by the endocrinologist Hans Selye in the 1930s to
describe the physiological responses of laboratory animals. Selye later broadened and
popularized the concept to include the perceptions and responses of humans trying to
adapt to the challenges of everyday life. In Selye's terminology, "stress" refers to the
reaction of the organism, and "stressor" refers to the environmental threat.

Stress in certain circumstances may be experienced positively. Eustress, for

example, can be an adaptive response prompting the activation of internal resources to
meet challenges and achieve goals.

Common Source of Stress

The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in

severity and duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick parent may be
an ongoing source of major stress, whereas getting stuck in a traffic jam may cause
mild, short-term stress. Some events, such as the death of a loved one, are stressful for
everyone. But in other situations, individuals may respond differently to the same event
—what is a stressor for one person may not be stressful for another. For example, a
student who is unprepared for a chemistry test and anticipates a bad grade may feel
stress, whereas a classmate who studies in advance may feel confident of a good
grade. For an event or situation to be a stressor for a particular individual, the person
must appraise the situation as threatening and lack the coping resources to deal with it
effectively.

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 Stressors can be classified into three general categories: catastrophic events,
major life changes, and daily hassles. In addition, simply thinking about unpleasant past
events or anticipating unpleasant future events can cause stress for many people.

A catastrophe is a sudden, often life-threatening calamity or disaster that pushes

people to the outer limits of their coping capability. Catastrophes include natural
disasters—such as earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, and hurricanes—as well as
wars, torture, automobile accidents, violent physical attacks, and sexual assaults.
Catastrophes often continue to affect their victims’ mental health long after the event
has ended. For example, in 1972 a dam burst and flooded the West Virginia mining
town of Buffalo Creek, destroying the town. Two years after the disaster, most of the
adult survivors continued to show emotional disturbances. Similarly, most of the
survivors of concentration camps in World War II (1939-1945) continued to experience
nightmares and other symptoms of severe emotional problems long after their release
from the camps.

The most stressful events for adults involve major life changes, such as death of

a spouse or family member, divorce, imprisonment, losing one’s job, and major personal
disability or illness. For adolescents, the most stressful events are the death of a parent
or a close family member, divorce of their parents, imprisonment of their mother or
father, and major personal disability or illness. Sometimes, apparently positive events
can have stressful components. For example, a woman who gets a job promotion may
receive a higher salary and greater prestige, but she may also feel stress from
supervising coworkers who were once peers. Getting married is usually considered a
positive experience, but planning the wedding, deciding whom to invite, and dealing with
family members may cause couples to feel stressed.

Much of the stress in our lives results from having to deal with daily hassles
pertaining to our jobs, personal relationships, and everyday living circumstances. Many
people experience the same hassles every day. Examples of daily hassles include living
in a noisy neighborhood, commuting to work in heavy traffic, disliking one’s fellow

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workers, worrying about owing money, waiting in a long line, and misplacing or losing
things. When taken individually, these hassles may feel like only minor irritants, but
cumulatively, over time, they can cause significant stress. The amount of exposure
people have to daily hassles is strongly related to their daily mood. Generally, the
greater their exposure is to hassles, the worse is their mood. Studies have found that
one’s exposure to daily hassles is actually more predictive of illness than is exposure to
major life events.

Effects of Stress

A person who is stressed typically has anxious thoughts and difficulty

concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviors. Teeth
clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are common signs of
stress. People also feel physically different when they are stressed. Butterflies in the
stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, and increased heart rate are all physiological
effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety.

When a person appraises an event as stressful, the body undergoes a number of

changes that heighten physiological and emotional arousal. First, the sympathetic
division of the autonomic nervous system is activated. The sympathetic division
prepares the body for action by directing the adrenal glands to secrete the hormones
epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). In response, the heart
begins to beat more rapidly, muscle tension increases, blood pressure rises, and blood
flow is diverted from the internal organs and skin to the brain and muscles. Breathing
speeds up, the pupils dilate, and perspiration increases. This reaction is sometimes
called the fight-or-flight response because it energizes the body to either confront or flee
from a threat.

Another part of the stress response involves the hypothalamus and the pituitary

gland, parts of the brain that are important in regulating hormones and many other
bodily functions. In times of stress, the hypothalamus directs the pituitary gland to
secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone. This hormone, in turn, stimulates the outer layer,

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or cortex, of the adrenal glands to release glucocorticoids, primarily the stress hormone
cortisol (see Hydrocortisone). Cortisol helps the body access fats and carbohydrates to
fuel the fight-or-flight response.

Canadian scientist Hans Selye was one of the first people to study the stress
response. As a medical student, Selye noticed that patients with quite different illnesses
shared many of the same symptoms, such as muscle weakness, weight loss, and
apathy. Selye believed these symptoms might be part of a general response by the
body to stress. In the 1930s Selye studied the reactions of laboratory rats to a variety of
physical stressors, such as heat, cold, poisons, strenuous exercise, and electric shock.
He found that the different stressors all produced a similar response: enlargement of the
adrenal glands, shrinkage of the thymus gland (a gland involved in the immune
response), and bleeding stomach ulcers.

