Countless people all over the world are subjected to different kinds of stress. While some worry about losing their jobs or are concerned about unfinished homework, others may fret about a sick relative or feel anxious about the affects of terrorism and global warming in their lives.

What is Stress?

The word stress is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a state of affairs involving demand on physical or mental energy – A condition or circumstance (not always adverse), which can disturb the normal physiological and psychological functioning of an individual. Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness. The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations — everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or surviving a natural disaster. The response to life’s challenges is dependent on people’s behaviors. Similar events may not induce the same amount of stress in different people.

Pressures that are too intense or last too long, or troubles that are shouldered alone, can cause people to feel stress overload. Here are some of the things that can overwhelm the body's ability to cope if they continue for a long time:

• Being bullied or exposed to violence or injury
• Relationship stress, family conflicts, or the heavy emotions that can accompany the death of a loved one or the loss of possessions
• Ongoing problems with schoolwork related to a learning disability or other problems, such as ADHD
• Crammed schedules, not having enough time to rest and relax, and always being on the go
• Uncontrollable factors, like security concerns, inflation, unemployment etc.

How to Identify Stress in Children?

Children are frequent victims of stress because they are often unable to communicate their feelings accurately. They also tend to take things more seriously and their developing minds can get impacted much more easily by stressors. As parents, we should be on the lookout for the following symptoms in children and try to teach the children better coping strategies: 

• Eating disorders
• Bedwetting, nausea, flu-like symptoms
• Sleeping disorders
• Lack of concentration/ attention deficit
• Unable to complete a single task
• Irritability, withdrawal or introvert behavior
• Frequent displays of aggression
• Frequent headaches, muscle tension, or fatigue for no apparent reason.
  

Causes of Stress

Some people believe that it is not possible to define what exactly causes the stress.  There are many factors that contribute or lead to stress and can be environmental, biological and psychosocial (abuse, financial crisis, competition). Given below are some major factors that are related to stress in children:

• Parental stress is a particularly powerful source of stress in children. Young children of mothers who are highly stressed (particularly if they are also depressed) tend to be at high risk for developing stress-related problems. This may be especially true if the mothers were stressed during both the child's infancy and early years. Stressed parents may even make their children more likely to develop asthma.
• Some evidence supports the old idea that stress during pregnancy can have adverse effects on an infant's mood and behavior. Older children with stressed mothers may become aggressive and anti-social.
• Parent’s abusive behavior towards children also leads to long-term social and emotional problems in children. 

Stress Management Techniques for Adults

Many people believe that once they know the sources and causes of stressors they can learn to manage stress. Most of the time people use two types of coping mechanisms to reduce stress:

• Problem-focused-coping that includes taking direct action to solve the problem or seeking information that will be relevant to the solution,
• Emotional-focused-coping that refers to efforts to reduce the negative emotional reactions to stress, for example, by distracting oneself from the problem, relaxing or seeking comfort from others.

By using these mechanisms for coping with stress, three major categories for stress management for adults and children can be used: Change in thinking; change in behavior and change in lifestyle

Change in thinking

a) Reframing: Reframing is a technique used to change the way we look at things in order to feel better about them. The key to reframing is to recognize that there are many ways to interpret the same situation. Learn to get rid of negative thoughts or feelings that can result in stress. There are three simple things to do.

• Spend more time focusing on the positive things in your life - Highlight the positive
• Spend less time thinking negatively - Eliminate the negative
• Take each moment as it comes, instead of dwelling in the past or worrying about the future.

b) Positive Thinking: Avoid negative thoughts of powerlessness, dejection, failure, and despair. Chronic stress makes us vulnerable to negative suggestion. Learn to focus on positives.

• Learn to focus on strengths
• Look for opportunities in stressful situations
• Make small changes in your life and let go of the all-or-nothing approach

Change in behavior

a) Be assertive: Being assertive means standing up for your personal rights and expressing your thoughts, feelings and beliefs directly, honestly and spontaneously in ways that don’t infringe on the rights of others. Assertive people respect themselves and others. They take responsibility for their actions and choices. In case of failure, they will get disappointed; but their self-confidence remains intact. Expressing negative feelings at the appropriate time avoids the buildup of resentment. This will help you manage your stress more successfully.

b) Ventilation & Social support: People who keep things to themselves without sharing with their friends or loved ones carry a considerable and unnecessary burden. Share your problems and concern with others. Develop a support system of relatives, colleagues, or friends to talk to when you are upset or worried. When you are frustrated write it down. After you have vented the frustration, destroy the writing so that it is forgotten. Studies have shown that close, and positive relationship with others facilitates good health and morale. One reason for this is that support from family and friends serves as a buffer to cushion the impact of stressful events. Talking out problems and expressing tensions can be incredibly helpful.