What is Stress?

Stress is a very common word in the hectic pace of life in these modern times and is often the cause of illnesses and disease. When we encounter stressful situations our bodies start preparing for a traumatic experience and produce excess amount of adrenalin to ready the body for fight or flight. It is impossible to go through life without experiencing stress of some kind and some situations will cause more stress than others. It is also possible that what would cause stress for one person would not affect another person at all.

Everyone should learn how to minimize the amount of stress in their lives and how to use effective stress relief techniques. First of all, they have to learn to recognize the situations that cause the stress. Knowing the effect that stress has on your mind and body is important so that you can realize how the various stressors in your life can impact your health. It also involves being able to recognize the signs of stress so that you know when you are feeling stressed and have a reason for feeling the way you do.

Stress manifests itself in mental and physical ways. Some of the signs of mental stress are:

a feeling of tension in all situations
feeling irritable and you cannot pinpoint a particular reason for it
you are unable to concentrate on the task at hand and your mind keeps focusing on a problem that you have
you feel excessively tired and are able to sleep at any time of the day
you may have trouble sleeping because you are constantly thinking of a stressful situation

The physical symptoms of stress include:

you have a dry sensation in your mouth
you feel as if your heart is pounding out of your chest
you have difficulty breathing
you feel nauseous
you have to urinate more frequently than usual
your muscles are tense causing you to have aches and pains
your palms start to sweat

Stress is commonly associated with unpleasant events, but there are pleasant activities that can also cause stress in your life. The birth of a new baby, a wedding or even moving to a new job are occasions to celebrate, but they can also be stressful ones. You have to identify what kinds of events cause you stress and then work to minimize the stress as much as you can. If you feel unwell, you should think about the events in your life and consider whether or not they have attributed to the changes you have experienced in your emotions, behavior and thoughts.

According to the medical profession, stress is related to a whole host of medical conditions. It can cause chronic fatigue, stomach ulcers, headache and back pain. Asthma sufferers who become stressed can have an attack that is worse than others they have experienced. Being under constant stress can increase the possibility of having a heart attack or stroke because of the increased blood flow throughout the body. It can also affect your sexual relationship with your partner because it decreases the sexual appetite.

Some of the situations that can cause you stress can be eliminated or minimized. If you are experiencing stress in the workplace, you should discuss the problems you are having with a co-worker, preferably the person who is causing the stress, or speak to the person in charge. Social and family demands can bring on symptoms of stress. If this is the case, you should sit down and discuss the situation with your family or prioritize a list of tasks and then tackle those that need to be done first. If they can wait, then they are not all that important. Learn to delegate and try not to take on everything on your own.