Given what you know about coping strategies, what suggestions would you give to your friends to avoid stress in their everyday lives.

High school students these days avoid extremely stressful lives, with increasing completion, expectations and demands. Therefore, I would suggest 'task-oriented strategy' as explained by Endler and Parker, to be an effective means in coping with stress.

Task-oriented coping involves:

1. Obtaining information about a stressful situation.

2. Deciding our priorities.

3. Dealing directly with the stressful situation.

Such an approach helps during exams and project deadlines.

I would also suggest the adoption of positive attitude and thinking which promotes health and well-being.

A positive attitude where the individual has a fairly accurate perception of reality; ability to take credit for success and blame for failure; acceptance and tolerance for other's view-points.

Positive thinking interns of being optimistic. Optimism points towards the inclination to expect favourable life outcomes. An optimist will always use problem-focused coping and try and find the source of stress. Relaxation Techniques, Exercise, Balanced Diet all contribute significantly to stress reduction.