Stress is funny. Not ha-ha funny, but odd funny. It can motivate you to improve your life. But, it can also ruin your health and your life.
What stress does to you seems to hinge on how much stress you have and what sorts of stress. It can also hinge on what your past has taught you about stress – how you have learned to react to stress.
The physical signs of stress are meant to help you physically survive – fight or flight. In today's world, this is only rarely helpful, since most stress today is mental.
Psychological stress will come from issues such as concern about money, relationships, and your health. Your body's physical reaction to stress does not help these situations. Since these situations are common and long-lasting, your body can potentially be in a constant state of stress.
High stress can cause health problems as varied as muscle tension, sleep problems, mental confusion, depression and digestion problems. Health problems from stress eventually just increase the stress you already have.
It is obvious that managing and reducing your stress is a priority. There are thousands of people offering you advice on how to do this. You will need to find what works for you. What advice is most helpful for your situation and your way of doing things?
Looking into what causes you stress as well as how you experience stress.
It can be helpful to decide of your stress is situational or behavioral – Is your stress reaction appropriate for the current situation or does it feel blown out of proportion? Figuring this out can require some brutal honesty on your part.
If it is situational, what are the causes and can they be addressed in a practical manner? Is it realistic to expect yourself to get some form of exercise and a proper diet? (I know from personal experience, if I have high stress it is when my life is too busy to work-out or get to the grocery store for planned meals)
If your stress if from behaviors, spend some time reviewing the situation. Separate what is about now and what is about the past, such as memories of past emotional events. (the stronger the emotion, the more vivid the memory. The more vivid the memory, the stronger the stress you will continue to feel from it.)
After becoming more aware of your stress, you will have a better idea of how to take care of it.
Situational stress you can work through and will eventually be behind you. Behavioral stress may need outside help to get behind you and may take a little more time to get beyond. It IS possible, will take some effort, and IS worth doing.
If you consider your stress a serious problem, seek professional help. Prescription Medicine is sometimes an answer, though many people complain of side effects and do not like the foggy feeling some medicines give. They'll sometimes say they don't know which is worse, to live in a fog or to be stressed.
Look into your options and find what fits for you. Then, make use of them. When it comes to improving your life, the only poor choice is to not make a choice.
