Responding to stress
We respond to stress in three basic ways:
1. Resist €“ We fight the cause. In this case we view stress as an assault by an external source and respond defensively
2. Avoid €“ We bury our heads in the sand and hope whatever is making us feel bad will go away. A common avoidance technique is reliance on alcohol or smoking
3. Confront or adapt €“ We can work to identify the real cause of our stress and eliminate it. If this is not possible, we may need to figure out how to best adapt to this new situation to lessen the stress.