According to Lazarus and Folkman, two methods exist to cope with stress. While problem-focused coping aims at targeting the cause of stress, emotion-focused coping relies on reducing the negative emotional responses to stress. The objective of long-term stress management is to reduce the basic level of stress, in order to free more resources to cope with newly occurring acute stressors.

It is important to note that stress is cumulative. Cumulative stress is the sum of the total amount of stressors including their severity and how long they persist for. Anyone experiencing long-term stress can become emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed.

Recognising stress can be difficult because it often sneaks up on us. Although there are many symptoms of stress, how it manifests is individual.