There are very many proven skills that we can use to manage stress. These help us to remain calm and effective in high pressure situations, and help us avoid the problems of long term stress. In the rest of this section of Mind Tools, we look at some important techniques in each of these three groups.
This is a much-abridged excerpt from the 'Understanding Stress and Stress Management' module of the Mind Tools Stress Management Masterclass. As well as covering this material in more detail, it also discusses:
Long-term stress: The General Adaptation Syndrome and Burnout.
The Integrated Stress Response.
Stress and Health.
Stress and its Affect on the Way We Think.
Pressure & Performance: Flow and the 'Inverted-U'.
These sections give you a deeper understanding of stress, helping you to develop your own stress management strategies for handling unique circumstances. Click here to find out more about the Stress Management Masterclass.
The first of these articles shows you how to keep a stress diary – an important technique for undertsanding the most important sources of stress in your life. To read this, click 'Next article' below.
Warning: Stress can cause severe health problems and, in extreme cases, can cause death. While these stress management techniques have been shown to have a positive effect on reducing stress, they are for guidance only, and readers should take the advice of suitably qualified health professionals if they have any concerns over stress-related illnesses or if stress is causing significant or persistent unhappiness. Health professionals should also be consulted before any major change in diet or levels of exercise.