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Stress Management and Personal Hygiene: Physical and mental well-being is the important key to live a happy and healthy life. Stress management and personal hygiene are two good habits that a person can develop to achieve perfect physical and mental health. To develop these habits, one needs to understand the concept of stress and the need for personal hygiene.
Have you ever started to feel a lot of pressure a day before an examination or any other important event? There will be negative thoughts like, would I be able to score well? Would I be able to cover the entire syllabus in one night? This feeling is called stress. Sometimes a small amount of stress can have positive effects like it can help one to be focused. On the other hand, it has several negative impacts. In this article, we will be learning types and sources of stress and several management strategies to get over them. It is important for everyone to know what personal hygiene is! Hygiene is a set of practices that are performed to preserve health.
Stress is the normal reaction of the human body to mental pressure. It can be defined as any kind of change that causes physical, psychological, or emotional strain or tension. It is a response of the body to anything that needs attention or action. Everyone feels stressed to some degree in their lives. All the challenges, difficult circumstances, and problems put a person under stress.
It is important to remember that not all kinds of stress are harmful, bad, or destructive. Stress can be a motivator, and it can also be useful for survival. Such stress is called eustress. But when the body becomes triggered too easily or there are lots of stressors at one time, it can be harmful to the mental and physical health of the person. Such stress is called distress.
Factors Contributing to Good Health
Fig: Stress
Stress can be different types depending on its source or the effective area. There are mainly three types of stress:
All the types of stresses mentioned above are interrelated to one another.
Physical stress is a demand that changes our bodies. It can happen when we overexert our body physically, lack a nutritious diet, fail to get enough sleep or suffer an injury. Environmental stress is the pressure on the environment caused by human activities or by natural events. It is nothing but aspects of our surroundings that are often unavoidable, such as air pollution, noise, crowd, winter cold, the heat of summer, etc.
Environmental stresses can be caused due to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tsunami, fires, hurricanes, etc.
The stress which is generated by one’s own mind, which is personal and unique to each person who is experiencing it, is called psychological stress. Symptoms of psychological stress include anxiety, worrying, feeling depressed, and so on. Some of the major sources of psychological stress are given as follows:
1. Frustration: Frustration arises when a person is unable to achieve certain goals and aspirations in his/her life or is hindered from achieving them. There can be a number of causes for frustration like social discrimination, low grades in school or interpersonal hurt, etc.
2. Conflicts: Conflicts may occur in the mind when there are two different incompatible needs or motives, and choosing is difficult. There may be a conflict of values when one is pressured to take any action that may be against the values held by him/her.
3. Internal Pressure: Internal pressure arises due to our own expectations and beliefs inside the mind. This type of pressure may cause serious harm to the emotional health of a person.
4. Social Pressure: Sometimes, people in the surroundings put on a load of pressure and excessive demands that may put a person under tremendous stress. Sometimes it can also result in personality clashes.
Fig: Symptoms of Psychological Stress
Social stress is induced externally and results from a person’s interaction with other people. Social events like death or illness in the family, trouble with neighbours, stressful relationships are some of the examples of social stresses. Social stresses may differ from person to person. For example, an introverted person may find it more stressful to attend parties and social gatherings, while an extroverted person may find it stressful to stay alone.
There are several physical and mental changes that a person might experience due to stressful life. Some of the physical changes are headaches, mood swings, sleep disorders, etc.
Following are some adverse health effects that are caused due to prolonged stressed conditions:
A person suffering from one or more of these conditions needs to consult a professional and also needs to follow some simple management techniques to deal with his/her problems.
Stress is a silent killer. It affects our bodies negatively and causes illness and diseases. Stress can cause hypertension, heart disease, ulcers, diabetes, and even cancer. These are reasons that schools and other institutions, offices, and communities are concerned with the techniques to manage stress. Some of the techniques for stress management are given below:
1. Relaxation Techniques: It is an active skill that helps in reducing the symptoms of stress and also to decrease the chances of diseases like hypertension and heart diseases. It usually starts from the lower parts of the body and progresses up to the facial muscles in such a way that the entire body is relaxed. Along with muscle relaxation, deep breathing is also used to calm the mind and relax the body.
