Humor To Relieve Stress-Can Take Its Toll

If it is left unchecked, stress will take its toll on your health. While it isn’t possible to completely eliminate all forms of stress from your life, you can feel a lot better when you use humor to relieve stress.

It has long been said that humor is the best medicine, and there have been several studies that have shown this to be true, at least to some degree. The full effects of humor are not completely understood, but laughter appears to release certain chemicals in the brain, and these chemicals make us feel better and relieve stress.

Before we get to ways to add humor to your life, it’s important to mention that you should always discuss any health concerns with your doctor. Your stress may be the result of an underlying medical condition, and your doctor can also give you additional suggestions for relieving stress.

Now, on to the funny!

Your goal should be to laugh as many times per day as possible and then a few more on top of that. Free your funny bone and look at the lighter side of life. Stress is the result of your perceptions. You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can always choose how to respond to it. There are times when stress is a good option, but those times don’t happen all that often.

Television and movies can be good sources of comedy. Maybe you don’t like the most popular show, or romantic comedies may not be your thing, but that’s okay. The key is to watch whatever makes you laugh. If you’re the only one in the room laughing hysterically while everybody else sits there with a straight look on their face, then you can laugh at that too. Humor is a subjective thing, but that’s no excuse not to laugh.

The internet is a practically endless source of humor to relieve stress. There are tons of funny people online, though some of them are unintentionally funny. Log on to the internet and you can find funny videos, cartoons, pictures, quotations, jokes, and just about anything else you can think of.

Surround yourself with as many things that bring a smile to your face as you can. A calendar that has a new joke every day, a T-shirt with a goofy picture on it, or even a humorous bumper sticker are just a few ways to add more humor to your life.

Starting your own personal “humor file” is another way to get a much-needed chuckle when you need one. Cut out funny comics from the newspaper, stories from magazines, pictures, and so on, then put them into a folder that you can access whenever you need to. It’s a good idea to have a one physical file, as well as a file on your computer dedicated to humor.

One of the cool things about using humor to relieve stress is that it doesn’t require a prescription, so there are no side effects to worry about.

Women Can Relieve Stress-Find The Information On How

I think we can all agree that we live in a stressful society. While both men and women suffer from stress,women may have a little more stress to deal with than men. There are unique challenges that make it important to find information on how women can relieve stress. When you have the situation where a women works and is also a mom, she will have demands coming at her from all angles. Her boss, her husband, her children, her household will all take a toll on her stress level. That’s a lot for any person to handle at one time and it is very important that she take care of herself as well as her health so that she can meet the demands.

There are many techniques for relieving stress that a woman could start right away, I will list some of the more popular ones below:

1. It is okay to say no. Women often try to take care of those around them and forget to care for themselves. You may have a big heart but you do not have a lot of time. There are times when you won’t be able to chaperon a field trip or make cookies for the school bake sale. In many cases women are the primary care givers in a household and many times they feel as if they let those around them down if they don’t jump up to take care of everyone. If you care for yourself first then the rest tends to follow. Think of this, when you are on an airplane the flight attendant will tell you to put an oxygen mask on yourself before helping any other people. In the real world you should do the same. Learn to say no. That is one of the most important things a woman can learn.

2. Take a walk. Take yourself on a hike, a walk, a swim, a jog, or a bike ride. Take time to exercise. Exercise will help clear your mind,blow off steam and keep you healthy. Many women have a hard time voicing their frustration because we are not brought up to get angry and show it, however strenuous exercise added to your daily routine can help with anger. Working out and exercise is a great way to work off stress.

3. Get Selfish. This step is related to step 1 and what I mean is that you need to take time to do things for yourself. Go have coffee, meet with friends, get yourself a massage, etc. Make sure that your time is a priority not just when you have time to do them. Set an hour or one day per week to have a little fun. Do something for yourself without feeling any guilt. You have earned that time. If you follow this information on how women can relieve stress and use it, you will see many benefits including, lower blood pressure, a raise in your spirits and a happier family.

What Can You Do to Stop Anxiety Attacks

Episodes of anxiety attacks can be uncomfortable, unpleasant and unhealthy. Because of this, most people head to the medicine cabinet for a quick relief. While some may find medications as an effective way to battle anxiety, there are more natural and equally effective ways of dealing your excessive emotion without subjecting the body to different negative side-effects.

Exercise Exercise improves the health of the body and mind, and improves the overall well-being of a person. A 30-minute exercise, 3-5 times a week is enough to provide anxiety relief. Increasing to at least an hour of aerobic exercise each day provides maximum benefits for relieving stress and anxiety.

Sleep A popular adage, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” speaks of the importance of sleep in the overall health of a person. Qualitative sleep for 8 hours a day is a proven and effective technique to battle stress as well as anxiety attacks.

Healthy diet Along with exercise, diet plays an important role in the overall health of the body. Eating healthy food maintains the normal chemistry and hormones of the body as well has provides resistance to common ailments that increases the risk of anxiety attacks.

Avoid unnecessary stressors Most stressors are unavoidable and it is also unhealthy to turn your back to certain situations that need to be addressed. Still, some situations and people cause unnecessary stress that result to anxiety attacks. Avoid people that stress you out, learn how to say ‘no’, trim down your to-do-list, avoid sensitive topics such as politics and religion, etc.

Relaxation techniques Yoga, meditation, Taiji, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization and breathing exercises can reduce anxiety and promote the feeling of relaxation and emotional well-being.

Keep a positive outlook While it is very difficult to maintain a good attitude when experiencing an anxiety attack, it is very crucial to be more conscious and help stay in control over the situation to effectively battle your condition. Do not think “Oh no, not again!” or “I’m screwed” when an episode hits you. Think that it will be over soon and control your emotions so that your anxiety will now get worse.

If the abovementioned techniques do not work for you, it is probably time to consult a health professional about your health. Since symptoms of anxiety attacks may be a result of other psychological and physical conditions, you need to see your medical doctor first and get a complete physical in order to rule out any other possible causes.

If anxiety prevails and symptoms last for more than 1 to 2 weeks, especially if you have no idea why, see a trained therapist.

A person with anxiety disorder usually goes under medication, therapy or both. Prescription drugs for anxiety are usually antidepressants and benzodiazepines. However, they provide short-term relief and thus, other therapy is often recommended. Therapies given are cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy. They are both effective (especially when combined with medication) to treat anxiety disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps patients to replace negative thoughts with positive ones.

Exposure therapy, on the other hand, helps treat anxiety attacks by subjecting the patients to control fear in a safe and controlled environment. Through repeated exposure, patients gain greater self control and more confidence in facing fearful situation.