Stress, as a normal human reaction, is the body’s reaction to rising challenges and tough situations.  Everyone, in some way or another, encounters stress whenever possible. It is simply inevitable.  People and events tend to clash, therefore resulting in stress. People work, play, study, do things everyday, and it is impossible not to feel stressed at one way or another. At this point, when people do not want to experience any much of this, they turn to medications for anti stress, also associated with anti-anxiety for instant relief.

A healthier approach to relieving stress is by practicing stress techniques that can maintain the person’s state of balance and regulation in both body and mind.  Exercise is a stress technique that is not only good for your physical health but also helps relieve a person’s tension and frustration.  Sports and other fitness routines are excellent ways to relieve tension.  Many people who want to manage stress go to a boxing class, join a cycling club,  or engage in other exercise activities that would allow them to release their stress.

Aside from exercise, another useful technique is to practice deep breathing, which gives the person a feeling of relaxation.  Proper breathing counts and rhythm is used as stress techniques that eventually lead to more relaxation.  Relaxation activities such as Yoga or Tai chi can also eliminate stress by relaxing the mind and body, and thereby relieving stress patterns around the body.  Yoga and tai-chi also helps develop concentration and positive body awareness. These Oriental arts have been practiced by millions of people for centuries and medical research have documented the beneficial effects of these modes of exercise. By moving slowly with ease and always in a state of relaxation, the person performing these activities will feel good, and soon the feeling of relaxation will follow.  Muscle relaxation also works in relieving stress. By deep breathing and constant contraction and relaxation of different body parts, the person will feel relaxed every after contraction, which also releases stress. Massage therapy also helps fight stress. Massaging your scalp, putting pressure on your shoulders or even your eyes can really decrease stress in that certain part of the body.

People should take a second look at these stress techniques. But for those who have tried every massage or stress management technique, taking a prescription drug may very well be the last option.  However, the use of these medications almost always have side effects. But with proper doctor’s advice, the use of safe and proven drugs may help people who need fast relief.  There are a lot of healthy ways to beat stress.

Knowing the causes of depression allows us to prevent such from happening to us or to our loved ones.

Many experts agree that depression can be hereditary, if a family has been known to have depression in their lineage; there are good chances that the following generation will have it as well.

People who do not have self confidence and has low self esteem are prone to depression as well. They do not find any positive aspects in their life that is why they have depression. People who are exposed to stress on a daily occurrence ca also be a candidate for depression.

Medical science has also recently discovered that depression is greatly associated with the physical well-being of a person. If a person has had a life threatening disease or an accident, depression follows suit.

A personal loss resulting to major emotional letdown can also trigger depression. A bad break-up, death, getting fired from a job, these are all reasons that can put a person into depression.

Research has shown that women are twice more likely to get depression. These are caused by the hormonal changes they experience. The stress women also experience in being a single parent, a working mother, their responsibilities both in the home and at the office are all possible to be a moving factor.

Men and women show different symptoms in depression. Men are usually irritable and impatient, that is why it is sometimes hard to diagnose if they do have depression. They are also more likely to keep it to themselves.

I have recently spoken to my parents about the subject of my depression. My mother has said that she thinks we have some kind of depression gene as most of our family suffer from similar symptoms.

I have as recently as last week suffered with a severe bout of this depression, however from it I learnt a valuable lesson. I had been having a bad period in my life where seemingly everything was going wrong. It was one kick in the teeth after each other. I had nothing to look forward to and decided that I needed a night out with my friends. There was one intention that I had in mind which was to get as drunk as possible.

The next day I felt really ill and hungover after having a very late night and as planned a huge amount of alcohol. For the whole day I struggled to stay awake and as the day wore on I became more and more depressed. The negative side of my brain had taken over my whole head and it seemed like there was a whole bunch of negative chemicals running through my body.

The lesson I have learnt is that is not a good idea to go out drinking alcohol if you are feeling low and depressed.

When I was speaking to my parents about my latest period of anxiety and depression, they gave me some interesting and useful advice. They asked me to think about all of the things and aspects of my life that were getting me down. What I then needed to do was to talk about them and to think positive by attempting to find solutions to each of these problems.

This is not at all easy to do but is something I now try. I have realised that it is good to talk about our fears and phobias and that there is nothing wrong with admitting that you are stressed and depressed.

I hope I will not have to live with these regular bouts of depression for the rest of my life as I have to say I hate it, especially when it means I can not get any sleep during a night, which happens quite regularly for me. I will however look for more ways of beating my depression when it does occur.

I now try to think positive in all situations, life is far too short to be always worrying about everything. I have also started to read a lot of self-help books, these have taught me quite a lot of new things and have given me many new ideas.