Stress is useful. Healthy stress is the body's way of preparing to protect itself. Unfortunately, most people experience too much stress. They are stressed for extended periods, and the physical mechanisms meant for protection start to cause more harm than good. The term "stress management" is a useful one: It implies the ability to control the natural stress in our lives and the skill to keep it from overwhelming and harming us.
Strengthened Immune System
Unchecked stress can weaken the immune system. The July 2004 issue of "Psychological Bulletin," published by the American Psychological Association, reported on a study that found short-term stress enhances the immune system. That's when the body prepares itself to fight infection or injury. Chronic stress, the study showed, creates too much "wear and tear"; the system falters. The study also noted that older people and those with chronic illness are even more likely to be adversely affected by stress. The techniques of stress management decrease, and possibly eliminate, chronic stress and help the body bounce back quickly after stressful periods.
The Windber Medical Center in Pennsylvania, which has special preventive and healing programs for people with heart disease, states that the link between heart disease and stress is "undeniable." The Center asserts that stress management offers techniques for handling everyday stress with grace, humor and control. That helps avoid unhealthy changes in heart rate and blood pressure.
- Less Depression
A paper written for Maudsley Hospital and published by the National Institutes of Health reveals that evidence links the onset of major depression to stress. With stress management, you learn techniques to catch early signs of depression and take steps to stop the downward spiral. You might be able to turn your mind in a different, mood-lightening direction. Even if your own efforts can't change or stop the depression, your knowledge of stress management can give you the incentive to get professional help and support before the depression gets worse.
A More Enjoyable Life
As you learn to manage stress, you'll find that you have skills to deal with stressful situations. Life throws plenty of these our way, but we can become adept at coping with---and sometimes even enjoying---the challenges. When we're over-stressed, even the smallest inconvenience takes on mammoth proportions. Through stress management, we learn how to put things in perspective. With that, we can separate the important from the trivial and make time for recreation, relaxation and joy in our lives.
What are you waiting for? Let start your own journey at here !