Impact of Stress on Everyday Life

STRESS: NATURE, CONSEQUENCES AND MANAGEMENT

What is Stress?

An executive of a large firm developed high blood pressure (hypertension) at the age of 35. A 27-year-old housewife developed recurrent Bronchial Asthma. When consulted, the physicians told them that they were suffering from disorders due to ‘stress’.

The executive had to take frequent quick decisions all alone for about one year. Each decision could have resulted in heavy losses to the company. After each decision, the executive used to worry about it till the decision proved right. It was his constant worry and anxiety which made him end up with hypertension.

The housewife had a nagging mother-in-law and her husband was not supportive. Every time when her mother-in-law nagged her, she wanted to give back but never did so. Instead, she suppressed her anger and used to feel choked. Eventually, the choking became breathlessness and ended up with attacks of asthma.

This is what stress does to us. There are thousands of examples like these. One of the recently diagnosed stress induced disorders is ‘chronic fatigue’. If stress is so powerful shouldn’t we know more about it? Yes, what is it then?

Stress is an experience. When demands of a physical, psychological or sociological nature make us react to it we are under a stress. Those which demand a reaction and force us to mobilize our resources are called ‘Stressors’. Stressors make us experience stress. Increased temperature of the room, demands of people around us and societal norms are examples of stressors. When we mobilize our resources to meet these demands, psychologists say we are under stress.

Due to inappropriate usage, the word stress has assumed bad connotations. In its original sense a stress is neither good nor bad. It becomes good or bad, desirable or undesirable, healthy or unhealthy depending upon what it does to us. For example, the demands of an examination could make one child work hard and pass creditably. In the case of another child the very same examination could appear very demanding and he might end up in a break down, as his resources are poor. Thus by itself a stressor or a stress is neither good nor bad. They are neutral in nature.

Distress:
When a stressor becomes too demanding or when we do not have adequate resources to meet the demands, we get ‘stressed up’. The stressed up experience is called a ‘Distress’. Distress is bad and unhealthy. Prolonged distress initiates a number of reactions at the level of the body and mind. As it depletes our resources we become impoverished and susceptible to diseases and disorders. The child who has poor resources to write an examination falls ill. The executive who went on worrying depleted his resources and developed hypertension. The housewife spent a sizable portion of her resources to suppress her constant anger and ended up with bronchial asthma. Thus any stress that becomes distressing is unhealthy.

Eustress:
When a stressor puts demand on our resources and we experience stress that need not always lead to distress. If the stressor is within limits and we have enough resources we will be able to cope up with the stress. When a stress makes us cope up with it, there is a feeling of satisfaction and joy. Stresses that make us cope up with them culminate in better integration of our personality. Such stresses are called ‘Eustress’ or useful stress. The child who prepared well for the examination, wrote it effectively and came out successfully experiences better self worth and increased self-esteem. The examination though a stress had indeed beneficial effects on him. Such beneficial stresses are required for our motivation and growth. No wonder it is then called a useful stress.

Perception of Stress:
Psychologists have noticed that to a large extent, it is our perception ( the way we look at things) which determines a stress to be a ‘eustress’ or a ‘distress’. For example, people who are trained as in military combat, perceives a threat to be as simple whereas some one who is new to it sees it as a matter or life and death. Thus psychologists have shown that perception determines the magnitude of stress. They also feel that perception can be changed through training. This contribution of psychologists is very important as in our modern times already existing stress assumes greater magnitude and also newer and newer stresses are being added day by day. The training to reorganize our perception has become very useful in bringing down the intensity, frequency and duration of many stress related disorders. So also future stresses could be anticipated and perception regarding it could be altered through training. Such training is known as ‘STRESS INOCULATION’. As we get inoculated against diseases, now we can strengthen people to face stresses with Stress Inoculation. Isn’t it wonderful?

What contributes to a browser history?

Browser History includes all the following:

• Browsing & Download History: Browsing history is the list of sites you've visited that show in the History menu, the Library window's History list, and the Location bar autocomplete's address list. Download history is the list of files you've downloaded that show in the Downloads window.

• Form & Search Bar History: Form history includes the items you've entered into web page forms for Form autocomplete. Search Bar history includes items you've entered into Firefox's Search bar.

