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Stress happens. It s a normal part of our daily lives. But it is how we react to and manage stress that affects the toll that stress will take on our lives. Overwhelming amounts of stress can lead to back pain, headaches, raised blood pressure, indigestion, sweating, palpitations, irritability, and anxiety. It can also contribute to the development of such diseases as cold sores, ulcers, and heart disease. Are you feeling stressed out? Take the following stress test to see if stress is causing you problems and if so, read on to learn how to manage the stress in your life.
The Stress Test
Do you try to do everything yourself and feel overwhelmed when you are unable to?
Are you exhausted?
Do you avoid exercise?
Are you often irritated at yourself and others?
Do your friends, co-workers, and loved ones often tell you that you often make a big deal of things?
Do you tend to bottle up your emotions, keeping everything inside?
Do you have difficulty falling and staying asleep at night?
Do you feel unable to handle all of the tasks that you have to accomplish on a daily basis?
Do you feel like your way is the only right way to accomplish something?
Do you spend a lot of time complaining about yourself, others, or events that happened in the past?
Do you set unrealistic goals for yourself and for others?
Do you frequently procrastinate big projects or decisions?
Do you eat an unhealthy diet and frequently neglect good nutrition?
Do you have difficulty making decisions?
Do you lose control of your emotions or blow up easily?
Do you often fail to see humor in situations that most other people find funny?
Do you frequently feel disorganized and harried?
Do you avoid making positive connections with friends, family members, and coworkers?
Do you frequently get angry when you are kept waiting?
Are you depressed or anxious?
If you answered yes to one or more of the above questions, you may be having trouble handling the amount of stress that occurs in your life. Stress is an inevitable and normal part of life. You can’t prevent it completely, but you can learn ways to manage and alleviate stress so that it does not take over your life. Here are a few techniques that you can use to relieve stress.
Stress Management Techniques
Physical Exercises: Yoga, relaxation techniques, pilates, dance therapy, and general exercise help to relive the buildup of stress hormones in the body and help to promote a general relaxation of the nervous system. Physical exercises also help to integrate the mind and body, relieve muscle tension, and improve physical function.
Mental Exercises: Meditation, guided imagery, art, music, and other mental exercises are a useful way to reduce stress and promote relaxation in your life.
Relaxation Techniques: Slow, diaphragmatic breathing and conscious muscle relaxation can help to manage stress by calming the body and clearing the mind of stressors.
Social Supports: Sometimes, all it takes to relieve stress in your life is to talk about the stressor with a close friend or family member. Pet therapy has also been reported to relieve stress.
Dietary Changes: Stress suppresses the immune system and can cause or aggravate such conditions as heart disease and ulcers. Dietary changes, such as reducing coffee and other caffeinated beverages can reduce the jitteriness, restlessness, anxiety, and insomnia that might magnify the effects of stress. Also whole grains promote production of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin for a greater sense of well being.
Herbs: There are many natural supplements that can be used to elevate the mood and help you relax. St. John’s Wort, SAM-E, Lithium Orotate and marijuana are all popular herbs that are useful in relieving stress. Herbs known as adaptogens, such as include Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), ginseng (Panax ginseng), wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), borage (Borago officinalis), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile), milk thistle (Silybum marianum), and nettle (Urtica dioica) may also help to alleviate stress.
Aromatherapy: Essential oils of lavender, chamomile, geranium, rose, neroli, sweet marjoram, and ylang-ylang are commonly recommended for stress relief. They help to reduce anxiety and tension and can be used in massage, added to a bath, or inhaled through a vaporizer.
Treating Stress
Acupuncture: Stress causes tension that disrupts the flow of the qi. Acupuncture can help to restore harmony and induce a state of deep relaxation.
Massage: A regular massage in which the practitioner uses such techniques as rubbing, kneading, and pummeling, can be very beneficial in the management of stress. It can help to increase blood circulation, reduce pain, and relieve muscle tension. Massage also helps to release endorphins, substances that have a mood-enhancing effect. Have your massage therapist use a product called NOPAINE to massage the tender points.
NOPAINE is available through http://www.ghchealth.com.
Natural Medication: If stress is affecting your health, you may wish to see your natural health care provider to determine whether or not a specific herb may be helpful in relieving stress.
Therapy: Cognitive therapy helps people lessen the amount of stress they feel in their lives by teaching them how to reframe or mentally reinterpret the stressors that are causing problems.
For more information on Dr. Group or coping with stress, anxiety or depression naturally go to http://www.stress-anxiety-depression.org.
About the Author
Dr. Group, the founder/CEO and clinical director for the Global Healing Center, heads a research and development team producing advanced, new, natural health protocols and products. To learn more visit http://www.ghchealth.com.
Workers across America will tell you that stress
levels are increasing. The demand for anti-
depressants is up. Doctor’s visits are
increasing. Stress-related ailments are shooting
up like a rocket.
There are many stressors behind all these
problems, but the gurus generally classify the
stress itself into three categories.
