Essay 1: Therapeutic Methods To Reduce Stress.

A person who is exposed to stress obviously needs both physical and psychological relaxation. But in a busy, fast-paced society like this, not many people can find time to carry out long-term practices or take up courses with health counsellors to cope wih stress. This essay will discuss a few quick therapeutic techniques which we can use to reduce stress and live a healthier life.

The first therapeutic technique is the breathing exercises. Most people might think thb\at breathing is a natural process and there is no need to practice. But breathing precisely in the right pattern and regularly is not an easy task. It is best for stress-diagnosed people to try to breath in calmly but deeply, inhaling and exhaling with rhythms and balanced air consumption. A relaxed, slow pace of breathing is highly recommended, while you can also close your eyes or count the rhythms during breathing exercises.

The second technique is the progressive muscle relaxation. This technique mainly helps in reducing the tension in the muscle of the whole body, however it is best that you deal with each section of the muscles individually and separately. Instead of building up harsh schedules of exercising the muscles, you should have gentle practice with each of the muscles, one by one. This will not only help enhance your physical strength but also keep the stressors away from your mind

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Last but not least, exotic therapies can also play a very important role in dealing with stress. Traditional techniques from India, China and other Asian – African countries have proven to be effective, even more than medical treatment and drugs consumption, when combined with related methods of stress relieving. Yoga, taichi and qi gong are among the most effective techniques, which cured many patients who were suffering from chronic stress. These techniques are very special since they combine exercises with traditional meditation, and are not very time-consuming. You might need some training at first, but later on you can do these at home.

Essay 2: Stress Relief.

Stress can be a real threat to our lives, especially those who are vulnerable in the psychological system. But there are useful and effective ways to cope with stress from the most simple to the heaviest type. Here are a few tips to relieve your daily life stress.

First of all, the key to any kind of disease’s cure is the positive attitude towards life. You cannot free yourself from stress if you continue to view events in your life in a pessimistic way. Every cloud has a silver lining, so even in strains and intense situations, try to look at the bright side and do not let your spirit go down in any situations. By this way, your brain will be much more relaxed and therefore is more strongly defensive against stressors.

Secondly, you should build up a regular exercising routine. Although the exercises mainly deal with physical training, you will be amazed at how they can help you get rid of stress. A healthy body will not be vulnerable to stressors; moreover, these exercise can help you stay positive in the mind as well as keep you occupied from negative thinking. Regular exercising can also help the body to create necessary hormones and other chemical elements that can be used to cope effectively with stress.

The next tip to avoid and relieve from stress is to have a healthy diet. Some of us might find this irrelevant to stress coping or stress tolerance, but scientists have given evidence to how a healthy diet can help reduce the amount of stress in a person’s lifestyle. For example, if one can balance between the amount of fat (or calories) they consume during a day and the amount of calories they burn, it is very unlikely that the individual will be vulnerable or encounter with stress due to the sufficient hormones a balanced diet can provide. Also, eating sensibly will also prevent one from having troubles with their physical health, therefore lessen the chance of being diagnosed with stress.

Last but not least, finding a hobby and spend a reasonable time on it is also a crucial factor in keeping yourself away from stress. It is in fact very healthy for a person to have a hobby and spend quality time enjoying it since free-time activities make people more relaxed and have a calmer attitude towards life events, even traumatic ones. Hobbies will help people spend their time in a sensible way without wasting it, and most derives great pleasures from doing hobbies like writing diaries, playing sports, writing stories and music, playing music, drawing, etc. Not only can it boost your positiveness but also give you knowledge and experience about the outside world, which is really useful in fighting against stress.

Essay 3: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Stress is, apparently, now officially viewed among both scientists and ordinary residents as a clinical matter. But it does not only consist of regular stress types; in fact further studies show that there are many other branches of stress-related problems which are far more dangerous and even destructive to people’s health. Among which, post-traumatic stress disorder is ranged one of the most dangerous diseases.

The general concept of post-traumatic disorder is explained very briefly but remains clear and logical according to Wikipedia: “a severe condition that may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, serious injury or the threat of death. The diagnosis may be given when a group of symptoms such as disturbing recurring flashbacks, avoidance or numbing of memories of the event, and hyperarousal (high levels of anxiety) continue for more than a month after the traumatic event”. Being classified as an anxiety disorder, PTSD affect an individual’s psychological health by constant interference with the thinking process of the person, particularly PTSD persistently avoids all thoughts, emotions and discussion of the stressor event. The consequence after constant PTSD is very serious and even might lead to the loss of cognitive abilities.

