What you Need To Know About Stress Management
Sunday, October 14th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
The American Psychological Association has just published a report which they carried out on stress and its causes. I never realized that the figure of 30% of the people interviewed who claimed they were suffering from a high level of stress, would be so high. That really was a surprise for me. Not surprisingly, work and money were at the top of the list as being the main causes of stress and then fairly closely followed by family, children and health problems.
The most shocking figure I think was where I read that up to 70% of the people who are stressed out know that they should or could get help from professionals and yet only a miserly 7% actually got help. Managing stress is mainly a skill that can be learnt, fortunately.
Just in case you have no professional help available, here are five ways to manage stress. At least you can begin to identify and recognize the problem which is half the battle to conquering it. First out, you have to identify WHAT events or situations are causing you all this stress. Then, you need to recognize that these events or situations are making excessive physical and /or psychological demands on you.
Secondly by recognising the signs. When you are stressed out, the usual signs will start and you can learn to put these on your black list. The usual signs are muscle tension, irritability, insomnia, palpitations, headaches, dizziness , etc. Once you have identified these symptoms, this will help you to turn on your emergency lights!
Thirdly, you should examine your behaviour patterns when you are stressed out. What are your reactions - do you give in to excessive demands, for example ? Do you find it difficult to say ‘NO’ ? What are your time management skills like? Often , when I was stressed out, I found that I was unable to apply the above two strategies- yet, if I had, I would have been well on the way to solving my stress problem. Once you start taking action, you immediately feel more positive and that you are regaining control.
Fourthly, you need to look after yourself. The ultimate goal is to find a good work-life balance. For example, taking care of your body by getting enough sleep can make you more productive and healthier, and can help you better manage stress, as well as staving off dark circles under the eyes and a poor complexion. Not to mention taking time out for relaxation, exercise, and time for yourself. If you feel better you can cope much better.
Stress affects people most who do not have an outlet or sympathetic listener to turn to. That could of course be a mental health professional but you can save a lot of money just by confiding in a friend, partner or family member. You need to get support which will make you stronger and you can cope. A problem shared is a problem halved as the old adage goes.
To sum up then, in this article I have outlined five strategies to help you cope with stress. The basic ones are to identify the causes and your behaviour patterns when you are in those situations. Once you have done that you have made the first move to get out of the jungle. The site below will help you a lot as it will give you tons of advice.
About the Author:
Time to discover more on how to Manage Your Stress Lots of news on Health and Wellness are available on The Wellness Bible Click here for other unique ’strategies to manage stress’ articles.
[tags]stress,health/tags]
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