Families and Stress - coping skills for living with stress and anxiety

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Families and Stress - coping skills for living with stress and anxiety

Is stress always bad?
No! In fact, a little bit of stress is good. Most of us couldn't push ourselves to do well at things -- sports, music, dance, work, and school -- without feeling the pressure of competition. Without the stress of deadlines, most of us also wouldn't be able to finish projects or get to work on time.

If stress is so normal, why do I feel so bad?
With all the things that happen on a daily basis in our lives, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Things that you can't control are often the most frustrating. You can also feel bad when you put pressure on yourself -- like to getting good grades or to get promoted at work. A common reaction to stress is to criticize yourself. You may even get so upset that things don't seem fun anymore and life looks pretty grim. When this happens it's easy to think there's nothing you can do to change things. But you can!

Things that don't help you deal with stress
There are safe and unsafe ways to deal with stress. It is dangerous to try to escape your problems by using drugs and alcohol. Both can be very tempting. Drugs and alcohol may seem like easy answers, but they're not. Dealing with stress with alcohol and drugs just adds new problems, like addiction, and family and health problems.
Although you can't always control what's stressing you out, you can control how you react to things. The way you feel about things results from the way you think about things. If you change how you think, you can change the way you feel.

Stress is not an easy topic for everyone. We all have stress; it is with us throughout our lives. Stress can cause a person to become angry or sad. There are many types of stress that can affect a family. Suffering from stress is common for all members of a family. Family members must first let go of their daily stressors… this is the first step to dealing with it. Sometimes when we hear the word stress, we think of the negative impact it can have. But not all stress is bad. And even "bad" stress can motivate us to get things done or create change. The real question is: How do we make stress work for us? We can channel our stress to make us grow as individuals and as families.

Signs you're family is stressed out…
• Feeling depressed, edgy, guilty, tired
• &n...

... middle of paper ...

...ed in your mind. Make several copies of the list and pin or paste them in places where you regularly look, like the bathroom mirror and refrigerator door. Read the list every time you get into a negative mood. Eventually your positive thoughts will become imprinted in your brain and the negative thoughts will go away. Here are some examples: o The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor (wo)man perfected without trials. __ Confucius o Where there is no wind, row. __ Portuguese Proverb o The only person who never makes a mistake is the one who never does anything. __ Theodore Roosevelt o The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. __ Thomas Edison o Keep your eye on the doughnut and not upon the hole. __ Anonymous o A clean house is a symptom of a blank mind. __ Anonymous

• Last but not least…be there for your family. Let them know that you love them and think of them throughout your day. Make the people in your life matter and make them feel special.

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