Question

1. A classmate argues that “the best way to handle stress is to work harder and meet life's challenges head-on.” Evaluate both the strengths and the weaknesses of your classmate's position in light of the distinction between coping with stress and managing stress.

Answer 1

In some cases the statement is true. A student is in stress during examination. The stress leads him to do hard labor. This hard labor is the cause of good result. Here the stress is managed by hard labor and offers good result. One needs to be established in life. His future depends on him. With the help of goal setting stress management skill he can do so. To reach at the goal he needs to labor hard.

On the other hand, it is not always fruitful. There are different types of situation when one need to take different types of stress management skills. He needs to manage stress by various ways like denial or rejection, seeking social support and so on. It needs cognitive change and one can easily manage stress with the help of stress management. As for example, one faces stress in association with a group because the group always tries to work against his will. Then he can reject the group to reduce stress.