Hormones and Stress Blog

Acute stress also known as (short term stress) is the body's instant response to any situation that seems demanding or dangerous. Your stress level depends on how intense the stress is, how long it lasts, and how you cope with the situation. Chronic stress (long term stress) is caused by stressful situations or events that last over a long period of time. This could include having a difficult job or dealing with a chronic disease. Stress is something that everyone goes through, whether it be long term or short term, it just all depends on how you handle it and the situation. I can honestly say that I stress a lot... I know for a fact that it is not good for my body because I begin to break out a lot, I either want to eat everything I see or not eat at all because of the lack of appetite I have, and I start to over think and most of the time it's negatively, I get super sensitive and emotional and get irritated easily, it's bad enough that I'm already sensitive as it is! Since when I realized what stress really is to me as a high school student I've tried many different things to help cope with it. I started off by just writing everything in a journal or diary. After awhile this wasn't helping anymore because I did not have the time to just sit down and vent to my Journal.. :/ So I moved on to trying extra-curriculum activities and of course I picked to be in a sport that sometimes wouldn't reduced my stress but add on to it... I picked becoming a cheerleader. For the most part, it was where I would leave all my stress and problems at the door of the gym and walk in with a whole new, fresh, and good attitude. Up to my senior year it seemed like cheer wasn't my escape from stress and the real world anymore, it became part of it. I pushed through it and tried to have a positive attitude until the end of it. When cheer was starting to become my first priority in my life things got really hard on me. I pushed everything else to the side and fell behind, good thing I have amazing parents that care about me and not to mention one of the best teachers I've had, won't say any names.. ahem(Gardner) that helped me get through it and get right back in tract. So I want to thank them for everything they've done for me this year. I've always loved reading. Since I was a little girl I had been in many special education classes because at the age of 5 I still did not want to say a word. People thought that maybe
I couldn't talk or maybe I couldn't hear.. but nope I just wasn't ready to talk. I was fine, I was physically able to talk and hear, it was just really hard for me especially since I was a little girl trying to speak English and Spanish at the same time so nothing would come out but maybe some gibberish. So I went to these schools and classes to help talk and started me off with one language at a time, english at school and spanish at home. I got over this bump in my life and look at me now, Honors in my English classes. :) So yes you can say Ive worked really hard to meet other peoples standards because for a good while everyone didn't think I would make it too far. So going back to how I relieve stress, I love reading, what can I say.. I'm a little book worm. Reading was also my escape from stuff, but with cheer on my schedule I barely had time to even sit down and eat dinner. Now that cheer is done I have a whole summer to read because I don't have to worry about having 2 practices a day for 6 days a week.  I also learned that by writing a to do list can really help me out with pretty much everything. On one side writing what needs to get done now, and on the other what can wait a little bit but still has to get done. Credits to Mrs. Gardner for helping me out with this too. Not to mention.. MUSIC, music is my all time way to escape from the real world. Of course I can't live my life in a little music box but hey, music is my life. :) I listen to music all the time, it's what gets me going. I listen to it in the shower, after I get out of the shower, getting ready, in the car, outside, inside, anywhere and everywhere. I listen to all different types of music, hip hop, spanish, country, classical, techno, and nature sounds. :) Oh and just a couple of other things I do are going running and hugs !! When I have a lot on my mind I think running let's me clear off my mind..until I run out of breath and dying to catch air because I over did myself haha. I LOVE hugs !!!! I can give hugs to everyone. I think hugs are the best thing ever!! I love getting hugs also, makes me feel better. :) This is how I keep myself together, sometimes I break down but I have caring friends and family that help me get back up along with my stress reducing techniques.
 http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/stress