Stress, the recognize discomfort we feel arising from a lack of fit among us and the demands we feel compelled to meet, is a normal part of living and working. We are all subjected to stress which may come from our family, our psychological make-up or our job and working environment. Not all stress, on the other hand is negative. Also, what is stressful to one individual might not be for another. Most of us frequently answer to stress positively. And we have unconsciously and consistently coped with stress.

In tense, stress on the other hand can cause poor strain on our emotions, thought processes, job performance and physical condition. It is therefore significant that we know the symptoms of destructive stress. Let us ask ourselves the following questions. Do little things irritate us? Do we worry a lot? Do we suffer from sleeping problems? Do we have digestive problems? Are we emotionally unstable? Do we often snap at those we love? Do we smoke and or use drugs regularly? Are we frequently nervous, tense or have high blood pressure? Is there a drop in our work performance? If we answered "yes" to even only one questions above, we might be experiencing harmful stress.

Most approaches that might help us handle stress are:

1. Defense Mechanism – these are reactions that help us maintain our sense of control and self-worth by twisting or denying actual nature of conditions. We try to avoid, physically or psychologically from the stressor. Or we emotionally, shield ourselves so that we could remain unaffected or unmoved by the source of stress. This technique, on the other hand, merely hides the problem because we do not face the problem squarely.

1. Social Support – this refers to the network of activities and relationships which offer us with social satisfaction. We can turn to our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors or even supervisors. They could offer us moral or emotional support, work tasks, or tangible goods or services. We could rely on them for excellent social exchanges such as games and jokes or for spiritual enlistment.

1. Meditation – This refers to the involvement of quiet, concentrated inner thoughts so that our bodies could be rested physically and emotionally often times, there is a requirement for us to slow down, to reflect and to turn to God. So meditation or prayer rooms have been chosen in the work environment for the use of the employees.

1. Changing one goals – We can prefer other goals in life. For example, we can change our hobbies or we can engage in spiritual, social, civic or intellectual recreations.

Stress is predictable however it can be handled if it is excessive even in the workplace, it can still be managed. So, who is afraid of stress?