Everyone responds differently to stress, some may experience anxiety, panic attacks, aggressive behaviour while others find it affects their digestive system or makes them feel tired or run down.

Long term symptoms can include serious medical conditions, such as Heart problems, Ulcers, Cancers, breakdown and even death.

It is not the situation that causes stress, it is how you react to it. People are stressed by many different things, someone may be stressed by the thought of meeting people they don't know, for others it may be being late for an appointment or having to give a presentation. The situation itself does not cause the stress, otherwise everybody would be stressed by the same situation.

The key lies in how we react to the stressful situation. When stress occurs it is because we have reacted in a negative way to the perceived stressful event, which in turn causes us to feel stressed.

By changing the reaction to a positive one, the resulting feelings about the event also become more positive.

For example if you are stressed about an upcoming presentation, perhaps worried that you will look stupid in front of a group of important people. The thought that you will look stupid is your reaction to the perceived stressful event. By changing that reaction to a more positive thought, for example, curiosity, you are more likely to find yourself looking forward to and enjoying the presentation.