• Each role we assume in life comes with specific expectations and stressors. For example, wives and mothers may have the stressors associated with pregnancy, childbirth, childcare and caregiver for older parents. Doctors have the stressors associated with life and death decisions. Soldiers and police officers have the stressors associated with the risk of personal death and injury and the moral weight of possibly having to kill others. Some roles and stressors are voluntary. For example, we can choose to get married or join the military service (neurogenic stressors). Some roles are not voluntary or may be even accidental, such as being born with a physical handicap or becoming a victim of a serious accident or illness (psychogenic stressors). But before you become a counselor and recommend stress reduction to others, you should first examine how you can or should handle stress in your own life.

Questions

Think about the specific stressors that concern you the most about any one of the roles that you must play in life. Answer the following specific questions.

1. What is the most important role that you must play in life, whether you chose to play that role voluntarily or whether it was forced on you? What specific kinds of stressors (neurogenic, psychogenic or systemic) must you face? PROVIDE REFERENCE
2. What, if anything, can be done to reduce those specific role-connected stressor? For example, have you tried any stress reduction techniques like breathing exercises, physical workouts, prescribed medication, support group discussion or any other measure or activity? PROVIDE REFERENCE