I would like to get your practical comments on the following: (What really works for you?)

How do you cope with stress? What methods do you use? What advice would you give to people to manage stress?

Thanks...

1. How do you manage physical responses to stress? (ie. rapid pulse, muscle tension etc.)

I alter them with my will. That's part of what meditation is for.



2. How do you manage psychological responses to stress? (ie. inability to concentrate, loss of self-confidence, worry & anxiety etc.)

I keep in mind that none of it matters. If you have water, food, and shelter, everything else is merely icing on top of the cake.



3. How do you manage behavioral responses to stress? (ie. nervous tics or mannerisms, uncalled-for-aggressiveness, eating etc.)

I have only one such problem, caused by physical damage to the nerves in the left side of my face. I can't control that.



4. On a scale of 1 to 4 (1-Never, 2-Occassionally, 3-Frequently, 4-Constantly) how would you rate the frequency of stress events in your life?

2. Problems do occur. I think I deal with them rather well though.

If I'm stressed out I exercise...get out of the house, get outside. For things like nevous tics like moving your leg, I just recognize I'm doing it and make myself stop it...something that works also is to contract a muscle rapidly...isolate your quad muscle or calf and move it, that relieves a bit of stress and hides moving your whole leg or shaking. Isometric exercise.

Something that makes me feel a lot better and relieves muscle tension associated with stress is to strech my whole body. Start with the neck and hold streches for at least 15 seconds and always do them twice but not in a row. Go down your body hitting every muscle you can. On the second run, hold the streches for 30 seconds if you can. If a muscle starts to feel num, like it's falling asleep, then you can stop even if its before 15 or 30 seconds.

Deep breathing also helps...breath slowly through your nose and then faster out your mouth.

Heres a site with suggestions to clam your self, be healthier, and control stress.
http://www.itmonline.org/journal/arts/emotions.htm

How Do You Manage Stress?

I sleep

Drink

Originally posted by celeron3466


How do you cope with stress?

Usually by not letting matters 'get on top of me'. As I keep saying to the missus, what can you do to make things better for yourself. Occasionally I do snap though.


What methods do you use?

Rhythm, missionary, dogg^H^H^H^H Sorry, getting threads mixed up there for a moment. Analyse the situation, determine solutions, apply them. If no obvious solution, collapse into a gibbering wreck.


What advice would you give to people to manage stress?

DON'T PUSH ME!

What Strgrl says.

Was that helpful?

I am bad at managing stress. My first instinct is to get away and the second is to kill something. Since neither are really possible in modern society (or at least acceptable) I do a LOT of cussing on the drive home.

I deal with stress using a number of (previously mentioned) methods. I make sure to get excersice all the time. I do stuff with friends, Try to remain practical and reasonable. I also make sure to eat properly and get plenty of rest - no matter what. If you cant keep your health than you cant do your job, so obviously, your health should be #1.

I also force myself to confront stress and deal with it directly. If I cant get a project done, I'll do as much as I can and tell the teacher I did not have sufficient time to complete it. They almost always understand since I have a clean track record. If I'm feeling lousy, I cut back on sugar and get extra excersice.


But one of the most important things you can do, is:
Go outside, get fresh air, and BREATH DEEP!!!! Extra Oxygen will ALWAYS make you feel better. And after you get that oxygen your brain will be far more capable of dealing with the issue at hand. Remember, dont sweat it, problems are just opportunities in disguise.

I don't have any particular method to manage stress, I let the reactions vary from time to time. Sometimes I dive into it and become hysterical, other times I manage to convince my self to stay calm. :D

i avoid stressful situations if possible

eg work, relationships......


;)

How do you cope with stress? What methods do you use? What advice would you give to people to manage stress?

Drink.
Play violent computer games.
Plot world domination.

How Do You Manage Stress?
I get totally exhausted with a help of physical training (Taekwon-Do) - you forget all other then, when you are training.

Also simultaneously or seperatelly listen to heavy metal ot any other metal.

Stress is inevitable. I doubt a person without some psychological disorder or on medication could go through life not stressing about something.

I have two ways of purging myself of stress.

Oddly enough, I talk to myself in third person. I kind of like go through the whole process of talking to a psychologist in my head, and I just tell myself the responses that he would say to me. I find it relaxing

Secondly, I think about why i am stressed. i ask myself "why the hell am I worrying about _______ when i spend such a short time on the earth."

And for people who are stressed, I think the best way to deal with it is just to simply try to forget about it. What is the point of stressing? All it does is raise your blood pressure, and tense your muscles. Will that solve the problem? I think not.

Hey, I do that too, talk to myself in third person, through a fictional character. Sometimes it's a psycholigist, but it can also be someone I feel the need to explain my irrational behaviour too.
:bugeye:

Here, I found what I was looking for......simple techniques to breath better and relax.

http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/columnindex.asp?ColumnId=7

1. GHB

2. working out

3. sleep, force yourselve to go to bed early even if your mind is still running with unfinished thoughts....

4.
I have made it a steady ritual to take a long holiday to some sunny destination if it's midwinter and cold and dark and wet.

That really lifts up the spirits and lowers stress, in the summer basdeline is higher anyway.