Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand. Many things can trigger this response, including change. Changes can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived. They may be recurring, short-term, or long-term and may include things like commuting to and from school or work every day, traveling for a yearly vacation, or moving to another home.

Feeling stressed can feel perfectly normal, especially during exam time. You might notice that sometimes being stressed-out motivates you to focus on your work, yet at other times, you feel incredibly overwhelmed and can’t concentrate on anything. While stress affects everyone in different ways, there are two major types of stress: stress that’s beneficial and motivating — good stress — and stress that causes anxiety and even health problems — bad stress.

Maybe it’s your demanding boss, morning gridlock, or relationship problems with a friend or family member. Whatever the cause, it’s likely you experience some level of stress on a daily basis.

Here are five things you should know about stress:

Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand. Stress can be generally defined as an undue, inappropriate or exaggerated response to a situation.  Every type of demand or stressor—such as exercise, work, school, major life changes, or traumatic events—can be stressful.

The types of stress related to how the stress comes on or what symptoms are associated with the stress, but psychologists typically differentiate between the different types based on how long the periods last. Learning more about the different types of stress can help individuals learn how to battle stress.

Everyone suffers from stress at times, and everyone experiences it in their own way. The most common stress situations were described by management consultant Karl Albrecht in his 1979 book Stress and the Manager. In it, the stress reduction specialist discusses Four Types of Stress. According to Albrecht, the first step to overcoming stress is understanding stress.

Not all stress is bad but too much stress is unhealthy. There are many types of stress, from minor incidents that last a little while, to chronic or long-term stress that is ongoing. Stress affects everyone differently but it can lead to a variety of health issues. Managing stress is important in maintaining a healthy and fulfilling life.

Stress is different for everyone. What stresses you out may not even bother your best friend and vice versa.

We briefly mentioned "stressors" in the last lesson.  To recap, a "stressor" is an incident, event or change where we feel like we cannot cope. Since this demand may    deplete our tangible, physical and mental resources,         it can create stress in our lives. We can divide stressors into two types – external and internal.

In addition to stress from external sources, we can also create our own stress. We do this by excessive worrying, being negative, planning poorly, setting artificial deadlines for ourselves, visualizing worst-case scenarios, fearing failure, and fearing what others may think of us just to name a few.

1. Relationships: Arguments with your spouse, parent, or child can increase your stress levels. When you live together, it can be even more stressful. Problems between other members of your family or household can also cause you stress, even when you’re not directly involved.

If we look at all of the events that take place around us each day and if all of these events cause us stress, then every one of us would be completely stressed out. Yet, we see that some people are not bothered by events while others are.

Identifying physical symptoms can help you to identify your stress and you can actually do something about it.

1. Lack of Punctuality: Timekeeping is one of the first things to suffer when an individual is stressed. The reason is, they may take too many tasks on, or try to avoid tasks and thus leave them until the last minute or they may have become so overcome with worry/anxiety that they become forgetful.

Stress, defined as emotional tension or mental strain, is all too common of a feeling for many of us. The emotional symptoms it causes are:

The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay to deal with a threat or to run away to safety.

Many people feel too embarrassed or ashamed to openly discuss their experiences with stress. Therefore, it is essential that we familiarize ourselves with the signs & symptoms of stress so that we may be able to identify what they are going through and remind them that the channels of communications are open and that we are willing to help them or find help for them. You may, in fact, be experiencing stress yourself. It may be helpful to regularly remind yourself of the symptoms of the stress so that you can identify them early and take appropriate actions.

Stress hormones are produced by your body in situations that might be perceived as potentially dangerous. Daily activities, physical and emotional, that cause increased anxiety may cause your body to release some of these hormones and may cause you to feel more stressed about a routine situation.

Cortisol is made in the adrenal glands and it’s released during times of fear. A great example is your body’s response to ‘fight or flight’ which is an example of when cortisol is often secreted. When your brain feels threatened it tries to decide whether it should run away or fight for survival and therefore receives heightened cortisol levels.

Here are the 10 signs to show you that you’ve got too much cortisol in your body:

Too little cortisol can be due to a condition called Addison's disease. It has a number of causes, all rare, including damage to the adrenal glands by autoimmune disease. The onset of symptoms is often very gradual.

Cortisol is a hormone, which is mainly released at times of stress and has many important functions in your body. Having the right cortisol balance is essential for human health and you can have problems if your adrenal gland releases too much or too little cortisol.

