| |
| |
|
Stress Management Information |
|
|
|
Stress Secrets: How To Remove Hidden Sources Of Stress
Most people find it easy to identify the sources of stress in their lives. Ask Maggie M. about the stress in her life and she says, "I run a full time business and have an active toddler. My husband's job keeps him working 10 hours days, so I do most of the errands. I know exactly where stress comes from!" But many people find that even in times of great happiness, they find themselves feeling anxious, depressed or flat-out stressed. One possible cause of these feelings is invisible stressors, for example: 1) Marriage: Being a newlywed is supposed to the culmination of a dream. Women, especially, are often raised to think that marriage is the fulfillment of womanhood. But it's a huge change for men and women alike. Even if you shared living quarters before marriage, the event can give rise to new expectations and pressures from family, friends and work. 2) Travel. Many people schedule travel vacations as a reward for hard work. Beautiful beaches, a week away from the in-box, the out-box, and the phone, endless entertainments for kids. Unfortunately, even the best laid vacation plans can go awry: delayed flights, flat tires, or a sick child can snag even the most seamless vacation plans. And travel advertisement may not be realistic: the beach may be crowded, the best restaurant closed for repairs, the slopes snow-free. Maybe a hidden hope of romance didn't come true, or the antiques shopping turned out to be more expensive or less interesting than you expected. 3) Holidays. While the movie "Home for the holidays" plays on the humor of holiday stress, in real-life the stress takes place real-time. You may be meeting new people or parents who still treat you as if you're a teenager. We may expect gifts, family behavior, or meals that don't meet those expectations. And for many people, holidays bring up painful memories of people now gone, happier times gone by, or past dashed hopes. 4) Promotions. We often view promotion as a reward for hard labor or special ability, with a more prestigious title or increased paycheck. But promotions can shake up your self-image; you may ask if you're really up to the new tasks, deserving of the raise, or capable of handling the new people you'll be working with. Even the increased paycheck can bring up questions at home about how the extra money should be spent (or not spent) and how it will impact the lives of your children or parents. 5) Retirement or children leaving home. You may be thinking: "Ah, now I have time for myself." No more fussing and feuding about the job, the boss, the child's fluctuating grades or more dubious friends. But these milestones also involve a redefining of the self: who am I now that I'm not "a carpenter," "a manager," or "Dad"? What's The Common Factor The first key to finding hidden stressors is to look for changes. Any big change, even a positive one, is a change, and change - in our evolutionary pasts - were equated with danger. Our bodies go through a series of hormonal and neuronal changes to deal with potential danger, and we feel stressed until we've learned to accommodate a new situation. The second key to finding hidden stressors is to look for situations where one's expectations don't match reality. This is the situation when vacations don't go as planned or we discover that our new spouse, wonderful though he is, owns three versions of a video golf game. How To Manage Hidden Stress So, how can we mitigate some of these stresses? First, understand that they are stresses. Give yourself the mental space to accommodate these changes; understand that it will take some time to adapt to these changes. Second, recognize what your expectations are about a big change - what are your hopes for your retirement? your pregnancy? Then garner information: talk with friends who've been to your chosen vacation spot, meet with other expectant fathers, talk with your favorite siblings about what worked about the last family holidays and didn't. Plan for the problems that may arrive, but also make sure your plan has space and time in it for the problems you couldn't predict: don't plan the first event for an hour after you arrive in Orlando, schedule an activity for your weekend guests that will leave you an hour and an empty house to relax in. Make sure there's some dreamtime scheduled into your first few weeks of retirement and some time for spontaneous changes that can be the best part of any new event. While you can't plan for every event, you can give yourself the space to accommodate the unplannable and enjoy the new part of your life. McConnell EA, "Myths & facts ... about stress." Nursing, Volume 30, issue 8, p. 82, 2000 Jones PS, "Adaptability: a personal resource for health," Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practice, Volume 5, issue 2, p. 95-108, 1991 Stokes SA, Gordon SE., " Common stressors experienced by the well elderly, clinical implications," Journal of Gerontological Nursing, Volume 29, issue 5, p 38-46, 2003 Copyright (C) Shoppe.MD and Ian Mason, 2004-2005 Learn more about health, diet and exercise at our weight loss forum. PhenForum.com is a popular discussion forum for weight loss programs, diet advice, and tips to help you burn fat. All the best, Ian Mason
MORE RESOURCES:
