What is Stress?

Stress is a normal physical or emotional response to any kind of demand or pressure from the outside world This can be caused by either good or bad experiences.

Good experiences could include a wedding, new baby, or a new job, bad experiences can include losing a job, money problems, death, or divorce.

When you sense danger the "fight-or-flight" stress response kicks in and can save your life. Also, when the stress response is working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert, as well as helping you rise to meet challenges. But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of live.

Managing stress involves learning about:

• What causes stress?
• What are the signs of stress?
• How does stress affect our health?
• Ways to manage & relieve stress.