It’s time for another post in my Character Under a Microscope series where I discuss the nitty gritty details of character development. Today, I want to focus in on something that everyone experiences—stress! In a good story, your characters are going to face trials, and that will undoubtedly lead to stress. Let’s dig into what exactly stress is and five main ways people seem to cope with it.
What Is Stress?
According to the dictionary, stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.” It’s how our brains respond to problems. Stress keeps us in a state of alert readiness so we can solve problems and meet demands. It enables us to process things quicker and maintain focus.
While there are physical signs of stress, it’s important to note that it all starts mentally. One thing that stresses you might not stress someone else. A divorce can be stressful or a relief. An upcoming test can be stressful or just another task. A new job can be stressful or exciting. Stress is subjective to each individual. Because of that, you need to decide what types of stressors exist for your characters. Once you know that, you can throw those situations into your stories to tighten the tension.
Effects Of Stress
Stress in itself isn’t a bad thing. It helps you be alert and motivated. However, like anything else, too much can have negative effects. I think it’s safe to say that in your story your characters will be pushed to their limits. They will be stressed to the max at some point. When that happens, make sure you throw in some realistic effects of that stress. This will make the characters more realistic and relatable to your readers. There are two main ways stress can affect someone’s life: physically and psychologically.
Physical Effects
Stress kicks the body into high gear, and being in a constant state of stress will wear down that body. The person will feel exhaustion, maybe even be dizzy or lightheaded. Without time to relax, things will start going wrong. They can experience pain in the head or chest, indigestion, muscle tension, and even a rash like hives. Internally, the body may have high blood pressure or a lowered immune system, which leads to frequently being sick. These physical symptoms of stress you can give your character to add more obstacles to reaching their goals. Stacking the odds against them right before the climax is a great way to raise tension and make the eventual success even more rewarding.
Psychological Effects
Beyond the physical effects, there will be a psychological impact. Prolonged stress can result in anxiety, depression, anger, and panic attacks. Sometimes, a person can be so worn down they are numb and detached. Ideally, you won’t want your protagonist’s mind clouded right before the climax as he will need his wits to finally overcome the last obstacle or defeat the antagonist. However, psychological effects of stress are great to create more tension starting around the midpoint. The protagonist can spiral down and struggle mentally and emotionally until he hits rock bottom right before the climax. Then the protagonist can push past it and achieve his goal.
5 Ways To Cope With Stress
Now that we’ve covered stress and its effects, let’s look at ways your character can respond to stress. This isn’t just for when your character is stressed to the max. These are five coping mechanisms that your character will use whenever feeling stressed.
1. Relax
Some people hate the feeling of stress. Whenever they feel stressed, they immediately try to find ways to relax. This can be by doing things like meditation, spa time, sunbathing, etc. They may be the type of people to avoid stressful situations and try not to think about them when they do pop up. Or, they could be fine with facing their problems, but they want them fixed as soon as possible so they can go back to being laid-back. Regardless, when stress comes, their go-to response is relaxation.
2. Exercise
There are people who need to get active when they feel stressed. Anything that gets their blood pumping and works off energy makes them feel better. They might run, lift weights, dance, play a sport, etc. Unlike people who respond with relaxation, those who exercise when stressed are more active than passive. They don’t want to avoid the problem they want to chase it off. These characters may have more aggressive personalities.
3. Control
I’m not sure anyone likes being stressed, but, if there was a group who did, it would be those who respond to stress with control. These people get stressed and immediately start tackling the problem. They make lists, assign people to help, make a plan, etc. These people always want to accomplish more, and stress gives them the focus to get things done. If the problem isn’t something that can be fixed quickly though, the person may become over-controlling. Not being able to fix their stressors could lead to them trying to control other things that seem within their power (but may not need their help).
4. Hobbies
Next is the group of people who turn to their hobbies when stressed. They want to do something they enjoy and do well, which elevates their moods. These hobbies can either let them forget their troubles for a while or help them clear their minds and find solutions. They’ll do things like knit, cook, fish, blacksmith, or even paint a wall. I think these people are usually under the impression that if they get their minds on something else, enlightenment will hit them.
5. Indulge
The last way people respond to stress is by over-indulging. These people consume things, trying to make themselves feel better and forget their troubles. They are the type to bury themselves in binging something like food, books, or television. They may obsessively shop. Some even turn to drugs and alcohol to bury the stress. It’s safe to say that this is an unhealthy way of responding to stress as it’s based on consuming (not doing something like hobbies) and avoiding the problem.
Final Thoughts
These five methods for coping with stress are what I’ve been able to observe in the people around me. You may think of one I haven’t (if so, please leave a comment below!). The point is that you understand what stress is, how it affects people, and how people respond to it. Then you can put subtle hints of stress in your story, making your characters deeper and more realistic. With all the conflict we stuff into stories, make sure stress is present in more than one of your characters.
Thanks for reading!
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