Section 5-1: Conflict? What Conflict?

Moving onto stress, when the core concepts for this entry were put to paper, it was in a period in which we would not see our professor at all between two separate examinations... which is stressful! Now, the only exam left to write is the final... also stressful! In the section of the text regarding stressors we are introduced to the three different types of conflict. These conflict types are Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance, and Avoidance-Avoidance.

Why is this image relevant to stress? As a Male you are looking at what causes 80+% of stress over a lifetime.
(Also, lighten up, its a joke.)
-Image courtesy of roaringwomen.com-

As an individual who spent the majority of the past two years engaged in an abusive relationship, I have experienced more than my fair share of approach-avoidance conflicts. This is due largely to the fact that simple daily decisions like 'what brand of detergent to buy' or 'what to make for dinner' suddenly carry an element of avoidance to them because any of these seemingly simple decisions would give my partner an opportunity to express displeasure or dissatisfaction with me. I was constantly plagued by vacillation (indecision) and overwhelming stress which has taken significant time to overcome and cope with. Through family and social supports, as well as a healthy dose of self-inflection I am now pleased to say that I cope very well in even some of the most stressful environments... even though certain stress measurement tools (check out the next section!) would describe me as someone who should be so stressed that they are beyond the point of functioning.

My new outlook on stress has me regard it as very much a personal idea and that you cannot suffer from stress unless you allow yourself to be stressed. I am very critical of the idea of stress now, scales that measure it... and to paraphrase the text, "There's little reason to believe that any event is inherently or inevitably stressful."