A common buzzword of the last 20 years, stress has become well known as the primary causative factor of many previously unacknowledged difficulties… and with good reason.
Stress itself, however, is not the difficulty. It is whether the person feels distressed by the pressure they are under or whether that stress is a significant motivating factor in enhancing performance.
Consider the stress experience at football finals time. Nearly every game in the four weeks is an elimination game with losers dropping out of the race for the grand final and ultimate premiership. Any indiscretion sees a player penalising his team and at worse being suspended therefore missing the entire finals series. Yet the same stress can produce magical performances that lift both player and teams to extraordinary heights and the ultimate prize.
Symptoms of stress are predominantly the same as those for anxiety, that is, physical, psychological, emotional and behavioural.
Difficulties in handling stress lead to three main areas of dysfunction. Firstly, general stress reactions where one's physical and/or emotional resources are depleted, leading to such reactions as burnout or exhaustion. If the situation leading to distress is a particular incident then the difficulty is a post-traumatic stress disorder. The third area is the general role stress plays in restricting or limiting one's performance, be it business, handling personal or interpersonal issues and relationships or even in just being emotionally happy.
DSA Psychologists are trained in all aspects of assessing and treating dysfunctional stress reactions and in assisting individuals (or indeed groups or teams) to return to normal productive and perhaps even enhanced productivity.
DSA also has considerable experience in running preventative groups on stress management, which can be organized for either individuals or organizations. There is much to be done by way of personal development, professional development and personal fitness that protects individuals against the debilitating effects of stress.
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