Stress in our Life

Everyone is familiar with stress. We experience it in various forms and degrees every day. In small doses, stress can actually be beneficial to us. It is only when the stress becomes too great, affecting our physical or mental functioning, that it becomes a problem.

In small doses, stressors can help give us increased energy and alertness, even helping to keep us focused on the problem at hand. This type of stress is good. People may refer to the experience of this type of stress as feeling "pumped" or "wired."

As the level of pressure gets too great, stress eventually surpasses our ability to cope with it in a positive way. Often, people describe themselves as being stressed out, burned out, or at wits end. At this point, it is important to find positive and productive ways to deal with the stress and, more importantly, to address the person or situation that is causing the stress.

Everyone reacts to stress differently. But common signs of stress include poor judgment, a general negative outlook, excessive worrying, moodiness, irritability, agitation, inability to relax, feeling lonely, isolated or depressed, aches and pains, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, eating too much or not enough, sleeping too much or not enough, social withdrawal, neglect of responsibilities, increased alcohol, nicotine or drug consumption, and nervous habits such as pacing about, nail-biting and neck pains.

Each of us has a different level of pressure and anxiety that we can handle without a bad outcome. Only you can assess your level of tolerance to stressful situations. The best treatment for stress is to prevent getting into situations that are likely to overwhelm your ability to cope. This is not always possible because the stressors may often come from outside sources that are beyond your control.

2.2. To fight stress effectively one has to know pretty much about it. Do you think that your knowledge of stress is enough? Mark the five statements as true or false. Then read the text, check your ideas and correct the wrong ones. Use the statements you’ve got as headings for the passages below.

1. Emotions have a will of their own and cannot be controlled.

2. Stress is something that affects only those who have high-pressure lives.

3. The only way to lower stress is to change your surroundings or to take medication.

4. Stress is caused by events that happen to us.

5. We always know when we are under stress.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT STRESS

a) Often people become so accustomed to stress that they become unaware of it. Many of us suffer the debilitating effects of stress even though we don't feel tense. But stress can change the way you treat others, or damage your body even in the absence of feelings of frustration or anxiety.

b) Many ordinary individuals experience the constant stress of worry, leading unfulfilled lives, or of not being who they would like to be.

c) Changing your outlook on life is the most reliable and effective way of reducing stress. Stress comes from the way we perceivethe world, not from the way the world really is.

d) To paraphrase the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, it is not events in themselves that cause our distress, but rather the views we take of events.

e) We can change our feelings by first changing our behavior or by changing our thinking. For example, getting some work done can keep us from worrying about it. Creating a new understanding of a situation can make it less threatening or stressful.

Section 3. Listening

3.1. Exams are always stressful events for schoolchildren and students. Listen to the conversation in which two friends are disscussing the up-coming exams. While listening choose the correct alternative.

1. Tim is worried about his French / German speaking exam.

2. Tim is good / bad at French.

3. Tim knows / doesn’t know for sure what the exam consists of.

4. Emma tells Tim to ask his friends / family to help. Tim is worried that he’ll speak too little / much in the exam.

5. Emma suggests downloading a French film / podcast.

6. Emma shows Tim how to compare and contrast two pictures / menus.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31