Your central nervous system (CNS) is in charge of your “fight or flight” response. In your brain, the hypothalamus gets the ball rolling, telling your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rev up your heartbeat and send blood rushing to the areas that need it most in an emergency, such as your muscles, heart, and other important organs.

Chronic stress, or a constant stress experienced over a prolonged period of time, can contribute to long-term problems for heart and blood vessels. The consistent and ongoing increase in heart rate, and the elevated levels of stress hormones and of blood pressure, can take a toll on the body. This long-term ongoing stress can increase the risk for hypertension, heart attack or stroke.

In the male anatomy, the autonomic nervous system, also known as the fight or flight response, produces testosterone and activates the sympathetic nervous system which creates arousal. Cortisol is important to blood pressure regulation and the normal functioning of several body systems including cardiovascular, circulatory and male reproduction. Excess amounts of cortisol can affect the normal biochemical functioning of the male reproductive system.

• Menstruation: Stress may affect menstruation among adolescent girls and women in several ways. For example, high levels of stress may be associated with absent or irregular menstrual cycles, more painful periods and changes in the length of cycles.

Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, even though you might not realize it. You may think illness is to blame for that nagging headache, your frequent insomnia or your decreased productivity at work. But stress may actually be the culprit.

Get enough sleep: Inconsistent sleep can have some serious consequences. Not only does it affect our physical health, but lack of sleep can also contribute to overall anxiety and stress. And sometimes it turns into a vicious cycle since anxiety often leads to disruptions in sleep. Especially when feeling anxious, try to schedule a full seven to nine hours of snooze time and see what a few nights of sweet slumber do for those anxiety levels throughout the day.  

Although stress and anxiety may arise in your workplace and personal life, there are many simple ways to reduce the pressure you feel.

Are you stressed at work?

If so, you wouldn’t be alone. According to the 2014 Work Stress Survey conducted by Nielsen, 80% of Americans indicated that they’re stressed out on the job.

Work stress has significant health consequences that range from the relatively benign—more colds and flu—to the more serious, like heart disease and metabolic syndrome. But, because stress at work is so common, finding a low-stress job may be difficult or impossible for many people.

Stress isn’t always bad. A little bit of stress can help you stay focused, energetic, and able to meet new challenges in the workplace. It’s what keeps you on your toes during a presentation or alert to prevent accidents or costly mistakes. But in today’s hectic world, the workplace too often seems like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines, and ever-increasing demands can leave you feeling worried, drained, and overwhelmed. And when stress exceeds your ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts causing damage to your mind and body, as well as to your job satisfaction.

While any exercise will naturally reduce stress, there are several exercise activities that specifically act to connect mind and body – promoting an instant feeling of calmness and wellbeing. These physical activities provide a good workout for your body while also being relaxing and therapeutic.

Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.

Meditation has many health benefits and is a highly effective way to relieve stress and maintain a healthier lifestyle. With practice, meditation becomes both more of an easy habit to maintain and more of an effective one as well, given that it builds resilience to stress over time. Putting in the effort to learn and practice meditation can actually transform your experience of stress in your life.

Meditation is an umbrella term for the many ways to a relaxed state of being. There are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques that have meditation components. All share the same goal of achieving inner peace.

Basic Meditation Practice involves these given steps

Except during illness, you should exercise or meditate nearly every day. That doesn't necessarily mean hitting the gym or training for a marathon

Getting a handle on your stress levels is essential to looking and feeling healthy, as well as aging gracefully. Luckily, there are a handful of herbal remedies for balancing cortisol and alleviating stress and anxiety naturally.

These stress relief herbs can help you get a better handle on your emotions and your day. Knowing how to use the right herbs can make a very real difference in your quality, and even quantity, of life. You can find these herbs in a number of relaxing teas and supplements, either online or at natural food stores.

Many people are conscious of an inner voice that provides a running monologue throughout the day and even into the night. Cheerful and supportive or negative and self-defeating, this internal chatter is referred to as self-talk. This inner voice combines conscious thoughts with unconscious beliefs and biases. It’s an effective way for the brain to interpret and process daily experiences. This voice is useful when it is positive, talking down fears and bolstering confidence.

