Stress Hardiness

Developing ways to increase your ability to deal with stress are crucial during college. Read this article and find out five ways you can become more stress hardy!

Preview Points

• Stress may harm human health. It may also affect people’s ability to deal with the responsibilities in their lives; it has been shown to lessen people’s performance and efficiency.
• A number of life elements may contribute to stress hardiness: exercise, social support, control, challenge and commitment (Benson & Stuart, 1992, p. 178).

Contents

“Stress-hardy individuals see stress as a challenge rather than a threat; feel in control of their life situation; and have a sense of commitment rather than alienation from work, home, and family,” suggest Benson and Stuart. Such individuals have a “zest for life.”

Approaching life positively may help people be involved, challenged and empowered, instead of feeling like life is overwhelming. In a sense, one aspect of stress is perceptual and attitudinal.

EXERCISE: Having regular exercise allows the body to defuse tensions.
SOCIAL SUPPORT: Social support provides a healthy way to handle life challenges. It helps a person approach life with a broader range of perspectives.
CONTROL: This refers to a person’s ability to manage his or her own life—in terms of goals, scheduling, and other choices.
CHALLENGE: A challenging life is an engaging and interesting one.
COMMITMENT: This refers to a person’s ability to invest themselves into their work lives, friendships, and family in a balanced and effective way.

Concluding Points

• Building stress hardiness or resiliency may enable people to face life’s challenges with a greater sense of health, calm and management skills.
• Five factors may enable stress hardiness: exercise, social support, control, challenge and commitment.

References

Benson, H. & Stuart, E.M. (1992). The Wellness Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Maintaining Health and Treating Stress-Related Illness. New York: Birch Lane Press. 178.