Myths About Swine Flu

Swine influenza is flu virus usually found in pigs. The virus occasionally changes (mutates) and becomes infectious in humans. When this happens, the disease becomes a concern to humans, who have little or no immunity against it. This means the virus has the potential to spread quickly around the world. It also may be more difficult to treat than the usual, seasonal human flu viruses.

Also, no one was able to say for certain how this virus came to infect humans in the first place. Not helping matters was its somewhat unfortunate name. What better way, after all, to prevent swine flu than to avoid pigs and pork products? It sounds reasonable, but many myths do.

Click the following link to read about the biggest myths about Swine flu

 

What is Stress ???

The World Health Organization is quoted as saying that stress is a ‘worldwide epidemic’. A United Nations report labeled stress as “the 20th Century disease”. Did you know that 1 in 2 people have experienced stress by the time they are 40?

So what can you do about it?

We all go through stressful times.

In small doses, stress may be good for you when it gives you a burst of energy. But too much stress or stress that lasts for a long time can take its toll on your body.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress, you’re not alone. In fact a survey found that one-third of people are living with extreme stress. Keep reading to know how you’re feeling and learn about the effects of stress on your whole body.

Stress can be toxic to your body!

Are you experiencing the signs of stress?

• Feeling angry, irritable or easily frustrated
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Change in eating habits
• Problems concentrating
• Feeling nervous or anxious
• Trouble sleeping
• Problems with memory
• Feeling burned out from work
• Feeling that you can’t overcome difficulties in your life
• Having trouble functioning in your job or personal life

If you’re having any of these symptoms, it’s important that you take care of yourself. There are healthy steps you can take to stay well when you’re stressed, like connecting to people close to you, getting enough sleep or being physically active.

What is Stress Management?

Stress is an inherent part of the life of every individual, right from school going kids to retiring servicemen. It is impossible to live throughout your life without being introduced to stress, unless and until you have decided to renounce the world and become an ascetic. However, what we have to learn is coping with stress, through various stress reduction techniques, in other words stress management techniques. These techniques basically teach you how to be happy and enjoy life, even amidst tensions, and help you in relieving stress.

Stress Management Techniques

The first and the foremost thing to do for relieving stress, is to know that you are under stress. Signs like muscle tension, sweaty palms, high blood pressure, constant headaches, insomnia, fidgeting, rapid breathing and forgetting things, all indicate that you are undergoing stress. The next step is to accept the fact and make some small changes in your life that will help you in coping with it. The stress management techniques provided below will help you in dealing with the problem, before it gets out of control.

Learn to Say No

You meet so many people in a day that demand your attention. You have to recognize the important from the unimportant ones and learn to say NO. It is not necessary to go at every party and accept every dinner invitation. Take out sometime time for yourself. Sit at home or go to any place that will help you relax.

Take a Break

Your office or your home will not stop functioning if you take off a single day for yourself. You need to get away from all the things that give you stress and spend time on the things that give you happiness. For example – if you are a book lover, take an off from office, go to your nearest bookstore, buy a novel of your favorite author and spend the entire day lazing around the house, reading the book.

Eat Properly

Remember the adage ‘Healthy Mind resides in a Healthy Body’. A good diet will help you in dealing with stress, in a much better way. However, don’t binge on high calorie food. Have more vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc in your diet. And, please don’t skip your breakfast. It keeps you energized throughout the day.

Exercise

One of the best ways to beat stress is to exercise. Not only does it reward you with a healthy and fit body, it also helps you let off the steam. Next time, if you are getting too much irritated over something or somebody, go for a jog. I am sure that even a 15 min run will help you feel much better.

Differentiate Between Office and Home

Successful people and happy people are those who know how to differentiate between professional life and personal life. The problems of one should not affect the other. When you go to home from office, leave your worries behind. After you get back to home, spend time with family, watch TV, listen to music or do anything you like, but don’t think about office.

Set a Worry Time

Keep a worry time for yourself. Set a day of the week and a particular time of that day (say 7 to 8 pm) when you will worry and till that day and time comes, don’t think about the problems that have been hogging you.

Other Techniques

Going for a body massage, indulging in your favorite hobby, talking about your problems to someone close to you, meditation, etc are some of the other ways through which you can beat the stress and stay healthy as well as happy.

Take a stress test…

http://suicideandmentalhealthassociationinternational.org/stresstest.html