There have been many different definitions of what stress is from various sources including management consultants, psychologists, medics etc and of those various different thoughts as to what Stress actually is. The current consensus now most commonly used and accepted is
“Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize” (mainly attributed to Richard S Lazarus).
In other words Stress is completely individual. One person may find being late for work triggers a little amount of stress whilst another person may find this much more of a problem and thus a larger stress trigger. It is when the individual finds a situation difficult to cope with that stress is triggered and of course as people are all individual, the stress will be too!
Stress is
A = Activating event or potentially stressful situation
B = Beliefs, thoughts, or perceptions about A
C = Consequence (emotional) or stress that results from holding these beliefs.
Signs that you may be suffering from stress include
· You are often irritable
· You have trouble concentrating.
· You are tired.
· You’ve lost much of your sense of humour.
· You get into more arguments than you used to.
· You get less done.
· You get sick more often
· You care less about your work.
· Getting out of bed on a workday morning is a major effort.
· You have less interest in your life outside of work.