2. Meditation Procedures: Some meditation procedures like Yoga consist of a sequence of learned techniques for refocusing attention that brings an altered state of consciousness. It involves a thorough concentration that the person becomes unaware of his/her outside and reaches a different level of consciousness.
3. Biofeedback: Biofeedback is often accompanied by relaxation techniques. It is the procedure to monitor and reduce physiological aspects of stress by providing feedback for current physiological activity. It involves three stages as follows:
(i) Developing an awareness of the particular physiological response, e.g., heart rate.
(ii) Learning the ways of controlling that physiological response in quiet conditions
(iii) Transferring that control into the conditions of everyday life
4. Cognitive Behavioural Techniques: The main aim of these techniques is to inoculate or immunize people against stress. Stress inoculation training is one of the effective methods developed by a Canadian psychologist and psychotherapist, Donald Meichenbaum. The main essence of this approach is to replace negative and irrational thoughts with positive and rational thoughts.
5. Exercise: Exercise can help an individual get rid of stress. It provides relief both physically and mentally to the person. Regular exercise improves the efficiency of the heart, enhances the function of the lungs, maintains good circulation, lowers blood pressure, reduces fat in the body, and improves the immune system. Swimming, walking, running, cycling, skipping, etc., help to reduce stress.
6. Maintaining a personal hobby: Maintaining a personal hobby such as reading, listening to music, knitting, dancing, gardening, or even spending time with friends or nature helps to keep the mind calm and stress-free. These activities bring a sense of fun anddom to life which can help to reduce the impact of chronic stress.
Fig: Tips for Stress Management
Personal hygiene can be defined as the principles of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. It involves keeping all parts of the external body clean and healthy. Good personal hygiene is the best way to protect yourself from highly infectious diseases like COVID-19, flu, and other gastrointestinal diseases. Maintaining good personal hygiene can help you prevent these diseases from others. Maintaining personal hygiene can help you to increase your self-esteem and confidence.
There are many types of personal hygiene. It is important to know how to maintain good personal hygiene in order to make it easier to build a routine and have a healthy body.
Fig: Types of Personal Hygiene
Following are some basic personal hygiene practices that all should and follow:
We touch a number of surfaces with our hands the entire day, and it is not necessary that all these surfaces would be disinfected or of harmful pathogens. When we touch our eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or face with these dirty hands, it may allow the germs to enter the body. This may cause infection and may also affect the immunity system. Therefore, it is very important to wash hands regularly.
How to Maintain Hand Hygiene?
1. Wash hands with soap and water four to five times a day to maintain good hand hygiene.
2. Make sure to scrub palms, in between fingers, underneath fingernails.
3. After that, wash off the soap with clean water and dry your hands with a clean towel.
Fig: Hand Washing
Dirt accumulates under our fingernails over time. This accumulated dirt can enter the body through food or when a person touches his face. It is very important to maintain nail hygiene to prevent infectious diseases.
1. Clip nails regularly.
2. Avoid biting nails.
3. Make sure to clean the area underneath fingernails while washing hands.
It involves washing our faces every day. If we do not wash our face daily, then our face may be covered with dirt and sweat. It can clog our skin pores which do not allow our skin to breathe, making it dry and rough. This can also cause pimples, acne, or rashes as well. Therefore, it is better to wash and moisturize our face every day.
1. One should wash their face twice a day, before and after taking a nap.
2. During the day, whenever one feels that the face skin is irritating or itching, he should wash his face with clean water.
Due to humidity level in the mouth, growth of bacteria may occur, which can further dwell on the food stuck in between teeth, tongue, and gums. If we do not maintain oral hygiene, then it can cause oral diseases like tooth decay, cavities, and bad breath.
