Article:

Good Mental Health Messages: STRESS - COPING WITH EVERYDAY PROBLEMS

What is stress?

Most adults and young people experience stress from time to time and can benefit from learning how to reduce stress.

People can experience stress when they perceive a situation as being dangerous, difficult, or painful. Often our perception and our interpretation of a situation causes far more stress than does the actual situation or its consequences.

Sources of stress can include:

• School demands and frustrations
• Negative thoughts and feelings about oneself
• Conflict with friends or family members
• Relationship problems
• Death of a someone close to us
• Moving or changing schools
• Taking on too many activities or having too high expectations of oneself
• Experiencing financial difficulties

How can you reduce stress?

To deal with stress effectively, identify your sources of stress, either within yourself or your life, and then plan ways of coping with them.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. When or in what situations do I feel stressed out?
2. Which people in my life cause me stress?
3. How do I feel before, during, and after stress?
4. Where in my body do I feel stress?

If you answer these questions, you will have a reasonably good idea about the sources of your stress and the nature of your stressful reaction.

Having identified the people and the situations that cause your stress you should then plan what to do about them.

These might include:

• Changing the way you look at things in order to feel better about them
• Sharing your feelings with others
• Learning and regularly a relaxation technique
• Taking time to exercise regularly
• Spending time with friends
• Playing music
• Making sure that you have a healthy diet
• Getting enough sleep; or
• Just doing things that you enjoy!

Resources

Although these resources do not specifically relate to this article, they are very useful phone numbers/websites to contact for further information.

	Parent Line	13 22 89	www.vicparenting.com.au
	Kids Helpline	1800 55 1800	www.kidshelp.com.au
	Inspire Foundation		www.reachout.com.au

* Developed by the Primary Prevention In Schools Committee 2004.
For further information contact the Mental Health Promotions Officer, Ballarat Health Services – CAMHS (03) 53203030