Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment or stimulus; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings.
As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective.
As a negative influence, it 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.
Can I Eliminate Stress from My Life?
Positive stress adds excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives.
The goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or dejected.
On the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." What we need to do is find the optimal level of stress which will motivate but not overwhelm each of us.
What is an Optimal Stress level for me?
There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual and as such, what is distressing to one may be fuel to another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we will most likely differ in our physical and psychological responses to it.
The person who loves to move from job to job would be stressed in a job which was stable and routine, whereas the person who thrives under stable conditions would very likely be stressed on a job where duties were highly varied. Also, our personal stress requirements and the amount which we can tolerate before we become distressed changes with our ages.
It has been found that most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If you are experiencing stress symptoms, you have gone beyond your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the stress in your life and/or improve your ability to manage it.
Can I Manage Stress Better?
Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require work toward change: changing the source of stress and changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?
1. Become aware of your stressors.
Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events?
Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset?
2. What can you change?
Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely?
Can you reduce their intensity or shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises, meditate)?
Can you devote the time and energy necessary to changing (goal setting, time management techniques etc.)?
3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.
The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger...physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and taking a difficult situation and making it a worse?
Are you expectations realistic? Are you trying to please everyone?
Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent?
Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.
Try to reduce your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not dwell on the negative aspects ONLY! Resolve one problem at a time!
4. Learn to reduce your physical reactions to stress.
Slow, deep breaths will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.
Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Hypnosis can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure.
However, these alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate your reaction to stress in a permanent way is a preferable long-term solution.
Such as exercise for cardiovascular fitness (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging).
Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals to maintain an ideal weight.
Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.
Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can.
Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.
Most of all be good to yourself and get help when you need it!!!
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