Stress Management
Stress is a natural part of life. It occurs when we are required to adapt to new or challenging situations and to manage every day hassles. At its best it helps us to meet our challenges and cope and function when we have a number of things to do.
We can experience stress in the body, mind and emotions. Stress is the emotional and physical response you experience when you perceive an imbalance between demands placed on you and your resources at a time when coping is important (New South Wales Nurses’ Association 2006)). Your perception of how negative an outcome could be, will signifi cantly determine what degree of stress you experience. So, having to wait for a bus when you have all the time in the world may not be stressful. Waiting for that same bus when you are running late for a class triggers much more stress.
It is not just the situation which causes stress. Stress can be significantly increased when we habitually worry about about possible negative outcomes. If you can’t change the situation that is causing you stress, then you need to change how you think about that situation. Two people can experience a similar situation however one will get stressed and the other won’t depending on how they think about it. Some people have negative ways of thinking whilst others are more positive in their approaches.
Worrying about negative aspects of situations can also trigger periods of intense fear or extreme anxiety. It means that when your brain thinks it is in danger, your body gets ready to fight or run away.These include symptoms of panic attack where the body will react like you are in a dangerous situation even though you are not.
Managing Stress
Most of us need to actively seek out ways to manage stress. Two effective means of keeping ontrack include being aware of our mind and senses (mindfulness) and calming our body (applied relaxation training).
Links and Resources
Google Video search on stress management
Common thinking errors which increase stress