Stress Management
Stress Management is an Important Part of a Healthy Lifestyle
Posted on November 27, 2011 |
Stress is your response to any physical, emotional or intellectual demands. Stress is a major contributing factor either directly or indirectly, to coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide; the six leading causes of death in the United States. Although we can’t eliminate stress, we can all do a better job in managing it. Stress management includes following a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and making time for uninterrupted relaxation.
Symptoms
Symptoms of stress can be either behavioral or physical. They are different for everyone, but some common signs that you’ve had too much excitement and need to slow down include:
Impatience or Edginess – Lack of Enjoyment – Sleep Problems – Exhaustion.
Common physical symptoms of stress include: muscle tension, headaches, low back pain,
insomnia and high blood pressure.
These symptoms may manifest themselves psychologically as irritability, anxiety, impaired concentration, mental confusion, poor judgment, frustration and anger. And some people who have a chronic illness may find that the symptoms of their illness flare up under an overload of stress.
Healthy Lifestyle
Stress management should be a major concern for a healthy lifestyle. Effective stress management is a lifestyle and we must learn to incorporate into our daily lives. A commitment to live a healthier lifestyle should never take a back seat, especially not to stress. Stress management is not only an urgent need in today’s fast-paced lifestyle, but an important factor in both physical and mental health. In the alternative, if stress is more the result of one’s lifestyle, eliminating the stress causing factors and/or gaining healthful insight on how to alleviate stress the right way might just be the best thing for an individual to do for themselves.
Stress Nutrition
Nutrition is one area where stress can be reduced most effectively, because we eat every day at least 3 times a day, so even the smallest of changes could bring about significant benefits. Stress can and does also result from unbalanced and inappropriate nutrition; excessive use of socially acceptable intoxicants; suppressive drugs and vaccinations; environmental toxins; negative emotions; lack of physical exercise; genetic factors; and improper body alignment. Stress nutrition is a program specifically designed to combat stress dysfunction and attempts to meet individual biochemical requirements by providing the right amount of each nutrient in proportion to every other nutrient.
Fitness
For decades, fitness professionals have had various degrees of success motivating clients and making them accountable for a healthy lifestyle. There is evidence that you can reduce stress, prevent chronic diseases including depression and improve happiness through ongoing mental fitness training. A complete nutritional approach, combined with proper fitness maintenance and stress management is most important. Exercise and physical fitness act as a buffer against stress, so that stressful events have a less negative impact on psychological and physical health.
Exercises And Sports
You can help trigger the relaxation response by learning simple breathing exercises and then using them when you’re caught up in stressful situations. Other people rely on exercise and participating in their favorite sports and games to spend pent up energy. Not all stress is bad and an example would be in sports. Joining a sports team, even with your co-workers can increase the work fun level, and reduce the tension. Exercises such as golf, tennis, handball, biking, and other sports have shown to help people relax.
Conclusion
Stress management is the application of methods to either reduce stress or increase tolerance to stress. The tricky part of managing stress is that, when dealing with stressful events that are enjoyable « the good stress », you may not always notice how stressed you feel until you experience the more serious stress symptoms, or until you feel overwhelmed. Positive stress is desirable for your own good, and also for the good of your family and also for the society as a whole.
Stress Management Techniques
Posted on November 14, 2011 |
Stress Management TechniquesThe simple realization that you’re in control of your life is the foundation of stress management
Living with high levels of stress, can putt your entire health at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional stability, as well as your physical health. It tapers with your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life.Causes of Stress
Stress may be because of any physical, chemical, or emotional factors that cause bodily or mental unrest and that may even cause physical sickness. Stress also has effects on the immune system. Chronic (long-term) stress has the effect of “wearing down” the immune system, leading to an increased susceptibility to colds and other infections.
Physical and chemical factors that can cause stress include trauma, infections, toxins, illnesses, and injuries of any sort. Emotional causes of stress and tension are numerous and varied.How to Manage Stress
Stress is a daily part of our life; it would be absolutely foolish to think that we can eliminate it from our lives completely. What we can do is to manage it and not let it cripple us. Learn to say “no” : This is the most important step, know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept extra responsibilities that you know will cause you distress.
