by Marty Brown
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 17/97) -Looking over a national stress test could cause stress itself.

Do you smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day? Do you wake up tired after a full night's sleep? Are you aggressive when driving in traffic?

Participants in a stress workshop sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society answered these questions and more.

They recognized their symptoms and learned ways to identify stress and deal with it at the city library Wednesday noon hour.

"First thing everyone has to realize is that not all stress is bad," said Nazira Kassim, a specialist with the Canadian Cancer Society.

"It's not the source of stress but a person's reaction to stress that causes the problems."

But if you find yourself with tense muscles, a backache, sleepless nights, inability to concentrate or high blood pressure, it could be caused by stress, she said.

Although there is little scientific evidence, Kassim said there seems to be a link between cancer and stress.

The immune system is suppressed and the body is unable to fight disease.

Too much stress causes fatigue, exhaustion and -- something employers should be concerned about -- increased errors, indecisiveness and accidents.

People need a bag of coping mechanism to combat stress and everybody kicked in their own techniques, including taking a five-minute computer-game break, a brisk walk, deep breathing exercises and a good laugh.

A good diet helps combat stress, Kassim said advising healthy food, decaffeinated coffee and reducing salt and sugar intake.