Stress-Management - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Stress Management and Mastery: 3 Powerful Tools to Beat Stress Q: We recently had someone come to our company to talk about stress management. All he did was talk about the physical results of stress and tell us we need to not be so stressed and to relax. The Three Rs of Handling Your Emotions My son was watching a Richard Scarry video this morning as I was doing my usual rushing around, getting ready to leave the house. He's watched it countless times, but I've never managed to sit through the entire thing. Stress May Cost Businesses Millions, But the Costs to the Sufferer are Far Worse Governements and businesses have regularly highlighted the costs of stress to them in monetary terms. The real cost is the affect on the lives of the people who suffer from it. Overcoming Stress: Successful Living The Easy Way So many of us live a stressful life. Unfortunately, when we are unable to take the time that we all need to nurture ourselves we fall victim to self-pity, depression, or burn-out. Tame Your Work Stress Work stress has become a major problem today. The nature of work is changing at whirlwind speed. Those Deceiving Emotions Deceiving? You bet they are. How? Without your even knowing it, the effects of anger, frustration, and resentment can take a toll on your life. Using Exercise to Relieve Stress Most people know of the importance of exercise as a means of weight loss, strength gains, and increased endurance, but exercise can play a major role in the reduction of stress. Along with just stress relief, exercise can help improve mental health, emotion and mood. Stress Management: Are You a Workaholic - Humorous View As we celebrate yet another Labor Day, I thought it might be useful to take a look at the place of work in our lives.For some of us, work is a means to an end, for others it's a joy, and for still others it's like an addiction. Turn Your Stress into Success! Stress is often seen as being unhealthy, but for some it is the very key to their success.What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word "stress"? It may be something like, jam-packed schedules, loads of responsibilities, piles of work, trying to balance work and home, or just struggling to make ends meet. Empathy - Anxiety & Panic If you are an anxiety and panic sufferer, then you've probably taken a fast learning track of how many people around you actually suffer from this one skill "empathy".How many times have you told yourself or maybe even to others "you don't understand" or "they don't understand what I'm going through". Dont Let Technology Psych You Out! We've all experienced it-computerized technology that doesn't function properly. PCs that crash on Monday morning, copiers that melt transparencies, printers that smear ink on Board reports, phones that crackle during crisis calls, Internet viruses that destroy everything but non-essential data, faxes that send documents to the wrong long distance number, and so forth. I'm Gettin' Really Torqued! For those of you who have been living in a cave for most of your lives, you can translate the "torqued" in the heading of this article to "mad" or "angry". For today's discussion of anger, let's quantify the intensity of our focus with the words "downright, PO'd!" I think that's quite clear. Three Tips for Forgiveness: A Key Factor in Anger Management Elizabeth, 32, cried during anger management class as she told how one year ago - her 19-month-old girl was permanently brain-damaged as the result of a medical error at the hospital in which she was delivered.Elizabeth had a legitimate grievance toward the hospital and medical staff, and felt that she could never forgive them for what she saw as their incompetence. The Scoop on Stress and Exercise Stress is defined as a response by your body to any demand made upon it and a 'demand' means a change.Did you know different stress levels have names? For example "Neutral" stress is the amount of work it takes to maintain normal body function. Conquering Stress and Depression with Exercise One of the best ways to combat stress and depression is to make physical fitness a part of your daily routine. Aside from the proven health benefits of exercise, people who exercise regularly are more apt to deal with stressful situations more easily, handle physical work tasks better, and tend to be less susceptible to illness and injuries. How to Relieve Stress One question that is not asked enough by people under stress is how to relieve stress. Unfortunately, people who are under stress tend to simply take it as a matter of course and simply accept its existence as though it was some sort of natural occurrence, or even a boon! Thus, people who are feeling the effects of stress do not actually take the time to notice that they are under stress and need relief. How To Put An End To Loneliness Loneliness and separation are the real illness of our times. While we urgently need true communication, instead we often find withdrawal, games and lies. Control Stress or It Will Control Your Business When we think about stress in the workplace, we usually refer to ulcers or heart conditions, but stress has a much broader impact. It is known that stress is linked to cancer, lung ailments, cirrhosis of the liver, immunity to common illnesses, back problems, and many other medical problems. Minimizing Stress Understanding StressStress has been called "the invisible disease". It is a disease that may affect you, your organization, and any of the people in it, so you cannot afford to ignore it. Three Stress Relief Techniques There is good stress, and there is bad stress. Good stress is the type that propels a person to excel, to reach new heights or to complete a big project on time.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
