by Janet Sandford

Created on: August 08, 2009

Some degree of stress in life is inevitable and even desirable however, prolonged stress can lead to serious mental and physical problems; so what can be done to reduce the harmful effects and take back control of your life?

The first step is to understand how stress works. As animals, we have a fight or flight mechanism which leads us to respond to threats. Some people's 'threat sensors' are over-sensitive and like a car alarm that goes off at the slightest vibration, they over-react to situations and become stressed very easily. For such people, there are two useful techniques that can be used. The first is to interrupt the bi-feedback loop. When you feel stressed it's likely that your heart will race and your breathing will become shallow and laboured. You notice this and say to yourself, 'Oh my God, I feel stressed!' When you feel like this, work at slowing and deepening your breathing and telling yourself that you are calm and in control. The second approach is through rationalisation. Think of all of the things that you worried about in your life; there's a fair chance that most of them never happened. People who experience a lot of stress tend to over-estimate the likelihood of something going wrong and the magnitude of the consequences. Try to be more rational and also consider the worst outcome and accept it. OK, what if your presentation was a disaster? It wouldn't be great but it wouldn't be the end of the world either.

Another approach is to identify and write down all of the things that stress you and to take action on the things you can change. Many life events such as births, marriages and deaths are naturally stressful and it is worth noting that even 'happy events' can be a cause of stress. People can experience a stress overload when too many big things occur at once,eg, new job, moving house, birth of a child, increased debt, etc. Accept what you can not change but look carefully at steps you can take in the things you can. All long journeys are made of many small steps. Try to align yourself with yourself. Develop a lifestyle that suits your personality as trying to be somebody you are not is not sustainable in the long run.

Apart from life events, two big causes of stress are money and relationships. Debt can be an enormous millstone around your neck which constantly wears you down. You have to confront your financial reality. If necessary see a debt counsellor. Avoid paying off one debt with another as this will eventually reach the

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