Self-Esteem and Its Role in Promoting and Resolving Stress
Self-esteem underscores confidence in one’s beliefs and values. It emerges from attitudes that a person develops towards something, which could be a personal vision such as career objectives, lifestyles, and other personal responsibilities. Psychologists argue that attitudes mold characters that one upholds at any particular moment, which then explains why self-esteem varies depending on circumstances that invoke attitude variations (Roberts, 2011).
Low self-esteem comes from increased stress levels. A person with a negative attitude emerging from fear and emotions towards something has high-stress levels and, consequently, low self-esteem. Self-esteem is inversely proportional to stress since an individual’s confidence falls when under stressful situations. Upon gaining confidence, a person lowers the stress levels immediately. Therefore, self-esteem plays a significant role in resolving stress.
How Stress Affects Relationships, Values, and Meaningful Purpose in Life
Stress increases a person’s self-preservation, which depicts that a person alienates him/herself from others due to sadness and shameful feelings. Therefore, a person cannot enjoy a productive relationship with others when in stressful situations. Naturally, people are social beings, and psychologists determine the intensity of stress impact by analyzing an individual’s behavioral changes in relationships. For instance, a saddened person can hardly talk to others unless the sadness is at manageable levels. Therefore, a stressed person cannot relate well to others unless the stress is at manageable levels. Stress makes a person spend a lot of time thinking about the current situation, thus leaving a small room in the brain to accommodate other related affairs.
Additionally, stress has adverse effects on personal values due to low self-esteem. Therefore, this situation makes it hard for a person to uphold their own values, which explains why stressed persons lose their personal values and character ethics. Moreover, stress reduces the chances of a person sustaining life’s meaningful purposes. Instead, it focuses on painful losses resulting in stressful situations. Stress makes a person hopeless, and thus he or she lacks the willingness to focus on the important things that give life a meaningful purpose (Chen & Kottler, 2012).
My Perspective on the Differences between Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs
Values are personal principles that determine a standard of behavior. They are the primary elements that determine the characters of a person, as reflected by personal ethics. Attitude is the mental state that is arrived at when a person adopts a settled way of thinking and feeling. Attitude is reflected by an individual’s body language and posture. Beliefs are things accepted to be true, albeit invisible, and they have a strong relationship with both values and attitudes. A person behaves in a particular way due to having beliefs that allow the adoption of specific values at any given moment.
Prochaska’s Stages of Change Model on Smoking
Prochaska’s or trans-theoretical model has six stages of change. First is the pre-contemplation stage in which a smoker does not recognize that smoking has adverse effects on health. Therefore, he or she is unwilling to take any action towards stopping the habit. Second is the contemplation stage in which the smoker recognizes that smoking has adverse effects on health. The third is the preparation stage, where a smoker is willing to take any action that will render him or her stopping the habit. The fourth phase is the action stage, where a smoker starts the change process, which could be either systematic or drastic. The fifth is the maintenance stage, where an individual stays under evaluation for at least six months to determine the likelihood of relapse. The sixth stage is termination, and it is done after a successful maintenance stage (Prochaska & Norcross, 2002).
References
Chen, D., & Kottler, J. (2012). Stress Management and Prevention: Applications to Daily Life. New York, NY: Routledge. Web.
Prochaska, J., & Norcross, J. (2002). Stages of change. Psychotherapy relationships that work. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Web.
Roberts, M. (2011). The Everything Guide to Stress Management: Step-by-step advice for eliminating stress and living a happy, healthy life. Richmond, VA: Adams Media. Web.