Managing Stress for Better Health

Stress is a biological condition and is actually a physical stimulus to things that would make someone feel vulnerable or angry. When someone is under stress, he feels as if he is handling much more than he is used to in the ordinary course of events. The most common response that is related to stress is the flight stress. This response creates hormones that make a person breathe faster than usual. It also makes a person's heart beat faster. It is imperative to note that, contrary to what many think, there are some advantages are derived from getting stressed. By making a person react quickly, stress can make a person accomplish a certain task within a shorter time frame. For instance, stress can help an athlete win a race. It is, therefore, wrong to view stress only from the negative point of view.

However, in as much as stress may be useful, its disadvantages actually outweigh the advantages. Stress can negatively affect a person psychologically. It may make a person experience headaches, stomach upsets, sleeping problems and constant pain from the back. It may also deteriorate the white blood cells thereby lowering the immunity of the body. This implies that a person who is being affected by stress is more vulnerable to contracting diseases. As empirical literature depicts, stress can worsen a health complication that already exists. Researchers have also proved that stress is partly to blame for poor school performance. In the most extreme cases, stress has been known to cause stunted growth and deaths.

The drivers of stress are called stressors. They include both negative and positive situations that surround a person's life. Such events would include; relationship problems, getting exhausted, job promotion, buying a car, to mention just a few. The positive drivers of stress usually occur when a person gets excited. In more broad terms, causes of stress can be divided into two broad categories. These are the internal and the external causes. Internal causes are usually related with a person's personality or the actual functioning of the body. They include hopelessness, optimism, and impractical expectation among others. External drivers, on the other hand, include factors associated with general life. They include; financial constraints, family affairs and work issues.

Though stress is a biological condition, medical practitioners usually do not provide medical prescriptions to stress victims. However, there are some hypothesis that have been brought forth to help deal with stress. First, one school of medical thought proposes that people should observe their dietary habits to help avoid unwanted stress. They argue that poor dietary habits are indeed major causes of stress. As such, they propose that stress can be managed by having a balanced diet.

Another group of experts suggests that stress can be managed by delegating some duties. This school of thought observes that most of people who are under stress are people with a variety of obligations, either domestic or otherwise. They hold that a human's body is subject to fatigue and cannot work like a machine. It is therefore in order for a person to take ample rest to avoid stress. This may only be possible if he delegates some of the duties that he is obliged to perform.

It is also true that stress may result from lack of relaxation. This is usually the case for those who work in offices; they rarely devote some of their time to physical exercise. It has been proven that exercising is a good way of relaxing a person's mind. As a traditional saying goes, "too much work without play made Jack a dull boy". By actively participating in a physical exercise, a person is able to freshen his mind and thereby avoid stress. It is in line with this that Physical Education (P.E.) program has been implemented in all institutions of learning in the world.

The concept of stress can be well illustrated by studying Alexi Singer's book. Alexi. After she quitted high school, Alexi felt lonely, stressed up and vulnerable. She felt insecure for she had met an older man with ill motives. One day, she received a message via the internet on her computer screen. Little did she know that by responding to the message, she would actually change her life completely and forever. The strange man managed to give Alexi the attention she desperately needed. In this manner, the man became Alexis "confidant" in a rather unusual way. Alexi was very excited but ironically, she had visited trouble on herself, a fact she didn't know.

Unbelievably, after a few weeks, the man had won Alexi into a relationship. Worse still, she had engaged herself in cybersex. Moreover, Alexi had started sending the man unambiguous photos of herself. Unfortunately, it did not last long before she had lost control of herself. She had lost hope about her future, her relationship with family members and friends worsened and eventually, she was severely affected psychologically. Actually, Alexi had been blackmailed by an online predator.

Alexi's story demonstrates the stress concept from a multi-dimensional perspective. First, it shows the reasons that might cause stress. In this scenario, Alexi had relationship problems; she felt lonely yet she did not have a lover. This was the major reason that stressed her out and was in fact, the root cause of her troubles. It is therefore true that loneliness and desperation can cause stress.

Secondly, the story further demonstrates the fact that a person who is under stress is vulnerable to being taken advantage of. With this regard, the online predator could easily take advantage of Alexi's situation. Alexi was stressed up since she was highly yearning for a relationship. By misrepresenting itself, the online predator managed to blackmail Alexi that it was actually fit to be her confidant. Unfortunately, Alexi did not take time to digest this idea and this is what eventually caused her trouble. It is said that if Alexi was on her senses, she could have managed to send the man away. In a nutshell, the book represents stressed out people as vulnerable people.

Lastly, according to the book, the relationship between Alexi and her friends and family members deteriorated. Furthermore, she turned out to be psychologically unfit. The book therefore demonstrates some of the repercussions of stress. Stress can ruin a person's mental system and also social life. This fact can be observed from the contemporary society; many people have gone mad due to stress while others have become completely antisocial.

In conclusion, therefore, stress is a vital concept that is worth studying. Acquitting people with rich information about dynamism of stress is actually the beginning of a better society. It is in this line that the study of stress is justified. It is important to note that stress is inevitable and is, therefore, a part of every person's life. It is important to maintain stress at manageable levels since as mentioned herewith, little stress is positive for human survival. It is also crucial for both governmental and non-governmental agencies to enlighten the public about stress; its causes, effects and possible solutions. World medical data suggests that stress is partly to blame for many deaths. Notably, stress is the primary cause of diseases like stomach ulcers, heart burns and fatigue among others. These are diseases that continue to claim many lives in the modern society yet they are ignored. Study of stress is therefore indispensable if these figures are to reduce.