What Your Sources of Stress are and the Methods of Coping, and Reducing it

Stress seems to of become a natural component to everyday, modern living (Brew, 1982), but what does this actually mean? The UK'sHealth and Safety Executive official website defines stress as "the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed on them" (HSE, 1995, as cited in Patmore, 2006), So what is this excessive pressure or other demands? And if you get consumed by these, how do you cope? How can you reduce it? This essay has been written in an attempt to answer these three questions by helping you identify some of the sources of stress in your life and to summarize some ways to cope and reduce it.

Common sources of stress include never-ending piles of bills, too many errands and not enough time in the day, pressures in your career, and of course family responsibilities (Smith, Jaffe-Gill, & Segal, 2008). To identify your own sources of stress a bit of stress management needs to be undertaken.

Smith Street, Warwick - no's 55 to 61 Smith Street

English: Stress Management for IT professionals

A Kranz (wreath) of Kölsch beer.

To do this you need to look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses. Ask yourself questions such as do you explain away stress as temporary? Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life? Do you think it is part of your personality? Do you blame your stress on other people or the external environment? Or do you view it as normal and unexceptional? You need to make an honest list of your stressors. A stress journal is a good idea. This includes recording what caused you to stress, how you felt, how you acted in response, and how you made yourself feel better (Smith, Jaffe-Gill, & Segal, 2008). Doing this when need be and pretty soon you will see a pattern and common themes of your stressors.

There are...