Stress and Stress Management

What is Stress?

Due to continue change in environment our bodies experience ‘wear and tear’ and this is known as “Stress”.

Effects of Stress:

Stress affects us physically as well as emotionally. As a result of these effects some feelings are created. The resultant felling influences us both positively as well as negatively.

Positive influence
can compel us to action and can result in a new awareness and exciting new perspective.

Negative influence
can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

Even the following factors can make us to experience Stress:

Death of a loved one.
Birth of a child.
A job promotion.
A new relationship.

In different circumstances our reactions also differs. Depending on how we react, stress either helps or hinders us.

Should us eliminate Stress from our Life?
As now we know that positive stress benefits us. It adds anticipation and excitement to our life. It is a fact that we all prosper under a certain amount of stress. Even deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add deepness and improvement to our lives. So, therefore, should not eliminate stress but prepare ourselves to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us.

How Can I Manage Stress?

1. Identify the stress.

2. Try to know the source of the stress.

3. Be aware of its effect on our life, whether it is positive or negative. If it is positive then it’s alright but if it is negative then

4. Try to understand how your body responds to the stress e.g. do you become nervous or physically upset?

5. Think about what you can change. Perhaps you can change the source of your stress by avoiding or eliminating them completely or even you Can reduce its intensity. And if you can not do it (and this is true in most cases), then

6. Try to change yourself (which is the most possible as you can change others but, if confidently decided, certainly change yourself). By changing yourself you will be able to Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.