As in final stress

By: Franchesca Eloise M. Escalante

Sometimes, stress can be good.
It helps us act when we otherwise might be paralyzed,
spurring us to overcome obstacles.

But chronic stress in everyday situations can be harmful,
to your health and psyche.

The good news is that stress can be controlled with the
right tools.

With the right physical and mental makeup, stress can be
gone.

1. UNDERSTANDING STRESS

Understand a bit about stress.1.1
Stress is physical or emotional tension
or discomfort brought on by any perceived
threat to our well-being. While some stress
can be good planning your wedding, for
example other types of stress can be
hazardous to your overall health. In this
article, we'll examine ways to curb the
negative kind of stress.

1.2 Recognize the symptoms of stress.
Stress can manifest in a number of
different ways. Be on the lookout for both
physical and emotional signs of stress. Here
are some common ways stress affects
people:

Realize some of the causes of
short-term stress.
1.3
Short-term stress is fleeting but
powerful. Just because we know it's fleeting
doesn't make it any less immediate.

1.4 Know some of the cause of
long-term stress.
Long-term stress is more pervasive. In
some cases, it can be brought on by a positive
event in one's life, such as getting a promotion
or having a child. It is arguably more hazardous
to one's health because it can stew and fester
for such a long time. With long-term stress, the
sympathetic autonomic nervous system (ANS)
initiates a fight or flight reaction semi-
permanently, without ever letting the
parasympathetic ANS relax the body and fully
take over. By: Franchesca Eloise M. Escalante

1.5 Do not use drugs or abuse alcohol
in order to deal with stress.
Dealing with stress is a difficult
arrangement. Sadly, taking drugs or abusing
alcohol in order to deal with stress doesn't do
anything to fix the stress. In the long run,
using drugs and alcohol as a crutch actually
creates more problems than it solves.

1.6 Know that stress can ultimately
be prevented.
It may seem like stress is a constant in
your life, but there are ways to keep stress
from encroaching on your happiness in the
first place. This is more than just stress
management, or what you'll find to the next
slides; this is stress prevention.

FIRST. Plan ahead. If you have a bout of short-term
stress before every midterm, for example, it's worth
planning ahead. Start studying a couple days
before you normally do, and study when
your concentration is at its peak. Plan out your
social engagements so that you have a break every
so often. Planning ahead will sometimes prevent
stress altogether.

SECOND. Create an order of operations.
Assign priorities to certain tasks, and get the
high-priority tasks done first and the low-
priority tasks done later. Signing up for health
insurance and signing up for the latest soccer
tournament should not have equal priority.
Prioritize accordingly.

THIRD. Prepare for potentially stressful
events. If you know a stressful event is on the
horizon, prepare for it mercilessly. That way,
when it comes time to give a presentation, for
example, you'll feel confident that you have
what it takes to deliver it effectively.

2. SEARCHING FOR QUICK FIXES

2.1 Ask yourself: Is there really
anything I can do about the
situation?Take a step back. Look for some
perspective. Sometimes, we get stressed
about situations over which we have
absolutely no control, like being stuck in a
traffic jam. Letting the mind know that it's
okay to relinquish control may be all you
need in order to fight stress. So if you find out
there's nothing you can do about your
suddenly stressful situation, try not to worry
about it. By: Franchesca Eloise M. Escalante

2.2 Learn not to sweat the small stuff.
Related to but distinct from the issue
above, this method is all about using
perspective to reduce stress. Life is full of
problems some of them big, some of them
small. People who successfully ward off
stress are often good about letting the small
stuff slide and focusing on the truly important
things.

2.3 Fight stress with physical activity.
Feeling stressed? Then get on a bike
and pedal out that anxiety. Put on your
running shoes and jog around the track.
Change into your trunks and take a couple
laps around the pool. Controlling stress is
sometimes as easy as getting up and moving
about.