Avoid people who stress you out : If someone constantly causes stress in your life and you can’t turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
Take control of your environment : Avoid environments that stress you, if traffic’s got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If shopping is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online or ask someone to help out. Avoid heated topics : If you get upset over religion or politics, avoid talking about them. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people you are bound to be stressed.Know your limits: evaluate your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you’ve got too much on your plate, drop tasks that aren’t truly necessary to the bottom or eliminate them entirely. Express instead of bottling up- If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and polite way. If you don’t voice your feelings, resentment will build creating unnecessary stress.Compromise- When you ask someone to change their actions, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend a little, you’ll find a middle ground.Be more assertive- If you need something ask for it. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. Manage your time better- Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you’re stretched too thin and running behind, it’s hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead, you can avoid these stress-inducing pitfalls.Don’t try to control the uncontrollable- Many things in life are beyond our control— particularly the behavior of other people. Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control.Look for the Brightside- When facing major challenges; try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth. Share your feelings- Talk to a trusted friend or a therapist. Expressing what you’re going through can be very therapeutic, even if there’s nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.Learn to forgive- Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on.Include relaxation time-Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. Don’t allow other obligations to encroach. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike. Create a Support system- A strong support system will buffer you from the negative effects of stress. Spend time with positive people who enhance your lifeExercise regularly. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Nothing beats aerobic exercise for releasing pent-up stress and tension.Eat a healthy diet- Start your day right with breakfast, and keep your energy up and your mind clear with balanced, nutritious meals throughout the day.Reduce caffeine and sugar- The temporary “highs” caffeine and sugar provide often end in with a crash in mood and energy. By reducing the amount of coffee, soft drinks, chocolate, and sugar snacks in your diet, you’ll feel more relaxed and you’ll sleep better. Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs- alcohol or drugs may provide an easy escape from stress, but the relief is only temporary. Later the stress simply piles on plus your health starts to suffer.Get enough sleep-Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.
Stress Management Tips ? Great Ideas to Manage Stress
Posted on November 8, 2011 |
Getting stressed is a perfectly normal reaction if you have too many things coming at you at the same time. But always getting frazzled and cracking under pressure isn’t the way to handle it. You need to apply some stress management tips to toughen yourself up in the face of pressure and to keep yourself from breaking down.
One of the biggest causes of stress is the workplace. From worrying about job security, dealing with heavy workload, and going through the daily commute, your job carries with it a lot of pressure.
Studies have shown that stress can have a severe negative impact on your health and well-being. Heart problems are just one of the physical manifestations of the tension you feel. If you bring your stress home as well, it can also severely impact your personal relationships.
Before your life reaches this point due to stress, you must take action to keep it from happening. Instead of always resorting to dealing with stress negatively, there are other means for you to approach stress in a healthier way. Here are a few stress management tips to help you overcome stress.
Stress Management Tip # 1: Take a break. Yes, that’s right. To be able to cope with stress better, you need to step away from what you’re doing and get your energy together. Working under pressure and completing your duties while you’re stressed will only wear you down and could also affect your performance. Removing yourself from a stressful situation, even for a brief moment, will help you breathe more easily and give you a fresh perspective.
Stress Management Tip # 2: Pamper yourself throughout the day. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate and lengthy. You can do it by enjoying a hot soothing cup of herbal tea, particular ones with calming properties, or buy yourself a small massager to soothe your aches and pains.
Stress Management Tip # 3: Be organized. If you’re juggling too many things all at once, you tend to forget how to schedule your work properly. Make a list of everything you need to do, and then arrange them in order of urgency and when they need to be completed. This will help you stay focused on the things that need to be done right away instead of turning your attention to the ones that aren’t as urgent.
Stress Management Tip # 4: Say “no” to more responsibilities. You already have too much on your plate and not much time to work on them, which is why you’re getting frazzled and stressed. You don’t need more responsibilities. But don’t worry; this won’t make you look irresponsible and incapable. If you have a hard time saying “no” to extra work, simply think of all the work you need to do and the time you don’t have to accommodate more work.
Stress Management Tip # 5: Get help. You might want to talk to a friend or a loved one to help you vent out your frustrations or perhaps even distract you from what’s causing your stress. Acknowledge that you’re not capable of doing everything, and don’t be afraid to get help around the office too.
These stress management tips don’t sound too hard, do they? Once you get stress under control, you’ll be able to work more efficiently and then go on to enjoy a happy and fulfilling life.
Stress Management: is Necessity the Mother of Good Inventions, Bad Inventions, or Whatever Getsyou Through the Night
Posted on November 5, 2011 |
Stress Management: Is Necessity The Mother of Good Inventions, Bad Inventions Or Whatever Gets You Through The Night
“Stress” and “stress management” are terms that roll off our tongues as if understanding them is second nature to us all. To make sure we are all on the same page let’s start with a working definition of stress courtesy of Dictionary.com.
1)An applied force or system of forces that tend to strain or deform the body, 2) The resisting force set up in a body as a result of an extremely applied force and 3) A physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness.
