UNDERSTANDING STRESS

UNDERSTANDING STRESS

According to the American Psychological Association, “stress can be a reaction to a short-lived situation, such as being stuck in traffic. Or it can last a long time when you’re dealing with relationship problems, a spouse’s death or other serious situations. Stress becomes dangerous when it interferes with your ability to live a normal life over an extended period. You may feel tired, unable to concentrate or irritable. Stress can also damage your physical health.”

Stress varies significantly for each of us, making it difficult to define. What may cause stress for one person may not be stressful for another; we all respond differently. The sense of having little to no control is always distressful—and that’s what stress is all about. (AIS)

The American Psychological Association put together an article about the Six Myths About Stress, which you’ll see outlined below.

The Six Myths:

  1.   Stress is the same for everybody: Each of us responds to stress in an entirely different way.
  2. Stress is always bad for you: The issue here is how to manage stress. Managed stress makes us productive and happy; mismanaged stress hurts and even kills us
  3. Stress is everywhere, so you can’t do anything about it: Effective planning and prioritizing you’re life while working on the simple problems first is the start of doing something about it.
  4. The most popular techniques for reducing stress are the best ones: We are all different, our lives are different, our situations are different, and our reactions are different. A program must be tailored to a specific individual to work.
  5. No symptoms, no stress: Absence of symptoms does not mean the absence of stress.
  6. Only major symptoms of stress require attention.

All stress requires you to grasp it, and effectively manage it.  Minor stress symptoms are the early warning signs that your life is getting out of hand and that you need to do a better job of managing the stress in your life.

Everyone feels stressed from time to time, it’s important to know your boundaries when it comes to stress. Remember that not all stress is bad. For more information about the dealing with stress at the David Lawrence Centers contact us here.

Nov 20, 2014 | Mental Health

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