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Emotional Stress - The close relationship between stress and decision making

SKILL: Critically reflect and make decisions, problem solving / Make decisions

 

EQF LEVEL (INTERNAL REFERENCE): 2

Keywords 

  1. Phases 
  2. Alarm 
  3. Adaptation
  4. Exhaustion 
  5. Acute stress 
  6. Chronic stress
  7. Level

Introduction

By the end of this LU you will know the close relationship between emotional stress and decision making. You'll discover how you might approach choices depending on your stress level. 


Content

Emotional stress is a condition characterized by specific emotional and physical states. It is very common among people and can have major negative health consequences as well. There are many experiences in your life that you may consider stressful. Whether you experience them as stressful depends on many variables and situations that are subjective: you may find a situation stressful , while someone else may not.Among the activities you find yourself doing on a daily basis, decision making is definitely one of those that can cause emotional stress.

When you have to make a decision, you face three fundamental phases during which you can also experience a condition of great stress. The phases are: 

  1. Alarm - You are faced with a new decision. The alarm goes off because you experience the situation as a threat. 
  2. Adaptation -  You begin to face the  options and put all your energy, physical and emotional, on the task at hand.
  3. Exhaustion - The effort becomes very demanding and uses up all the energy you have available. At this point, if your stress level does not decrease, there is a risk that it will go from acute to chronic.

 

In the alarm and adaptation phases, the emotional stress you experience is called acute and it is good because it makes you active and focused on  decision making. If, however, in the exhaustion phase you fail to decrease your stress level and remain under pressure all the time, the stress will become chronic. This could affect your future decisions. To avoid chronic stress, you should always alternate moments of alarm and adaptation with moments of rest, and you should try to avoid the exhaustion phase as much as possible.

 

There are three stages of emotional stress: alarm, adaptation, and exhaustion. To avoid chronic stress, it is necessary to alternate moments of alarm and adaptation with moments of rest.

 

Decision making is a process with specific characteristics that can affect and increase your level of emotional stress. Here are two examples:

 

  1. The first aspect is the conflict that can exist between the various alternatives: you may find yourself having to make a choice in situations where  you have several options, all of which have both advantages and disadvantages. Reasoning about each and then choosing the best option can increase your stress level. This can get even worse if, once you have made the decision, you keep thinking about the alternatives you have ruled out and the fact that they could have been better!
  2. Another aspect is time: you may find yourself in the situation of having to make a choice quickly . The stress level increases as a result of not having to make a hasty choice without being able to evaluate all the alternatives you have. This is compounded by the fact that when you are in a stressful situation you feel you never have enough time to decide!  

 

Depending on your stress level, you'll approach decision making differently. See how:  

 

 

 

 
One very important thing to consider is that emotional stress and decision making are very closely linked and, moreover, they affect each other. The more difficult the choice, the more stress increases; the more stressed you are the more difficult it is to make a correct decision. If you want to deal with choices in the most lucid way possible, you must always keep this close relationship in mind and manage your stress level as best you can.

 

Final test 

Test 1 (Find the incorrect answers): 

The stages that link stress and motive and decision making are:

  1. Alarm
  2. Adaptation
  3. Exhaustion
  4. Signal

 

Test 2 (correct choice) 

Decision making:

  1. Is not  affected by time factor
  2. Does not create stressful situations
  3. Is  a process with specific characteristics
  4. Is not affected by conflicts between alternatives

 

Test 3 (finish the sentence  with the right ending): 

If in the exhaustion phase you don't relax ____________:

 

  1. stress will remain acute
  2. you will not be stressed
  3. stress will become chronic
  4. it will increase your heart rate



Test 4 (Matching sentences/words):

Associate each word with the correct sentence: alternative, choice, impulsive 

  1. With a moderate level of stress carefully evaluate the > alternatives
  2. With high emotional stress you tend to delay your > choice
  3. With very high emotional stress you tend to make > impulsive choices





Language point



The…, the….comparatives.

We can use the comparative with The…, the…. to say that things change or vary together.

The word order in both clauses is the following:

The   +    comparative     expression      +     subject     +       verb:

Example: The     more          I      study , the    more      I        learn 

There are several examples of this structure in the text:

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