Stress is an unavoidable fact of life. Stress is pressure from the outside that can make you feel tense inside. Stress is an automatic physical reaction to a danger or demand: muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, the heart speeds up, and extra adrenaline rushes through your system. Some stress can be good for you because it inspires you to better meet life's challenges -- it keeps you on your toes. However, to much stress can harm your physical and emotional well-being. If you allow it to build up, stress can sometimes produce tensions serious enough to interfere with your normal daily activities. You need to be able to control stress so that it does not control you.

Knowing about stress and how it affects you is the first step in knowing how to handle stress. Unless you take steps to relax, tension builds up inside your body. Over a long period of time, this built-up tension can affect your health, possibly contributing to ulcers, allergies, weight loss, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. Some physical signs of stress are nervousness, inability to slow down or relax, trembling, nail biting, cold hands and feet, pounding heart, muscle tension, dizziness, lack of energy, troubled breathing, and headaches. Stress affects your thinking. It drains vital energy and can make you cranky and irritable. Stress colors the way you think and feel about yourself and other people, leading to feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. Stress attacks your self-esteem and lessens positive feelings of self-worth. Stress makes it harder to relate to people in ways you would like to. Stress depletes the energy you need to fully participate in activities and events around you. Some psychological signs of stress are confusion, inability to concentrate, depression, fatigue, mood changes, boredom, restlessness, and changes in sleeping, eating and sexual habits.

Pressure and demands on your energy and time can come from nearly every corner of your life. Sources of stress can be found at your job. Pressure to meet deadlines, too much or too little work to do, conflicts with coworkers, and boredom can all create harmful stress. Changes in your personal life such as divorce, sickness, death of a loved one, money problems, marriage, pregnancy, and the birth of a child can put you under pressure. Sources of stress can also be found in your environment. The weather, the noise levels around you, overcrowding, the physical safety and comfort of your surroundings all can interfere with your ability to relax and lower your level of stress.

You can do a lot to reduce stress. Exercising is a great way to relieve physical and mental tension. Studies show that during exercise tranquilizing chemicals called endorphins are released in the brain. Exercise brings pleasurable relaxation naturally. Eating right can lead to better health which leads to lower stress. Eat a diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods instead of a diet with lots of sugar, sodium, and fatty foods. It is also important to get enough sleep. By getting an adequate amount of sleep you will be able to meet each day's challenges with energy and alertness.

Other tips for managing stress include talking with a trusted friend about worries or causes of tension. This helps you put the problem in perspective. Planning your work with priority lists, to-do lists, and good time-managing techniques and making realistic goals can help decrease tension. People who expect to much of themselves can get tense if things do not work out. Instead they should set practical goals and expect to be successful. Taking a break from what you are doing once in a while, no matter how short, helps you feel refreshed and relaxed and gives you a new outlook on old problems. Doing something you really enjoy (needlepoint, woodworking, gardening, music, cooking, church or civic activities) and doing it regularly, at least a half hour each day, can help you reduce stress. You will find that certain activities provide a creative outlet, lessen fatigue, and refresh you mind, body, and spirit.

By learning to manage stress you will feel calm instead of nervous, in control instead of frazzled, at peace with yourself rather than angry, and you will feel more alive instead of feeling burned out. In managing stress, it is important not to rely on substitutes such as alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and caffeine. Alcohol, barbiturates, and tranquilizers can mask feelings of stress for a short time but they cannot erase emotional and physical tension. Plus, these substitutes can become addictive. Relying on coffee, tea, or other caffeine to get you through the day may leave you a bundle of nervous energy rather than in a relaxed state of mind. Cigarette smoking speeds up the heart, increase blood pressure, robs oxygen from the body and interferes with your ability to reduce stress.

If stress and its effects do get out of hand, you need to seek other help. It is not a sign of weakness or self-indulgence to get professional advice. There are many resources available to help someone get control of their stress. A family physician, an employer, a school counselor, clergy, family counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers can help when additional help is needed.

In summary, do not let stress get you down. Stress is a fact of life. Stress and tension can not be eliminated, but we can learn to cope with them better. You can do a lot for yourself and others by understanding the causes of stress and the depression and anxiety that can result from it. The first step in solving a problem is recognizing that it exists. Be aware of stressful situations in your life and take steps to reduce the causes of harmful stress. Help yourself and others by talking things over, taking it easy and trying to keep things in perspective. Keep stress in bounds before it causes trouble. Also, know when and where to go to help. Prompt professional advice keeps minor problems from becoming major troubles. Everyone has ups and downs. Life would be dull without them. However, a hopeful attitude goes a long way toward helping you over the rough spots.

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