Selye proposed a three-stage model of the stress response, which he termed the

general adaptation syndrome. The three stages in Selye’s model are alarm, resistance,
and exhaustion.

In the first stage of stress, alarm, the body mobilizes its “fight or flight “defenses,
either to resist the stress-causing factor or adapt to it. In this stage, the pituitary-
adrenocorticol system pours hormones into the bloodstream. The pulse quickens, the
lungs take in more oxygen to fuel the muscles, blood sugar increases to supply added
energy, digestion slows, and perspiration increases.

In the second stage of stress, resistance, the body begins to repair the incidental
damage caused by the arousal in the alarm stage. If the stressful situation is resolved,
the stress symptoms vanish. If the stress situation continues, however, a third stage,
exhaustion, sets in, and the body’s adaptive energy run out. This stage may continue
until vital organs are affected, and then disease or even death can result.

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Stress Management

Coping with stress means using thoughts and actions to deal with stressful

situations and lower our stress levels. Many people have a characteristic way of coping
with stress based on their personality. People who cope well with stress tend to believe
they can personally influence what happens to them. They usually make more positive
statements about themselves, resist frustration, remain optimistic, and persevere even
under extremely adverse circumstances. Most importantly, they choose the appropriate
strategies to cope with the stressors they confront. Conversely, people who cope poorly
with stress tend to have somewhat opposite personality characteristics, such as lower
self-esteem and a pessimistic outlook on life.

Coping Strategies

Psychologists distinguish two broad types of coping strategies: problem-focused

coping and emotion-focused coping. The goal of both strategies is to control one’s
stress level. In problem-focused coping, people try to short-circuit negative emotions by
taking some action to modify, avoid, or minimize the threatening situation. They change
their behavior to deal with the stressful situation. In emotion-focused coping, people try
to directly moderate or eliminate unpleasant emotions. Examples of emotion-focused
coping include rethinking the situation in a positive way, relaxation, denial, and wishful
thinking.

To understand these strategies, consider the example of a premed student in

college who faces three difficult final examinations in a single week. She knows she
must get top grades in order to have a chance at acceptance to medical school. This
situation is a potential source of stress. To cope, she could organize a study group and
master the course materials systematically (problem-focused coping). Or she could
decide that she needs to relax and collect herself for an hour or so (emotion-focused
coping) before proceeding with an action plan (problem-focused coping). She might also
decide to watch television for hours on end to prevent having to think about or study for
her exams (emotion-focused coping).

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 In general, problem-focused coping is the most effective coping strategy when
people have realistic opportunities to change aspects of their situation and reduce
stress. Emotion-focused coping is most useful as a short-term strategy. It can help
reduce one’s arousal level before engaging in problem-solving and taking action, and it
can help people deal with stressful situations in which there are few problem-focused
coping options.

Social Support

Support from friends, family members, and others who care for us goes a long
way in helping us to get by in times of trouble. Social support systems provide us with
emotional sustenance, tangible resources and aid, and information when we are in
need. People with social support feel cared about and valued by others and feel a
sense of belonging to a larger social network.

A large body of research has linked social support to good health and a superior

ability to cope with stress. For example, one long-term study of several thousand
California residents found that people with extensive social ties lived longer than those
with few close social contacts. Another study found that heart-attack victims who lived
alone were nearly twice as likely to have another heart attack as those who lived with
someone. Even the perception of social support can help people cope with stress.
Studies have found that people’s appraisal of the availability of social support is more
closely related to how well they deal with stressors than the actual amount of support
they receive or the size of their social network.

Research also suggests that the companionship of animals can help lower

stress. For example, one study found that in times of stress, people with pet dogs made
fewer visits to the doctor than those without pets.

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Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a technique in which people learn voluntary control of stress-

related physiological responses, such as skin temperature, muscle tension, blood
pressure, and heart rate. Normally, people cannot control these responses voluntarily.
In biofeedback training, people are connected to an instrument or machine that
measures a particular physiological response, such as heart rate, and feeds that
measurement back to them in an understandable way. For example, the machine might
beep with each heartbeat or display the number of heartbeats per minute on a digital
screen. Next, individuals learn to be sensitive to subtle changes inside their body that
affect the response system being measured. Gradually, they learn to produce changes
in that response system—for example, to voluntarily lower their heart rate. Typically
individuals use different techniques and proceed by trial and error until they discover a
way to produce the desired changes.

Scientists do not understand the mechanisms by which biofeedback works.

Nonetheless, it has become a widely used and generally accepted technique for
producing relaxation and lowering physiological arousal in patients with stress-related
disorders. One use of biofeedback is in the treatment of tension headaches. By learning
to lower muscle tension in the forehead, scalp, and neck, many tension headache
sufferers can find long-term relief.

Relaxation

In addition to biofeedback, two other major methods of relaxation are progressive

muscular relaxation and meditation. Progressive muscular relaxation involves
systematically tensing and then relaxing different groups of skeletal (voluntary) muscles,
while directing one’s attention toward the contrasting sensations produced by the two
procedures. After practicing progressive muscular relaxation, individuals become
increasingly sensitive to rising tension levels and can produce the relaxation response
during everyday activities (often by repeating a cue word, such as calm, to themselves).

