Relaxation Management

Stress can be a good thing. In small or moderate amounts, stress can energize and motivate you to be productive and get more done in a shorter period. But too much stress or chronic levels of stress, or an exaggerated response to lesser amounts of stress, can cause serious medical and emotional problems.

We all face stress in our lives, and it comes at us every day from multiple directions, including in our relationships, at work, from family, and from external events. What is extremely stressful to one person may not cause any stress in another. Some people develop a generalized anxiety condition that causes them to worry constantly about many things. Panic attacks can happen out of the blue, with sudden and inexplicable fear and symptoms of severe acute anxiety.

Anxiety often is a result of stress — it is a feeling of apprehension or fear, and it may not always be clear where the fear is coming from. But anxiety is usually a clear manifestation of stress, and the symptoms of stress are mostly those of the anxiety.