• Cookies: Cookies are messages passed from a Web server to a browser which are stored on your hard drive in the form of a small text file. They can have many uses, the main one allowing a server to identify a user and present customized pages and/or login information to the user's browser when they revisit a Web page. These files can contain information that you may not want to leave behind.

• Cache: Cache is temporary storage on your hard disk where recently viewed Web pages are held. It allows you to quickly load a previously visited page without having to reload the page and its images from the Web server on subsequent visits. Reasons for clearing your browser's cache may go beyond simple privacy matters. Another reason involves performance. When the cache becomes full, you may notice your browser beginning to function slower. In addition to giving you the ability to clear the cache, many browsers let you specify the location on your hard disk where cache is stored, the amount of space allocated to it, as well as the frequency in which pages are saved.

• Active Logins: If you have logged in to a website that uses encryption since you most recently opened Firefox, that site is considered "active."

• Site Preferences: Site-specific preferences, including the saved zoom level for sites, character encoding, and the permissions for sites described in the Page Info window.

Index.dat file (Internet history file) stores information which can show where you have been online. Index.dat file is a system file and it can't be deleted manually as it is used by Windows all the time. Its content is not deleted even if you erase browser history folder content.

10 Tips That Can Increase Your Fuel Economy

Simple Adjustments Can Increase Fuel Economy Considerably:
There are many tips for improving your fuel economy. For the most part, improving fuel economy isn't much more difficult than making small adjustments to your daily driving habits. When you make changes to your habits, you will experience lower fuel costs and you can also improve the life of your vehicle. Here are ten easy ways to improve your fuel economy.

Tip #1
An easy and almost free way to improve your car's fuel economy is to keep your tires inflated. The only time inflating your cars will cost money is if you have to put a quarter in the air machine at the gas station. Of course, a quarter is nothing compared to your fuel savings. You can save 4% of your fuel costs if you just keep your tires inflated.

Tip #2
Use the proper grade motor oil and you will experience a 1-2% savings on your fuel economy. Certain motor oils contain friction-reducing additives. Look for motor oil that says "Energy Conserving" on the API performance symbol to ensure that the motor oil you purchase contains these additives. This will also help to increase your fuel economy.

Tip #3
If you are carrying unnecessary baggage in your trunk, remove it and you should see your fuel economy increase. It takes fuel to haul extra weight, and if you don't need whatever is in your trunk it's just like throwing money away.

Tip #4
When gas prices are $2.44 per gallon, every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an extra 24 cents per gallon for gasoline. This figure increases as gas prices increase, so speeding can wreak havoc on your fuel economy. If you obey speed limits and take your time getting from point A to point B you can save a lot of money.

Tip #5
Don't allow your car to idle. Many hybrid vehicles have an auto-stop feature which shuts the car's gasoline engine off when the car is idling. This is because idling uses gas, even though you aren't moving. If you are stuck by a train or long light, shut your car off.

Tip #6
Combine your errands, and you might find your fuel economy will increase. This is because a car uses more fuel when the engine is cold. If you run your errands at one time, your engine will already be warmed up. This will help increase your fuel economy.

Tip #7
Ever pay attention to how you drive on the highway? Do you speed up and slow down constantly? Speeding up and slowing down makes it so you use more gas. Use your car's cruise control feature and you will find that your speed will stay constant. This should help you increase your fuel economy.

Tip #8
When on the highway, use your car's overdrive feature. Overdrive reduces your engine's speed, which decreases the amount of fuel your engine uses. This will help you increase your fuel economy.

Tip #9
Avoid aggressive driving and you will increase your fuel economy. Jack-rabbit starts, speeding, and sudden braking all wear hard on your vehicle. In addition, your engine will use more gas due to your aggressive habits. Stay calm while driving and you should notice your fuel economy improving.

Tip #10
Purchase a new hybrid vehicle and you will see a huge difference in your fuel economy. This option is best for those who have old gas guzzlers and have tried other fuel saving ideas without much result. A hybrid car is designed with fuel economy in mind. Some hybrid vehicles get over 40 mpg in the city, which is over double the fuel economy of many SUVs on the market.

Improving your fuel economy is one way to help the economy and reduce your share of carbon foot print. Making small changes in the way you drive and what you do on a daily basis can add up to significant savings which results in a safer planet.