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Welcome To The Anxiety and
Stress Information
Resource!
"The Number One
Authority On Stress,
Anxiety
and Panic Disorders."
This
site is a comprehensive resource specializing in Mental health
and dissorders, such as Stress, Anxiety and Depression. There are 15
area's of topics we cover to a great degree, as seen listed in
the links below.
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Before
you go to other area's on this site, lets quickly preview the main
topic of this site... Stress!
Ok, So
What Exactly
Is Stress?
To most people 'stress' brings to mind something unpleasant. But many
psychologists write about stress as something that can have positive
effects. Why the confusion? The reasons lie in how an individual
evaluates his or her own mental and physical state.
Some examples may help to make the point clear. Imagine two people, one
a champion skier in the Olympics, the other a college senior about to
take a final math test. The skier has been training most of his life
for the contest, the senior has hardly studied at all.
From a purely physiological perspective both are going to be
experiencing similar effects - rapid heartbeat and breathing, higher
metabolism, active sweat glands and so forth. Psychologically, there
are also similarities - higher concentration on the present and
thoughts about the next few minutes, vivid images and heightened
sensitivity to feelings.
But there are key differences, at least psychologically. The skier is
exhilarated, ready for the challenge, and eager to show his prowess and
win the contest. The senior feels doubt and fear.
In both cases it's reasonable to say that the two young men are under
stress. You could also say they are feeling stressful. But the
differences are important. The skier evaluates his situation as
presenting a challenge he wants to take on and believes himself ready
to tackle. The senior knows he is inadequately prepared and projects
the consequences of his likely failure, a lowered grade and maybe the
need to retake the class.
In both cases the young men are uncertain about the outcome, but each
evaluates the odds of success differently. Each might also judge the
outcome of failure differently.
The skier may wind up with only a Silver medal. That might be
disappointing but in the Olympics, the number two spot can still lead
to lucrative endorsements and a good future. The senior may see his
chances for getting into a good graduate school diminishing. He may
have to retake the class before he can even graduate.
Of course, the examples are very oversimplified. But the pattern is
roughly right. Whether you feel stress or elation can often turn on how
you evaluate external circumstances and your own inner state.
So there are actually two meanings of the word 'stress' that sometimes
get mixed together. One refers simply to the heightened awareness and
the physiological symptoms described above. The other is essentially
equivalent to the combination of worry and those symptoms.
The latter
can have negative health consequences, since those symptoms can be
physically harmful. But since humans are both mind and body and the two
aspects affect one another, the psychological part is just as important.
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With
that introduction, please just move back to the top of the page to the
links, and
navigate
to the area's of your choice.
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