Recognizing<br > Stress<br > The sources， the effects， the<br > war~ng signals ~ and the<br > benefits of coping<br > Stress is inescapable， reaching<br >into your work environment， social affairs and home life， and even<br >intruding on your sleep. Stress-rektted problems have become an<br >ever-increasing complaint among people who work， from those on al~<br >assembly line to top-level executives， and the American Academy of<br >Family Physicians estimates that symptoms linked to stress account<br >for about two thirds of all visits to family physicians. Many people<br >think of stress only as a negative force， sapping their ener~ and<br >decision-making abilities， decreasing their productix4ty and making<br >them more susceptible to illness. Yet researchers have shown that<br >stress also has a positive side， and that in fact some stress is necessaly<br >for functioning effectively and living a full lifb， Whether stress has a<br > mostly positive or negative impact on you depends on how you per-<br > ceive and respond to stresslhl situations. And recognizing stress and<br > then coping with it successfully are processes that you can learn.<br >