Stress can be managed.

Stress management used to involve eating, smoking drinking, or taking tranquilizers. The idea was to treat the symptoms. Instead of addressing the sources of their stress, people were reaching for antacids, cigarettes, and double martinis, but that has changed. People are learning how to hone their skills in adapting to life's ups and downs and the change that it brings, how to alter their outlook when it is not possible to transform the world around them, and ways to take charge of their reactions to situations and people.

"Recognizing that stress is an ongoing part of life is the first step to dealing with it," explains John Wakeman, program director of the Stress Treatment Center, Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans, "Stress is the body's natural reaction to any demand placed upon it, whether pleasant (winning the Lottery) or unpleasant (being laid off at work). Stress is something we create. It is dependent upon how we interpret situations and relate to the world around us. What you tell yourself about a situation is 90% of how you deal with it."

The physiology of stress--what happens to the body in stressful times--is an important aspect of management. Too much change in a brief period of time can weaken a person's ability to fend off illness or maintain emotional stability. Among the physical ramifications from chronic and prolonged exposure to stress are susceptibility to illness and tissue and organ damage.

Whether a person chooses to confront a stress factor or walk away from it, the body reacts in the same way. The heart pumps faster to provide more blood to the muscles; pupils dilate; senses of smell, touch, taste, and hearing become more acute; and stored sugars and fats are released into the bloodstream to provide quick energy.

Among the...