April is Stress Awareness Month*

Stress awareness month has been held every April, since 1992. During this annual thirty day period, health care professionals and health promotion experts across the country join forces to increase public awareness about both the causes and cures for our modern stress epidemic.
Over the last few decades, a rising tide of studies has demonstrated the value of regularly engaging in activities that blunt the stress response in one way or another, from meditation to yoga to strenuous physical activity. Since the stress response begins in the brain with the perception of danger or the unknown, researchers now believe that the most basic, and likely most effective, way to defuse stress is to change perception of certain types of situations so that they are not seen as stressful in the first place. Studies show that helping people see certain experiences—such as final exams—as demanding rather than dire, protects individuals from the corrosive effects of stress while delivering its positive effects. This effects changes such as focused attention and speedier information processing. Changing the stress mindset not only minimizes the effects of stress, studies show, but it also enhances performance and productivity.

*For more information visit:

www.mayoclinic.org

www.psychologytoday.com

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