答案 Howtocopewithstress Youfeelanxious,tenseandirritable.Smallproblemsupsetyouandyoufeeloverwhelmedbyallthethingsyouhavetodo. Youcan'tthinkasclearlyasusual.you'reeasilyconfused,forgetfulandaccident-prone. Youfeelgenerallyrundownandtired.Youdon'thaveyourusualenergy. Youneverreallyrelaxbecauseyoukeepthinkingaboutallthethingsyouhavetodo.Sometimesyoudon'tsleepverywell. Youdon'tfindmuchinlifetofeeljoyfulabout.There'snothingtolookforwardto. Thesearesomeofthesignsofacommonproblemcalledstress.Weallsufferfeelingsofstresssometimes-theanxietyandthefeelingthatlifeishardtocopewith.Sometimesthesymptomsofstressareexpressedinaphysicalway-headaches,stomachaches,apoundingheart,achurningfeelinginthestomach.Stresshappensforlotsofreasons.Acrisiscanmakeusfeelstressed,butsocaneverydayproblemslikeworriesaboutworkormoney,oraboutrelationshipsoraboutchildren'sbehaviour. Althoughacertainamountofstressisnormal,toomuchcancontributetohealthproblems,includingheartdisease,sometypesofmentalillnessandabuseofalcoholordrugs.That'swhyeveryoneneedstobeawareofstressandknowhowtofindgoodwaysofcopingwithit. Differentthingsworkfordifferentpeople,butherearesomeideasforfindingwaysthatsuityou: Sometimesstressisn'tcausedsomuchbyaneventbutbyourattitudetowardsit.Peoplewhoseedifficultsituationsaschallengestoovercome,ratherthanproblemsthatgetthemdown,usuallycopebetterwithstress. Don'tmakesmallproblemsseembiggerthantheyare.Whensomethinggoeswrong,askyourself:"Intenyears'time,willthismatter?" Trytoavoidstressfulsituationsbybetterplanning-giveyourselfmoretimetodothingssoyou'renotalwaysrushingaround.Trytoavoidpeopleoractivitiesyoufindannoying. Findtimetorelaxeachday.Ifyouthinkyouhaven'tgottime,rememberthatyouwilldotasksmorequicklyandefficientlyifyoufeelrestedandlessstressed.Waystorelaxinclude:spendingtimealoneinaquietplace,focussingonsomethingpleasant-soothingmusic,abookormagazine,apet-orevenhavingalongbath.Don'tfeelguiltyabouttakingtimeforyourself. Goforregularwalksordosomeotherformofexerciseyouenjoy,suchasTaiChi.Exerciseisagreatstress-reducer. Eathealthyfood.Whenyoufeelstresseditcanbeeasytoskipmealsandfillupwithfattysnackfoods,sweetsandtake-awayfoods.Adietthatincludesplentyofbread,rice,pastaandothergrains,vegetablesandfruitwillhelpyoucopebetter. Don'tdwellonproblemsorfailuresyou'vehadinthepast,orworryaboutbadthingsthatmayhappeninthefuture.Concentrateonlivinginthepresent. Talktosomeone.Talkingaboutproblemscansometimeshelpsolvethem,oratleastmakeyoufeelbetteraboutthem.Sometimesotherpeoplecangiveyounewwaysoflookingatproblemsorofdealingwiththem. Contactyourlocalcommunityhealthcentreandaskiftheyknowofanyrelaxationcoursesorrelaxationtapesavailableinyourlanguage. Getexperthelpifnothingyoudoseemstohelp.Peoplewhocanhelpyouincludebi-lingualcounsellorsorsocialworkersatcommunityhealthcentres.