Stress is a consequence of experiencing pressure or tension. It is a physical reaction which prepares our body for alertness and can come from many different areas of life such as work, hobbies, family or friends. While stress is a normal physical and psychological reaction to difficulties, the body has to be able to recover from the stress to resume normal alert levels. 

 

Unfortunately unhealthy levels of stress have become a part of the modern life. A desire to alleviate it has led many people to pursue unhealthy ways of dealing with stress such as the use of drugs like tranquilizers, anti-depressants and those for anxiety and insomnia. Also, many people take illegal drugs to escape from otherwise, unbearable stress.

 

Stress can become excessive if the person cannot cope with the stress anymore, and the stress starts to dominate the person’s life. Lengthy periods of stress negatively affect a person’s health, and lead to serious health issues such as diabetes, insomnia, high blood pressure, depression, infection (a result of a weakened immune system), obesity and heart disease. It is therefore important to act as quickly as possible with stress. If nothing is changed about the causes or symptoms, there is a risk of stress turning into more serious problems.