Current stress management techniques
In stress management the objective is never
to eliminate stress altogether, a biologically impossible task, but to
reduce its levels and to provide the individual with the ability to
confront stressors more effectively. Possible recommendations can be
roughly grouped in two categories: (1) remedies that require external
changes and environmental modifications (for example, deciding to
separate or divorce, deciding to change job), and (2) remedies that
require changes in the way we interpret and respond emotionally to
stressful events.
 Although empirical evidence suggests that
certain illnesses may be hereditary, or have specific mechanical causes,
nevertheless the role played by the individual’s psychological response
is undeniable and makes it advisable to utilize psychotherapeutic
interventions in order to reduce anxiety or stress in the patient. The
psychoanalytical therapists may work with free association and dream
analysis; cognitive-behavioral therapists may employ systematic
desensitization, in-vivo exposure, and cognitive restructuring.
These interventions are aimed at modifying the individual’s beliefs and
to clarify cognitive interpretations of experiences; they are based on
the assumption that our thoughts influence our feelings and our
behavior. To reduce stress it appears useful to supply the individual
with concrete information that reduces uncertainty and increase feelings
of control. Health psychology also emphasizes the elimination of those
behaviors and habits that contribute to initiate or perpetuate a disease
(smoking, obesity), and, through biofeedback, the control of
physiological indices that may be specifically connected to a disease
(heartbeat, arterial pressure).
In addition to cognitive restructuring,
skills’ building is also useful in stress management. It is only natural
to feel frustrated when we are incapable of executing a task, and thus
the effective management of stress must also include an increase in
self-efficacy, as for example by learning useful and practical ways to
execute the task, as well as more general abilities, such as time
management and the ability to define one’s own priorities. Learning
relaxation techniques can also be very useful, because they can help
reduce the body’s level of arousal, modulate the activation of the
autonomous nervous system and of the neuroendocrine system, with a
corresponding reduction of the load on the central nervous system and a
consequent feeling of well-being and calm. The main techniques of
relaxation are progressive muscle relaxation, hypnosis, and biofeedback.
Stress management may also include environmental
modification. Sometimes the causes of stress can only be addressed
externally and the best way to reduce stress is to actively modify the
environment, as for example by restructuring work space to increase
privacy, or by reducing ambient noise or pollution.
A growing body of empirical evidence shows that structural social
support can significantly reduce the effects of stress. This social
support includes the personal network of spouse, family, and friends but
also the support that society at large can provide through its
institutions (Phillips-Miller, Campbell, & Morrison, 2000). It is now
well understood that social support is a good index of mortality, as for
example in seniors with few if any friends or relatives who tend to have
a mortality rate higher than those who enjoy a greater degree of social
support, or in the survival rate of men stricken by myocardial
infarction. The lack of adequate social support increases the
probability of disease. A possible explanation of this fact is that
higher levels of support promote a healthier lifestyle, the adherence to
a balanced diet, quitting smoking and a moderate alcohol consumption.
Another hypothesis is the effect that adequate social support may have
on biological processes, such as insufficient support is associated with
an increase of negative affect, which in turn influences the levels of
certain hormones and the functioning of the immune system.
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