1. Brush your teeth twice a day using paste and even mouthwash if possible.
2. Clean the white coating on the surface of the tongue with a toothbrush or tongue scraper.
3. Visit the dentist at least twice a year.
Fig: Steps to Brush Teeth
Our body continuously deals with dust, sweat, and many other unwanted substances or pathogens. If we do not wash our body, it may cause body acne, body odour, scabies, pimples, and other skin infections. Maintaining body hygiene helps to get rid of body odour and dirt off the body. It also allows our skin to breathe.
1. Bath twice a day using body soap or shower gel.
2. After bathing, dry the body with a clean towel.
3. Wear clean undergarments and fresh, dry clothes.
Our hairs produce oils that can accumulate dust and make it appear greasy. If we do not wash our hair regularly, it may cause excessive oil production and damage to hair follicles and structure. It can cause dandruff and hair fall issues.
1. Wash hair at least once or twice a week.
2. Massage the scalp with shampoo and rinse it off using warm water.
3. Do not wash hairs using hot water as it may cause damage to their roots.
4. Conditioner can be used to maintain the smoothness of hair.
We must know that ear wax accumulates in ears which can attract outside dirt into them. If not cleaned in regular intervals, it can cause various infections and even affect hearing ability. Cleaning our ears can avoid such kinds of problems.
1. Ears should be cleaned after bath with a soft cotton cloth.
2. If a person is feeling pain, then he should immediately go to a doctor.
3. We should not clean ears with low-quality earbuds as it can lead to injury inside the ear.
Our eyes are an important and delicate organ that needs proper care. A few healthy habits in our daily routine can help to avoid eye infections, contamination, and other eye-related diseases.
1. Avoid touching eyes with dirty hands. Keep your hands clean.
2. Do not smoke or be in areas where people are smoking.
3. Remove eye makeup before going to sleep.
4. Do not use a lot of chemical-rich cosmetics in or around the eyes.
5. Visit an ophthalmologist every year.
There are various negative effects of poor hygiene on our health which are discussed below:
Stress can be defined as any kind of change that causes physical, psychological, or emotional strain or tension. It is a response of our body to anything that needs attention or action. There are three major types of stress: physical and environmental stress, psychological stress, and social stress. Various life events, hassles in life, and traumatic events may cause long-term stress to an individual. It affects our bodies negatively and causes illness and diseases. Therefore, schools and other institutions, offices, and communities are concerned with techniques for stress management.
Personal hygiene can be defined as the principles of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. It involves keeping all parts of the external body clean and healthy. There are many types of personal hygiene like hand hygiene, nails hygiene, face hygiene, hairs hygiene, body hygiene, etc. Poor hygiene may weaken our immune system, and it can also lower our self-esteem and self-confidence. Thus, it is important to know how to maintain good personal hygiene in order to make it easier to build a routine.
Study About Types of Diseases and Vaccination
Q.1. What is stress? How can one manage stress?
Ans: It is a kind of change that causes physical, psychological, or emotional strain or tension. We can manage stress by using various techniques for reducing stress like relaxation techniques, meditation, cognitive behavioural techniques, etc.
Q.2. What is personal hygiene?
Ans: Personal hygiene can be defined as the principles of maintaining cleanliness and grooming of the external body. It involves keeping all parts of the external body clean and healthy.
Q.3. What are different types of personal hygiene?
Ans: Different types of hygiene include oral hygiene, body hygiene, hair hygiene, nails hygiene, face hygiene, face hygiene, etc.
Q.4. What are different types of stress?
Ans: There are three major types of stress: physical and environmental stress, psychological stress, and social stress.
Q.5. What are the sources of stress?
Ans: Various life events, hassles in life, and traumatic events may cause long-term stress to an individual.
We hope this detailed article on stress management and personal hygiene helped you in your studies. If you have any doubts, queries or suggestions regarding this article, feel to ask us in the comment section and we will be more than happy to assist you. Happy learning!
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