PTSD is believed to be caused by traumatic events, especially extreme ones. The possible causes of PTSD include: family violence, evolutionary psychology, genetics, epigenetics, risk factors, military experience, drug misuse, foster care, etc. Although the cause may vary in different cases, the subjects who are at the highest risk of PTSD are combat military personnel, victims of natural disasters, concentration camp survivors and victims of violent crime.

Despite the rather altered symptoms and characteristics compared to that of regular stress, the consequences that one can derive from PTSD is quite similar and even much more serious. Possible influences might include emotional avoidance and numbness, negative change of behaviors, mental disabilities, pessimistic attitude, constant flashback of only traumatic events, intense psychological distress…

Essay 4: Stress In The Workplace.

Many scientific studies have pointed out that the majority of stress that people are suffering from nowadays resulted from the enormous workload they have to deal with, and the pressures they derive from the workplace. Further insight, therefore, is very necessary for stress managing and preventing.
The workplace is an environment full of concerns and tensions. Though some of these are quite unnecessary, the rest are explanable strains and there are only few ways to stop people from worrying about their work. Stress can come from anywhere regarding the working environment, including salary, relationships with colleagues and employers, keeping up the performance at work, promotions, etc. Because the work affect people’s life quality directly (by maintaining their occupance and monthly income), it is not easy to prevent stress whose source roots from the workplace.

But even the hardest task has its way to be solved. Nowadays, due to the developments of science, people have been able to carry out programs and practices which can provide them with stress prevention or stress management. Ways of stress relieving include: therapy, communication programs, and a more flexible work schedule. In serious cases such as chronic stress or other mental problems, it is best that the employee change the work environment and consult a doctor for best medical treatments. However, in most cases, stress relieving programs actually proved effective especially communication ones since they help strengthen the relationship between colleagues and employers, therefore create a smooth atmosphere and avoid unnecessary arguments which can cause stress.
As a way to help their employees, many businesses have begun to use stress management program at work for those who are having trouble adapting to stress at the workplace or even at home. These programs are based on the idea of alleviating stress from workers by individual intervention. The intervention is divided into 3 steps: primary, seconday and tertiary. According to Wikipedia, “primary deals with eliminating the stressors all together. Secondary deals with detecting stress and figuring out ways to cope with it and improving stress management skills. Finally, tertiary deals with recovery and rehabbing the stress all together”. These 3 steps are vital in reducing stress both at workplace and in general. This program also include in-house counselling courses which can help employees not only at work but also on how to deal with stress at home. The process of stress management in this program might include helping workers to develop social skills and social support, while at the same time try to avoid and eliminate stressors in life. However, for serious cases like chronic stress, changing the workplace will be best, by giving them a new environment to adapt and even provide them with more authority. These factors can change the behaviour and attitude of a person towards stress and therefore will help them think more positively.

Essay 5: The Effectiveness Of Stress Management.

Many studies and researches had been carried out on the field of stress management and its theories, especially the techniques which are widely used in stress management. It is never assuredly affirmed whether stress management is of complete value and can actually cure stress, however the effectiveness of this method has been confirmed by a large number of people who suffered from chronic stress and took stress management therapies.

First of all, stress management has proven positive influence on physiological and immune system. In fact the benefits which can be gained from stress management techniques are unlimited. One can strengthen their immune system against some infectious diseases by taking up stress management courses and practice techniques at home. The physical strength of the body will also be enhanced, due to positive attitudes towards life that one gained from stress management. The less people take stress seriously, the stronger their mind and body will be.

The observed results are collected on a period of stress managing practices without the interventions of medical treatments, such as:

· treatment of anger or hostility,
· autogenic training
· talking therapy (around relationship or existential issues)
· biofeedback
· cognitive therapy for anxiety or clinical depression

More specifically, these methods include mostly psychological treatments which can either be carried out by health experts or by the patients themselves with the help of references. Although it may vary in different circumstances due to the diversity of stress levels and stress tolerance, the result will be best when these techniques are used properly along with a scientific, healthy lifestyle.

Essay 6: Specific Techniques Of Stress Management.

The more demanding and fast-paced life gets, the more we find ourselves having troubles with maintaining a balanced lifestyle. One can be very vulnerable to chronic stress if they do not know how to manage their limit of stress tolerance. To help strengthen the body and get rid of stress, techniques of stress management have been developed and in fact vary to different subjects.

Most of the techniques listed below focus on the aspect of coping directly with stressors. However, the level of abstraction differs in each case, for example some might induce a lower than usual stress level, while others have the tendency to face stressors at higher level of abstraction. Either way, stress management techniques are expected to help people be able to individually solve the inner pressures and face the challenges.

