Everyone has some stress in their life at times, but it's important to recognize if your stress is chronic, or ongoing, because it can impact your overall health and well-being. One way to determine if you might be dealing with chronic stress is to take a personal inventory, identifying all the stressors that are going on in your life and then making changes to bring your stress level down.
It's normal to feel stress from time to time. But if the stress lasts a long time and doesn't go away, you may need to take take steps to manage it in order to stay healthy. Coping with stress starts with identifying what triggers your stress and then figuring out a positive outlet for those stressful feelings.
Stress can affect your mental and physical health causing symptoms such as headaches, tension and trouble sleeping. Chronic, ongoing stress can lead to more serious health concerns including heart disease and hypertension if it's not treated.
Anything that brings on feelings of stress is called a stressor. Learn about the many types of stressors people face today, and how they can affect you.