If you can’t relate to the language used in these definitions just pay attention to the fact that all three definitions speak define stress in negative terms. This is as far from the truth as me telling you that coins have one side to them. Stress exists along a continuum. There is for each individual and each activity an optimum level of stress that enhances performance and stimulates growth producing adaptations. One person pushed to perform in school may respond with excellent test scores. Another may either become anxious and have difficulties concentrating, go blank or even worse get so anxious as to not to show up for the test. Due to the interplay of genetics, learning, and accidents of fate different people may respond very differently to levels of stress applied in different situations.
For instance, Tiger Woods is more likely than most professional golfers to perform at his best when internal and expectations rise during the major golf championships. He is now playing for his ranking in golf’s pantheon of immortals. Many of his peers will be his equal for 1, 2, or maybe 3 rounds only to lose their cool on Sundays during the final rounds of major tournaments with victory on the line. If they are playing in The Hartford Open instead of The Masters many will manage the stress of the moment very differently. Others depending on their longevity on The PGA Tour might have identical degrees of difficulty no matter what the prestige level of the tournament. How Tiger Woods was trained by his father to compete under pressure has been widely publicized. Was he blessed with extraordinary athletic gifts? This is probably a safe bet. Clearly, his competitive fires burn at just the right temperature. If Tiger and his peers get themselves worked up into a frenzy like football players getting ready to wage their proverbial Sunday wars, their fine motor skills that translate muscle memory to well executed shots might very well abandon them. They would not have the violent outlets to modulate and control their states of heightened readiness. Football players and golfers have different levels of optimum stress to ready themselves to perform at their bests.
Optimum levels of stress promote optimum performance. To illustrate this accepted notion let’s take for example, aerobic exercise. This stressor to our systems is known to be a mood elevator, and an anxiety reducing activity. Whether your activity of choice is swimming, cycling running, dance or time on the step master in the gym, there are countless health benefits of a sensible exercise regimen. Your heart and lungs, bones and muscles will grow stronger if the stress to your body is such that during intervals of rest and repair, the organ systems responsible for physical performance grow stronger. This will translate to being able to perform more work at lower levels of exertion. Other benefits include being more resistant to muscular skeletal injuries. Studies have indicated that people who exercise regularly have healthier immune systems that are more resistant to illness, and a healthier cholesterol profile that points to a lesser likelihood of a premature build up of plaque in their arteries. Exercisers tend to lose excess weight as exercise burns calories during exercise and at a higher than normal rate for hours after the exercise has stopped. The rise in the blood sugar is also an appetite depressant. I’m not just air brushing the warts on this profile of stress, I am emphasizing that optimum levels of stress are catalysts for growth and development. The complete absence of stress would severely curtail our abilities to succeed. We would not evolve and actualize our potential as people as quickly as we do if we would do so at all. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Too little stress on our bodies during exercise will not stimulate growth in our capacities to perform work. To much stress may produce a host of negative consequences to our health and well being that are every bit as worrisome as the aforementioned benefits were wondrously encouraging. Too much exercise combined with and/or too little rest may strain our bodies and or minds setting off a cascading deterioration of mind/body level of functioning. I have been around enough runners in my time to have learned first hand that this activity not unlike a pack of cigarettes should come with the warning: “Running may be hazardous to your health.” If we are tired or sick and have become too dependent on the release of endorphins from the pleasure center of your brains to feel good, you may continue this activity long beyond the point of diminishing returns and become deaf to your bodies screaming to you that you need to rest.
Over use syndromes can lead to a host of muscular skeletal injuries, and fatigue syndromes that leave people feeling like they have the flu. A immune system compromised by physical exhaustion may lead to symptoms of depression which may in turn further compromise the immune system and leave the door open to a host of physical maladies. To feel compelled to exercise to discharge stress from our bodies and experience “the runners high” may leave runners anxious and over time depressed. When we feel out of control of ourselves the potential to lose our cool and engage in mindless and impulsive actions is a strong human tendency. Furthermore, in addition to the potentially shame producing, self esteem eroding reactions to losing control of ourselves, we may begin over time to feel hopeless and helpless to steer ourselves as we see fit unless, we can consciously connect with and exercise authority over these impulses, feelings and beliefs. Teaching people how to regain control of themselves is what psychotherapists like myself do.
