Congratulations you have now completed the final session of The Stress Management for Health Course and you now have some tools to help you deal with the challenges of life.  Learning to manage stress is a journey not a destination.  Stress Management techniques are not a panacea for all ills so don't expect any stress to miraculously disappear over night or to never, ever recur again.   In order for them to work you need to use them regularly and like any other skill in order to be good at stress management you need to regularly practice the techniques.   

Fortunately many of us will not have to deal on a daily basis with the major life event stressors like the death of a loved one, a life event stressor like loosing a loved one is painful to all and our perception about the loss is not distorted, however most of the stressors in our lives come from the daily hassle stressors which we encounter on a daily basis and these daily hassles are thought to make up the majority of stressors in most peoples lives.  Having said all of this there are people who deal with large stressors like living with chronic health problems like Simon Weston and others have had to do.  Yet despite all the physical and psychological stress problems related to his severe burns, his approach to dealing with these difficulties is an example and an inspiration to us all.  His explanatory style and attitude will help to reduce the potential negative impact on his life.  Some people seem to naturally have this skill but it can also be learned if you dont naturally possess that skill.  The stress management techniques outlined in this course are not all theory they have been scientifically proven and successfully used in clinical practice to help people cope with severe life threatening stressors such as breast cancer, chronic pain, aids etc.  As Merle Miller sums it up very eloquently, "Everyone has their burden.  But what counts is how you carry it."

To suffer stress is not a sign of weakness, nobody is immune to developing stress but to fail to deal with it could be the real weakness.  Stress has been described as a chic, modern problem but there is nothing chic about chronic stress.  Chronic, unmanaged stress is a potent solvent, unchecked it can have the potential to dissolve a person's life, their families lives and harm their psychological, physiological and social well being.  It's a complicating factor in many, many health problems but perhaps one of the worst things it can potentially do is ruin a person's quality of life.  

The central tenant of this course is that we are not impotent in the face of stress.  In situations where the cause of stress cannot be removed eg such as living with a chronic illnes then stress management techniques can help us to cope much more effectively.

If however, you find that your stress problem is not resolved it would be a good idea to consult a stress management practitioner for one to one stress advice.  The International Stress Management Association is the leading stress management organisation in the United Kingdom and it holds a register of stress management practitioners throughout the UK.  If you wish to locate your nearest stress management practitioner in private practice then send an email giving your address to: