Making Stress Your Friend

Making Stress your Friend
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Introduction
What is stress? According to Taylor, “Stress is a negative emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes that are directed either toward altering the stressful event or accommodating to its effects” (Taylor, 2012). In that way, we can see that stress refers to emotional, or cognitive experiences that create a series of negative feelings for the individual. Those changes experienced by the individual can be of any sorts, as there are cases of stress that affect people psychologically, and others that can pose serious harm to the physiological functions. Stress can affect every person in the world, and research has shown that every person can suffer from stress in a given moment of its life. However, it is important to differentiate stress as a condition from stressful moments. Although all are important, conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder might need therapy or counseling to improve whereas a stressful moment can pass as soon as the stressor disappears.
Recent statistics from the American Psychological Association, indicate that “39% of Americans reported that their stress has increased over the past year (…) only 29% indicated that they were doing an excellent or very good job at managing their stress” (APA, 2012). This suggests that the average person does not know …