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Sophrology unit |
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 Dra. Natalia Caycedo
Concept of stress: The term "stress" has become a buzzword in our modern society. It is a complex term, very topical and of great interest. It is inherent to life and is unarguably part of it. It basically describes how our organism seeks to adapt to the dynamics of everyday life. Two types of stress can be identified. One, which is beneficial, is indispensable for the body to develop and function, allows us to perform better. |
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It provides us with creativity and defence mechanisms. The other is a harmful and damaging stress that has negative effects upon us. If negative stress is so intense and long-lasting that it is beyond the organism's capacity to resist, it can cause physiological and psychological problems of an emotional and behavioural nature, such as psychosomatic diseases and negative changes in our habits, like smoking and drinking more, sleeping less, eating badly, etc.
Working life and stress
Daily life represents a very extensive and varied source of stress factors, such as family finances, children's education, traffic, diseases, and so on. However, it is work, the way we live our working lives, which triggers the largest number of factors. From the social point of view, work plays an important role in people's life. Nonetheless, the fact that many people work more than 40 hours a week also has an overall effect with significant positive or negative consequences. Financial stability, starting a family, building a house, developing a professional career and social self-esteem are values that are constantly at stake in an activity characterised by the presence of many different stress factors. In addition, these factors easily spill over into family life and, in sum, compromise our happiness. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 40 million workers currently suffer work-related stress in the EU, leading to a loss of some 20 billion euro per year (EPS, 2003).
According to the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress, comprising 400 professionals from the sector, in Spain 35 million packets of prescription tranquillisers were consumed in 2001. Between four and six million Spaniards (10-15% of the population) take them and consumption is increasing by between 5 and 10% per year (EPS, 2003).
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