Explain the nature and measurement of stress.

 Nature of stress:

Stress as such is like salt and pepper and a life without stress would be without motivation, as stress often motivates us to work in certain direction.

Thus, without any stress in life, any individual will not be motivated to perform or carry our varied activities. As, more salt than required can make food taste bad.

In a similar manner, stress beyond optimal level can have a negative effect on the individual and will interfere with his/her day today functioning.

Types of Stress: Stress can be categorised into different types as follows:

1) Eustress: Stress can be good stress that is explained as ‘Eustress’. Eustress can be defined as “good stress,caused by a positive response to a desired stressor, such as a wedding or a new job.

2) Neustress: When stress is not helpful nor harmful, it can be described as ‘Neustress’.

3) Distress: This is the third category of stress that most people commonly relate stress with. ‘Distress’occurs when the arousal experienced by the individual is very high or very low. 

4) Hyper stress: Excessive stress is termed as ‘Hyper stress’.

5) Hypostress: Insufficient stress is termed as ‘Hypostress’.

Symptoms of Stress: Stress can have an impact on various aspects of life that include behaviour, cognition, emotions as well as physical health.

Though stress will have a different effect on different individuals and each individual will react to stress in a different way, there are certain symptoms that can be related with stress. These are discussed as follows:

1) Physical symptoms: The physical symptoms of stress include low levels of energy, stomach upset, headaches and migraines, pain and aches, chest pain, rapid heartbeats, lack of sleep, dryness in mouth, experiencing tension in muscles, frequent infections and so on.

2) Emotional symptoms: The emotional symptoms include, displaying frustration, getting irritated or agitated easily, feelings of worthlessness, feeling lonely and even depressed.

3) Psychological symptoms: The cognitive symptoms related to stress include worrying constantly, experiencing racing thoughts, lack of organisation in thinking, forgetting, not able to focus, lack of judgment or poor judgment and also pessimism.

4) Behavioural symptoms: The behavioral symptoms of stress include a deterioration in performance effectiveness, indulgence in substance use, prone to accidents, nervous mannerism, poor time management, displaying checking rituals, changes in appetite, procrastination, eating faster, even talking or walking faster, impaired speech and so on.

Measurement of stress:

Measurement of stress is a prerogative for effective diagnosis of stress. There are various ways in which stress can be measured. These are discussed as follows:

1) Physiological measures: Physiological measures could serve great purpose in identifying and understanding stress experienced by an individual.

While discussing the models of stress in the next unit, we will discuss at length the physiological changes that take place as the individuals experience stressful situations.

2) Psychological tests: A psychological test can be explained as a measure of a sample of behaviour that is objective and systematic in nature. Various psychological tests that are standardized, reliable and valid can be used to measure stress.

3) Checklist: A checklist can also be used to measure stress. For instance, a checklist can be used for major life events. 

The individual is asked to check the major life events from a list that the individual has undergone in a given period of time.

4) Interview: Yet another method for measurement of stress is interview, where in-depth information is collected from the individual face to face. Interview can be structured, unstructured or semi-structured.

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