101 ways to cope with stress

Cool and very useful XD

Stress management strategies

Six strategies to cope with stress =)

HOW TO REDUCE, PREVENT, AND COPE WITH STRESS

It may seem that there’s nothing you can do about your stress level. The bills aren’t going to stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day for all your errands, and your career or family responsibilities will always be demanding. But you have a lot more control than you might think. In fact, the simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of stress management.

Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on.

Identify the sources of stress in your life

Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sure, you may know that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress.

To identify your true sources of stress, look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses:

Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?

Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”).

Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?

Until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.

Start a stress journal

A stress journal can help you identify the regular stressors in your life and the way you deal with them. Each time you feel stressed, keep track of it in your journal. As you keep a daily log, you will begin to see patterns and common themes. Write down:

• What caused your stress (make a guess if you’re unsure).
• How you felt, both physically and emotionally.
• How you acted in response.
• What you did to make yourself feel better.

Look at how you currently cope with stress

   Think about the ways you currently manage and cope with stress in your life. Your stress journal can help you identify them. Are your coping strategies healthy or unhealthy, helpful or unproductive? Unfortunately, many people cope with stress in ways that compound the problem.

     Unhealthy ways of coping with stress.

   These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they cause more damage in the long run:

•      Smoking
•    Drinking too much
•    Overeating or undereating
•    Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer
•    Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities
•    Using pills or drugs to relax     
•    Sleeping too much
•    Procrastinating
•    Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems
•    Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

       Learning healthier ways to manage stress

   If your methods of coping with stress aren’t contributing to your greater emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones. There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose, it’s helpful to think of the four As: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.

   Since everyone has a unique response to stress, there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing it. No single method works for everyone or in every situation, so experiment with different techniques and strategies. Focus on what makes you feel calm and in control.

Understanding stress

The stress is the spice of life or the kiss of death depending on how we cope with it =0

Dealing With Stress Overload.

Stress overload can easily be coped with and handled by studying how to: slow down and relax; carry out relaxation exercises, cope with new mechanisms. In some cases what is really need is some professional help and medication to ease the level of stress that is being experienced while the patient learns how better to cope with or eliminate this stress.

Quick stress reduction techniques

Very interesting information.

How to deal with stress

Here is a presentation who may help you to deal with stress

What Causes Stress Overload?

Some people tend to perform better when they are under stress; other people on the other hand tend to fall to its effects. People tend to deal with the causative symptoms of stress differently. Some people easily put a bad day aside while others tend to dwell on their daily pressures a long time after they experience them. When you combine these with an unexpected illness in the family or problems at work and at home as well as packed schedules, then stress may easily occur.

Some common stressors that may cause stress overload include:

-Exposure to ongoing violence

-Death of a loved one

-Ongoing problems at work or home

-An inability to relax

-Constant overworking

-A chronic illness in self or a loved one

In some cases a stressful situation becomes so severe that people suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. This is a stress reaction that develops in people who experience such a traumatic event that their body and mind shows very serious physical, mental and emotional symptoms to stress.

Signs of Stress Overload.

When bad stress becomes detrimental to your health, your body starts to exhibit signs of stress overload, people with stress overload may then start to experience any of the following symptoms on a regular basis:

Ä  Anxiety and panic attacks.

ÄConstantly feeling pressured, overwhelmed, or hurried.

Ä  Irritability and moodiness.

Ä  Stomach ailments.

Ä  Headaches.

Ä  Chest pain.

Ä  Sudden onset of allergic reactions.

Ä  Sleep problems.

Ä  Overwhelming sadness or depression.

Stress Overload

Everybody experiences some form of stress as it is part of everyday life. When things that result in stress becomes too much, it begins to make people show symptoms of stress overload.

Stress Overload often results when people get subjected to intense pressure at home and at work or when this pressure is so long that you feel subdued and out of control. This usually occurs when the hypothalamus releases adrenaline and cortisol into the body continually this makes the body react and your blood pressure and heart rates increase. This all occurs so that your blood vessels can become wider in order to allow blood get pumped to the most important organs and muscles. Glucose is then released by the liver so as to increase energy and stamina due to the stress that is occurring in your life.

When your body is continually placed on alert, it can be damaging to your heart, lungs, brain and your immune system as well. Keeping your body in a state of chronic stress overload may also result in other serious health issues which may include high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and depression. This is a disease which much quickly be treated in order to get rid of the lasting physical and mental effects that it has on your body.

Good stress and Bad stress

The stress response (also called the fight or flight response) is critical during emergency situations, such as when a driver has to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. It can also be activated in a milder form at a time when the pressure's on but there's no actual danger — like stepping up to take the foul shot that could win the game, getting ready to go to a big dance, or sitting down for a final exam. A little of this stress can help keep you on your toes, ready to rise to a challenge. And the nervous system quickly returns to its normal state, standing by to respond again when needed.

But stress doesn't always happen in response to things that are immediate or that are over quickly. Ongoing or long-term events, like coping with a divorce or moving to a new neighborhood or school, can cause stress, too.

Long-term stressful situations can produce a lasting, low-level stress that's hard on people. The nervous system senses continued pressure and may remain slightly activated and continue to pump out extra stress hormones over an extended period. This can wear out the body's reserves, leave a person feeling depleted or overwhelmed, weaken the body's immune system, and cause other problems.

How to deal with stress (video)

This is a video about how to deal with stress. It's very interesting so pay attention =)

What is Stress?

Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness.

The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations — everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester's worth of your toughest subject.

The human body responds to stressors by activating the nervous system and specific hormones. The hypothalamus signals the adrenal glands to produce more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol and release them into the bloodstream. These hormones speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. Blood vessels open wider to let more blood flow to large muscle groups, putting our muscles on alert. Pupils dilate to improve vision. The liver releases some of its stored glucose to increase the body's energy. And sweat is produced to cool the body. All of these physical changes prepare a person to react quickly and effectively to handle the pressure of the moment.

This natural reaction is known as the stress response. Working properly, the body's stress response enhances a person's ability to perform well under pressure. But the stress response can also cause problems when it overreacts or fails to turn off and reset itself properly.