Stress Management

                   Stress Management 
                                                By : Lily Rose Mateo

         
What is Stress Management ?
        Stress management refers to the wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of improving everyday functioning.
     You may feel there’s nothing you can do about stress. The bills won’t stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day, and your work and family responsibilities will always be demanding. But you have more control over stress than you might think. Stress management is all about taking charge: of your lifestyle, thoughts, emotions, and the way you deal with problems. No matter how stressful your life seems, there are steps you can take to relieve the pressure and regain control.

Types of Stress 
   

Acute stress   

          Acute stress is the most common form of stress among humans worldwide. Acute stress deals with the pressures of the near future or dealing with the very recent past. This type of stress is often misinterpreted for being a negative connotation. While this is the case in some circumstances, it is also a good thing to have some acute stress in life. Running or any other form of exercise is considered an acute stressor. Some exciting or exhilarating experiences such as riding a roller coaster is an acute stress but is usually very fun. Acute stress is a short term stress and in result, does not have enough time to do the damage that long term stress causes.

Acute stress disorder is caused by experiencing, witnessing, or being confronted with a traumatic event or events. The events create intense fear, horror, or helplessness. Traumatic events that can cause acute stress disorder include:

• death
• the threat of death to oneself or others
• the threat of serious injury to oneself or others
• a threat to the physical integrity to oneself or to others

cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

 Chronic  Stress 

      

            Chronic Stress is any stress that the body is subjected to on a regular basis or on a single occasion with lasting negative effects.Chronic stress compromises the Critical Systems of Function (Hormonal, Gastrointestinal, Immune, Detoxification) that must be in harmony for your body to be healthy.

     When core systems of function become damaged by stress, physical changes occur that disrupt overall health and longevity potential.

Like a collapse of dominoes, when one system falters it stresses the others, leading to illness and disease.

This process is known as the Chronic Stress Response.

The Two Types of Chronic Stress

CLINICAL (Obvious) You don’t need a doctor to identify these sources of stress. Lifestyle decisions—along with genetics—shape the foundation of your health and determine its future. The longer chronic stress undermines your core functional systems, the less you are able to compensate for poor lifestyle behaviors. Examples Insufficient or poor quality SLEEP, rest, and recovery Negatively internalizing EMOTIONS Inferior FOOD choices, lack of dietary discipline, failure to control blood sugar levels and nutrient intake Too much, or too little EXERCISE Self-destructive behavior in general

SUBCLINICAL (Obscure) These sources of stress occur inside the body, the results of pre-existing impacts from stress and environmental exposures. Generally obscured from the senses, subclinical stress—like clinical stress—can do damage without causing obvious symptoms. Examples Adrenal gland exhaustion (also known asAdrenal Syndrome, this causes reduced tolerance to ALL stress and impairs of healing) Food intolerances such as gluten/gliadin and cow’s milk Intestinal infections (such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia) and bacteria (especially Helicobacter pylori) Electromagnetic radiation from wired and wireless technologies Fungal and viral infections Environmental toxins such as metals,chemicals, and molds Inflammation

         WAYS OF COPING WITH STRESS

Unhealthy Ways of coping with Stress 

      

                           Smoking

Drinking too much

                                                         

  Zoning out for hours in front of the TV

Withdrawing from people

Using Pill and Drugs

Sleeping too much

Procrastinating

Taking out your stress on others ( lashing out, angry outbursts,physical violence

Healthier Ways to manage Stress

 Put on some music and dance around

Take your dog for a walk

 Walk or cycle to the grocery store

Play a ping-pong or an activity-based video game with your kids

Have lunch or coffee with a friend

Spend time in nature

Listen to music

 Play a competitive game

Work in your garden

 Play with a pet

Go for a walk

Write in your journal


 Practical Application

        Stress comes in many forms and can be seen as anything that produces the emotional and mental pressure that leads to worry, anxiety, fear, anger, apprehensions, even over excitements to which our body responds in a quick and inefficient way. In our daily life we cannot deny the fact that our mind is sometimes occupied of the things that  distracts us.
     As college students we sometimes sleep late at night because of those  projects that need to be accomplished, worrying about work deadlines,and we have no time for playing games and parties, because of our busy schedules we tend to forget the importance of relaxation. We should manage our time wisely and we should take time to enjoy like Listening to music , talking  with a friend and going for a walk because these simple things can help increase our stress. As what people say   SLOW DOWN , RELAX , TAKE IT EASY and ENJOY LIFE. Just give yourself a break !! 

No matter how powerless you may feel in the face of stress,you still have control over your lifestyle,thougths,emotions and the way we deal you problems..

"It is not the stress that kills us, it is our 

reaction to it."

                   - Hans Selye