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Stress
Stress – the final frontier. The final health frontier, that is! Stress is
unavoidable. It goes by many different names: tension, apprehension, anxiety,
or that "uptight" feeling. Whatever you call it, it's a "built in" response
that has been with us since the days of the cave men.
Medically, stress is the presence of either emotional or physical tension.
Each of us has a different set of triggers for emotional stress. Meeting a
deadline at work may trigger tension in one person; speaking before a group of
people may trigger an emotional response in another.
Even though stress is many times an emotional response, it produces very real
physical symptoms in your body. Your body responds to the situation as if it
were in danger. Your heart rate speeds up and you breathe faster. This gives
your body a burst of energy known in medical circles as "the fight-or-flight"
syndrome. Other symptoms that your body is responding to stress include
increased sweating and a sudden rush of strength. Lesser symptoms include
dilated pupils and a slowed digestive system.
Stress is a normal – and even a very useful – tool. The increased energy your
body generates when it's under stress can be exactly what you need to meet
that deadline or to heighten that reaction time under demanding circumstance.
However, stress can be harmful if your body is exposed to it too often, or for
too long of a period. Prolonged exposure to these situations can not only
cause headaches, an upset stomach, and back pain – it can even disturb your
sleep.
And that's just the short-term effects. Longer lasting effects on your body
include a weakened immune system which makes it more difficult to fight off a
cold or other health problems. If you already suffer from a health condition,
additional stress can worsen it.
Emotionally speaking, stress can also have detrimental affects. If you're
under a great deal of tension, you may also find that you're moodier than
usual – with the smallest of problems setting you off – more tense than usual
and you may even experience depression.
But the good news is that stress is manageable – and it's relatively easy to
control. First, you need to identify exactly what it is that's causing the
stress in your life. Are there work-related or school-related activities that
are triggering your anxiety, financial problems at home, or are you distressed
about a personal problem or a relationship?
Once you identify the stressors, then you can create a plan for dealing more
effectively with them. If you can't change the situation, then you'll have to
discover more effective ways to cope with it. If it's a lifestyle that is
over-scheduled with events, then you'll want to look at ways of "unscheduling"
some events.
Next, you may want to look at some stress management techniques. The medical
establishment now recognizes several methods for dealing with anxiety,
including meditation and yoga. Keep in mind that stress management has no
"once-size-fits-all" cure. What works for your neighbor may be ineffective
for you. You may need to try out several solutions until you find one that
helps. Just keep searching for a solution that suits your needs and you'll
find one.
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