The term stress was borrowed from the field of physics by one of the fathers of stress researchers Hans Selye. In physics, stress describes the force that produces strain on the physical body. Hans began using the term stress after completing is medical training at the University of Montreal in the 1920s. He noticed that no matter what his hospitalized patients suffered from, they all were under physical stress.In one word stress is a psychoneuroimmunological disorder.

Types of stress

Stress affects most people in some way. Acute ( sudden or short term) stress leads to rapid changes throughout the body. Almost all body systems ( the heart and blood vessels, immune system, lungs, digestive system, sensory organs and brains) gear up to meet perceived danger.

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (D.A.S.S)

The D.A.S.S and other assessment tools are available to identify aspects of stress such as difficult relaxing, nervous arousal and being irritable are present as well. The D.A.S.S is available to the public online. When choosing specific strategies for treating stress, several factors should be considered * No single method is always successful: A combination of approach is generally most effective. * What works for someone does not necessarily work for someone else. * Stress can be positive as well as negative. Appropriate and controllable stress provides interest and excitement and motivates the individual to greater achievement. A lack of stress might lead to boredom and depression. Stress may play a part in making people vulnerable to illness. A physician or psychologist should be consulted if there are any indications of a company medical or psychological conditions such as heart symptoms, significant pain, anxiety or depression. People often succeed in relieving stress for the short term. However, they go back to their previous stressful thought and behaviors because of outside pressure, long held beliefs or old habits. So to reduce or manage stress, we must look at the combination of some following

Vary your exercise program:

Combining aerobic exercise with strength training . Start slowly. Strenuous exercise in people who are not used to it can be very dangerous. In addition, half of all people who begin a vigorous exercise program drop out within a year. Discuss any exercise program with a health care provider before starting. Start slowly. Just to 10 minutes three times a week can build a good base for novices. Gradually build up the length of these sessions to 30 minutes more.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (C.B.T):

This is among the most effective ways of reducing stress. Examples include:

• Listen to music. Music is an effective stress reducer in both healthy individuals and people with health problems. Research has it that listening to soothing music can decrease blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety levels in heart patients

• Take long weekends or vacation

• If the source of the stress is in the home, plan times away, even if only for an hour or two a week

• Replace unnecessary time consuming chores with pleasurable or interesting activities

• Make time for recreation

Discuss feelings:

The concept of communication and letting your feelings out has been so excessively promoted parodied that it has nearly lost it's value as good psychological advice. Nevertheless, feelings of anger or frustration that are not expressed in an acceptable way may lead to hostility, a sense of helplessness and depression.

Keep perspective and look for the positive:

Reversing negative ideas and learning to focus on positive outcomes help to reduce tension and achieve goals

Use humor

Research has shown that humor is a very effective mechanism for coping with acute stress. Keeping a sense of humor during difficult situations is a common recommendation of stress management experts. Laughter not only reduces the tension of pent up feelings but it also appears to have actual physical effects that reduces stress hormone levels.

Act rather than react:

We experience stress when we feel that situations are out of our control. It activates the stress hormone and if chronic, wears down confidence, concentration and wellbeing. It is advised that you identify the aspects of the situations you can control and the ones you can't . Typically, you're in control of your actions and responses but not in control of macro forces or someone else's tone , for example ; be impeccable for your 50% and try to let go of the rest.

Take a deep breath

If you're feeling overwhelmed or coming out of a tensed meeting and need to clear your head, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance. Simply inhale for five seconds, hold and exhale in equal counts through the nose.

Be your own best critic:

Some 60,000 thought stream through your mind each day and internal negativity is just as likely to stress you out as an external event. The fix? Instead of being harsh and critical to yourself, try pumping yourself up. Encouraging thought will help motivate you to achieve and ultimately train you to inspire others

CONCLUSION: A situation is stressful if it is interpreted as being so. If researchers help a person to recognize what stress is, this will undoubtedly have a positive effect. Infact in teaching people to detect and cope with stress, we think we can reduce this problem in individuals.

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