How stress can affect your health, and some ways to control it.
Is it the feeling of fear that comes from facing a tough day at work? Is it the knot in your stomach from dealing with a problem family member? Is it just the pressures that everyday life puts on us all?
The answer to all these questions is "yes." Everybody feels stress in different ways. And there is no single definition that everyone can agree on. Stress can be caused by "bad" things like a sick family member or car problems. But it can also be caused by "good" things, like the arrival of a new baby. This should be a very happy time for a family. But caring for a baby can also be the source of worry and stress. Another example: the holidays. Christmas can be a very happy time of year. But buying gifts, decorating, and dealing with relatives can raise stress levels to new heights.
Things that stress some people out can make other people happy. Ehealthmd.com has some great examples.
The truth is that stress is not just one thing. It's many things to many people. But science has shown that when stress is not controlled, it can lead to real problems. On their website, The American Institute of Stress lists 50 things that stress can cause. Here are just a few:
As you can see, when stress isn't controlled, it can cause many problems. And these can lead to even more problems. In many cases, stress about one thing can lead to even more stress and worry about other things. If a person's home life is stressful, they could begin to have problems at work. They could be late and not do a good job. That could then lead to more stress and even sickness.
In today's world, there really is no way to not have some stress. Most people have to work to make money. And even people with money face stress. There are likely very few people who don't have some sort of stress. So what can you do? The best answer is simple: control it. Learn to lower stress in your life. Recognize stress and soften its blow. There are many tested ways to lower stress. Not all of these work for every person. So find the ones that work for you and stick with them.
Here, we give you just a few stress-relieving ideas. We hope you find them useful. We also hope that you come up with your own ideas on how to live with less stress.
One of the best ways to begin lowering your stress levels is to find out what's causing it. Recognizing that an extra-busy week, a new baby or a home repair is causing you to worry is the first step in dealing with your stress. Once you know what's causing it, you can reduce the amount of stress it causes.
WebMD.com offers these tips to help you control stress in your daily life
So now that you know some ways to control stress, how can you relieve the stress you already have? Again, WebMD has some great tips:
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Let's face it. Work can be one of the biggest causes of stress. Whether it's a problem boss, a tough task, or simply the pressure of making a living, job stress is shared by almost everyone who works.
But just like at home, there are many ways to help you handle on-the-job stress. Some will work better for you than others. The best idea is to try several and stick with the ones that work best for you.
Seven simple tips for reducing stress at work
Life can be hard. Work can make you worry. And stress is unfortunately a part of life many days. But it doesn't have to be a big part. So try some of the tips listed above. Or come up with your own ways to relieve stress in your life. Whatever you do, remember one thing. When you learn to control stress, it can't control you.
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