Stress Myths: We need to manage stress

*MYTH #4: We need to manage stress, not to make it go away*

FACT: This is actually quite a dangerous myth. When we think that the best way to deal with stress is to manage it instead of eliminating it, we are basically saying that stress is a part of life.

Many stress experts talk about positive benefits of exercise, meditation, and relaxation techniques, but may not inform you of the *negative side* to these same coping strategies.

You see, using exercise, meditation and so on as stress management techniques are often ineffective. They are very poor strategies for dealing with certain types of problems, such as the death in the family, retrenchment or rejection. Also, these exercises take up a lot of time. Worse, the effects usually last a short while and you might have to keep doing them a few times in a day.

But really, the worse thing about it is the fact that dealing only with the symptoms of stress does absolutely nothing to cure the underlying ills. As long as we do not deal with the underlying causes, stress will persist and maybe even get worse.

So, if you think you are "managing" your stress well, think again.