A person exposed to long-term, unrelenting severe stress is particularly susceptible to experiencing a ' mental breakdown. Stress can be defined as the condition or the situations that disturb the normal functioning of physical and mental health of an individual. In the present scenario every person is bound to be effected by certain amount of stress.

In extreme stress conditions which are harmful to human health but a moderate amount of stress is acceptable. There are a number of reasons that causes stress and the symptoms of stress and depression that people face in the present world of rapid diversification of human activities.

Everybody is bound to face certain amount of stress in their life. The demands relating to relationships, physical demands, pressure at workplaces, meeting deadlines, the tension that grows and all these conditions and situations are the cause for stress.

In some people this stress has a long term effect and tends to persist and intensify. Hence learning to understand and master the stress management techniques will help to prevent the effects of depression. The stress hormones namely the cortisone and adrenaline are released to fight the stressful situations.

Hormones and its effect on stress

These hormones increase the blood pressure and the body is prepared to react to the situations accordingly. This stress hormone in the blood is used and it results in the reduction of stress effects and the symptoms of anxiety. When a person under the stress condition fails to respond to the stress situations the hormones remain unreleased in the blood stream for prolonged period of time.

These result in the stress related symptoms such as the tense muscles, non-focused anxiety, dizziness and the heart beat increases rapidly. The state of accumulation of stress can increase the risk of both acute and chronic and mental illness like nervous breakdown and also weaken the immune system of the body.

Stress has number of bad effects on the body, problems like headaches, irritable bowel symptoms, eating disorder, allergies, asthma, diabetes, heart elements, frequent colds and fatigue. Every person is bound to face certain stressful situation in some point or the other but in some people it intensifies and sometimes persists. Managing stress can definitely help one from the bad effects of stress that leads to mental disorders in some.

Methods of stress reduction

There are a number of methods to reduce stress and the most sensible way is to change our lifestyle. Trying to be relaxed and practice the relaxation techniques such as meditation, physical exercises, listening to soothing music, deep breathing and various natural and alternative methods.

One can work a stress condition to one's advantage or to protect oneself from its untoward follow-throughs, subject to how we handle a stress situation. The choice is between becoming a slave to the stressful situations of life and using them to our advantage.