Advice About Stress: Don't Let It Ruin Your Life!

    There are many reasons why people suffer from stress. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  We give you advice on how to find the cause or causes of your stress, and more importantly—how to deal with it.

    For some, dealing with stress is a relatively simple matter, providing you really want to. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} If the latter is the case, then don't refuse forms of alternative medical advice and treatment.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  It can help you to perform or even OUT perform in certain situations. Athletes use it to great advantage to help them through that barrier that will put them on top! It can also help you in everyday life. However, if it is part of life's routine, then something somewhere will suffer in body or mind—or both.

     One of the important factors in treating stress, is firstly admitting, accepting or even discovering that you are stressed. Only then can the causes of that stress be isolated. Harmful stress comes from a lot of causes. Our advice about stress is based upon medical facts, and of course common sense. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  Getting the wrong advice can cause more harm than good.

    It can be beaten in most cases, and can nearly always be controlled, or even turned to your own advantage. Firstly determine if you are stressed or suffering any form of stress—take our stress test to find out. It may surprise you! Secondly, sort out what you can actually do to relieve the causes of your stress. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  Thirdly, work on a change of lifestyle or whatever needs to be done to fight the causes that you have identified.

A．Stress can also be good!

B．Getting the right advice is not always easy.

C．Stress is a totally normal function of the body.

D．Accidents are often prevented by the stress reactions.

E．Surprisingly, some suffer from stress but are not even aware that they are doing so!

F．For others, stress can be so severe that it might need medical attention.

G．Like all illnesses—and suffering from stress is an illness—prevention is always better than cure.

    Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.

    One important biological factor(因素) that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility(生育能力). These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and the blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally get sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Scientists are still not exactly sure how genes influence aging, but they believe they do. Some think that a woman's body cells have a tendency(倾向) to age more slowly than a man's. Others think that a man' s body cells have a tendency to age more quickly. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. However, women, on average, live longer.

B. The biological factor plays an important part.

C. Women are also helped by their female genes.

D. The female hormones also protect the body in another way.

E. Recent research seems to support both of these possibilities.

F. Therefore, women are more healthy than men and can live a better life.

G. Hormones are chemicals which are produced by the body to control various body functions.

How to Age Well

    Getting older is inevitable, but you can slow the decline of aging with smart choices along the way. From the foods you eat and how you exercise to your friendships, it all has an effect on how fast or slow your body ages.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Lose just a little bit of weight.

    Small changes in body weight can have a big impact on health risks.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}While we'd love to lose our extra pounds, it's easier to start with a 5 percent weight loss goal and keep on.

Avoid processed meat.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}A number of studies have found associations between eating a lot of processed meats and poor health. Other research has implicated processed meats in a higher risk for cancer. But there was no increase in risk associated with eating unprocessed red meat.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The best eating strategy for aging well is to skip processed foods and drinks. That will immediately reduce added sugars from your diet. Once you cut out packaged foods, you will start eating a lot more fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish and whole grains.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Meanwhile, invest in a new pair of walking shoes, a gym membership or a delicious healthy meal with your family and oilier loved ones. All of those are likely to do much for your emotional and physical health.

A. Skip packaged foods.

B. Save the money you would spend on rich food.

C. And the good news is that it's never too late to get started.

D. This has been shown in numerous studies to be good for you.

E. There's some evidence that vitamin B12 is good for the aging brain.

F. Losing just 5 percent of your body weight has been shown to reduce your risk for diabetes and heart disease.

G. Processed meals like hot dogs and sausages have been salted, cured or smoked to improve preservation.

                                   I love Fridays. And so I celebrate Fridays.

    After dropping my son off at school I head to Starbucks to pick up a coffee treat or another. Then instead of driving straight home I take a long route through the most beautiful roads I can find. I see footballs being passed on lawns, hamburgers being thrown on grill（烤架）, and parties everywhere swinging into action.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    The o0ther day I came out from the doctor's office happy over a positive prognosis（预断）. Seeing the signs of spring around me-flowers, birds, sunshine, I was suddenly ready to celebrate. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    My mind rebelled. “What are you doing? It's Tuesday! Coffee treats are reserved for Fridays!”{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Why should Fridays be any more special than any other day of the week? Why waste six days while waiting to celebrate the seventh? Minutes later I was walking back to my car with a big smile on my face and a coffee in my hand.

