Question

Lifestyle factors greatly influence our health. If one can achieve good health simply by changing one's own behaviors, then why aren't more people doing so? This assignment will help you answer these questions and more.

The Prompt

Write an essay and be sure to address the following questions in it. The acceptable length of the essay is 450 words.

1. Define and provide examples of “tolerable” stress. Do you think our definitions may vary on what is considered "tolerable"? If so, why?

2. What are the main stressors in your life. Feel free to share your personal examples or to offer a more general response. Either is completely fine here.

3. What do you do when you are stressed out? What have you found that works in reducing stress in your life. Share with your classmates your HEALTHY coping skills and techniques!

Can someone help me to write this essay? it's from PSY-150, ch-12.

Answer 1

Bringing about changes in one's life involves effort, and unfortunately, self-care is not an important priority in most people's lives. Related to this is the concept of "tolerable" stress- the great tragedy of our times is that stress has been normalized to such a degree that now it is seen as a sign of hard work! You are not putting in enough ambition/dedication into your work if you are not stressed. And this is true even for those not professionally employed such as students or stay-at-home moms and dads- they simply have different things to be stressed about. Notions of "tolerable" stress vary, and the extent to which people can go on classifying stress as tolerable also varies. Often, unfortunately, many have to go through a serious health-related or personal crisis to realize that stress has significantly impaired the quality of their lives. The reasons for these definitions of “tolerable” stress varying are down to individual factors such as personal attributes, beliefs, and values but also wider social messaging, such as the association of stress with accomplishment (as mentioned earlier in the paragraph). Some people are more sensitive to cues, some others are not. Moreover, the increasingly materialistic notions of success have also created a scenario of single-minded pursuit of wealth, to the detriment of one's other goals. The lack of balance contributes to increased stress, which can then lead to more severe mental health and physical health concerns.

With regard to the major stressors, you are the best person to provide personal examples from your life. But on a general level, stressors vary depending upon the stage of life one is in. As a student, the general pressures are related to studies and grades, peer and romantic relationships, career and employment (as often one may have fuzzy or unclear notions of what they expect as a "career" or "professional pursuit"). Family related conflicts are also a source of stress for many individuals. For some, they may be facing systemic injustices because of their chosen gender, ethnicity etc. and those too are factors causing immense stress.

Again, you can provide an account of which coping skills work out the best for you. Here, I will suggest a few that I make use of, and you can accordingly include or modify these basis your final answer. So, first, meditation is a wonderful coping skill. It helps in regulating one's emotions and developing a calmer, more thoughtful frame of mind. Frequent reflection from time to time also helps in evaluating what may be sources of bother and then thinking of ways in which those issues can be dealt with. Sometimes issues are not in our control; at such times, the technique of cognitive reappraisal helps- you change your perspective about the situation from a negative to a more positive or realistic one. For example, since outside movement is restricted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, if one is feeling upset because of their inability to venture out much, they will "reappraise" the situation to think of it as a time to pick up a new interest or work on other hobbies they did not have as much time for earlier. Other strategies are staying connected with friends, taking out time for one's hobbies, a healthy diet, regular exercise, and practising having a genuine and compassionate spirit.