Urban decay and deprivation are a major source of distress for large sections of the population. Inadequate housing, noise, pollution, crowding, violence and poverty create some of the most cumulative and pervasive forms of stress. These factors affect how we live, work and play. Their impact depends on the infrastructure of the location, transport requirements and the availability of opportunities to spend time away from the environment.

We all have different reactions to stress and experience helps us to develop our own methods of dealing with it. While some of us may lead less stressful lives, it is impossible to lead a completely stress free life, as things happen to us unexpectedly and 'out of the blue'. The trick comes in weeding out as much of the trivial stress as possible and learning how to control our response to unavoidable, accumulative stress. If we can do this we can be better prepared for the surprises that life springs on us and learn to enjoy rising to the challenges they present.

All of us will have times in our lives that cause us great distress and leave us feeling unable to go on. Bereavement, family break-up and redundancy are devastating events and can produce high levels of stress. This is because stress does not only occur when we feel angry or are suffering from grief. Welcomed events can be just as stressful if they create self doubt or anxiety. Any sort of change, with relationships, homes or occupations, can induce stress as human beings are essentially creatures of habit. The fight for homeostasis - internal and physiological equilibrium - is a relentless process and is made more difficult when drastic changes in the way that we organise and live our lives are forced upon us. How we adapt to different circumstances has a large affect on the amount of stress we will experience.

One of the most prevalent causes of stress is our immediate environment. Urban living in particular, with its associated problems of inadequate housing, noise, pollution, crowding, violence and poverty creates some of the most cumulative and pervasive causes of stress. These factors affect how we live, work and play and much may depend on the infrastructure of the location, transport provision and our ability to spend time away from our environment. Feeling trapped in our surroundings and being unable to escape, makes us feel helpless. This can cause damage to our self esteem and the way that we associate with other people.

There are ways of improving how we live and deal with stress that most of us recognise only subconsciously. For example, our home to most of us is more than place that we use to eat and sleep. In our own homes we can shut the door on the outside world and surround ourselves with our personnel possessions, family and friends. We want to create a comfortable and safe environment where we can relax and be ourselves; this is an instinctive human need.

In creating comfort, space is one of the most important factors. We all have invisible boundaries which outline our personal space but these are difficult to maintain when our personal space is constantly being invaded. We should all be able to retreat inside ourselves and find peace. However many of us experience a physical lack of space that has an effect on our mental well being, as overcrowding and lack of privacy make personal calm all the more difficult to achieve. Also, advances in technology have led to increasing numbers of people working from home and in many cases this has put a further strain on space allocation, as work space is created out of resources already stretched between family members and various activities.

Light is another very important factor in deciding the quality of our day to day lives. In the depths of winter most of us look forward to the long summer days ahead. This is because natural light is almost as vital for healthy living as the air we breathe. It regulates levels of the hormone melanonin, which influences sleep, mood and the reproductive cycle. Our instinctive love of light and the sun explains our annual migration to the hotter climates. A lack of daylight can influence the natural production of melanonin, creating lethargy and depression. SAD - seasonal affective disorder - is increasingly seen in the winter months. Sufferers feel antisocial, tired and depressed. In order to counter such feelings it is advisable to work beside windows and let as much daylight into the workplace or home as possible. Fluorescent light, the most unnatural form of light, should be avoided at all costs. As artificial light is a necessary evil, it is best to use full spectrum lights as they simulate daylight.

Colour affects many aspects of our lives and can have a significant effect on our moods and perceptions. We are all colour biased as we may choose colour as a response to their innate properties or we may just have a distinctive preference for it. Colours have physical as well as psychological effects. Research has shown that physiological responses such as blood pressure and brain wave patterns vary according to which colours we are being exposed to. For example, exposure to red, the most stimulating colour, can lead to an increase of blood pressure while exposure to blue light can have the opposite effect.

Colour can have a major effect on our moods and ability to relax. Effective and intelligent use of colour is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve our surroundings. This is being increasingly recognised by health and education authorities and more thought now goes into selecting the d?r for classrooms, hospital wards and waiting rooms. Scientific research has also shown that colours can have physical as well as psychological effects.