How stress affects you Depends on your quantity of stress and what kinds of stress you have. It can also depend on what kinds of stress you've had in your past and how you learned to deal with it.



The physical signs of stress are meant to help you physically survive - fight or flight. In today's world, this is only rarely helpful, since most stress today is mental.

Mental stress will come from issues such as concern about money, relationships, and your health. Your body's physical reaction to stress does not help these situations. Since these situations are common and long-lasting, your body can potentially be in a constant state of stress.

Your body being in a constant state of stress causes stress related health problems ranging from muscle pain, sleep disorders, poor decision making, PTSD, depression and stomach problems. The health trouble from stress can add to the stress you already have.

It becomes obvious that managing your stress is preferred to letting it go. But, there are thousands of people telling you how to do this. Making the right choice for you comes down to finding what fits your problems as well as your lifestyle.

Finding the right choice for yourself is easier when you are more aware of what causes your stress and how you experience it.

It can be helpful to decide of your stress is situational or behavioral - Is your stress reaction appropriate for the current situation or does it feel blown out of proportion? Figuring this out can require some brutal honesty on your part.

If your stress is situational, what are the situations and can they dealt with in a practical way? Do you have the time and energy to get some form of exercise and a proper diet? (I know from personal experience, if I have high stress, it is when my life is too busy to work-out or get to the grocery store for planned meals. That's when I need to slow down.)

If your stress is behavioral, spending some time analyzing the triggers may help. Look at your past and see if it is making your stress higher than it should be. Stressful memories of the past can and do effect us every day. (The stronger the emotion, the more vivid the memory. The more vivid the memory, the stronger the stress you will continue to feel from it.)

When you better understand your past, you are better able to find ways to effectively deal with it.

Stress from current situations is easier to manage, once you find what works for you. Stress from behaviors or past experience may need outside help to get through and may take a little longer to deal with. But, it IS possible, and IS worth doing.

If you have a behavioral stress controlling your life, seek professional help. Medication is sometimes an answer, though many people that have used medication for stress, experience side effects that are a trade-off. They sometimes say they would rather feel stressed than live in a daily fog of medication.

Explore and educate yourself about your options. Then, make use of them. When it comes to improving your life, the only poor choice is to not try.