Family Stress Theory

Family Stress Theory

Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences.  An example of positive stress is studying to pass an exam while a negative stress may be a teenage girl who is pregnant and have to be a dropout. This causes certain amount of stress on the system. Whenever there is certain demand or stress in the family it affects everyone in the unit. Different stressors can cause stress in the family such as divorce, death of a loved one and unexpected pregnancy. For example my great-grandmothers death was heartrending for my family because she was the one who kept things together. Although she was ailing loosing her still caused some amount of stress on the family because at this point her children had to pool their resources and take care of thing.

 I was really affected by this and what I do to overcome is to remember the good times we had together. However the family was well supported so we are coping with the loss of our great grandmother.  The most important thing when a family is going through a crisis is for you to have some form of support for example a teenage cousin who got pregnant although she had to leave high school her mother still supported her, sent her to women’s centre so that she could complete her studies.  

This theory helps me to understand the reason for things such as divorce, I have always wondered why my aunt never worked out things with her husband however I now realize that when someone has reached their peak it is best to let go instead of staying and hurting yourself.