Stress is your response to any physical, emotional or intellectual demands. Stress is a major contributing factor either directly or indirectly, to coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide; the six leading causes of death in the United States. Although we can't eliminate stress, we can all do a better job in managing it. Stress management includes following a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and making time for uninterrupted relaxation.

Symptoms

Symptoms of stress can be either behavioral or physical. They are different for everyone, but some common signs that you've had too much excitement and need to slow down include:

Impatience or Edginess - Lack of Enjoyment - Sleep Problems - Exhaustion.

Common physical symptoms of stress include: muscle tension, headaches, low back pain,

insomnia and high blood pressure.

These symptoms may manifest themselves psychologically as irritability, anxiety, impaired concentration, mental confusion, poor judgment, frustration and anger. And some people who have a chronic illness may find that the symptoms of their illness flare up under an overload of stress.

Healthy Lifestyle

Stress management should be a major concern for a healthy lifestyle. Effective stress management is a lifestyle and we must learn to incorporate into our daily lives. A commitment to live a healthier lifestyle should never take a back seat, especially not to stress. Stress management is not only an urgent need in today's fast-paced lifestyle, but an important factor in both physical and mental health. In the alternative, if stress is more the result of one's lifestyle, eliminating the stress causing factors and/or gaining healthful insight on how to alleviate stress the right way might just be the best thing for an individual to do for themselves.

Stress Nutrition

Nutrition is one area where stress can be reduced most effectively, because we eat every day at least 3 times a day, so even the smallest of changes could bring about significant benefits. Stress can and does also result from unbalanced and inappropriate nutrition; excessive use of socially acceptable intoxicants; suppressive drugs and vaccinations; environmental toxins; negative emotions; lack of physical exercise; genetic factors; and improper body alignment. Stress nutrition is a program specifically designed to combat stress dysfunction and attempts to meet individual biochemical requirements by providing the right amount of each nutrient in proportion to every other nutrient.

Fitness

For decades, fitness professionals have had various degrees of success motivating clients and making them accountable for a healthy lifestyle. There is evidence that you can reduce stress, prevent chronic diseases including depression and improve happiness through ongoing mental fitness training. A complete nutritional approach, combined with proper fitness maintenance and stress management is most important. Exercise and physical fitness act as a buffer against stress, so that stressful events have a less negative impact on psychological and physical health.

Exercises And Sports

You can help trigger the relaxation response by learning simple breathing exercises and then using them when you're caught up in stressful situations. Other people rely on exercise and participating in their favorite sports and games to spend pent up energy. Not all stress is bad and an example would be in sports. Joining a sports team, even with your co-workers can increase the work fun level, and reduce the tension. Exercises such as golf, tennis, handball, biking, and other sports have shown to help people relax.

Conclusion

Stress management is the application of methods to either reduce stress or increase tolerance to stress. The tricky part of managing stress is that, when dealing with stressful events that are enjoyable « the good stress », you may not always notice how stressed you feel until you experience the more serious stress symptoms, or until you feel overwhelmed. Positive stress is desirable for your own good, and also for the good of your family and also for the society as a whole.