Saturday, April 17, 2010
April, National Stress Month!
HealthNewsDigest.com: "April may bring showers to mind, but now it has also been declared 'National Stress Month' (Hopefully, April won't be as rainy as March, but we will de-stress with May flowers!) Stress has been associated with many things from the common cold to more serious diseases, including cardiovascular disease to cancer. Both, short term stress and long term chronic stress have consequences. But, this week let's take a look at how to manage our stress, because most of us experience some form of it year- round. First, here's a study that reports the direct relationship of stress to the common cold!"
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9 comments:
This article doesn't really seem to present anything groundbreaking in terms of ways to cope with stress. All the same things are listed: eat right, sleep enough, exercise, don't smoke. People generally know that you need to do these things to ward off illness as well, but it is an interesting point that unhealthy habits will lead to stress which then leads to possibly contracting a cold.
I agree with the previous statement. This article does not present anything new in term of way to deal with stress or even minimizing it. I think that in the end, stress is a thing that cannot be managed by just one thing. But rather a combination of the things suggested may reduce the stress. But even then, not by a significant amount.
I both agree and disagree with Tim and Hannah. There are very few things actually said in this article that people don't know, but what is actually said are all really good things to remember. I think that with our busy schedules, it's really easy to forget that we need to take care of ourselves and the stress makes it harder to take care of ourselves. I think it makes total sense that April is National stress month, especially for college students with the end of the semester nearing. I don't think any of us actually follow many of the things stated in this article because we think we don't have time, but I bet if we actually tried we could all make time.
I agree that all the coping strategies she listing are very generic and are the key to just being healthy. and of corse lack of them will have negative effects on your body.
I think most of the problem is that a lot of peoples schedules and work load dont allow for us to be healthy 100% of the time. I think the most important thing is just to know what you can physically and mentally handle and going by what personally works.
Personally, I feel that March causes me more stress than April does. At least in April, the weather is finally beginning to be sunny and beautiful, while in March, you're stuck in the post-winter, ice-melting phase that leads to sickness and stress. Perhaps it is the idea of overcoming all of these gloomy months that makes April as stressful to some as this article states, and now that we finally are able to venture outdoors in what is finally an acceptable temperature, this article feels the need to remind us how good exercise can be for us.
I think that its interesting that so many Americans have taken a mental health day which sometimes especially as a student can lead to less productivity, and is a signature sign of not being able to cope with stress and a sign of stress inundating your life to the point that it is winning and making you unable to function in your normal day to day routine, another thing I thought was really interesting is the statistic for the number of Americans who are stressed because of financial reasons, I was watching Current TV and they did a segment on college students stressed out because of their parents' financial situation which they themselves functioning as full time college students have little opportunity to help. Overall, this article just made me more stressed out especially that part about the female monkeys getting fatter in their abdominal region, because I can totally see that happening to students.
I think the thing about smoking is hilarious. If you are addicted to cigarettes...national stress month may just not be the best time to quit...that's like trying to lose weight while training for a marathon. Not necessarily a good time! You need the energy to go towards one thing, and if you're committed to something like finals or work, etc. focus on that, stay as healthy as possible, but don't add on the extra burden that is quitting a bad habit during a time when you're already stressed. Having lived with a smoker my whole life, that is a pretty unwise decision, and will most likely cause way more stress than anything else.
We need to be under certain level of stress in order for the body systems to keep organized and working in good condition. Good example from my experience, if you are under any kind of commitment you have to finish, during the project, you might not get a cold. Once it is done and you are free from the pressure, you are likely to feel sick. Only me?
Stress is actually really tricky and an invisible enemy.
While you feel stress, that means you are still in a safety zone. You can relieve the stress out in whatever way magazines or researchers say. But once you do not even feel the stress as "stress," things start getting worse. If you just spend busy days where you literally can not think about anything other than work, you might harm your health significantly. So, in any condition, especially those who spend a life in a busy schedule, I think it is important to take a moment to feel and ask themselves how they are doing.
P.S.
The excessive stress shut down the normal activity of human brain to the extent people start killing themselves unconsciously. That happens a lot in Japan. More people kill themselves diving to an oncoming train at the platform on the way back to home. It is sad, but true.
First of all, do we really need a Stress Month. I am pretty sure we are all aware of the existence of stress.
It is an interesting the never-ending cycle of stress leading to illness leading to stress leading to illness. However, saying that you need to eat enough and correctly, sleep enough hours each day, exercise sufficiently, and not to smoke is basically just saying be healthy. Be healthy so that you can be healthy.
However, stress seems to be something that takes over all of our lives and unfortunaltly can take it over if it goes without being controlled.
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