According to Wikipedia, stress management techniques usually include:

-Autogenic training
-Social activity
-Cognitive therapy
-Conflict resolution
-Cranial Release Technique
-Exercise
-Getting a hobby
-Meditation
-Mindfulness (psychology)
-Deep breathing
-Yoga Nidra
-Nootropics
-Reading novels
-Prayer
-Relaxation techniques
-Artistic expression
-Fractional relaxation
-Progressive relaxation
-Spas
-Somatics training
-Spending time in nature
-Stress balls
-Natural medicine
-Clinically validated alternative treatments
-Time management
-Planning and decision making
-Listening to certain types of relaxing music
-Spending quality time with pets

These techniques are believed among people who were diagnosed with chronic stress as effective and have certain positive influences towards both physical and psychological health.

Along with stress curing and relief therapies, there are other stress management techniques which focus on the prevention of stress, rather than dealing with the consequences after constant stress endurance. This technique is regarded as “stress prevention and resilience”, a field of study which is closely related to psychological resilience-building. This theory is mainly based on the researches carried out about the practice of cognitive-behavioural therapies.

Essay 7: General Stress Management.

The domination of stress as a clinical disease is threatening human beings, bringing more challenges to the already fast-paced and busy life of people. It is explanable that the more stressful our lives get, the harder it is for us to deal with the situation. Therefore, ways of coping with stress has been researched and exercised, among which stress management proved to be effective due to its practical values.

According to Wikipedia, stress management is the term which refers to the “wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of improving everyday functioning”. Different types of stress management methods have been used include both domestic practice and practice with health experts. Either way, stress management is vital in cases of diagnosis with stress, especially chronic stress. Although the actual influence of stress management therapies have not been affirmed, the number of people who were cured from stress by these methods is large.

Stress management was first discovered by two scientists, Walter Cannons and Hans Selye, who used animal studies to establish the earliest scientific basis for the study of stress. Documented results about the change of behaviors of animals under certain pressures and conditions such as heat and cold, restraint and surgical procedures helped them to come up with a new theory and later on was developed with subsequent studies in human into stress management againts external stimulations.

There are two models of general stress management: the transactional model and the health realization/innate health model. According to the first model, stress is the consequence resulting from the imbalance between the demand and the resource, or in other words when the stress level extends the endurance of an individual. As Wikipedia stated: “stress is not a direct response to a stressor but rather one's resources and ability to cope mediate the stress response and are amenable to change, thus allowing stress to be controllable”. This method indicates that it is necessary to identify the factors that are central to a person controlling their stress, and to identify the intervention methods which effectively target these factors.

The second model focuses on the nature of people’s thought, considering it a process that determines one’s responses to stress itself. Being quite similar to the first method, this health realization method does not centralize on the aspect of possible stressors. Wikipedia wrote: “This model proposes that helping stressed individuals understand the nature of thought—especially providing them with the ability to recognize when they are in the grip of insecure thinking, disengage from it, and access natural positive feelings—will reduce their stress”.

Essay 8: Chronic Stress – A Threatening Complication Of Regular Stress.

Chronic Stress – A Threatening Complication Of Regular Stress.

As we all know, al kinds of diseases have symptoms and diagnosis and cures. And it is important that if we are diagnosed with an illness, we must find the possible treatment to it. But what happens if an unhealthy body fails to receive proper treatment? The disease will get worse end eventually turns into a type of chronical illness. Stress is not an exception. The level of damage stress can cause to an individual is already high, but chronic stress is something much worse that we should not at all underestimate.

Chronic stress is what happens if your body and mind have to endure with constant stress and pressures in a long period without any treatment or therapy to lessen the condition. When faced with constant stress in daily life, our body has the tendency to react to stress strongly as it is a fatal situation. According to Helpguide.org, “If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the harder it is to shut off”. Therefore, it is very dangerous for your body to encounter with too much stress within a long period, and the more it extends, the worse your health condition will be.

Chronic stress can be as harmful as any other diseases, once it interferes with your health. Long-term exposure to stress can be the cause of serious health problems, from damaging the internal organs of the body to causing mental illnesses. Constant suffering of stress leaves you vulnerable of any negative external factors, and exposes you to the threat of serious depression or autism if not treated properly. Possible consequences of chronic stress include aches and pains, heart diseases, digestive problems, insomnia, depression, obesity and even dermatological problems.

These consequences of chronic stress are all serious and might even be fatal, but it is possible to prevent one from suffering from constant stress. We should all learn to protect ourselves from potential health risks and lead a happy lifestyle.

Essay 9: How To Know When You Are Having Too Much Stress.

To us people, stress is now no longer an unfamiliar term. However, the way of viewing stress differs from one to another according to each individual’s level of endurance. Perhaps to this person, stress means to cope with major pressures from the workload or emotional depressions, while to another, stress simply is a reaction to the smallest negative events of life. Therefore, it is vital that you understand your ability to cope with stress and enhance it by restricting sources of stress.

