STRESS MANAGEMENT 
Stay Healthy By Coping With Stress

Stress is a familiar word in today modern living. People from all walks of life complain about stress practically from everything i.e. getting stress from work, from school, from parents, from friends, from an illness and even complaints of getting stress from simply doing routine work! For this reason, Stress management is gaining importance as we realize the need to deal with the “wear and tear” that our bodies are experiencing under the effect of stress.

As opposed to what most people thought, stress is not exactly all bad. Most of the so-called stress that we experience is self-generated. How we perceive life, whether an event makes us feel threatened or stimulated, encouraged or discouraged, happy or sad is dependent to a large extent on how we perceive ourselves. Stress has both physical and emotional effects on us and it can create both positive and negative feelings in us. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. On the flip side, stress can also result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to more chronic problems later on. Simply put, stress can either help or hinder us depending on how we react to it.

What is stress management? In stress management, its goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Humans are “strange creature” if I may say so. Under insufficient stress, it would appear that we are under the effect of a depressant leaving us feeling bored or dejected.  On the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." So the key component in stress management is all about striking a balance. What we need to do is find the optimal level of stress, which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

How does one proceed with managing stress? First and foremost, understand what is stress. In our daily life, we deal with many things and some of these may be the triggers of stress. Find out the causes of stress. You have to determine what are the events that upset or distress you. Learn how to identify and recognizes the symptoms of stress.  Stress symptoms are means in which our body asks for help and recognizing the symptoms is a positive influence to us taking action in coping with stress.

There are different types of stress which can causes physical, emotional or psychological strain on us. Under the event of stress, our body’s adrenaline level is pump up. How does stress affect health, is believed to be related to the time your body stayed on in this state. For prolong period, health will be adversely affected and this is where one will begin to suffer from illnesses.

Knowing that stress is something that we have to live with, as we can’t eliminate them totally, it would be crucial that you learn some ways to deal with stress. As mentioned, stress management is all about helping people to find ways in dealing with stress. Learn a few stress management tips or techniques to help you in reducing stress to a level you can live comfortably with.