First of a series of Public Talks entitled STRESS – 20/01/2013

The Malta Federation of Professional Associations will be organising the first of a series of PUBLIC TALKS
TOPIC: STRESS
by Ms. Roberta Zahra de Domenico
Registered clinical psychologist and president of the Maltese Psychological Association
Date: Thursday 7th February 2013
Time: 7pm
Venue: 127, Professional Centre, Sliema Road, Gzira

Those planning to attend are requested to send an email. This event is free of charge and on a first come, first serve basis.
Further information call 21312888 or email info@mfpa.org.mt
Website: www.mfpa.org.mt

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SYNOPSIS

In today’s world, the word stress has become quite a buzz word with everyone saying that he or she is stressed. But is all stress bad? No, not all stress is bad stress! A healthy amount of stress can be manageable and is inevitable in our life. This type of stress is called Eustress. This means that in general we all feel stressed at some point in our day or week but we are able to cope with this stress and move on. At times a healthy dose of stress helps us perform better too in certain situations like an exam or a job interview as we are more focussed and alert. However, when life circumstances become too much too handle, when we feel that the situation is overwhelming our normal coping abilities, then we feel stressed. It is very important to note that different people have different thresholds for stress and different reactions to the same stressful events. This makes stress a very subjective experience. What can be a stressful situation for one person could be seen by others as less stressful. So what makes a situation stressful is not the situation per se. If our perception of our ability to cope with the situation is that the situation is too big handle or that we do not have the skills to handle it then we become stressed.

Considering that stress is highly personal and subjective experience, it is very difficult to say what the main causes of stress are. However, in the norm big events like the death of a close relative or friend, marital problems, financial difficulties, moving house or country, ill health and problems at the place of work or redundancy are all major stressors especially if they are unexpected. At the same time, even pleasant eventslike a wedding or the birth of a child could be stress inducing events if they tax the coping mechanisms of the persons involved.

We need to be aware that stress can have a cumulative effect in that prolonged exposure to a number of stressors can have a detrimental effect to the psychological functioning of a person. It is usually the case that a stressed out person would realise that the stress had been building up over a long period of time and perhaps the early warning signs were there but the person did not take any notice of it. If the stress is prolonged, a person can suffer from what is known as burnout. Whilst normally getting burnout is associated with prolonged stress at the place of work, I am finding that even in other situations where there is prolonged stress, the same symptoms start to appear. These are depression, apathy, excessive anger or aggression, severe anxiety, severe mood swings and a strong sense of hopelessness.

Stress can also affect our bodily functioning. Our body is programmed to tell us when there is a system overload and for different people, the bodily reactions could be different. Some people might get very anxious, others might get tension headaches, others would have difficulty sleeping at night, others get upset stomachs or a bout of irritable bowel syndrome and others get very moody or irritable. Everyone would have his or her Achilles’ heel that in times of stress would manifest itself. One major sign that we could be under stress is when we start getting sick frequently. High stress levels can have an impact on our immune system and therefore we easily get sick which in turn would make us feel even more run down and stressed out.

This means that we need to learn to cope with stress such that we are more psychologically prepared to deal with life’s stressors. Ms. Roberta Zahra de Domenico, a registered clinical psychologist and president of the Maltese Psychological Association, will be tackling this subject in the first of a series of talks by professionals, organised by the Federation of Professional Bodies, aimed at the general public. Ms. Zahra de Domenico will be giving tips on how to understand the effects of stress, how to manage stress better by using thinking to handle stress, and to build psychological resistance against stressful situations.