The ability to tolerate with stress depends much on the way you look at your life and also the external environmental you are living in. It is understandable why some people can cope with an enormous amount of stress while some others have very limited tolerance with pressures; it is the matter of background and perspective. There are a few factors, according to scientists, which can influence the stress tolerance level of people, and first of which is the support network. As Helpguide.org wrote, “A strong network of supportive friends and family members is an enormous buffer against life’s stressors. On the flip side, the more lonely and isolated you are, the greater your vulnerability to stress”. However, this also has a downside: if you are surrounded by too many people at the same time, you may derive stress from having to interact and communicate too much without spending time on your own.

The sense of control is the second influential factor contributing to your ability to cope with stress. Strong-minded and determined people have the tendency to experience much less stress than vulnerable people who thinks they are incapable of keeping things under control. The key to reducing stress lies partly in your confidence towards decisions and your influence on events and challenges. Therefore, maintaining a balanced and stable sense of confidence is a crucial role while you try to reduce stress.

The third element that effects stress tolerance is your attitude and outlook. Most people who are pessimistic and lack belief suffer from stress, either in temporary or chronic stress. That is because negative attitudes towards life only enable stress to expand its harmful influences and allows it to stay in your mind within a long period. If you want to avoid stress and live a happy life, boost up your positive side by maintaining an optimistic perspective, embrace challenges and believe in a higher purpose or ambition of life.

The ability to deal with the diversity of emotion is also an important factor to enhance stress endurance. Whenever you feel sad, or angry, or afraid and even depressed, it is crucial that you can keep calm and maintain the stability as well as balance of your emotions. If you don’t know how to soothe yourself in these situation, the likelihood of getting involved with stress is very high.

Last but not least is the knowledge and preparation you have in your hands. You will be more likely to increase your “immune system” against stress if you know about the stressful situation. In other words, the more information you get about the situation, the more security and relaxation you will have, and therefore no more unnecessary stress. Coping with stress means to know your limit and understand how you would have to deal with it.

To sum up, the above five factors contributing to your stress tolerance level can be very useful for your future stress avoiding progress in life. It is best to know your enemy and what you will have to do to fight against it.

Essay 10: Specific Signs And Symptoms Of Overloading Stress.

Never in the past have there been so many people who are suffering from the fast-paced lifestyle and the heavy workload of this day and age. Stress is expanding its negative influences on every subject of every generation, and we cannot observe the situation withoutdoing something about it. To recognize the state of having stress, there are some signs and simple symptoms that we can use and identify the illness before possible consequences.

The following signs are divided into four main categories: cognitive symptoms which are related to the consciousness of people’s mind, emotional symptoms which indicates stress by your feelings, physical symptoms which concerns your body’s reaction, and behavioral symptoms which tells the condition according to your behaviors. The first type – cognitive symptoms – takes people’s the ability to think into account and make judgment whether you are suffering from stress by that. The signs may vary in different situations, but most common signs are: memory problems (which can include short-term, long-term memory loss, or temporary interuption of memory), inability to concentrate (which is very common among people suffering from stress), poor judgment, seeing only the negatives (being pessimistic), anxious or racing thoughts and constant worrying. These are the symptoms that are quite universal and have been recorded on most subjects of research who are suffering from serious stress.

Serious stress

The second type of symptom is the emotional one. As we all know, stress can exercise very heavy and negative effects on our psychological mind, and therefore can intervene into our emotions very easily. We will not be able to control our emotions, neither can we stop negative thinkings and show pessimistic points of view. Some basic signs of emotional stress symptoms are: moodiness, irritably or short-temper, agitation-inablity to relax, feeling overwhelmed, sense of loneliness and isoloation, and depression or general unhappiness. These can all affect very badly to the brain and may gradually damage its functions. Worse consequences can follow with more serious mental illnesses and permanent loss of cognition.

The third type of stress symptoms is the physical one. This type remains the clearest signs of having stress since they have the tendency to be exposed outward, however they all should be taken into account since the damage can be fatal. Stress often results in aches and pains, particularly in the muscles or organs of the body. Signs also includes diarrhea or constipation, nausea or dizziness, chest pain or rapid heartbeat, loss of sex drive and frequent cold. In the early stages, these symptoms might be quite harmless but they can turn into chronic diseases and cause us fatal illnesses if we do not know how to deal with them and fight against stress.

The last type of sypmtoms is the behavioral type which is no less serious. You can observe the changes of a person’s behaviors and then tell whether they are having stress or not by looking at specific signs. These signs include: eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, isolating yourself from others, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax, or nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing).

In conclusion, it depends on you yourself whether you can deal with stress or not. Recognizing your own condition based on these symptoms could be a key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle free of stress.