Stress relief

 Stress for all its negative reputation has a large influence on both individual and family life. What we do with stress and the different forms that it can take in our lives is up to each one of us but it is also important to differentiate stress from distress. First stress is just something that we naturally feel at different points in our life just as a by product of living stress is the pressures we face such as worrying about success or failure to as simple as simple a the weight of a physically demanding task we all have varied amounts of stress while distress is the internal anguish and panic that of is what leads to depression if either experienced for a extended period of time or high intensity. Stress used properly can motivate us to act and get things done. It also helps us to grow by allowing us to understand when we are beginning to push ourselves closer to the limit of our abilities so that we can improve till we have a new high limit.

For things that stress the family we first need to be aware of the differences in types of stress so that we can better handle each type. For example different types require different approaches to overcome. Acute stress is something which is better planned ahead for you can not plan for everything that could possibly happen. It just isn’t realistically possible but you do certain general preparations to better handle when the unexpected happens such as planning how you will act and what you will do in an emergency. On the other hand, chronic stress, something ranging from minor to moderate but on a daily basis potentially for life, is something overcome by adaptability. Can’t walk up the stairs to your house to build a ramp. Sugar is now a potential health risk test for alternatives and finding a good healthy sweetener that can substitute it. These are important things to remember just as we animals adapt to different environments that are placed in we need to adapt how we face different types of stress as they can't all be dealt with one fix all solution. But even after all these we must first understand what can cause anxiety that we oftentimes in society perceive as unhealthy stress. Stress in the form of anxiety can come from anything that we perceive as a danger. Doing bad on a test is a threat to your grades. Boss in a bad mood and griping at you is being aggressive towards you, a threat of anxiety. This is pointed out because while we do still need our fight or flight in the case of real danger we must remember it is perceived danger that starts the process so as we understand how anxiety works we can better understand what is happening to us and handle its effect.

Lastly is seeking to understand our own thoughts and better understand what is true and what is false. Especially when it comes to things that have to do with a negative influence we often tend to lie to ourselves. A good tool to help with this is the cognitive distortions checklist. The first part is to at least something you have thought or believe and then test to see if any of the ten questions listed apply the more that are being used the farther from the truth you are oftentimes in a very self destructive manner. From this we can learn both how we can better deal with stress in our individual lives and those of our family as a whole.