Stress

Stress is unavoidable. There will always be stress. Stress in itself is neither good nor bad, it simply is. How we perceive it and react to it is important. Stress is commonly described in terms of being positive or negative. Eustress is a stress that is perceived to be positive, or useful. Distress is the term given to negative stress, and this can be very debilitating.

The silent killer...

Getting stressed out occasionally is normal, and even healthy, so long as we have a way to deal with it. It is when that stress is not released that it begins to silently wreak havoc with our health. People have different ways of 'blowing off steam', and what works for one won't always work for others.


Many activities have been shown to help reduce negative stress, and these include:

• Breathing exercises
• Progressive relaxation exercises
• Meditation
• Yoga
• Tai Chi
• Running
• Juggling
• Surfing
• Hitting a punchbag
• Swimming

These are only a few of the many things people do to combat negative stress, the most important thing being that the activity removes the person (either physically or mentally) from the source of the stress, and occupies their full attention.