According to Dr. James Humphrey, stress is any internal or external factor that makes it difficult to adapt and induces increased effort to maintain equilibrium. Too much stress can be detrimental to health and cause issues like depression, weight changes, and digestive or heart problems. To de-stress, it is important to be aware of stress triggers, find inner serenity despite external noise, eat a healthy diet, get enough sleep each night, and exercise regularly to stay physically fit and energized.

1. Ways to De-stress
According to the definition of stress penned by Dr. James Humphrey, “stress can be considered as any
factor, acting internally or externally that makes it difficult to adapt and that induces increased effort
on the part of the person to maintain a state of equilibrium both internally and with the external
environment”. Thus, stress can be debilitating since it affects the whole of you. It may be emotional,
physical, social, mental, or in any aspect of your whole-being.
A little amount of stress can be considered healthy; meanwhile, too much of it is detrimental to your
health. Harmful stress can make your body react out of the proportion resulting to health problems
such as depression, uncontrolled weight gain or lose, heart and digestive problems, and many more.
In order to get your way out of it, it is vital for you to de-stress. Here are some ways to relax your
mind and body from the harmful effects of stress;
Be Aware. Awareness of what triggers your reaction to stimuli makes you well-guarded of your
optimum function as an individual. Being self-aware is the primary management of stress, knowing
what stresses you out makes it easy for you to intervene on what intervention to do to make you get
through it.
Find Serenity. Despite the external noise, always find that serenity within you. Be meditative in a
way that whatever life throws at you, you always can hold your piece of peace. It enables you clear to
things out when you are in the middle of chaos.
Eat right. Eating the necessary amount and kind of food for your growth and development makes
you healthy. It makes you ready to combat the negative effects of harmful stress.
Rest well. The right amount of sleep a person needs is six to eight hours every night. You can only
say that you have rested well enough if you have deep sleep in those hours of the night. Enough sleep
gets you recharged and refreshed ready to face another day.
Move. Being fit means you are being physical. Exercising enough contributes to a person’s healthy
well-being, good enough to reach his optimum level of functioning. The invigorating feeling of
exercise makes you endure the challenges of the day.
KEZIAH FATIMA M. UN
ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE VI