Understanding the major types is the first step to
controlling stress and improving productivity.
1. Acute Stress. This kind of stress is caused
by recent events. It is significant but
temporary. Small doses can result in positive
reactions: the adrenalin rush and feelings of
elation can motivate achievement. Too much, too
often results in headaches, backaches, upset
stomach, and other tension-related responses.
2. Episodic Acute Stress. This type stress is
caused by frequent exposure to stressors. These
people are generally over committed, lack the time
and ability to accomplish everything, and they
often find themselves at odds with coworkers.
This is much more serious than the first kind.
Irritability turns to anger, occasional tension
headaches become frequent migraines, heart
palpitations lead to chest pain, and high anxiety
becomes a way of life.
3. The third category is chronic stress. This is
related to the others but carries none of the
thrill or adrenalin rush found with acute stress.
The long-term nature of chronic stress is such
that people actually become accustomed to the
stressors and accept them as a way of life; they
see no escape from poverty, job mismatches,
abusive situations, or physical hardships.
What kind of stress do you observe in your
workplace? Are some of your people plagued with
tension headaches and back aches? Are some of
them even more stressed, displaying anger and
migraines? Or, do you have some people who are so
far over the edge that they have basically given
up hope as characterized by chronic stress?
How much is all of this costing your company? Good
leaders recognize the effects of stress and
understand that it costs a lot in medical
benefits, insurance costs, absenteeism, workers
comp, accidents, quality, productivity, and
profits.
Find out more about the effects of workplace
stress and specific ways to overcome this drain on
American business. Send email to
You’ll receive a 3-session e-Workshop about some
of the top 10 causes of workplace stress. You can
control stress in your workplace and turn all that
energy into productive activity. Your workplace
can be both pleasant and profitable.
Dale Collie - professional speaker, former US Army Ranger, CEO, and a Fast Company top 50 innovative leader. Author of “Winning Under Fire.” (McGraw-Hill) collie@couragebuilders.com
Stress is one of those diseases that I find amazing. Of the millions who will die every year from stress related illness, many are unaware they suffer from the disease, while many of those who know, actually brag about it as if it were an admiral achievement. It’s kinda’ like an alcoholic bragging about how much he can drink…in fact…it’s exactly like that. In addition to being a life-threatening condition, stress produces addictive chemicals, like adrenalin, making stress a double threat. To combat this threat, let’s take a look at the main causes, health effects and the stress management techniques that will help us relax and live longer.
Main Causes Of Stress: Stress is caused by both physical and psychological factors. The main physical causes of stress include poor diet, health problems, not enough exercise and being overweight. Psychological causes include addiction, overworking, relationships, grief, marriage, smoking, retirement, new baby, new job, debt, phobia, anxiety, mental illness, problems at work or home, etc. As you can see, almost anything can cause stress, which makes it essential to understand the potential harm and ways to manage this disease.
Stress And Your Health: Let’s start with negative impact of stress on your general health, wellness and quality of life. We don’t have to go through life grinding with grinding teeth or white knuckles. In the area of mental health, I have a friend who, in a matter of months, went from normal, to suffering from anxiety, to months of medical leave, to depression…all due to the stress in his life. Stress contributes to eating disorders, like anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating. When it comes to physical health, stress contributes to hypertension, stroke, ulcer, heart attack, asthma, baldness, allergy, colitis, impotence and constipation. Stress also weakens our immune system, lowering our resistance to cold, flu…even cancer. No you know why I said millions die every year from stress, and why it’s so important to manage this disease.
Relaxation And Stress Management Techniques: Let’s start with what are called “coping techniques.” These are methods you can use to induce relaxation to let the stress flow out of your system. Physical manipulation (massage, acupuncture, sexual activity) can greatly relieve stress and help you relax. Psychological coping techniques are numerous. Meditation, the most popular, involves spending a few minutes to an hour each day, to imagine a peaceful, relaxing setting…pushing out stressful thoughts. Other psychological coping techniques include reading positive stories, listening to relaxing music, avoiding violent programs and movies, etc.
Other stress management techniques, we’ll call “capacity techniques” because they increase our ability to handle the stress we can’t avoid. The most successful of these are aerobic exercise and a low-fat, low-salt diet. Also, planning your events in a calendar increases your capacity for stressful activity by taking control of your time. Or try adding relaxation to your schedule…5 minutes every work hour, one hour every day, one day every week…to relax, will increase your capacity for productive work and stressful activities.
Once we’ve learned the causes and effects of stress, we begin to understand how important it is to make some lifestyle changes to reduce and manage stress. By using the relaxation and stress management techniques listed above, we’re taking positive action that will help increase both the quality and quantity of our lives. As an added benefit, we’ll be easier to live with, too.
Glen Williams is founder and CEO of EHF, Inc. and Webmaster for http://www.e-health-fitness.com. He has done extensive research on personal and family health and fitness issues and has been helping and advising people on health since 1987.