Maladies of the 21st Century

Such maladies as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), cancer, heart diseases, allergies, asthma, stress, alcohol and drugs addiction, smoking, chronic fatigue syndrome, stress are considered to be the maladies of the 21^st century. The risk factors causing them are poor environment, constant stress and bad habits. The danger of smoking, alcohol, drugs has been discussed a lot in mass media.

Stress

Read the text and say whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Stress is more common in this century than in previous centuries.
2. Stress can cause illness and illness can cause stress.
3. Some people still think that stress is unnatural.
4. We should stop feeling stress.

Stress is a disease of the century. Life has never been faster and jobs have never been more stressful than they are today. People have to perform more and more work under difficult and more stressful conditions. Many people suffer from stress and the illnesses it can cause, and more people are recognizing that stress is a natural reaction of a person’s body to pressure, either from the outside world or from the inner world of emotions and physical organs. We can’t avoid stress. And we can’t help ourselves, or others, until we know more about it. Not all stress is bad and perhaps if we understood it better we could make the most of it.

Answer the questions:

1. Why is stress “a disease of the twentieth century”?
2. How are attitudes to stress changing?
3. Why should we be concerned about stress?
4. What kind of stress do you think can be good, and when?

We know that a number of illnesses including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers and dieting depression can be caused by stress. And there are several others, including cancer, where stress may part of the cause. Stress can happen to anyone. Stress-based illness doesn’t happen all at once. It builds up, and there are warning signs. But often we don’t know what to look for.

Here are nine of the most common warning symptoms of stress. First decide if you have ever experienced the symptom. Then try to remember when and why.

The first step to controlling stress is to recognize and identify it.

There are three main techniques used for coping with stress.

1. Learn to recognize the situations which cause stress and think about why they do. Remember that doing something about stress, in the long run, less stressful than doing nothing.
2. Avoid the situation: for example, it you find it stressful to work in a noisy environment, it may be possible to find somewhere else to work
3. Relax: stress causes tension and tension causes stress. Find relaxation techniques to suit you. try breathing deeply or counting to ten when you recognize a stressful situation.

How do you cope with the following moods? (anger, depression, tiredness, boredom, guilt, loneliness, fear). Choose suitable ‘cures’ from this list: Make sentences like this: “Whenever I feel …, I …”