Stress can reveal itself in many ways, but one of the most widespread problems it results in is continuous weariness - a feeling of tiredness and unwellness. It is lethargy, general fatigue, exhaustion, lassitude and ambivalence. Basically, you feel too tired to care less.
This mood is debilitating, because the longer it goes on, the worse it gets and depression is just around the corner. Stress is the cause of millions of lost work days every week and has become the origin of many serious illnesses in the West.
The major causes of stress are financial, emotional and work-related. Everyone worries. Even millionaires worry about money - much more than you would think. All families worry, parents worry about their children and children worry about other children and we all worry about our jobs and children worry about school and their homework. We also all worry about upsetting people and having had arguments or about having been a bit sharp or impolite with someone recently.
Other than these main reasons, people worry about stalkers, paedophiles, the economy, the environment, war, terrorism, burglars, muggers, drunken drivers, foreigners, immigration, the decline of the educational establishment, the moral decline of the nation and a thousand more things.
There are numerous kinds of stress. There is long term stress and short term stress; acute and mild stress; there is bad stress and even good stress. Long term stress comes from life. Most parents never stop worrying about their children; short to medium term stress can come from job or and financial insecurity, although by their forties or fifties, many people have this stress nailed. Younger people tend to worry more about money.
Mild stress can come from driving in traffic and acute stress could develop if you suspect you are about to be attacked or mugged. Some of these are bad stresses, but some are there to help you get through a situation too, so you could say that they are good stresses.
When driving through traffic, stress will keep you aware, which you should be to help avert accidents, but the best examples of good stress are given by actors and top business people. Most good actors will say that they need that tension or stress before going on stage in order to give a good performance.
You can decrease stress by managing, planning and setting goals. These three methods will bring some order into your life, which is helpful because stress often generates out of chaos - when things are so much on top of you that you do not know what to do next.
Therefore, if money is the reason for your stress, draw up a budget and organize the payment of your bills the day after your cheque clears every month. If you need to get a second job, do not choose one like your day job, do something completely different like dog-walking, mowing lawns or working in Wimpey's.
If your problems come from relationships, study them to see whether they can be managed better. Are your kids running wild? Is your spouse never at home? Is your Mum ill? There are things you can do, even if you do have to seek guidance or counseling.
Setting meaningful, attainable goals is a way of raising your spirits. These can be on any level you like, big or small. If I have a long essay to write, I may promise myself a toffee after every 1,000 words. If I have a larger task on, I may promise myself a slap-up meal on Friday, when it is finished. Having short term, achievable goals like that helps lift my spirits. Call it bribery, if you like, but it works.
If work is your problem, try education. Go to night school, meet new people who are interested in what you are interested in, get some new credentials and get out of your rut. All of these methods will help alleviate your stress and get you back on your feet.
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Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the
symptoms of stress. If you are suffering from any kind of stress, please go over to our website now at
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