Negative stress is compounded by an over reliance or unhealthy dependence on unhealthy stress management strategies; activities that may cause us to ignore our needs to address stressful problems in our lives. We call such unhealthy dependencies addictive relationships. If a loved one is pressuring us with expectations that feel overwhelming or are simply expectations we do not wish to meet we may choose to address the matter directly or we may seek to escape our dilemma and go for a long run or bike ride hoping to feel significantly different about the problem. We may “feel better” temporarily discharging tension in our bodies however, we will not have moved any closer toward the resolution of our problem. In fact, the more we run away from any problems the bigger the albatrosses they become around our necks. Look what happens to those of us who do everything they can to rationalize staying away from the dentist’s office. That intermittent tooth pain we wish to minimize may actually disappear for awhile and at some point resurface only to express itself one morning as a raging infection that blows one side of our face up to the size of a grapefruit. The more we minimize and deny the existence of the necessity to cope with rather than to pursue temporary band aids on problems, the less capable we feel to cope with the problem and the more stressful the problem becomes. This is both due to allowing a small problem to become a larger problem due to neglect, and also because like muscles that go unused and are permitted to atrophy; stress management strategies that we don’t use we lose.
Energy is neither created nor destroyed. It simply changes form. This concept of energy conservation elegantly explains why energies trapped in our bodies lead to illness. If we are able to think about emotional energies that may get trapped in our systems and make us sick then, we can channel these energies creatively and/or harmlessly discharge them like environmentally friendly steam by talking them out. “Go ahead and let some steam off responsibly” is far more desirable than holding it in so that you get a back ache or a stomach ache. The logic that explains why some people’s vulnerabilities to stress leave them anxious, depressed, substance dependent or headache sufferers is a complex and sometimes impossible mystery to unravel. We have learned nonetheless, that if the stress is discharged in constructive ways the symptoms will lessen if not disappear.
We know that energy dynamics is the physical principle that governs these processes. Whether or not an environmental pollutant stresses a body to the point that the inhabitant develops a form of cancer is determined by many factors some of which have to do with their willingness and ability to manage the impact of such a stress on their systems. If such a person is overweight, depressed, and sedentary he may be more vulnerable to an environmental toxin however, we don’t know for sure why he will or will not develop a life threatening disease. We do know however, that how he manages or defends against the environmental toxin and other environmental stresses will have an impact on the body’s vulnerabilities to disease producing processes.
If you take yourself seriously then, you will take stress in your life very seriously as the levels of stress in your life and how you manage them will go a long way to determine your health and welfare. Stress management strategies complement each other. After reading this article you may consider managing stress on your own and/or in combination with professionals like myself to modulate your levels of stress and learn to discharge stress in healthy ways so to keep your mind and body in balance and to have the energy available to achieve meaningful results in your lives.
Stress Management | Addressing the Source
Posted on November 20, 2010 |
Stresses induced by modern day living habits takes a serious toll on the well being of families everywhere. Deadlines to meet at the workplace, financial obligations to be met at the homefront, relationship issues, parenting issues and the like have caused a lot of havoc in a lot of people’s lives. News articles and magazines are filled with stress induced fatigue and stress induced senseless actions taken by people in all kinds of stressful situations. And this stress is not limited to any specific geographical region, any specific people or any specific age group. Stress seems to be affecting not only adults in the prime of their lives, but also the elderly and children of both sexes male and female. Management of stress is extremely important at this juncture in our society and unfortunately this is not something that is taught in schools and universities. While this article cannot encompass all aspects of stress management, we will deal here only with one aspect of stress management and that is addressing the source of stress.
Stress management is usually associated with yoga or meditation and other relaxation exercises. While mind calming techniques such as deep breathing and calming scene visualizations do play an important role in stress reduction, in the opinion of the author, stress reduction is different from stress management. To associate stress reduction with stress management is akin to saying reducing your household expenses is the same as home finance management; sure reducing the expenses will certainly help, but that is not management. Stress management invokes the use of techniques to manage stress, with the full awareness that you cannot lead a stress free life in the modern world and run to the mountains. Hence the first step in stress management is the acceptance that there will be factors that push your limits and introduce stress levels in your day to day life. Now, once that is accepted, you can proceed to manage it. Management of stress involves first of all finding the source of the stress and addressing the source rather than the result which is the stress. For example, because there is a tight deadline for you to meet for some project at work, you may get stressed; in this case, the source of stress is the deadline at work; you need to manage your resources, time, people, etc to ensure that you will meet this deadline and you would have managed the stress effectively. Another example here; let’s say you are in the process of buying a house and your finances are really not in great shape to purchase this house; you are getting stressed all over. In this case, you need to identify that purchasing the house is not the source of stress, rather it is your bad financial management that is the culprit; you have one of two choices, you can face the reality and back off buying this property until you get all your financial ducks in a row or you can opt to buy a lesser valued home. The house project may suffer, but you would have mitigated the stress from buying the house when your finances are terrible. As you can see from these two examples, addressing the source of the stress many times involves being completely honest with yourself and facing reality the way it is instead of hiding behind the curtain of imaginary bliss.