STRESS MANAGEMENT

Factors effect in developing Stress

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:45:45 +0000

There are several factors that effect in developing stress. This stress starts right from childhood. The school is one of the factors for developing stress in certain students. The pressures in the school may develop good amount of stress. The causes may be analyzed frequently and find the results to overcome the stress. Job is another factor that develops stress. Due to pressure in office or by working for long hours may raise stress. Lack of coordination with colleagues and lack of appraisals by superiors also may develop stress. Financial matters also may develop stress. In tax season it may raise a bit more. Relationships will also develop stress due to non availability of time to spend with them or other conflicts with them. Many other factors will effect in developing stress.

Importance of Sleep

admin — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:12:02 +0000

Although most persons spend a third of each 24 hours day asleep, no one fully understands why the body has to sleep. Without sleep a person deigns to hallucinate, and mental faculties quickly deteriote. When a person is asleep, body metabolism is slower, breathing rate and heart rate both drop, body temperature also drops, and there is reduction in muscle tone. Sleep occurs in several stages. About three quarters of sleep time is spent in deep sleep. Sleep requirements vary from person to person and from age to age. A new born baby may need as much as 21 hours of sleep per day. A growing child needs more sleep than an adult. Elderly persons tend to require less sleep than an active adult but they make up for sleep lost during the night by napping during the day.

Rest and Relaxation

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:05:26 +0000

A relaxed person is better equipped to cope with the pressures of everyday living. Many people find it difficult to relax and need to be taught relaxation techniques in order to stop wasting energy on needless activity.
Relaxing is a skill. Physical relaxation is best obtained after a period of intense activity, such as a sport game or jogging. This principle applies to relaxation exercises that help a person to be aware of the tone of the body muscles. It is easy to feel when is tensed for activity, but difficult to feel when it is fully relaxed. Relaxation exercises systematically tense the muscles throughout the body, starting at the toes and working upward toward the head. Then there is a conscious ‘letting go’ or relaxing one. It is this point that a person can start, after much practice, to ‘automatically’ relax.
Deep breathing with the diaphragm is also good way to help relaxation. Lie or sit down comfortable. Place the hands on the abdomen just below the ribcage. Slowly inhale through the nostrils, pulling the fingers open ward to the shoulders. Hold the breath for a few seconds, and then slowly exhale through the nostrils. At the end of the exhalation, concentrate on the rib shoulder muscles in their relaxed state. It is believed that four or five deep breaths prepare them for any stressful situation.

Easy Techniques for Coping with Stress

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:11:20 +0000

Many of the factors that help a person handle the ordinary stress of life can simply involve a commonsense approach to daily activities, getting enough sleep each night, setting aside relaxation, avoiding overwork, discussing problems with family or friends and cultivating a confident, positive mental attitude.
The amount of sleep required varies from person to person, and even in the same person from night to night. It is important to have a steady and sufficient amount of sleep if you are to avoid chronic fatigue and exhaustion. The amount of sleep needed to feel rested and refreshed indicates how many hours of sleep an individual requires. If sufficient sleep is obtained one night, the next sleep period should be longer to make up for it. It is better to go to bed earlier on the next night rather than to wake up later on the following day.
Another major factor in promoting mental health is having circle of family members and friends on whom an individual can rely for psychological support or financial aid in times of trouble, The security os such a support group can eliminate or greatly reduce anxiety. When a problem does arise, discussing it with a family member or friend is often enough to put the problem into its proper perspective. By the same token, a person can attain great satisfaction and feelings of self-worth from supporting another in time of stress, acting as an adviser, helper, or just a good listener.
The more secure a person feels, the more likely he or she is to be mentally healthy. The groundwork for emotional security is laid in childhood.

Understanding Behavioral Signs and Symptoms of Stress

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:04:25 +0000

Increased smoking, aggressive behaviors(such as driving), increased alcohol or drug use, carelessness, under eating, over eating, withdrawal, listlessness, hostility, accident proneness, nervous laughter, compulsive behavior and impatience.

