We live in a very busy world, characterized by incessant difficultnesses and activenesses which place a outstanding demand on our time and energy. The demand and desire for perfectionalism in career, the pressure of measuring up in a competitory world and being the best at home could constitute an appreciable force, which if not in the right manner managed could lead to stress. Stress is a resisting strength set up in a body as a result of an externally applied force. It is the “wear and tear” our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually altering environment. Stress is likewise a state or physical or psychological stimulus that may fabricate mental tension or psychological reactions that may lead to illness. In medical parlance “stress” is specified as a perturbation of the body’s homeostasis. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us.

At one point or the other, everyone suffers from stress. We experience stress as we adjust our lives, as we tend to adjust to dissimilar circumstances, stress will support or hinder us depending on how we react to it. It is indispensable that you recognize that you are responsible for your own stress levels. They are ofttimes a product of how you think and your sensing to changes around you. The thinking pattern of a person helps him receive or refrain from a stress situation. If one shows disposition towards anxiety, worry, restlessness, anger, and tension as stress responses, it may lead him to chronic aroused turbulence.

Stress has physical and aroused effects on us and may construct positive and negative feelings. Extreme stress conditions, psychologists say, are damaging to humane health but moderate doses are necessary in our lives. As a positive influence, stress may compel us to action, and adds anticipation and excitement to life. There are innumerable instances of athletes rising to the challenge of stress and achieving the unachievable, scientists stressing themselves out over a point to fetch into light the most unthinkable mysteries of the extraordinary world, or a composer, developing the most lilting of tunes. Psychologists support the sentiment that a lot of stress circumstance may actually boost our inner potential and may creatively help us. However, too much stress impairs performance and has negative effect has on the body. It sends negative signals of ineffectiveness to the brain, and makes one lose control mentally and emotionally. Since it is not possible to live without any stress, building a solid stress absorber within our bodies’ mechanisms to accommodate stress and discharge it when necessary is a sign of maturity.

Causes of Stress

Ten prominent components responsible for stress are:

1. physical and mental health problems

2. pressure at workplaces

3. meeting deadlines

4. excessive traffic or long queues

5. death of loved ones

6. divorce

7. conflicts or argument with spouse or in-laws

8. kinship demands

9. failure at work

10. unemployment

Symptoms of Stress

These are signs and indications that disclose the stress level of an individual. They may be psychological, physical, aroused or mental, depending on the cause.

Physical symptoms: the following physical difficultnesses may result from or be exacerbated by stress.

1. sleep disturbance

2. back, shoulder or neck pain

3. constipation and diarrhea

4. fatigue

5. high blood pressure

6. tension or migraine headache

7. eating disorder, resulting in weight loss or gain

8. asthma or shortness of breadth

9. irregular heartbeats and palpitations

10. skin troubles e.g. hives, eczema, tics, psoriasis, and itching

Emotional symptoms; aroused stress include:

1. lack of concentration

2. memory problems

3. phobias

4. inability to think clearly

5. over-reactions

6. depression and moodiness

7. nervousness and anxiety

8. irritability and frustration

9. feeling out of control

10. inferiority complex

Relational Symptoms: the antisocial bahaviour displayed in stressful situations may cause the rapid deterioration of relationships. They include:

1. increase arguments

2. isolation from social activities

3. frequent occupation changes

4. domestic or workplaces violence

5. conflict with co-workers

6. road rage

7. over-reactions

Seven Successful Stress Management Techniques

1. Meditation: meditation helps the mind to concentrate. Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your mind be at peace, then you may deal with whatsoever life brings you.

2. Exercise: exercise helps in keeping the mind in a tension free state and wards off depression

3. Massage: massaging offers deep relaxation and soothes the body, bettering the physiological processes such as circulation, peculiarly when done by your spouse or somebody you love. By tensing and relaxing the entire muscle group in your body, you may relieve tension and feel much more relaxed.

4. Music and Relaxation: take a vacation to the beach, garden, waterfall or where you may observe nature in a cool and serene atmosphere and listen to soft and solemn music beneath a relaxed mood and see stress diffusing out of your body.

5. Planning: prior and adequate planning of our day to day actions and our lives in usual may ease our lives of confusedness and heighten optimal performance in dealing with stress.

6. Enough Sleep: be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible

7. Positive Thinking: conquer negative thoughts by thinking positively. Enrich your mind with the words of God; casting all your cares upon Him for He careth for you

Tayo Korede is the president of Gifted Hands Foundation, an organisation that reaches out to a world of young poeple, setting tham on the path of fate and re-inventing a formidable generation for future challenges. He is a valued author and culumnist in various magazines like Light house and Living water. He is also foremost speaker in schools, churches and other youth gatherings, where he impacts lives with not common leadership style. Contact me through my email @: successghf@yahoo.com. Come and let’s succeed together.

Stress Management Psychological Foundations

Showing how to efficaciously utilise stress management procedures, this proactive book delves into the psychological aspect of stress management to provide a deeper understanding of the roots and apps of stress management interventions. Covering the historical, theoretical, experimental, and physiological originations of the conception of stress, it shows how these foundation materials provide the framework for the development and application of a wide range of stress management procedures. Delineates the basic constituents of today’s major stress management intervention proficiencies (describing when and how to use peculiar interventions to deal with specific stress-related problems); reviews the current status and developments in the field; deals directly with stress management procedures—detailing their origins, how they are implemented, and their current status in terms of overall effectiveness, and much more. For masters in psychology and business management.