Text 11

Can You Live with Stress?

What is stress? How do you try to alleviate stress?Read the text and make a list of the symptoms mentioned.Then answer the questions about the text.

Stress is one of the most common problems affecting people today, and can affect you at any age. Pressures and emotional problems are part of all our lives, but the mental and physical effects vary from person to person. Too much stress continuing over a period of time can cause a wide variety of physical and emotional disorders. You need to recognise which situations are stressful for you and to find effective ways of dealing with them in order to avoid the effects of too much stress.

The classic symptoms of stress are easy to recognise. These include headaches, ulcers, temper outbursts, impatience, stomach pains and upsets, sleep disorders and digestive problems. Your body might also tell you in more subtle ways that it is under strain.

Stress control is an im­portant factor for good health so recognising stress symptoms and taking steps to deal with them is an important part of everyday life.

1 Does stress affect everyone in the same way?

2 Why is it important to know which situations make you stressed?

3 What are the effects of too much stress over a period of time?

Text 12

Depression

What is the difference between depression and stress? What does a person suffering from depression look like? What is the best way out from depression in your point of view?

It doesn't matter how much money you make, what you do for a living or even how well you get along with your family. Depression is a very real, very treatable medical condition that can strike you at any stage of your life. Left untreated, depression can lead to financial problems, divorce and even suicide. But with a proper diagnosis and treatment, your chances of recovery from depression are excellent.

Depression is one part of bipolar disorder. Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. Depression is one of the most common and most serious mental health problems facing people today. It can interfere with a person's ability to function effectively throughout the day or even to have the motivation to get out of bed in the morning. Depression is a real illness; it is treatable. Depression is not a normal part of aging. Depression is a serious health problem that impacts a youngster's feelings, thoughts and actions, and can appear as a physical illness or behavior problem. Depression can also be expressed as apathy, or an inability to feel anything. Depression gets in the way of dieting, exercising, and even taking the medicines that can control diabetes. Depression, like other medical conditions, has a chemical and biological basis. Depression is not simply a passing sadness or blue mood that lifts in a few hours or days, but it’s persistent. Most people with a depressive illness do not seek treatment, although the great majority even those whose depression is extremely severe can be helped. Depression is a vicious cycle. Those who are trapped in it may not realize themselves that they are depressed. Often times, it slips underneath the person's emotional radar, rendering the person unaware of its causes and presence.

In America today, more than 6 million men experience symptoms of depression in any calendar year. Though depression is less common in men than women, men are also far less likely to seek medical help for their depression but four times more likely to commit suicide. Men are also more likely than women to turn to drugs or alcohol when it comes to dealing with their depression symptoms. The exact cause of depression is unknown but new brain imaging techniques have allowed us to see depression as never before. Today, we know that depression stems from a disruption in the communication that occurs between the brain's neural circuits ['s3:kIt] and its chemical neurotransmitters. We also know that some men have a genetic predisposition to depression. Exactly how genetics affects a man's risk of depression is clear. For most men, though, depression is probably the result of a combination of environmental, genetic and emotional factors. We know, for example, that a sudden job loss, divorce or bereavement puts men at increased risk for depression. We also know that depression rates are higher among men suffering from illnesses like cancer, Parkinson's or HIV.

What lifts depression is the capability to understand it. By understanding the nature of it, the person will be able to identify what it is that's hiding beneath. Like happiness, depression is influenced by the person's habits and activities. The things that surround the person strongly influence that person. If the person is surrounded by negativity and fear, then it is likely that they will experience the same. On the opposite end, if the person essentially chooses to be around positive events, then depression would be less of a problem or no problem at all.
Today's depression medications are safe and effective for the vast majority of depression sufferers. And with your doctor's help, you may be able to manage your depression without the need for prescription medications. Alternative therapies, exercise and meditation are proving themselves to be valuable allies in the fight against depression. If you think you may be at risk for depression, or you're already experiencing symptoms, talk to your doctor. Depression is just as real and just as serious as cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure. You can't just 'snap out of it' and it's not a result of some personal weakness.
Only your doctor can tell you if the symptoms you're experiencing are caused by depression. But you CAN beat depression. The person has to first realize that depression, like all other things, is preventable. It is a choice to feel a certain emotion; essentially the person who is experiencing depression is choosing to experience it. 'The flowers are bright, but the person's mind is dark'. Reality is purely subjective. One can choose a pessimistic viewpoint on an absolutely bright and sunny day, while another person can see beauty in spite of the darkest clouds. This applies in every aspect. The first thing the person must do is embrace the experience of depression. Depression does not occur because of some outside circumstance. It occurs internally, when the body and mind have developed a negative disposition.

The mind works in the way that it looks for proof of its beliefs. If the mind is experiencing depression, then it will seek depressing events. The person will likely listen to saddening music, watch saddening shows, etc. However, this circumstance can be easily altered - by listening to uplifting songs, perhaps ceasing to watch a depressing news story, etc. It's all choice at the bottom of it. Regardless of the 'circumstances', emotions are a choice. Just like life, it's entirely subjective. People create their own realities. Everything that has occurred internally was earned to an extent. It takes courage and hope to realize that something like depression isn't going to last forever. That is, unless it is chosen.

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