What I Learned from Stress

In my line of work, I've seen stress on both sides of the table. These are what I've learned.

Stress may be dangerous to your health. Many patients develop all kinds of symptoms yet subsequent tests reveal nothing wrong. These symptoms may be manifestations of stress. When physicians interview patients, they look for clues to identify exactly what's wrong. Be honest with your doctor, tell him what bothers you, physically, mentally and emotionally. Sometimes, simply looking back at what transpired identifies the problem. Try to correlate your symptoms with the events of your life. For example, recurring bouts of hyperacidity unresponsive to medications may be stress-related if you look at them closely. People react differently to events, big or small, and some may be able to handle changes better than the others.

Stress may be avoided. Do you really want to feel those symptoms all the time? I don't think so. The best way to avoid stress is to identify what triggers it. Keeping a diary may help as you can correlate symptoms and events. Once you've identified the trigger, exercise ways to avoid it. When you recognize that things are leading up to a stressful event, pause for a moment and reflect. Ask yourself, Do I need this in my life right now? Chances are, you don't. Nip it in the bud. If there's an issue that needs to be decided on, make up your mind right away. Losing sleep over it will just add to your problems. Learn to compromise. You don't have to be right all the time.

It's important to destress. So what if stress got the better of you? Don't let it ruin you or your relationships. Recharge.

Check out additional tips on stress management here.

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This is my contribution to the What I Learned From...Stress group writing project over at Robert Hruzek's Middle Zone Musings.

stress, what i learned, group writing project