Stress is funny. Not ha-ha funny, but odd funny. It can motivate you to improve your life. But, it can also ruin your health and your life.

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 biological signs of stress are meant to help you physically survive. In your world, this is rarely helpful, since most stress today is psychological.

Psychological stress will stem from problems such as worry about money, family, and your health. Your body’s physical reaction to stress does not do anything for these situations. Because these kinds of situations are quite common and long-term, your body can be experiencing a constant state of stress.

High stress can cause health problems as varied as muscle tension, sleep problems, mental confusion, depression and digestion problems. Health problems from stress eventually just increase the stress you already have.

Common sense tells you that managing your stress is important. There are all kinds of people and companies that will offer advice, products and services to help your stress. If every option worked the same for everyone, that would not be a problem. But, we’re all different. What works for your friend, may not work for you.

I believe it will help you find your appropriate stress management tools by becoming more aware of what creates 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.

Situational stress is generally easier to figure out, and since it’s about a situation, it is generally more short-term. What common stress management methods will work for you? Is it realistic to expect yourself 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)

If your stress if from behaviors, spend some time reviewing the situation. Separate what is about now and what is about the past, such as memories of past emotional events. (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 consider your stress a serious problem, seek professional help. Prescription Medicine is sometimes an answer, though many people complain of side effects and do not like the foggy feeling some medicines give. They’ll sometimes say they don’t know which is worse, to live in a fog or to be stressed.

Look into your options and find what fits for you. Then, make use of them. When it comes to improving your life, the only poor choice is to not make a choice.

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