Health - Control Stress by Altering Behavior

By using cognitive-behavioral methods, you can improve yourself and reduce stress. These methods involve identifying sources of stress, rearranging priorities, and changing your response to stress..

 Your first step would be to identify the sources of your stress. Try to keep a log all of your activities - even if you write down a few words and the time the event happens. This may be another chore added to your already crowded schedule but it is necessary to help identify the stressors in your life. When you go back over your activity log, you will be able to know the primary events that are overwhelming you and causing stress and what places or situations trigger anxiety or anger? After you have identified the main sources of stress you need to ask yourself: Are they are self-imposed or outside stressors? What can you change and what is out of your control? It’s also very important to note which events make you happy or give you pleasure. Taking notice to your positive experiences will help you decide what gives you a sense of accomplishment and where you feel best.

Reorganizing your priorities will help you reduce the activities that cause you too much stress. Erasing stress is really an impossible feat, but there are ways to reduce its impact on your mental and physical health. You may want to replace some time-consuming tasks with activities that give you pleasure and allow you to have fun. Also, make time for fun. This is just as important as cleaning house and paying bills. Take long weekends and family vacations. Allow yourself the time to have fun, enjoy your children, and spend time with your spouse Usually, activities that are fun and have positive effects on your body will aid in reducing stress.

You may not realize how beneficial expressing your stress can be for you. Repressing these emotions can result in depression, a feeling of being helpless, and misdirected hostility. Simply talking about your feelings of anger, frustration, or fear with a trusted friend or confidant helps to purge the negativity you’re experiencing. Also, keeping a diary or journal, or writing a letters, poetry, or a journal entries can help to vent negative feelings.