Knowledge Portal/

TIPS ON STRESS MANAGEMENT

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
June 11, 2005

Stress is a part of our lives. It is the way we react to certain conditions, changes and demands in our lives. Eustress, or normal stress in one’s life, is good. It helps us face the challenges that come our way and the problems we have to solve. It makes us focus and helps us move forward.

However, distress, or too much stress, can be very bad. It can even lead to chronic health problems and inability to cope, or much worse, death. Being aware of unrelieved stress is not enough in reducing its harmful effects. That is why Watsons, in partnership with Stresstabs and Advil, promotes its Pharmacy Self Care campaign on stress management.

MANY SOURCES

There are many sources of stress; and there are many possibilities for its management. All require work toward change; changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. Stress is a protective mechanism. Your body produces adrenalin when you’re stressed, preparing you for “fight or flight.”
When an organism experiences shock or threat, it releases hormones to survive. These stressors can either be positive or negative. For example, interviews cause applicants some negative feelings, but they are positive in that they eventually lead to accomplishment of a goal. Indeed, stress is a fact of life, but being stressed out is not. Overanxiety is not just a mental hazard but a physical one, too. Being stresses out makes us vulnerable to sickness and less open to the beauty and pleasure of life.

HELPFUL HINTS

Here are some helpful hints to help you manage your stress from Pauline Middleton, a Florida-based stress management consultant.

1. KNOW WHAT STRESSES YOU MOST. Not your co-worker, friend, husband or wife. You!! Get your feelings out. Write them out and describe each situation. Share all bad feelings with a friend or in a journal. Before you can conquer your stresses, you must know what is stressing you.

2. SAY NO. Focus on your own goals, not your spouse’s or parents’. You must know yourself, your dreams and your passions. If asked to chair another group or take on another responsibility, look at your mission statement or goals for the day. If the additional task does not fit them, just say thank you but you will not be able to take on the job. Saying no is one of the hardest things in life, but it will help make you successful in your chosen field.

3. LEARN TO RELAX. Learn to mediate and take deep breaths to calm down. Work hard but know when to take time off to be with the family, go to the beach, or read a book. Work all day if you must, but when you get home, listen to your favorite CD watch cartoons, or tell your child a story. This allows stress tension to go away and helps you calm the heart’s pace, digest food normally and protect your immune system.

4. EAT HEALTHY. Eat less junk food and more fruits and vegetables for an amazing overall lowering of stress levels. We can actually lower the amount of the bad stress hormone, cortisol, by taking multivitamins.

5. KEEP LAUGHING. Have a sense of humor. Studies show a good attitude helps lower cancer rates, makes surgery more effective, and keeps a relationship together through hard times. Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!

6. ASK YOURSELF WHY. Why are you doing this? Write down your wants, needs, goals, hopes and dreams. Does what you are doing now help you fulfill any of these things? What is your motivation? The more you understand why you do what you are doing, the less stress you will have. If you cannot come up with a good reason, then stop doing it.

7. STAY ACTIVE. Exercise is a great way to relive tension and gives you a great break from exams. A healthy body makes a happy body. Even a three-minute jog is helpful in taking your mind off your pressures. You’ll come back with better focus and renewed energy.

8. FOLLOW YOUR BLISS. Try to know which subjects and type of people you enjoy. Structure your life around activities that you love. The more you do in life that goes with your own flow, the more passion you’ll have for what you do.

9. ORGANIZE AND PRIORITIZE. Do the worst and hardest tasks first. Keep a to-do list and calendar with you at all times. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

These nine steps will help you get rid of that stress bug. These will make you recapture your peace and sanctity to perform better as a person.
While these stress management tips give you a deep and robust understanding of stress, it also produces a positive outcome on handling your unique stress circumstances. However, clean living, proper diet, right amount of exercise and multivitamins, can help you fight stress more efficiently and effectively.