Stress in Writing

STRESS IN WRITING
As I was reading the article I have come to agree with every point it was saying. But few lines struck me the most. First was about the “intellectual ambitions amount to little more than an elaborate hoax designed to mislead people concerning to your competence. In other words you are a fraud and in any moment your cover will be blown and you’ll be discovered.” Since post graduate studies has just begun, and we are still in the getting to know stage, everybody, and I myself is trying to impress not only my classmates and professor but myself as well by putting my best foot forward. According to Clance and Imes, there is such thing as the Imposter Phenomenon (IP) which is characterized by strong feelings of intellectual and professional phoniness in high-achieving individuals. Imposters entertain these thoughts and feelings despite evidence that suggests both outstanding academic and/or professional accomplishments (McGregor, et.al., 2008). We tend to set high standards to ourselves that may sometime result to failure or defeat. Being human, I am afraid of failure. When failure comes in my way I get depressed, this was supported by Clance, Imes and Steinberg which stated that many imposters frequently report symptoms of depression (McGregor, et.al.,2008). And when depression gets in the way, surely one cannot function well in a holistic approach. One factor that may lead to depression is hopelessness. Hopelessness is very similar to self efficacy, which has a strong influence on once performance (Houston, 1995). A person may not think well and perform activities of daily living if s/he is under depression. This leads me to another striking line in the article which is “… this all seems to be produced by the vague feeling that ‘you don’t know enough’ (indeed, it can almost grow into a zen- like absoluteness of a mantra like ‘I don’t know anything).”

When I was in college I always have this thinking that others are better than me. I am nothing compared to them for the reasons that they are getting higher grades compared to mine and they read faster than I could. Which sometimes makes me wonder, do I over analyze things or am I under doing it? According to Chadwick and Trower’s there are two types of paranoia namely, ‘Poor me and Bad me’ paranoia. Wherein Poor me paranoia is a reflection of an insecurely constructed self which involves transforming indifference or rejection into persecution that results to the individual maintaining high self-esteem and views the persecutor as bad and inferior. On the other hand in Bad me paranoia or punishment paranoia the individual states that s/he is deservedly punished for previous misdemeanors. Feelings of worthlessness are associated with perceived disapproval and depression (Ambrojo and Garety, 2009). I must say Bad me paranoia is the one that is applicable to me during those days. Thus this will lead back to depression. One must know how to cope up with their depression in order to survive through it. Every individual have their own unique way of coping. But the most important in terms of coping mechanism is through your spirituality. It has been considered as an important buffer against stressful events which may help people to overcome their distress and difficulties. Spirituality appears to be an intrinsic motivational force that makes a strong impact on people’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior related to positive health outcomes (Krok, 2008).

Being exposed to prolonged stress such as doing a thesis can alter the thinking of one’s person, but that does not mean you are mentally ill. According to Leza, stress may be defined as a condition that seriously affects the physiological/psychological homeostasis of an organism. It occurs every day. This can have two responses which are an adaptive mechanism which allows the person to survive or fight the stressful experience, and a negative impact mainly after very intense, long lasting stressful stimuli (Leza, 2006). But it would still depend on how a person carries their cross in their everyday way of living.

Some thoughts to ponder on:
Aside from spirituality, what can also be considered as an intrinsic motivational force? Can you cite examples on how people can cope or "carry their cross" in order to produce an adaptive impact on the person? And cite examples of poor coping mechanisms that may initiate negative impact? And lastly, what are the ways to differentiate depression from clinical depression? How does one determine if the depression he's suffering now will not eventually lead to a clinically diagnosed depression?


Bibliography:
McGregor, L., Gee, D. & Posey, K. (2008). I Feel Like a Fraud and it Depresses Me: The Relation Between the Imposter Phenomenon and Depression. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND PERSONALITY, from 36(1),http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=27b500bf-16c9-4703-8882-030073247f32%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pbh&AN=30104107.

