Everyday events can cause you to feel tense. The key is to learn to handle that stress.

It may seem strange but it is true: the body's ability to withstand stress as well as its ability to respond to stress decreases even before you touch 40. The body's response towards stress can be influenced by one's experiences, genetics and behaviour. When the brain perceives stress, physiological and behavioural responses are initiated, leading to adaptation.

We all react differently to stressful situations. What one person finds stressful another may not at all. Almost anything can cause stress and it has different triggers. How does stress occur? Stress results from the interplay of a stressful environmental situation and the mental, emotional and physiological reactions to it. Chronic stress may lead to illness by causing the mind and body to become exhausted, weakening immunity and motivating unhealthy behaviour in an attempt to deal with stress. Several studies have shown that stress can impair the person's immunity. Overall, chronic stress weakens your immunity, which leads to chronic illness. Chronic diseases are associated with five risk factors:

tobacco use, high blood pressure, alcohol use, high cholesterol and excess weight. Limit the consumption of sugar, fat and cholesterol and thereby reduce the burdens of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and excess weight. In a fast-growing, competitive world, it is almost impossible not to experience stress and its psychological and physiological manifestations. In case of stress, a wise course is to become mindful of how your thoughts contribute to feeling stressed. Isolation and lack of control in the work environment also causes stress.

If you are confronted with too many challenges, it may lead to work overload-the feeling that there are too many demands on your time and energy. Studies show that people who don't get quality sleep or enough sleep are more likely to fall sick after being exposed to a virus, such as the influenza virus which causes common cold.

Food plays an important part in our lives. Our food habits often change-sometimes we may try to eat more healthy food but sometimes we eat a lot of junk food. However, stress too affects our eating pattern. We may find it hard to eat if we're feeling stressed, or eat "comfort" food if we feel unhappy. It may lead to eating disorders. Eating disorder is an abnormal attitude towards food that causes someone to change eating habits and behaviour.

It is important to learn that how you see a stressful event will be the single largest factor that impacts your physical and mental health. Our interpretation of an event or challenge can decide whether they are invigorating or harmful. Stress management can help you to either remove or change the source of stress, alter the way you view a stressful event and lower the impact of the stress. Stressed people should change their behavioural patterns appropriately. Interventions that increase social support and appropriate help from counsellors and doctors can enable an individual to significantly improve health and his or her attitude towards work and life.


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