stress

            The term stress generally refers to reactions of the body to certain stimuli that an organism will perceive as being potentially harmful. These stressors can be physical like getting into a fight or the surrounding environment, or can be psychological like family difficulties or occupational problems. Different people respond in different ways towards different stressors. An event that seems very stressful to one person may not be stressful at all to another. (Brady & Sonne, 1999).
             Whenever an organism perceives a situation as stressful it initiates a stress response which can be many different behaviors based upon the individual. Escape, avoidance or physical changes like increased heart rate, blood pressure and sweating are very common reactions to stress. Anxiety is one of the most dominant reactions to stress. (Brady & Sonne, 1999).
             A common and natural thing for someone to do is to get their mind off the subject in any way possible. The only problem is most people tend to react in a waythat they end up hurting themselves by drinking, smoking, substance abuse etc. Data suggests that some life events like getting divorced and some chronic stressors like financial difficulties were positively associated with heavy drinking among men and women. (Jose, 2000).
             Much research has been designated to this very question. For example Parker and Farmer (1990) and Roxburgh (1998) reported that jobs that require very little thought and judgement are related to impaired control over drinking and higher consumption on a daily basis. In a longitudinal study Crum and Colleagues (1995) reported that men holding jobs that were high in demnds and low in job control were more likely to develop either an alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence disorder than were men who lacked these stressors.