[N376]Nuffield Health And Wellbeing

Stress always goes hand in hand with health. Depending to the stress level of a person, the impact of stress in the body can range from minor sweaty palms right through to being fatal and causing death. In order to manage stress and health better, you must first be familiar with the severe effects of stress in the body.

*Physical & Behavioral Signs Of Stress*

Stressors can be either external or internal. External stressors involve situations in the workplace, death or illness in the family, or by simply becoming angry. On the other hand, most of the stress that people experience is self-generated or internal. A person usually creates his or her own stress but this indicates that the person has the choice or doing nothing or something about it.

Stress can affect all your major body systems.

When a person feels stressed, there will be an increase in heart rate, and an elevation in the blood pressure levels. The continuous pressure in the heart can also make a person vulnerable to cardiac arrest and other cardiac-related problems.

Your stomach will also let you know when you are stressed. Some people can experience diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, dryness of the mouth and the throat. Stress may also cause sleeping disorders, nausea and in some cases even a tightness of the chest, neck, jaw and the back muscles. You may also experience tooth grinding.

Often there are also changes in behavioral patterns noticeable in a person experiencing chronic levels of stress. If you smoke you are likely to smoke more than usual. Aggressive behaviors and hostility towards others and even inanimate objects are sometimes linked to a person being easily startled. A person's diet can also be affected by the irregular eating habits caused by stress.

Some people who cannot handle stress unfortunately resort to increased levels of alcohol and drug use. Additionally, unhealthy compulsive behavior, impatience and carelessness are also the behavioral effects of stress.

* Long Term Implications of poor stress management *

Exposure to stress in the long term will often deteriorate your well-being. During stress the body produces hormones that enable the body to cope with the current situation. Short term effects of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and corticosteroids include tense muscles, queasiness and an in increase in breathing and heart rates.

The long term implications of these hormones include allergic reactions, digestive disorder, heart disease, fatigue headaches and migraine. Even some cases of impotence and premature ejaculation can occur in men or erratic menstrual cycles for some women. When the body continuously releases these hormones your sleeping patterns can also be affected and can sometimes lead to chronic insomnia. With severe cases of stress, it can cause eczema, ulcerative colitis, mouth and peptic ulcers and recurring muscular aches and pains.

* Healthy Lifestyle to reduce stress levels in your life *

Exercise is very important in stress and health management. Along with a healthy diet, exercise is the most effective way to lower stress levels. It improves sugar metabolism through efficient use of insulin. Exercise can also help in putting a stop in the cycles of stress-eating, over indulgence of alcohol, cigarettes and substance abuse.

* Tips for Better Managing Your Stress *

There are many healthy tips and steps in managing your stress. The first thing you need to do is determine and understand the cause of your stress or the stressors in your lifestyle or workplace. By recognizing the stressors, you can put each of them in place and deal with them one by one. Remember that stress can be a healthy signal that you need to make some positive changes in your life, and that now is the best time to make decisions.

* Breathing And Relaxing to Control Stress *

Learning how to breathe deeply and calmly can help you maintain your self-control in a stressful situation.

Take a short walk in some fresh air, go get a glass a glass of filtered water and do something that can change your focus onto something positive. Try smiling and take a short moment focusing on something else other than your problem. Watch some funny videos before you start your day or listen to comedy audio tapes when you drive in traffic. By the time you get back to your problem, it would not seem nearly as undefeatable.

* Enjoy The Good Things Of Life And Be Positive *

Take time to consider all the things in your life you can be grateful for. Every situation has both pros and cons. List them both, put them away and take a second look tomorrow. Sleeping on a situation can sometimes changes disadvantages to advantages.

* Know Yourself and Work on Your Limitations *

To manage stress effectively, it is very useful to be honest and to know yourself and your limitations. Sometimes, learning to say ?No? can spare you from stress build up.

A major stress management tip is asking for help from friends, family or workmates. Stop blaming yourself.

You have dozens of simple ways that you can learn stress management. If you are into self help books, sometimes taking time reading your favorite book can help you in putting the problem out of your mind, or help you to come up with creative solutions. Taking a warm bath and watching your favorite show on TV can also help you. Once you start to experiment with stress management techniques you will soon find out which of them work best for your lifestyle.

* Strategies to Use for Avoiding Stress Build Up*

Stress, if you let it, can build up to dangerous levels. Often times, people who do not know how to handle stress find themselves in rehabilitation facilities that offer twelve-step programs that could help them recover. So have a policy that stress avoidance is always better than cure. Learn to avoid stress build up through simple strategies that you could practice in your free time.

* Learn To Have Fun *

Games are designed to occupy your time and help you to laugh and relax, so get in the habit of playing games more, by yourself or with friends. Find the things that you enjoy the most. Hobbies are helpful activities to enhance the overall relaxation process.

Drawing and gardening are great stress relievers but you are not limited to these two. You can practically put your hands on anything that you enjoy doing. Maybe start collecting something of interest as a hobby. Take some craft classes, or learn to dance. If there was a sport you enjoyed in school, you might be able to start getting back into shape with that interest again. Learn that it is fine to have a little fun after hard days of work.

* Taking Better Care Of Your Health *

Stress can become dangerously detrimental to your health. Maintaining a healthy diet and physical activity levels can help you in avoiding the health risks from stress.

Healthy eating at home can help you lose some spare pounds around the stomach, since most people who are stressed-out tend to gain more weight than others. Planning ahead is an important step in eating healthy. Do your shopping for weekly groceries, and plan your home meals every week. This way you have no thinking or stressing to do to work out what to eat. Eating healthy does not mean that you need to prepare a four-course meal. A simple balanced meal with the combination of protein, fresh fruits, green vegetables, wholegrain bread and not too much fat is enough to get you going. You can even find healthy recipes online. Eating organic produce also helps to eliminate many of the toxins that can stress your body. Drink plenty of filtered water and reduce your caffeine and soda drinks.

Pampering yourself with healthy meals is not the only way you can live healthy. You can also enroll yourself in weekly gym classes or dance classes depending on how much free time you have. Through gentle and consistent exercise your body releases more of the endorphins that increase your feelings of wellbeing. It does not have to be overly strenuous, just enough to get a slight sweat and glow to your skin.

* Ask For Support When you Need it. *

When you are feeling stressed always remember that there are many people around you who can help when you ask them. Friends can pick you up when you are feeling depressed. They can provide insights when you are confused, and help you in having fun.

* You can use Spiritual Practices For Avoiding Stress *

Spiritual practice is a personal experience and can help to nurture your soul. Seniors use prayers as stress reliever. Prayers can also maintain emotional stability. Learn what you need to maintain your Mind, Body, Spirit Balance for your overall wellbeing.