Houston, D. (1995). Surviving a failure: efficacy and laboratory based test of the hopelessness model of depression. European Journal of Social Psychology, 25, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=a97330d8-d4f5-4797-b8a1-1745d762552f%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pbh&AN=12141558.

Ambrojo, M., Garety, P.A. (2009). Understanding attributional biases, emotions and
self-esteem in *poor me' paranoia: Findings from an early psychosis sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 48, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=7&sid=a97330d8-d4f5-4797-b8a1-1745d762552f%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s8h&AN=41997978.

Krok, D. (2008, January 17). The role of spirituality in coping: Examining the relationships between spiritual dimensions and coping styles. Mental Health, Religion & Culture,11( 7), from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=7&sid=27b500bf-16c9-4703-8882-030073247f32%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pbh&AN=34506200.

Leza, J. (2006). How Brain Faces Stressors, Regulates Stress Response and Undergoes Stress Consequences. CNS & Neurological Disorders, 5, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=111&sid=a97330d8-d4f5-4797-b8a1-1745d762552f%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s8h&AN=22631930#db=s8h&AN=22631930

Before I read the article, I don't really have an idea that various writers have or are prone of having mental illnesses. Most writers are not mentally ill and most of the mentally ill are not writers. When normal people fall into depression, they are most likely to suppress it and focus on other things. Just like the way our lungs reacts when we run excessively. We hyperventilate to provide enough oxygen so that the body can maintain its equilibrium. It is the same as when we experience stress and depression. We unconsciously respond by using our defense mechanisms. This is the skill that most writers lack. One way of getting out of depression is voicing it out and sharing it with people who can give logical advice. It's alright to be depressed. We are human anyway. But we should learn to recognize when our behavior it too much. By doing it, I guess, we are far from having what they call "clinical depression".

I agree with your discussion paper because i even experienced what you've experienced when you were in college. I also have this thinking that others are better than me and I'm just inferior to them.I'm also afraid of failure and rejection. But as time passed by, i realize that comparing my abilities to others is not a good thing to do. Instead i strive harder to be able to improve the things where I'm weak at. And with the help of my family, friends and mentors, i was able to surpass these feelings. I learned that we should take ourselves out of our comfort zones and we should take the risk to speak out.

I agree on what you are trying to point out in this discussion and I want to express my understanding into an equation.

adversity + sadness + hopelessness = depression - coping mechanisms (support group + nutrition + relaxation + spirituality)
thus:
adversity + sadness + hopelessness - depression + coping mechanisms (support group + nutrition + relaxation + spirituality) = 0

Everything in this world has its contrast. Too much and too little always lead to a problem. Therefore, it is important to maintain the equilibrium in all facets of life. To get by with the struggles in life and Im talking about not only in thesis writing but in our everyday lives wherein stress cannot be avoided, we need to develop skills for survival.

different aspects of the totality of a person's health i think are important..., that's why we have the term "holism" in nursing care. spirituality may be of great factor in affecting the susceptibility of an individual to such health problem, but looking at a larger perspective is essential to know the causality of such occurrence and to intervene appropriately...

levels and ways of coping varies among individuals, depending on the presence or absence of the helping factors- which maybe your foundation as a person or how you were raised by your parents, the availability of significant others to the extent of how much they can help, your accessibility to diversions of interest. your foundation as a person encompasses everything about you, your personality, behavior, point of views and beliefs..

depression alone is different from clinically diagnosed depression. the former can be experience by anyone at some point in time, while the latter depicts something beyond what an individual supposedly have exhibited. Hence, it is essential to analyze whether such experience is tolerable or still in our control for us to know when and how to better cope up and seek help

it is known to all that we should always put God first in everything we do. we lift up our worries or problems to Him and He will help us. we are created biologically unique so, an adapting mechanism varies form one person to another. may he or she wanted to pray, sing, dance, have a trip, etc. to relax or to deal with stress he or she had encountered.