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 Meditation, in addition to teaching relaxation, is designed to achieve subjective
goals such as contemplation, wisdom, and altered states of consciousness. Some forms
have a strong Eastern religious and spiritual heritage based in Zen Buddhism and yoga.
Other varieties emphasize a particular lifestyle for practitioners. One of the most
common forms of meditation, Transcendental Meditation, involves focusing attention on
and repeating a mantra, which is a word, sound, or phrase thought to have particularly
calming properties.

Both progressive muscle relaxation and meditation reliably reduce stress-related

arousal. They have been used successfully to treat a range of stress-related disorders,
including hypertension, migraine and tension headaches, and chronic pain.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise—such as running, walking, biking, and skiing—can help keep

stress levels down. Because aerobic exercise increases the endurance of the heart and
lungs, an aerobically fit individual will have a lower heart rate at rest and lower blood
pressure, less reactivity to stressors, and quicker recovery from stressors. In addition,
studies show that people who exercise regularly have higher self-esteem and suffer less
from anxiety and depression than comparable people who are not aerobically fit. The
American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising three to four times a
week for at least 20 minutes to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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CHAPTER 5 : FIELD WORK

Methodology

The first method that we use in our field work is by distributing questionnaire to a
group of respondents. Our questionnaire contains 10 objective questions and 3 open-
ended questions.

The first five objective questions (questions 1 - 5) were intended to gauge the
possibility or likeliness for the respondents to have stress and the other five objective
questions (question 6 - 10) were designed to determine the level of stress that the
respondents are having at the time they answer our questionnaire.

The last three open-ended questions enable us to find the most common cause
of stress among the respondents, what are their methods of relieving stress, and
whether they have ever consult a counselor to get help for their problems.

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20
Data Analysis

There were a total of 22 respondents who participated in answering our

questionnaires, 12 females and 10 males. Their group age is between 19 - 22 years old
and all of them are teacher trainees in Institut Perguruan Gaya.

1. The first data is on the possibilities or likeliness for the respondents to become
stressed.

Possibility to become stressed Number of respondents

70% and above 0
50% to 70% 16
Below 50% 6

2. The next data is on the level of stress of the respondents.

Level of stress Number or respondents

Extremely stressed 3
Very stressed 13
Moderately stressed 5
Mildly stressed 1
Not stressed at all 0

3. Below is the data that we have collected for question 11 where we intend to find out
what are their causes of stress. The most common answers that we got from the
respondents are listed below.

1. Studies / Work / Assignments

2. Environment / Surroundings
3. Relationships
4. Time management
5. Financial

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4. After that is the data for question 12. This is the list of answers that we got from our
respondents on how they cope with stress.

1. Crying
2. Listening to music / Singing
3. Go out/ Shopping / Travel
4. Sleep
5. Eat
6. Laugh
7. Pray
8. Exercise / Jogging / Yoga
9. Read books / Web - surfing

5. The last data that we acquired is on whether the respondents have ever consulted a
counselor to get help on their problems and their reason for doing so.

The number of respondents that said NO : 21 respondents

Their reasons:

1. They can handle their problems / try to solve it / don’t need other people
2. They don’t have time to see any counselor
3. They are too lazy
4. They rather share their problems with friends and family
5. It is hard to find a counselor

The number of respondents that said YES : 1 respondent

His/ Her reason:

1. Thinks that the counselor can help in solving the problem and realize that a
counselor can help people make changes.

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Findings

The Possibility For The Respondents To

Become Stressed
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16
14
12 The no of respondents
10
8
6
4
2
0
Below 50% 50 % - 70% Above 70%

The Level Of Stress Among The Respondents

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12

10

8 No of respondents

0
Extremely Very Stressed Moderately Mildly stressed Not stressed
Stressed Stressed

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The Percentage Of The Respondents That Have
Consulted A Counselor
Yes
5%

No
95%

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CHAPTER 6 : CONCLUSION

From the research that we have conducted, we now have an understanding on

what stress is really about. We have learned that stress can be a double-edge sword
where if it used handle correctly it can help us to push ourselves to excel and become
better in our life. However, if the stress is too much and is badly handled, it can lead to
unimaginable consequences. So, it is important for us to realize that we cannot avoid
stress and it is all about how we deal or cope with it. Hence, stress management is vital
in this context and everyone should learn to handle their stress correctly.

We have also managed to complete all the objectives that we have outline in the
early part of our research. However, we deeply regret that we haven’t get the
opportunity to do our interview session with the counselor as we have planned due to
internal problems and time restraints on both parties. Fortunately, we have obtained a
lot of data that we needed from our library research to make up for the loss and to add
icing on the cake, we got good response from our respondents in our questionnaire.

All in all, this research has given us a lot of knowledge about stress and how to
deal with it and it would be a very good thing if this research would help others to
understand about it too.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html#
2. http://teenshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/stress.html
3. http://teenshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/ptsd.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_management
5. http://www.psychwww.com/mtsit
6. http://stress.jrn.columbia.edu
7. Stress-Busting For Teachers by Chris Kyriacou

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