Stress management

5 things you should know

1. Reducing stress has many benefits that include better sleep, better concentration, a lower risk of many health problems (e.g. heart disease, headaches, skin problems) and a lower risk of being overweight.

2. Stress is the body’s response to danger (called the "fight or flight" response). If you don’t see danger in a situation or event... you won’t experience stress.

3. To reduce stress you need to remove the danger, either by changing the situation (for real dangers) or by changing the way you think about the situation (for self-created dangers).

4. Relaxation strategies can help reduce stress in the short-term. These include deep breathing, meditation, visualization, music appreciation and progressive muscle relaxation.

5. Effective long-term stress management strategies require building and using skills to remove the danger (e.g., problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, communication, budgeting and other skills) or using cognitive strategies to change the way you think about the situation (e.g., cognitive restructuring, Socratic questioning).