This simple guide uses materials adapted from several college campuses with active stress reduction programs.. It explores the origins of stress and provides some basic ways to assess the level of stress you may be feeling and then suggests some easy--to--incorporate ways to decrease the level of stress..
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is simply the body's non-specific response to any demand made on it. Stress is not by definition synonymous with nervous tension or anxiety. Stress provides the means to express talents and energies and pursue happiness; it can also cause exhaustion and illness, either physical or psychological; heart attacks and accidents. The important
Recognizing Stress
The following are indicators that you may be experiencing stress.
^ General irritability
^ Elevated heart rate
^ Increased blood pressure
^ Increased accident proneness
^ Floating anxiety-anxious feeling for no specific reason
^ Trembling
^ Insomnia
^ Headaches
^ Indigestion
^ Pain in neck and/or lower back
^ Changes in appetite or sleep pattern
Thing to remember about stress is that certain forms are normal and essential. As the body responds to various forms of physical or psychological stress, certain predictable changes occur.
These include increased heart rate, blood pressure
(systolic and