Fewer and fewer people these days can claim to live stress free lives. The pressures of daily living, which come in various forms do geta bit much, whether it be cause by work, friends, or even *dza dza dza* the wife and her mother-in-law.

What I wanna know is, how do you cope with stress?

For me, during the week, it is a case of listening to some music after a long day's work, or rotting away in front of the tv, and of course, don't forget the games with hours of senseless, gruesome violence.

Weekends entails visiting friends, going to malls/movies, and getting sloshed.

I usually just try and kill people, it works for me, it can work for you!

Pray for the weekend to come so I can go diving. Ultimate relaxation IMO, warm water, nice slow deep breathing

Some senceless violence like DOOM or Mafia usually works.
Alternatively, loud music also helps.
Ganja, anyone?

i dont think stress has increased that much, our parents & grandparents had stress and they delt with it, it just wasnt a medical term back then, u had a job and you did it.

personally i just try to ignore the "stress", if i'm stressed i did it to myself, either not prepaired well enough or got sloppy, besides my mind likes being under stress, it work way better then.

As for relaxing, i listen to music in my car and sing along (singing really gets my mind off things), other than that, playing with my dogs works aswell but nothing works as well as dirt-jumping and downhill, the thrill of it makes any stress seem like a distant memory

according to doctors any excersise that makes you sweat will combat stress cause excersise releases "happy" endorphins

fap fap fap

i normally spend my days at work listening to loud music and ignoring people in general, that seems to sort out the stress factor, at home i do not stress.

haha gvdwest has the right idea

i must say that since i started going to gym again recently, i've felt a bit better overall. i dont generally get stressed much, cos i dont let things get to me. but watching tv/listening to music or coding generally calms me down

Sports usually relaxes you (well unless you one of those psychotic manic's who wants to win everything at any cost ) I perfer to sleep away my stress but generally when I get home I still stress over assignments so I guess a couple eps of manga as well as zonking out in front of the TV/PS2 or something is relaxing

yeah... a good nights sleep does wonders for relieving stress!
also, if you're lucky enough to have someone willing, get a massage - head massage, back, neck, shoulders, and footrubs work wonders.

This makes for a decent discussion as I know a few people who are 100% stress free. why? because they can AFFORD to be. Strange that theres not a single problem that time and money cannot solve.
You need to think really hard to come up with a serious streesful problem that cannot be solved by throwing enough money at it.

Kid on drugs? send him to the best rehab
mother in law has a gambling problem? pay for professional help
felling shit about life? money can get you the best therapists.
alcahol problem? rehab
family member with a medical problem? throw money at it.

Unfortunately its a hard truth. Even though that money isnt everything, it somehow manages to count for 99% of the things which make our lives complete.
Not everything to do with money is material though, I am speaking about the need to drive fancy cars and live in fancy houses. Theres no need for that really, but everything else.

Humour, the best way for me to get rid of stress...I'll just end up taking a good timeout, have a think about it and then lmao at myself for getting worked up.

Sad but true Rush, not only are 99% probelms solved by money but 99% are cuased by it too.

Actually its the lack of it.

I guess different people have different needs, I am trying to organise a house with an outside room and swimming pool, now I need it in my mind so that I can run courses there instead of having to rent out other facilities.

i drive a tazz and live in a flat with my sister
if i really wanted to, i could buy a new car or move out to my own place or a better place, but i dont really care... i'm fine where i am. i dont have a need to buy a fancy car or a fancy house. and i'm quite stress free

WhenI'mreally p!ssed off, there is nothing like eating a nice meal and spending some cash. After work a glass or 2 red Oranje Rivier Kellers port goes down just smooth!!

If i am lucky, the guys over here will have me hit the roads on a stressful day - I usually despise any kind of office work. Driving around is probably the best part of this job.
As long as it is between, say, 10:00 and 16:00, because being stuck in the kind of traffic where i can walk faster than the cars is not exactly very calming or relaxing. Problem comes in during the summer time. Then i emerge virtually dehydrated on the other side, with a wet back and a hot ass (no pun intended).
But then again, perhaps i would have felt differently if i didn't have my car radio.
/me rubs radio

Physical exertions after a stressful day also helps a lot. Problem is finding the right thing to punch.