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2.3STRESS AND HOW TO COPE WELL WITH IT
Read the following text and get ready to discuss it
STRESS AND HOW TO COPE WELL WITH IT
Nowadays many people say that they are tired of their hectic lifestyle. They work too much and stop taking breaks. They forget about everything striving for their goals and they constantly raise the bar. Very often they don't find personal satisfaction in their work and don't love what they do. They have no sense of personal accomplishment and self-satisfaction. Some people don't feel content even when they achieve their goal. One the contrary, they feel disillusioned and dissatisfied. Having climbed the ladder of success they find nothing worthwhile on the top. Constant fatigue, physical and moral exhaustion, monotony and impossible pressure at work and at home can cause stress.
Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by people's response to pressure from the outside world. Stress causes tension, irritability, anxiety, alarm, loss of concentration, sensations of fear and panic as well as headaches and a fast heartbeat. It can result in a real breakdown of health. Stress can even cause heart disease and cancer.
There are a lot of stressful events in our lives, such as divorce, losing a job or having difficulties at home or at work. But changes for the better can also cause stress, like a new baby, a wedding, and a new house. Pupils and students often face stress from problems at school, poor relationships with peers, strict and demanding teachers, exams and many other problems.
Feeling stressed many people try to find some distraction and to escape their problems. They begin overeating, smoking, drinking, and even taking drugs. But junk food, cigarettes, sleeping pills and alcohol don't help. On the contrary, they make things much worse and more difficult to patch up.
Stress can have a negative influence not only on our physical and mental health, but on the lives of those around us. It often makes us lose control and shout at our spouses, relatives, friends or colleagues. Taking stress out on our nearest and dearest is the easiest way to hurt their feelings and to make them feel depressed too.
People react to stress in different ways. Some of us are more vulnerable to
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stress than others. People who are always angry, impatient and mistrustful may have more stress-related physical problems.
It is very important to try to avoid stress or at least to minimize it. That's why it is essential to notice early signs of stress and to remove some of its causes. If you catch the trouble early, the problem may be easy to fix.
One of the best ways to cope with stress is to keep a sense of humor in difficult situations. Wise people say that laughter is the best medicine for all diseases. It increases blood flow and it may reduce the risk of heart disease. Besides, laughter makes the body release pleasure chemicals.
Regular leisure activities and relaxing hobbies are also very important in reducing stress. If you feel depressed, yoga, swimming, bicycling, painting or gardening can help you relax, calm down and get a new lease on life. Antianxiety medications and anti-depressants can be useful for dealing with short periods of acute stress. But the side effects of such medications can be rather dangerous, that's why they must never be taken as often as vitamins. Besides, anti-anxiety medications and anti-depressants cause addiction and may lead to suicides.
Forget about your problems. Take a day off work, domestic chores and family. Work regular hours and don't forget to take breaks and holidays. Don't expect too much of yourself and don't try to aim higher than your capacity. Have a balance in life. Walk away from stressful situations and be positive and enthusiastic. In other words 'don't worry, be happy.'
Post-reading task
1. Complete each sentence (A-H) with one of the endings (1-8):
A.Stress is the emotional and physical strain caused by
B.Stress causes
C.Feeling stressed many people try to Find
D.Stress often makes us
E.People who are always angry, impatient and mistrustful
F.One of the best ways to cope with stress is
G.Regular leisure activities and relaxing hobbies
H.Anti-anxiety medications and anti-depressants can be useful for
1.some distraction and to escape their problems.
2.to keep a sense of humor in difficult situations.
3.tension, irritability, anxiety, alarm, loss of concentration, sensations of fear and panic as well as headaches and a fast heartbeat.
4.are also very important in reducing stress.
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5.people's response to pressure from the outside world.
6.lose control and shout at our spouses, relatives, friends or colleagues.
7.dealing with short periods of acute stress.
8.may have more stress-related physical problems.
2. Agree or disagree. Explain your point of view
—Stress can result in a real breakdown of health.
—Stress is everywhere.
—Stress is a synonym for 'weakness' and 'helplessness'.
—Changes for the better can never cause stress.
—Overeating, smoking, drinking, or taking drugs don't help to cope with stress.
—Laughter is the best medicine for all diseases.
—It is impossible to avoid stress.
—The best way to minimize stress is to know your limits and to be in harmony with yourself.
3. Choose a situation which is the most stressful to your mind. Say what you would do in this situation to cope with stress. Describe the situation from your own life experience when you felt stressed
•You are being asked to speak in public. But you don't know much about the subject discussed by the participants. Everybody is looking at you. You are terrified and don't know what to say. You feel your hands shaking and your cheeks blushing.
•You are the first-year student of the University. You are taking your first exam. You are absolutely calm and self-confident as you know the subject very well. You are taking a question card and feel a cramp in the stomach. You don't remember the answer to the question.
•You are a secretary for a large firm. You like your job as it is well-paid and interesting. The only problem is your boss. He gives you much work and charges you with a great number of errands both important and unimportant. This time he has ordered you to type a pile of urgent documents, though your working day is over and you have a date in the evening. But your boss insists that you should do this work right now.
•Your best friend has fallen ill and he has asked you to go to the chemist's to buy some medicine. You've gladly agreed to help him. Standing in the queue you suddenly realize that you've lost your friend's purse with a considerable sum of money in it. You are shocked and don't know what to do.
•You've seen your brother's girlfriend kissing some other guy. You don't know whether you should tell your brother about it. You are afraid that he won't believe you if you tell the truth. But on the other hand he will never
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forgive you if he learns that you have concealed this unpleasant fact.
• You've been asked to baby-sit your 5-year-old nephew. Your sister has promised that he will be sleeping the whole evening so you will have no trouble with him. And now when she has left you are locked in her house with a shrieking child who is having a fit of hysterics and you don't know what to do to calm him down.
4. Answer the questions
1)Why do many people feel stressed at work?
2)What kind of situation can be called stressful?
3)How do many people cope with stress? What mistakes do they usually make?
4)Why is stress dangerous not only to our health but to the health of those around us?
5)Why do people react to stress in different ways?
6)How can we avoid or minimize stress?
7)Why are anti-anxiety medications and anti-depressants dangerous to our health?
8)Do you know any effective ways to cope with stress? Say a few words about them.
5. Much can be said about the negative consequences of stress. But some people are sure that stress can be very useful. Read their opinions and say if you agree with them or not. Fill in the table below and give your own reasons for and against stress
1.'Stress is inevitable. It goes hand in hand with the work we do. People don't hire us to do easy things, they hire us to do difficult things and to think that you can remove stress from that is a fool's errand. Isn't this pressure why people work in the first place? I work with people who are up for the challenge, focused on being successful and pressure helps them reach their goals.' (Stevan Rolls, head of human resources at Deloitte)
2.'I don't think you should shy away from stress. It forces you to perform to live up to your full potential. I like to think that even when I am on the verge of retirement I'll still be pushing myself. It's what gets me out of bed in the morning.' (Charlie Bagot Jewitt, a former Royal Naval commander)
3.To live without stress would be to live in a vegetative state. It's just not viable. Even the act of getting up in the morning requires effort. For many workers it is the fact that they feel 'driven' that makes the job worthwhile and that once that feeling is gone, it is time for them to move on. It is this environment that allows them to produce their best work.' (Glynis Kelly, senior lecturer in psychology and sociology at Cornwall College)
4.'Spikes of stress help us to develop and survive. So view being stressed as being resilient. Resilient people see pressure as a challenge, trust that they
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