Stress Can Lead to Behavior Difficulties

Increased stress, particularly when prolonged, can lead to difficulties in behavior and emotions.

Recognizing that these problems and deficiencies can occur often makes it possible to minimize or decrease their impact upon us.

• Under stress, many people become less tolerant, more perfectionistic and less able to deal with ambiguity. This is especially true for those who possess these tendencies under the best of circumstances.

They may often become more inflexible and tend to exclude useful information, actions that would not occur under less stressful conditions.

• Many individuals become detached and withdraw from relationships that previously existed.

Often preoccupied with possible solutions to their problems, concerned with possible failure, fatigued and possible depressed, they withdraw from much of the world around them.

Hypersensitivity to criticism is not uncommon, along with a strong tendency to be tense.

• For many, a pessimistic outlook develops. This can lead to thinking that negative outcomes are inevitable for them.

Over time they often view setbacks as catastrophic, frequently making mountains out of molehills. If they are under pressure too long, they tend to make irrational decisions based upon faulty assumptions.

• Aches, pains and other physical ailments may develop that cannot be explained as physiological in origin. Prolonged psychological pressure can cause some individuals to develop irrational fears about their health, believing they have developed a life-threatening illness.

• Moral and ethical issues, healthy and intact under less stressful circumstances, may waiver and erode under prolonged pressure.

The tendency to compromise one’s self and dishonor commitments may occur. Impaired judgment and insight are often present, as in an increase in impulsive behavior.

• Neglect of health often emerges. Poor nutrition, lack of exercise and unsatisfactory sleeping patterns often develop. Memory and concentration are often impaired giving rise to difficulties in making decisions.

• Erosions of self-confidence often develop as a result of prolonged exposure to stressful stimuli.

Doubts about one’s stamina and the ability to continue performing under pressure frequently occur, especially if the individual becomes chronically fatigued and health problems develop.

This deterioration in one’s self-esteem often leads to further self-imposed stress, which escalates the problem further. Individuals lacking a healthy self-concept are more at risk.

Many individuals not only survive but benefit from learning to cope and adjust in difficult situations. They gain new coping skills as well as gain confidence in their abilities to handle future challenges.

Psychological research demonstrates that those who do not see change as threat, but rather as an opportunity, are more stress resilient. This one factor can help individuals inoculate themselves to future stressors and should be a part of everyone’s thinking.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright © 1992