Quiz – Are You Stressed?

Take a life audit, to see how you stressed are by answering yes or no to the following questions below.

1. Do you know the symptoms of stress?
2. Do you skip meals, or play little attention to your diet?
3. Do you neglect to exercise?
4. Do you regularly skip sleep or have disturbed nights?
5. Do you frequently try to do everything yourself?
6. Do you fail to see the funny side of things?
7. Do you bottle things up?
8. Do you fail to schedule relaxation time in your day?
9. Has anyone ever called you a “control freak”?
10. Do you lose your temper often?
11. Do you consider yourself disorganized?
12. Do you set yourself unrealistic goals?
13. Do you make a crisis out of a tiny setback?
14. Are you frequently irritated or annoyed?
15. Are you impatient if you are kept waiting?
16. Do you put things off?
17. Do you believe that there is only one way to do something?
18. Do you race through the day feeling that you never finish anything to your satisfaction?

If you said yes to less than 11 of the above questions you are not doing badly when it comes to stress. If you answered yes to 12 to 15 of the questions above you are stressed and should do something about it. If you answered yes to 16 or more you are seriously stressed and should take action immediately.

Tips to Reduce Stress

With today’s economy, a good majority of people are likely to be under some degree of stress. The best ways to manage stress is to change its sources and/or change your reaction to it. The tips below can help you reduce stress and take negative situations become less stressful.

Be aware of what stresses you.
Know the events and circumstances that you find stressful and know how you react. Does your head ache, for example, or do you feel nauseous? If you can spot signs of stress you can do something about it.

Work on what you can change.
You probably can’t eliminate stress, but you can change some things about your day. Can you leave the premises for a time? Or could you learn a new skill that will alleviate some of your stress, such as time management or negotiation?

Get the stress into perspective.
It’s tempting to over exaggerate stress, but try to temper your reaction. A mistake is not a disaster. See it as something you can cope with and get over. Don’t be paralyzed by the “what ifs”.

Build your physical reserves.
A healthy body will go a long way to combating stress. Eat well and maintain a healthy body weight for your height and age. Avoid excess caffeine, nicotine and alcohol and exercise.  Establish good sleeping habits and schedule vacation time.

Build your emotional reserves.
Set your own goals, rather than have them set for you. Develop a supportive network of family and friends and treat yourself well.

Joanna Laznicka

Joanna founded and is the publishing editor of Fact Based Health Journal.