But I stress about little ity bity decisions, like what CD to bring to school. I let my stress build up too, because I haven't found an effective way to release it. So, I'll get to a point where the smallest thing, tripping for example, will send me into a breakdown. This year, I kept letting my stress build, then I tripped on some ice on the way to the bus stop. I got up, walked home, got through the door, and bawled for the rest of the day.

It takes me two or three days to recover after that. I know it's not healthy, but it's all that works for me. Sigh.....

But generally speaking, when I'm stressed, I tend to want to be left alone. It gets to the point where I just can't function anymore, so I simply shut down for a while. Curl up with a book, sleep for a while...stuff like that.

~KittenGoddess

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"Am I nervous? Am I scared? Is it worth it? Should I even care? ...Man I like this guy, I really like him alot!"
~Pam Tillis, 'Please'

now i scream and rant a bunch. i just had two midterms in the past 48 hours, and they kicked my butt. the first one wasn't as bad as i had thought it'd be (biochem), but ugly nonetheless. thentoday was physics and i knew EVERY bit of material. but he called time of us before i finished! aie!!! so frustrating.

how do i deal with stress? sometimes, i'll disappear for a while (like my disappearance for spring break). sometimes i'll scream a bunch. or i'll rant. or i'll be super cranky. sometimes i'll say "F*** it all! I'm sleeping in!" then i'll stay in bed for a about 18 hours or more.

my body responds to stress by making little canker sores erupt in my mouth. i have a few on my gums right now and they hurt like a .

i NEVER drink to relieve stress. That is an EXTREMELY bad habit to have.

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frozendreems@hotmail.com

I can live very well with “good stress” - during my internships, I always thrived on good stress, deadlines, meeting clients whatnot. But in daily life, I mainly experience bad stress.
Usually, most of my bad stress is self made – I know, I’m busy with Law school and preparing for my finals next year and all, but I am the one who’s turning this stressful thing into *my personal stress hell*. I sense pressure from people or things where no pressure is coming from (a casual acquaintances question as to “how my studying is going” is enough to make me go up the wall).

The best thing to help me personally cope and change (“unlearn”) this sick behavior is being in therapy, which has helped me quite a bit. I usually "shut down" which isn't good for me. If the stress gets too bad, I try to get myself to get out of the house and away from my books and take a walk and find myself again. Working out helps, too, as does writing in my diary. I find that regular breaks and giving myself credit for my work helps, too (in the grand scheme of things), as do progressive muscle relaxation, reading books and coloring in mandalas.

I’m also a sucker for massages because they relax me and completely help me to “turn my head off”….too bad my partner is so far away…..

I deal with stress by having a good cry when things get really tough but I try to keep things in perspective and I will not stress myself out. If I can't do it, I admit it to myself.

I actually attended a stress seminar last week at my gym, and I learned a lot of stuff. We went over some ways to have less "bad-stress". Just like ALaska was talking about, I learned that some stress is good. If we didn't have stress, we wouldn't be motivated to do anything! If we weren't stressed to eat because we weren't hungry, then we'd die of starvation! I also learned that there are certain chemicals that are released in your body when you are really stressed out to help you prepare for a battle or something. Here's an example:

A caveman has to hunt for his family, so he goes out and comes against a huge bear. He gets stressed and chemicals in his body are released to give him more energy to fight against the bear.

So thousands of years ago, these chemicals came to our advantage, but now we tend to get stressed out over non-physical stuff, so we don't need the chemicals. The woman running the seminar said that it can takes about 3 minutes to calm yourself down and get your body back to normal after something stressful. Just take deep breathes and stay calm. She had us inhale and count to 4 and then exhale and have us count to 6. It really makes you feel better... Try it!

Anyway, here are some of the ways she taught us to avoid bad stress:

-Let people help you. You don't have to do everything by yourself... You CAN'T do everything by yourself! And that's not a bad thing at all. It shows strength if you can reach out and get help.

-Eat healthy! She really "stressed" this, because it helps your body function well, handle stress better, and makes you feel good!

-Exercise! It helps with the stress, because you can put some of those chemicals to use.

-Make an "I choose to do" list instead of "I have to do list", because you don't HAVE to do anything! You choose what is best for you. You choose who you want to hang out with, what you wear, what you eat, what you do... Make the right choices for YOU!

-It's okay to say "no". You don't have to do everything.

-Live in the moment! Make what you're doing worthwhile, and have fun!

I hope I helped you guys out a little bit. I know you helped me! Does anyone else have any good tips on helping deal with stress?

When I get over-stressed (a little is fine and just motivates me) I tend to have a cathartic cry. Sometimes for absolutely no reason I just start to cry, that's when I know that I'm majorly over-stressed and need to take some time out. SOmetimes you just can't stop crying because everything hits you all at once and it's nothing in particualr that's making you unhappy at that point.

i took up swimming in my free time, i let everything out, anger, sadness, stress, in the water. it definatly helps and gets you in shape. the only bad part is finding time to actually do it.

if you have a Y near your house or even a park district, find out if they have ne kick boxing classes or things like that.