2.4 Try meditation and breathing
exercises.
When stress takes over, the
sympathetic ANS pumps adrenaline and
other hormones into the body to prepare it for
action. Usually, the parasympathetic ANS
eventually takes over and calms the body
down. You can help the parasympathetic
ANS take over by practicing meditation and
breathing exercises.

2.5 Get social.
After getting stressed out, it's tempting
to try to isolate yourself from people. But
evidence shows that being around trusted
and amicable people can help ease stress. It
doesn't necessarily have to be your friends or
family, although they are great social
motivators; it can be acquaintances or simply
people around in, say, in a coffee shop. Being
around the right sort of people can do
wonders for managing your stress.

2.6 Distract yourself.
If your aim is improving concentration,
distracting yourself probably isn't a very good
idea. But that's not your aim, is it? Distraction
can be an effective way of temporarily
ignoring stress if you eventually use another
method of controlling it instead of just
ignoring it.

2.7 Focus on the positive.
There's almost always a silver lining in
stressful situations. On a sheet, divide the
situation into possible positive and negative
outcomes. Then do something symbolic to
the negative outcomes, like ripping them
apart or burning them up. Take the positive
outcomes and let them inform your thinking
instead of the negative outcomes.

2.8 Be simple.
In order to feel like you have more
control over your own decisions, try
simplifying aspects of your life. Take that
vacation you've been putting off for five
years. Set aside time to relax with a warm
cup of tea. Take walks with your family. Try
filling your life with simple things. It's those
simple things that often have the most
powerful effects.

2.9 Try managing stress with
music therapy.
Combine relaxation with music in order
to fight stress, dementia, speech loss, rising
blood pressure, and much more. Scientists
have found that music therapy helps people
calm their mind and body through its order,
rhythm, and predictability. Find a nice spot to
let loose, turn on some relaxing music, and
help control your stress.

3. INVESTING IN LONG-TERM
SOLUTION

It may sound a little counterproductive to
dwell on your stress in a journal, but it's
actually healthy if you learn to deal with
stress. Keep a journal with you at all times
and write in it whenever you feel stressed.
3.1 Make a stress-journal.

3.2 Start sharing your thoughts.
Being in a stressful situation can make
you feel like you're alone on an island.
Luckily, you're not. Sharing your thoughts
and feelings with other people, whether they
are friends, family, co-workers, or
acquaintances, can make you feel like a
burden has been lifted from your shoulders.

3.3 Maintain a healthy diet.
When your body is running low on fuel,
or is only running on the wrong kind of fuel,
it's hard to muster up energy to fight stress.
During this time, stress can seem
particularly frightening and be particularly
exhausting. Therefore, it's important to get
a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables,
whole grains, lean protein, fiber, and
healthy fats.

3.4 Carve out enough time in your
day to sleep.
Stress and inadequate sleep can form a
vicious cycle. On the one hand, a survey
said that 2/3 of subjects associated their
sleep problems with stress. On the other
hand, another study found that for each
hour of sleep you lose during the night,
your risk of stress increases 14%. In other
words, stress causes sleeplessness, and
lack of sleep causes stress

3.5 Reward yourself, but don't rely
too much on incentives.
This gives us an incentive to work
through difficult situations in order to do
what we know is right. But don't rely on
incentives in order to get you through
stressful times. It can be unhealthy to
always need an incentive. Sometimes you
buckle down and do something because
you want to do it or you know you should
do it. By: Franchesca Eloise M. Escalante

3.6 Ask for help.
Actively solicit the advice of others and
entertain their ideas. You never know when
another perspective will really hit home.
Asking for help may mean putting aside
your ego, but it's worth it. People are
generally keen on lending a helping hand.
(It makes them feel good about
themselves.) Learn take advantage of that
largesse.cBy: Franchesca Eloise M. Escalante

These are the three
ways to control stress,
except one.
A. Understand
Stress
B. Investing long-term solution
C. Go out of
town
D. Searching for quick
fixes

As in final stress

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