How to Manage Your Stress and Free Your Life
Manage your stress and free your life with Charmaine Saunders, author of Winning Relationships
Stress is one of the most prolific modern killers. It’s an epidemic in Western societies and affects us in three key ways:
Physically
Emotionally
Mentally
The symptoms to look out for are:
Irritability
Mood swings
Insomnia
Loss of joy
Chronic fatigue
Loss of concentration
These will vary in intensity according to how much stress a person is living with. Usually, they will only be extreme if someone has already reached overload. That is, they have been unaware of how much stress they’ve absorbed, but now the amount is overwhelming. The problem is that stress is insidious. It sneaks up on us and is often subtle in its effects until it’s too late. To complicate things further, stress can actually be addictive. We all know people who say they cannot achieve without pressure. As success builds, stress levels climb higher and warning signs are ignored. Soon, health deteriorates and there’s a serious problem.
Negative stress can manifest in each area in your life, including:
*Health: Health is not the same as fitness. A person can be fit but not healthy. Then there’s wellness which encompasses even wider meanings such as emotional health. Stress gradually erodes wellbeing and even the fittest body can succumb to disease. I once had a client lose 90% of his sight due to a stress overload.
*Relationships: Individual stress levels can have an impact on even the best marriages. Partner stress kicks in and soon quarrels, disagreements, bickering and arguments become a daily occurrence. Sex becomes less frequent, eventually stopping altogether. If help isn’t sought, a break-up will follow. I’m not over-stating this. The wrong kind and amount of stress is extremely destructive.
Work: Focusing on work-oriented tasks becomes more and more difficult as stress levels climb. A client told me that one day at work, she realised she’d spent the entire afternoon simply shifting papers from one side of her desk to the other, not actually achieving anything. Her mind just wasn’t there. Mistakes are more easily made and forgetfulness is commonplace. A classic example of stressed behaviour is walking into a room and completely blanking out as to what the purpose was. I know we’ve all done this from time to time but when it happens constantly, it shows a chronic stress condition.
*General Life: When overly-stressed, a person loses joy of life, the desire to laugh and have fun and see friends and to be sexual and loving. Stressed people are tired and cranky. Their relationships are erratic. They become more and more frenetic. It’s no use telling them to calm down because they truly believe they’re still functioning well. If allowed to continue unabated, serious illness can follow.
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Another really scary effect of stress is that people often reach for unhealthy solutions such as alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and other addictions to alleviate the pressure. But guess what? They exacerbate the problem and, in fact, add to already high stress levels.
The best way to then manage stress in your life is to operate your diet, leisure activities, sleep, relationships, physical needs and everything else you do in balance so as to prevent overload from ever happening. Prevention is definitely the key. Overload is far harder to deal with. Also, extreme cases of stress are easier to handle than chronic stress.
These are some things you can do every day to prevent negative stress from taking hold:
Moderation in all areas of life
Enjoyable exercise
Sensible diet
Good sleep
Meditation or at least some quiet time
Being near nature
Taking time out
Engaging in a balanced lifestyle
Looking after your health proactively
Laughing a lot
Doing things you enjoy
Dr. Charmaine Saunders is a therapist, columnist, motivational speaker, lecturer, media commentator and author of 6 self-help books. Her latest book is `Winning Relationships.’ Charmaine specializes in the areas of personal development, relationships, wellness, sexuality and positive life. She writes q & a advice columns, blogs, books and feature articles that deal with the above topics. Her website is at
Visit the above site to learn more about how to manage your stress and effectively free your life. Also, don’t forget to keep visiting The Ultimate Stress Blog.
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