How to Reduce Stress and Tension

Modern life is stressful. We compete at work and often in sport and even with our friends. We try to save time and try to earn as much money as possible in order to possess cars, better houses, washing machines or to go on holidayso that we can relax after becoming so tense and tired!

Signs of stress: have you noticed any of these signs in yourself or in another person recently? Are these signs increasing?

Irritability, fussiness, gloominess, suspicion, indecision, excitability, restlessness, lack of concentration, unsociability, loss of appetite, over-eating, sleeplessness, drinking, smoking, worrying, tension.

What is causing the stress?

Many people try to get rid of the signs of stress instead of the cause. They may like sleeping pills or try to control the various signs in other ways. But the only satisfactory way of stopping stress is to find the cause of it. You may not be able to change the cause of the stress but understanding it will probably help.

It may be the death or illness of a friend, the loss of your job or money worries. And you can probably do nothing to change these.

It may be conflict inside yourself. Perhaps you feel you ought to do something but you don’t want to. You may have mixed feelings about someone or something and not know what to do. All you can do is to try to examine yourself and what you feel is right. It may be helpful to talk to someone about it. It may be that you feel hopeless in a situation. Try to be realistic; make a list of all the characteristics of the situation and of yourself and then face the facts.

Perhaps you feel weak, interior, not good enough, ignored or guilty. Once more, try to be realistic. It may be true! If it is true it may not really be so serious. But it may not be true or it may not be as simple as you might think. We sometimes see only our own position in a situation. It may well be that other people also have their own problems or are also guilty, etc. you may be able to change your view of the situation by redefining it, and saying quite simply “Oh, it could be worse” or “Well, there’s another side to it.”

Perhaps you have several different problems. Try to see them separately and deal with them one by one. Perhaps you feel you have too much responsibility. Share some of it. Or just don’t do something. It is amazing how life can continue if we don’t do something, which we thought was very important.

It may be that you are acting in a way, which isn’t natural to you. This may be causing you stress. Is it worth it?

Perhaps you are stressed by fears you can’t identify. Do your best to decide whether they are real or not.

Post-reading tasks

Read the text again to fulfill the tasks to follow.

The text is headlined “How to reduce stress and tension”. Do you think the heading suits the information given in the text? Express your opinion. Below you’ll find some more headings. Choose the one that suits best and motivate your choice.

 

a) Modern life is full of stress.

b) Recipes for happiness.

c) Finding the cause of stress is a way of getting rid of it.

 

2. Choose the synonyms to the words given in italics according to the context.

 

to compete a) to cooperate b) to oppose            c) to rival d) to fight

tense        a) tight          b) stretched     c) excited d) worried

to deal with a) to trade     b) to distribute c) to behave    d) to cope

to share   a) to participate b) to divide     c) to distribute    

d) to have equal shares with others in the use, expense, etc

 

3. Complete the following sentences. Your answers must be related to the ideas contained in the text.

 

1. Modern life is … .

2. People compete at … .

3. There are different signs of stress: irritability … .

4. Many people try to get … .

5. They take sleeping … but they don’t … .

6. The causes of stress may be different … .

7. It may be helpful to examine … .

8. It may also help if one changes his view … .

9. If there are several different problems … .

 

Put the jumbled sentences in the logical order to sum up the information given in the text.

 

1. This results in irritability, sleeplessness, restlessness, gloominess.

2. But the only way of stopping stress is finding its cause.

3. Modern life is full of stress.

4. What causes the stress?

5. If you have several problems, deal with them one by one.

6. People compete at work and in sport, try to save time and to earn as much money as possible.

7. If you have too much responsibility, share some of it and your life will change for the better.

8. Many people try to get rid of the signs of stress instead of its cause.

9. Talk to someone about your problems.

10. Examine yourself and your feelings.

11. If you understand the cause of stress, it will help.

12. Change your view of the situation by redefining it.

13. Try to be realistic.

 

5. Use the following outline to speak about the problem mentioned in the text.

 

1. Modern life is full of stress and tension.

2. The signs of stress: irritability, gloominess, suspicion, unsociability, restlessness, sleeplessness, etc.

3. Getting rid of stress is finding its cause.

4. Causes of stress.

5. Tips to follow if you want to change the state of affairs.

 

Unit IX

Pre-reading tasks

1. Look through the key words and expressions and guess what this text is about:

 

to get on one’s nerves       generation gap

parents                              to hold adult conversations

to embarrass                      to disapprove of something

to avoid upsetting each other to be under pressure

understanding                    to antagonize somebody

two-way process               to worry

to be open and reasonable to deceive

 

2. Look through the text to see if your guess about its contents was correct. If it wasn’t, give the information that you have missed.