You may have a negative message that replays in your head every time you make a mistake.  As a child you have been told, “You’ll never amount to anything” or “You can’t do anything right.”  When you make a mistake—and you will because we all do—you can choose to overwrite that message with a positive one, such as “I choose to accept and grow from my mistake” or “As I learn from my mistakes, I am becoming a better person.”  During this exercise, mistakes become opportunities to replace negative views of who you are with positive options for personal enhancement.

These scenarios are examples of negative self-talk and what are the positive alternatives for them.

As a human being, you are constantly talking to yourself, having an inner monologue with yourself. It’s called self-talk. Self-talk is an internal dialogue that can affect your confidence and self-esteem.  One kind of this is positive self-talk, a personal (mental) conversation with a positive mental attitude towards your life and yourself. This is said to be the optimistic voice in your head – soliloquy that makes you look at the bright side of things.

Patterns of negative or positive self-talk often start in childhood. Usually, the self-talk habit is one that’s colored our thinking for years and can affect us in many ways, influencing the experience of stress in our lives. However, any time can be a good time to change it! Here are some ways you can stop yourself from using negative self-talk and use your mind to boost your productivity and self-esteem and relieve stress.

Don't let the brain trick you. Whether you believe it or not, you have control over your thinking and if you want, you can start to feel more powerful about yourself sooner than you would imagine.

Worry and overwork can lead to unhealthy lifestyle habits, which causes more stress, leading to a very harmful cycle. For example, if you are facing a very tight deadline at work, you might make poor choices about what to eat, relying on sugar and caffeine to get you through the day. Unfortunately, these food choices can create more stress in the long run, as well as other problems. Below is a list of common bad habits people sometimes indulge in when overwhelmed and worried.

When you're feeling tense, there are many ways to manage and, in fact, reduce stress levels. Your diet and nutrition choices can make your stress levels go up or down. Certain foods provide comfort and actually increase levels of hormones in the body that naturally fight stress. Other types of foods and beverages can reduce stress by lowering the levels of hormones that trigger it.

Your diet and nutrition intake greatly influence your stress levels. Some foods are particularly known for calming effects while others enhance your stress. You need to make wise food choices while feeling stressed out.

Essential oils are one of the safest ways to deal with acute or chronic stress. The powerful components in essential oils are the essence of natural organic plants that provide immediate relief from stressful feelings with no side effects. 

Stress-related symptoms can be relieved by using essential oils. Below are some of the best essential oils recommended for the quick relief of tension and stress:

Any natural therapy that can help calm the mind and nerves can help to relieve stress and anxiety. There is no fixed recipe when it comes to essential oils and what might work for you might not work for someone else. Since we are all biochemically exclusive, it's best to experiment with a variety of essential oils, pay attention to your body, and find the "personal blends" that work most optimally for you.

For some women, finding out that they are pregnant can be a stressful experience in itself. You could feel like you have lost control or don’t have enough resources to manage what you’ll be experiencing. Other things that could cause stress in pregnancy include:

Stress can do much more than simply make you anxious. Over time, unmanaged stress can:

While everyday pressure is a part of modern life, a high level of chronic stress can boost your odds of preterm labor or of delivering a low-birth-weight baby. If you're used to caring for others or giving 110 percent at work, making yourself a priority may seem unnatural or even selfish.

Reducing stress during your pregnancy is critical to enjoying this amazing time in your life. Figure out which stress reduction tips work best for you. Combine the ones that work well and that you enjoy. Remember to relax and pamper yourself, and let others pamper you too!

Many parents easily recognize the sources of stress in their own lives. But we often don’t realize that children have very different—and sometimes unexpected—sources of their own.

Often, children -- particularly younger kids -- are not able to fully articulate their feelings of stress and anxiety. In fact, the signs of stress in children may be quite subtle, such as stomach pains, headaches, or changes in behavior. You may also notice mood swings and sleep problems as well as difficulty concentrating at school.

The key to helping kids manage stress is teaching them to problem-solve, plan and know when to say yes and no to activities and commitments. It isn’t to make everything smooth and comfortable.

Make the decision to combat stress in your life and in the life of your child. Be aware of any changes in your child’s behavior or health which could be signs of stress. Work to keep yourself healthy in order to help take care of your children and work together as a family to reduce stress in your life by prioritizing (and trimming) your to-do list, getting things done and enjoying time together.

Stress can seem overwhelming. Stress can be isolating. Stress can be, well, stressful. But you are not alone; you shouldn't be ashamed; and you can overcome it.