Let's Talk About Stress

a. What is the meaning of stress?
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way.But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.

b. Why we can get Stress?
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response

c. Cause Of Stress?
External Factor :

• Major life changes
• Work
• Relationship difficulties
• Financial problems
• Being too busy
• Children and family

Internal Factor :

• Inability to accept uncertainty
• Pessimism
• Negative self-talk
• Unrealistic expectations, perfectionism

d. Stress Symptom :

Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

e. What is effect cronic of stress?
The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.

Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by stress, including:

Pain of any kind Heart disease Digestive problems Sleep problems

Depression Obesity Autoimmune diseases Skin conditions, such as eczem

d. How to manage the stress??

• 
• Alter the situation : manage your time better, be willing to compromise etc.

• Adapt to the stressor : reframe problem, focus on the positive etc.
  

• Accept the things you can’t change : share your feelings, learn to forgive etc.
  

• Make time for fun and relaxation : do something you enjoy every day, humorAdopt etc.
  

• A healthy lifestyle : Exercise regularly, reduce caffein & sugar etc.
  

Author : Melinda Smith, M.A., Ellen Jaffe-Gill, M.A., and Robert Segal, M.A