TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
M. Imran Shahid's blog
Stress
Related to country: Pakistan

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Stress is the “wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; 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. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience stress as we re-adjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it. How Can I Eliminate Stress from My Life? As we have seen, positive stress adds anticipation and 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. Our 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 individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us. How Can I Tell What is Optimal Stress for Me There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual creatures with unique requirements. As such, what is distressing to one may be a joy to another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we are likely to differ in our physiological and psychological responses to it. The person who loves to arbitrate disputes and moves from job site to job site 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.

How 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 effort toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?



1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and Notice your distress. Don't ignore it. Don't gloss over physical reactions. Determine what events distress you. What are you telling your problems. Determine how your body responds to yourself about meaning of these events The stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific Can you change your stressors byways



2. Recognize what you can change. Can you reduce their intensity avoiding or eliminating them completely Can(manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis) you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises) Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful The here)



3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress. Stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger...physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms Are you and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster? Are you overreacting and viewing things as expecting to please everyone? Do you feel you must always prevail in every absolutely critical and urgent? Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as situation? Try to something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you. Temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labour on the negative aspects and the “what if's.

"

4. Learn to moderate your physical Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and reactions to stress. Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. respiration back to normal. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as Medications, when prescribed muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure. by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution

.

5. Build your physical Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week reserves. (Moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, Maintain your• Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals. •cycling, or jogging). Mix• Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants. •ideal weight. Get enough sleep. Be leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can. as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

6. Maintain your emotional • Develop some mutually supportive friendships/ relationships. •Reserves. Pursue realistic goals, which are meaningful to you, rather than goals others expect some frustrations, failures, and have for you that you do not share. Always be kind and gentle with yourself--be a friend to yourself sorrows.

January 28, 2008 | 12:12 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


M. Imran Shahid's Profile

M. Imran Shahid's Friends


Latest Posts
Adolescents and Peer...
Adolecents and Drug Use
HIV&AIDS Vulnerability...
Health care workers &...
Stress

Monthly Archive
April 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008

Change Language


Tags Archive
acute infection

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics

Friends
Caitlin Leigh Chandler
Joya Banerjee

Links
www.pnac.net.pk


23498 views
Important Disclaimer