by Vincent Aizebeoje Balogun

Created on: November 22, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Hans Selye, in his book titled "The Stress of life", defined Stress as a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined. It includes a state of alarm and adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and exhaustion. It refers to the inability of a human or animal body to respond.

Stress affects different people in different ways, and everyone has a different method of dealing with it.

The chemicals released in the body as a result of stress can build up over time and cause various mental and physical symptoms. These symptoms can be grouped into mental and psychical according to United Kingdom National Health Services (www.nhs.uk/conditions/Stress).

The mental symptoms includes feelings like: anger, depression, anxiety, changes in behaviour, food cravings, lack of appetite, frequent crying, difficulty sleeping (mental), feeling tired, and difficulty concentrating.

The psychical symptoms includes feelings as: chest pains, constipation or diarrhoea, cramps or muscle spasms, dizziness, fainting spells, nail biting, nervous twitches, pins and needles, feeling restless, a tendency to sweat, sexual difficulties such as erectile dysfunction or a loss of sexual desire, breathlessness, muscular aches, and difficulty sleeping (physical).

These symptoms can lead to risks of high blood pressure and eventually heart attacks and stroke. Experiencing even one or two of these symptoms can make you feel frustrated or anxious.

However, these got to be managed otherwise can be very disastrous.

Various steps can however be taken to cut it out.

Regular exercises

Taking a regular exercise even if you are not sporty, brisk walking for 30 minutes every day can be a very effective stress buster and can reduce the effect this might have on the body and help raise the level of adrenaline production of the body.

Learning breathing techniques

Having to learn how to breathe normally can help the heart and the body aeration to flow normally and can help you to slow down.

Reduce alcohol or drug intake

Alcohol addiction is a problem of its own and cannot be used to run away from responsibilities. Don't drink too much alcohol or take drugs - these will reduce the bodies system to fight back and curb any form of strange feelings within the body and may make you ill and increase stress.

Share responsibilities

Doing everything yourself both at home or in the office can be too tasking and demanding and can be a source of many troubles which can result in stress. Delegate or share your responsibilities at work - making yourself indispensable can be a major source of problems.

Healthy eating

Eating healthy in the form of balanced diet, rich in fruit and vegetables, with low fats can really help to reduce stresses.

Personal organization

Organizing your personal life like time to work, play, read, sing, eat, etc can be helpful.

Free time

Create some free time to find some quiet places to listen to music or relaxation tapes that can bring back good memories of you or can make you remember some wonderful moments you had in life.

Stresses are not completely a bad effect anyway; some help the body to prepare for certain challenges, so it's probably impossible to live without any stress. But having a day in, day out stresses can cause physical and emotional problems, and this is the dangerous bit; at this point it should be managed. The steps above are guides only, as different people react to it differently.

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