Stress and coping: Some critical issues

Pages:341-343
Prabhat Kumar Mishra (Department of Educational Psychology and Foundations of Education, NCERT, New Delhi)

This article is an attempt to provide the reader with an overview of the field of coping with stress. The term stress occurs not only in our daily conversations but has also attracted widespread media attention. Different people hold different views about it as stress can be from a variety of sources. Although stress is an inevitable part of human life, yet it can also yield positive effects. What we need is to reduce the amount of negative stress (distress), and enjoy and appreciate positive stress (eustress). However, when left unchecked and unmanaged, stress can create problems in performance and affect the health and well-being of a person. Coping refers to cognitive and behavioural effects at mitigating stress. The article has explained the concept and forms of coping, and discussed some strategies to cope effectively with stress. Implications for teachers and counsellors have also been outlined.