簡諍國文團隊

Don’t let stress knock you down

What is the next global enemy? Other than energy crisis, Global Warming, as well as all kinds of epidemics, what else is threatening the human race? Geologists will say it’s the quakes. Anti-war protesters will tell you it must be the wars triggered by those super powers or terrorism. Yet sociologists have a different answer— pressure and its complications.

To be general, stress is what you experience when the level of your stressors exceeds your ability to cope, and too much stress makes life a difficult hike.

Pressure is turning not only workplaces but also families into hotbeds of anger and frustration, new research claims. Interviewed workers in the hospitals, schools, and shops, all have one thing in common to complain about—the overwhelming pressure they are suffering from.

Inevitably, with pressure comes different levels of frustration. If we take a close look at the level of pressure under which modern working people believe they are, we will be "shocked" at the scale of frustration and anger among staff.

In workplaces, frustration can come from irresponsible colleagues and incompetent managers, which is affecting productivity and causing hard-working employees to threaten to resign or take time off for stress, the report says. "People told me they were angry in the morning, at noon and during the night," said a teacher at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England.

Modern life is full of new threats. Your body's well-adapted defenses against physical dangers may not be as effective at dealing with the stress you feel while trying to keep up with your classmates, managing a huge workload, or making ends meet. Instead of protecting you, your body's response to stress, if constantly activated, may make you more vulnerable to life-threatening health problems. Therefore, how to deal with pressure has become a surviving skill that everyone needs to be equipped with.

Changing the level of the stress or increasing your ability to cope will certainly help. Psychologists suggest trying the four As: avoid, alter, accept or adapt.

Avoid

First, avoid contact with someone or something that bothers you. Just remember: A certain amount of avoidance is healthy. To take control of your surroundings, for instance, leave early for school or take a less traveled route to get rid of the irritating traffic. Think ahead and prepare yourself before the problems have the chance to bother. When you are home after work, turn off the news and read a relaxing book. In fact, a lot of needless stress can simply be avoided. Plan ahead, rearrange your surroundings and reap the benefits of a lighter load.

Alter

Develop your communicating skills and communicate your feelings openly, like respectfully ask others to change their behavior and be willing to do the same. Small problems often create larger ones when they aren't resolved. Manage your time better. Organize your day, and the reward of increased efficiency will be extra time.

Accept

Sometimes you may not be able to change a frustrating situation, but that doesn't mean your feelings aren't legitimate. For those times, try to talk with someone. Phone a friend or schedule a coffee break. You will feel better after talking it out. Forgive and smile. Try to free yourself from burning more negative energy. One negative thought can lead to another, and soon you've created a mental avalanche. Practice positive self-talk. Thus stress could be an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

Adapt

The perception that you can't cope is actually one of the greatest stressors. That's why adapting — which often involves adjusting your standards or expectations — can be the most helpful in dealing with stress. Redefine cleanliness, success and perfection, and you may operate with a little less guilt and frustration. Practice thought-stopping. Stop gloomy thoughts immediately. Refuse to replay a stressful situation as negative, and it may cease to be so. Moreover, look at the big picture. Ask yourself, "Will this matter in a year? In five years?" The answer is seldom “yes”. Realizing this makes a stressful situation seem less overwhelming.

Other strategies include exercise, healthy nutritional choices, social support networks and professional psychotherapy. Of course, there is no single technique that works once and for all, and one technique doesn't function for every situation. You can't avoid all of the stressors in your life. Practice appropriately applying these techniques to balance your stress equation. The payoff of managing stress is peace of mind and—perhaps—a longer, healthier life.

《中譯》

下一個全球公敵是什麼？除了能源危機、全球暖化和各種傳染病，人類還面臨什麼威脅呢？地理學家會說是地震。反戰的抗議分子會告訴你絕對是強權大國或恐怖分子引發的戰爭。然而社會學家有個不一樣的答案──是壓力與其併發症。

一般來說，壓力就是你的施壓源超出了你所能負荷時，你所體驗的感覺，過重的壓力會使生活變成辛苦的徒步健行。

新的研究顯示，不僅是工作場所，連家庭都被壓力變成了憤怒和挫折的溫床。在醫院、學校和商店中的受訪員工都在抱怨同一件事──那就是他們身受其苦的龐大壓力。

不可避免地，伴隨壓力而來的是不同程度的挫折感。如果仔細觀察現代工作人口認為自己所身處的壓力層級，我們會對於他們挫折和憤怒的程度感到「震驚」。

根據報告，在工作場合，挫折感可能來自不負責任的同僚和無能的管理者，而這會影響到產值，並使那些認真工作的員工心生離職的念頭，或者必須靠休假來紓壓。「人們告訴我，他們早上、中午和晚上都在生氣。」英格蘭普勒斯頓市的中央蘭開郡大學一位教師這麼說。

現代生活充滿了新的威脅。你體內對抗生理危險的良好防衛機制用來處理這些壓力也許不夠有效，像是試著趕上你的同學，處理龐大的工作量，或是使收支平衡等等。你的身體如果一直必須對壓力做出反應，這機制不但不能保護你，反而會讓你更脆弱，造成危及生活的健康問題。因此，如何應付壓力已經成為人人必備的生存技巧。

改變壓力的強度或增強你的應付能力覺對會有幫助。心理學家建議試試這四個步驟之一：避開，改變，接受或適應。

避開

首先，避免接觸讓你煩躁的人、事、物。只要記住：某種程度的閃避是健康的。掌控你的環境，比如說，早點出門上學或者走別條比較沒人走的路線，以避開煩人的交通。在麻煩有機會找上門前先做預想並且把自己準備好。下班回家後，關掉新聞節目，讀一本輕鬆的書吧。事實上，許多不必要的壓力可以很簡單地避開。事前規劃，重新安排你的環境，就能享受負擔減輕的好處。

改變

培養溝通技巧，並公開溝通你的感受，像是客氣地要求別人改變他們的行為，同時你自己也要願意這麼做。小問題沒有解決的話，常常造成更大的問題。妥善規畫時間。安排好你的一天，提昇效率的好處就是你會有更多的時間。

接受

有時候你也許不能改變一個令人感到挫折的狀況，但這不表示你的感受不合理。這種時候，試著找人聊聊吧。打電話給朋友，或安排一個午茶約會。講出來以後你就會覺得好過些。寬恕並微笑。試著把你自己從燃燒更多負面能量中解放出來吧。負面的想法會接踵而來，而很快你就會把自己逼到精神崩潰了。練習正面的自我對話。這樣壓力就能成為一個機會而非阻礙。

適應

認定你自己應付不來的那個感覺，其實就是最大的壓力來源之一。這就是為什麼適應力──這常常關係到調整你的標準或期望──會是處理壓力時最有幫助的一環。重新定義潔淨，成功和完美，你也許可以在比較沒有罪惡和挫折感的情況下工作。練習停止某些想法。馬上停止陰鬱的念頭。不要再把有壓力的處境視為負面的，它就不會一直是如此。更進一步地，往大處看。捫心自問，「這事在一年內都會很重要嗎？在五年內呢？」答案很少”是的”。體認這一點能讓一個充滿壓力的處境變得不那麼沉重。

其他策略包括了運動，選擇健康營養的食物，社會支援網路和專業的心理治療。當然，沒有單一種技巧可以一勞永逸，一種技巧也不是在每種情況下都能發揮作用。你不能避免生命中所有的壓力來源。適當的練習應用這些技巧來平衡你的壓力平衡式吧。壓力管理的收益就是心靈的寧靜，也許還有更為長壽健康的人生。

《Vocabulary》