    A small victory, to be sure, but it's also an accurate example of how many of us live our lives. We're waiting for conditions to be right before we allow ourselves to enjoy our time here on earth. Maybe when we finally graduate from college and get a job, it will be time to celebrate, or perhaps when our babies are old enough to be in school all day. We'll celebrate when the car is paid off, or enjoy life when we're finally able to retire. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} What if we moved a little of that “Friday feeling” into our rainy-day Mondays, our dull Tuesday and our mid-week Wednesdays? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

How to Treat Hoarding Disorder(囤积症)

    Many of us struggle to part with treasured belongings, but for years Stephanie Evans felt too hard to leave everything she'd ever bought. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Her bedroom, meanwhile, was so full of piles of clothes that, until recently, she had to sleep on the sofa in the living room.

    Stephanie suffers from hoarding disorder, thought to affect an estimated 3.4 million people in the UK to some degree. But, like many, she didn't think it was something doctors would treat. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} In fact, hoarding is recognized as a psychiatric disorder(精神疾病) by the World Health Organization. It can be associated with other mental health conditions such as depression and social anxiety, etc. Those affected people will collect anything, such as clothes, newspapers, photos, even printouts of emails.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If a person lost something important in the childhood, he or she would resist any further losses. That's why hoarders refuse to part with things. Hoarding can have far-reaching effects on a person's life. People can lose their children and their homes due to hoarding.

    Hoarding disorder, like many other illnesses, can never really be “cured”. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Clearing out someone's overcrowded house is rarely effective on its own, because he or she will just fill it up again. If and when hoarding disorder is diagnosed, the mental health professional, the patient's primary care physician, and any specialists or other professionals involved will work together to develop a coordinated treatment. For most people with hoarding disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy(认知行为治疗) with a mental health professional is the first choice treatment. It can often help the hoarders accept that there is a problem, and then possibly develop solutions.

    Because hoarding disorder is still relatively new as a distinct condition, treatment plans may be somewhat less standardized. For instance, there is still disagreement regarding if and how to use medicine to treat hoarding disorder. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. So she didn't seek any help.

B. Hoarders may also have problems planning and organizing.

C. However, it can be successfully treated with the right mix of treatment methods.

D. The common time for it to come is when people are middle-aged or older and living alone.

E. Hopefully, some people with the condition do seem to respond well to certain kind of medicine.

F. As a result, her hallway and living room were packed with towering stacks of books and magazines.

G. One theory is that having experienced loss in the past can make people suffer from hoarding disorder.

    Everyone who has lived or worked overseas understands that travel is an enriching and life-changing experience, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} That frustration often stems from culture shock, but being able to identify the symptoms can help you ease the discomfort and anxiety of living in a new place. There are four main stages of culture shock while studying abroad that occur at different times for each person.

    The Honeymoon Stage. This is when everything is new and fascinating about your host country. It's at this stage that you may fall in love with Italian pizza or the Irish accent. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You're fascinated by similarities and differences between the host country and your home.

    The Crisis (危机) Stage. This is when the differences between your home culture and the host country become apparent and feelings of frustration (沮丧)or anxiety occurs. You really want a jelly sandwich to remind you of home, but you realize your host country doesn't have it anywhere. They don't know your sense of humor. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} At this stage, you become familiar with your surroundings and develop a routine. The same concerns will occur, but you will be better equipped to handle them. You have more friends, increased social skills and you've even become an explorer of the culture. You've regained your confidence, become more independent, competent and culturally sensitive. The Mastery Stage. Congratulations! You've adjusted to the host culture. You've taken an inward and outward journey that has led to immeasurable personal growth. You're now able to live and work to your maximum potential.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} You can confidently speak and understand most colloquial English. You've developed meaningful friendships. You've settled. You belong.

A. The Depression Stage.

B. The Adjustment Stage.

C. Nobody knows the real you.

D. but it can also be frustrating.

E. but it may be costly to live in a new culture.

F. You're no longer distressed by cultural differences.

G. You're thrilled by new sights, sounds, smells and events.