Describe four ways to improve one's health - Essay Example

How to Improve our Health To deal with health problems means that we have to decrease the level of stress by solving theproblem that we are encountering. This can be done by seeking relevant information, changing the daily behaviors and lastly taking relevant actions to counter the incoming difficulty. Therefore, we have to focus on the emotions to cope up with our behavior. Thus, to fully resolve health problems, we have to counter with all the emotional distress like seeking sympathy, support and later avoiding our current situation.

Therefore, there are four main ways of dealing with stress which is the major strain to our health. These include changing our thoughts, changing our behaviors, learning how to relax and stopping other stress responses. Management of stress applies several strategies which help in the reduction of stress, fear, anxiety and many other effects. Through these changes, we are able to change our aspects of life like behaviors, thoughts and other physiological responses. This result to change in our health status.

In life there are several situations where we have many stressful activities. This includes interaction with sloppy roommates, slow traffic and long lines. Thus, this situation is serious depending on the way one deals with it. Appraisal of situation may either lead to increase in stress level or reduce it. To reduce stress one has to work hard on how to appraise the impending situation. One can use challenge appraisal. This method is preferred to challenge the situation and not view the situation as a threat.

This is because threat appraisals are known for evolution of negative emotions. This may lead to increase in stress levels. In addition, anxiety many lead to a fight flight response that raises stress levels thus leading to emotional focused coping. On the other if students who engage and emphasize on challenge of appraisals experience positive emotions. Therefore, challenging a situation is helpful rather than threatening the appraisals (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 295). In addition, one can also change his behaviors to cope with stressful situations.

For instance, students can prepare for exams in two different ways. One can complain about a lot of materials that the instructor has given out which acts as an excuse for failing to study. At this stage, the students are dealing with emotion focused coping that reduces stress through reduction of negative emotional feelings. The students can change their behavior by engaging in the problem focused coping through creation of a study plan. A student who engages in emotion focused coping may continue to perform poorly.

Such students procrastinate their work, complain a lot and make many unreasonable excuses. On the other hand, problem focused coping is effective as the students make notes, have a study program. The students may change their behaviors by having self rewards and modify their behaviors. More so, learning on how to relax is vital in managing stress. A relaxed person can be able to easily turn off the fight flight response. One can cope with relaxation by learning on how to decrease the muscle tensions.

One can also practice progressive relaxation. This involves relaxation and tensing of the major muscle groups in our bodies until one can relax the muscles at will. Furthermore, one can practice transcendental meditation (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian 398). An unhealthy person can cope up with stress by stopping the stress responses. Stressors can trigger a fight flight response thus one can counter on this by forming a relaxation unit which can stop the arousal thereby reducing stressful feelings before they can result to psychosomatic disorders.

Therefore, relaxation at will is vital in management of stress. Work CitedPlotnik, Rod and Kouyoumdjian, Haig. Study Guide for Plotnik/Kouyoumdjians Introduction to Psychology, 9th. New York: Wadsworth Publishers, 2010. Print.