Awareness of Cognitive/Perceptual Signs and Symptoms of Stress

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:01:05 +0000

Forgetfulness, preoccupation, blocking, blurred vision, errors in judging distance, diminished or exaggerated fantasy life, reduced creativity, lack of concentration, diminished productivity, lack of attention to detail, orientation to the past, decreased psychomotor reactivity and coordination, attention deficit, disorganization of thought, negative self-esteem, diminished sense of meaning in life, lack of control/need for too much control, negative self-statements and negative evaluation of experiences.

Identifying Emotional Signs and Symptoms of Stress

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:58:05 +0000

Irritability, angry outbursts, hostility, depression, jealously, restlessness, withdrawal, anxiousness, diminished initiative, feelings of unreality or over alertness, reduction of personal involvement with others, lack of interest, tendency to cry, being critical of others, self-deprecation, nightmares, impatience, decreased perception of positive experience opportunities, narrowed focus, obsessive rumination, reduced self-esteem, insomnia, changes in eating habits and weakened positive emotional response reflexes.

Recognizing Physical Signs and Symptoms of Stress

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:55:20 +0000

Increased heart rate, pounding heart, elevated blood pressure, sweaty palms, tightness of the chest, neck, jaw and back muscles, headache, diarrhea, constipation, urinary hesitancy, trembling, twitching, shuttering and other and other speech difficulties, nausea, vomiting, sleep disturbances, fatigue, shallow breathing, dryness of the mouth or throat, susceptibility to minor illness, cold hands, itching, being easily startled, chronic pain and dysponesis.

Assessing the existence of Stress

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:24:53 +0000

Attitude: The attitude of an individual can influence whether a situation or emotion is stressful or not. A person with negative attitude will often perceive many situations as being stressful. Negative attitude is a predictor of stress, because this type of person responds with more stress than a person with more positive attitude.
Physical well-being: If the nutritional status of the person is poor, the body is stressed and the person is not able to respond to a stressful situation. As a result, the person can be susceptible to infections. A poor nutritional state can be related to unhealthy food choices, inadequate food intake, or an erratic eating schedule. A nutritionally unbalanced eating pattern can result in an inadequate intake of nutrients.
Physical activity: Inadequate physical activity can result in a stressful state for the body. Physical activity has many physiologic benefits. A consistent program of physical activity can contribute to a decrease in depression, if it exists. It also improves the feeling of well being.
Support systems: A minimal or total lack of support systems can be a sign of family problems or of social interaction in general. Social situations can be beyond the coping ability of stressed person.
Relaxation: When a person has no hobbies or means of relaxation, they may be unable to handle stressful situations because the individual has no outlet of stress.

What is Stress?

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:42:05 +0000

Stress is a physical and psychological reaction to excessive stimulus. It is considered by some experts to be a stant mental strain, but it is also a physiological response.

Psychological stress, to a minor degree is necessary for normal alertness and awareness, but excessive stress can have the opposite effect. Stress may be aggravated by a physical illness or by a mental disorder such as depression.
Stress management is the understanding of stress and its symptoms, and the performing of activities that increase relaxation. The changes in the body that produce fatigue are not fully understood. A person naturally feels tired at the end of a stressful day or after heavy physical exercise. A violently stressful situation car crash for instance, produces severe fatigue a few minutes after the event, even if the person is not injured by the accident. If a person does not and sleep properly, important faculties such as concentration and reflexes are impaired. Fatigue also changes a person’s ability to cope with stress. In some persons stress contributes to disorders like diarrhea, migraine, skin eruptions, and even asthma.
Also many authorities believe that stress may have a direct link with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. There is also evidence that stress has an adverse effect on the immune system. If a person pushes himself or herself to the limits of fatigue, he or she is unable to deal adequately with stress and health suffers.