The concept of stress has been used in studies targeting first responders such as police officers, emergency medical technicians, and firefighters, mainly to explain behavioral change after exposure to traumatic events and other stressors. Research shows that police officers and firefighters exhibit cognitive behavior of coping with stress through avoidance (Junker et al., 2020). Conclusive evidence suggests that police officers have the highest level of avoidance and alcohol abuse as a distraction. The choice of a coping mechanism for stress can be explained thoroughly using an integrative ecological system approach (Holmgreen et al., 2017). Various stimuli trigger stress, be it violent scenes, rape, or post-war memories affecting war heroes. The community, family, individual attributes, workplace, and societal influences determine the impact of stress on the individual and the likelihood of overcoming the anxiety.
Discussion
In evaluating the theories of stress, the conservation of resources and trauma theory were considered. The conservation of resources theory was initially developed by Dr. Stephan Hobfoll in 1989 to explain stress as a construct. Research on the theory points out that stress is the aftermath of lost resources or the failure to regain the lost resources (Holmgreen et al., 2017). Studies show that, according to the theory, loss of personal, social, and material possessions is a likely trigger for stress in an individual. Resources are considered anything of value to the individual, including property, conditions such as having a pleasant work area, possessing valuable attributes, knowledge, and vast array of skills and experience in a field of expertise. The community shares stress, like losing a resource is a collective loss for the individual and society.
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Resources are considered to be volatile and could be lost or gained at any time. Each loss of a resource is followed by a constant desire to regain the lost resource (Holmgreen et al., 2017). Research affirms that resources protect other resources and continuous stress causes a depletion in the resources needed to deal with stress. However, the theory contradicts a general rule where stress is attributed to arise from forced or sudden readjustment to a new situation and not loss of resources. Moreover, the theory fails to indicate how an individual expects to cope with stress and stress stimuli if increasing stressors deplete the coping mechanisms (Holmgreen et al., 2017). However, because stress is considered shared between the resource owner and the community, the person's ecology could be the factor that aids in coping with stress after personal resources such as coping ability and resilience fail ( Regehr & Bober, 2005) . Study shows that the community that consists of friends, associations, and religion plays a significant role in adapting the individual to stressors.
Tragedies such as loss of a job can be mitigated by having colleague support, management apathy, and the possibility of future remuneration for the losses incurred. Moreover, family as an extra resource provides flexibility social needs such as belonging and support. Regardless, the theories have a simple weakness. It assumes that all individuals have the same amount of resources and that the stress is shared by the family or the immediate community (Mirabito, 2017). Research has proven that it is unlikely that one stressor will affect different persons in the same way.
The trauma theory was proposed by Cathy Caruth to explain the neurophysiological reaction to stress-causing trauma. While the resource theory attributes stress to loss of resources, trauma theory proposed that stress is the exposure of a person to an event that poses an actual threat or a memory of a previous threat to a person triggering anxiety, fear, horror, and helplessness (Greinacher et al., 2019). In context, the theories are different as one compares having resources to lack of stress while the other insists that exposure to catastrophe causes traumatic stress. Neurophysiological changes have been found to trigger the capability to cope and fight the trauma and not the desire to recover lost resources (Junker et al., 2020). The responses from neurophysiological reactions could either be freeze, fight, or flight. Studies reveal that trauma has a considerable likelihood of instilling flight and freeze measures rather than fight the stimuli.
Victims of trauma bend towards avoiding the stressors and any stimuli that remind them of the initial trauma. While depression has been said to disappear after a while, some post-traumatic stress forms cannot be handled immediately (Greinacher et al., 2019). The reason is that the means for coping have already been defeated. Trauma is an automatic response that triggers the recurrence of the event through memories and images. The victims of trauma experience heightened anxiety, agitation, and extreme vigilance. It is recorded that deep trauma is often characterized by memory gaps resulting from subconscious closure of painful memories only accessible as flashes of tiny bits of information (Junker et al., 2020). In many cases of trauma, the coping mechanism is avoidance. The victim may altogether refuse to acknowledge that the event happened, leading to the traumatic experience.
Studies have revealed that not all exposure to traumatic event causes trauma. It is estimated that, on average, 50-80% of people are exposed to circumstances that could cause stress and, at times, trauma (Greinacher et al., 2019). However, only a small number of these people lapse into trauma. Trauma theory uses a cognitive approach where the preparedness for a stress condition is dependent on an established history of related stressors (Junker et al., 2020). Moreover, the trauma could increase or decrease depending on secondary resources. For instance, if a person survives a massacre with the telltale marks and realizes that everyone else is dead, the chances of that trauma lifting are meager. The reason is that the person has no support systems.
Conclusion
There are various ways to cope with stress, and each model or theory is applicable. However, understanding what works for who is an essential part. Different people react differently to stress stimuli; hence, dealing with each case of stress is unique. Although the theories are other, they all work to enable individuals to cope with stress; therefore, some aspects are common in the models. For instance, in all models and theories of understanding stress, the victim needs a support system to survive the stress. The availability of comfort, compassion, and empathy is crucial for alleviating stress. Therefore, the trauma theory and conservation of resources play a vital role in stress management as models and theories critical in designing a framework.
References
Regehr, C., & Bober, T. (2005). In the line of fire: Trauma in the emergency services . Oxford University Press.
Greinacher, A., Derezza-Greeven, C., Herzog, W., & Nikendei, C. (2019). Secondary traumatization in first responders: A systematic review. European journal of psychotraumatology , 10 (1), 1562840.
Junker, S., Pömmer, M., & Traut-Mattausch, E. (2020). The impact of cognitive-behavioral stress management coaching on cognitive appraisal changes and the stress response: a field experiment. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice , 1-18.
Holmgreen, L., Tirone, V., Gerhart, J., & Hobfoll, S. E. (2017). Conservation of resources theory. The handbook of stress and health: A guide to research and practice , 443-457.
Mirabito, D. M. (2017). Social work theory and practice for crisis, disaster, and trauma. Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches , 6 , 117-130.
