Why each person reacts differently to stressors

And the best way to do that? Just listen. We all need help sometimes. While we may cope differently than even our closest loved ones, we all feel the same broad spectrum of human emotion. The same goes for them. This can help maintain harmony when loved ones cope differently than you do. Simone M. Scully is a new mom and journalist who writes about health, science, and parenting. Find her on her website or on Facebook and Twitter.

Life can never back us into a corner if we have the power to choose. Self-actualization sounds like a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. Learn how simple changes in your day-to-day life can put you on the path…. The wondrous world of coping skills, made a little simpler. Your smartphone doesn't have to be a source of endless anxiety. An introvert is often thought of as a quiet, reserved, and thoughtful individual. Experts say the COVID pandemic added to the stresses of job insecurity and food shortages already felt by People of Color and young adults.

And while everybody feels stress, reactions can be different for women and men. But today, many of the things that cause stress stay around longer, leading people to experience prolonged responses that can negatively impact health. Stress has emotional consequences. It can make us feel overwhelmed, fatigued, nervous, and sad.

Stress can also cause changes in eating and sleeping habits, headaches, and weight gain. Over time, stress can even increase the risk of depression, anxiety, heart disease, and type-2 diabetes.

But while everyone feels stress at times, reactions to stress can be different for women and men. Look over the symptoms you've checked. Keep these symptoms in mind as you go through each day. If you notice any of these symptoms, ask yourself what may have triggered it. Keeping a stress log can help you recognize when you are under stress and identify what caused it. For a week, keep track of anything, big or small, that triggers feelings of stress.

Note the date and time. Also record your response. What were your stress symptoms? The symptoms you checked may be indicators of stress. Talk to your health care provider if you have questions or concerns about your symptoms.

You can't eliminate all the stress in your life, but you can reduce it. Here are some ideas on how to do that:. There are several dimensions of personality, but the most important dimension, the one that explains most varience, is neuroticism versus stability. By contrast, to the psychologist, the dimension of neuroticism - or negative affectivity - is simply a dimension on which people vary and should not imply a value judgement.

Nice people can be neurotic! A person high in neuroticism exhibits a much greater physiological response to a stressful event than a person low in neuroticism - low in neuroticism means high in stability. People vary in the importance they attach to different goals. Many people live lives where they have obligations to others and where demands are put on their time.

It is not unusual for these many different obligations to be in conflict. Work demands and home-life demands are frequently in conflict. Goal conflict occurs in any situation where a person has competing demands on their time, not just those related to work-life balance. A stressor can be interpreted as a threat or as an opportunity. People vary along a personality dimension of optimism versus pesimism.

Optimists are more likely to see the future as benign and a stressful situation as giving rise to an opportunity. People vary in the extent to which they believe that they have the resources to deal with new and threatening situations.

Poeple high in hardiness or resilience believe that they have the competence to control the world around them.