Am I stressed?

We could all agree that most, if not all today, are affected by stress. Sadly, stress is an unavoidable part of our lives. Have you stopped to consider all the ways stress can damage you physically, sabotage your life and affect relationships? Consider the various ways stress can affect you:

• Physically - Increased heart rate, headaches, tiredness, restlessness, trouble sleeping, nervous twitches, cramps, muscle spasms, high blood pressure, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, dizziness, fainting, chest pain, grinding teeth, lack of appetite, ADD/ADHD, weight gain, decreased sex drive, just to name a few.

• Emotionally - Irritable, aggressiveness, depressed, anxious, fear of failure, fear of serious illnesses, hopelessness, isolation, sadness, confused, scared.

• Behavior - Difficulty making decisions, lack of concentration, denial of problems, frequent crying, nail biting, inability to express feelings, short tempered, difficult communicating, excessive alcohol consumption, drug use, and smoking and over eating.

Is stress dangerous?

What are the experts saying? The American Medical Association has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. Frederick Rasmussen Jr., an immunologist at the UCLA School of Medicine, explained that in studies of stress and the relation to viral infection; stress diminished the size of the immune organs and number of immune cells while increasing the severity of illness reactions to viral exposure. OSHA declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually. National Institute of Mental Health states, “The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.” The Mayo Clinic reports 75% to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.

Is stress curable?

Yes and No.

Stress is a human reaction to everyday life and events that frighten, excite, or depress us. Although there are ways of reducing stress there is no way to totally eliminate it. That being said, there are ways to eliminate the root cause or the trigger that is causing the stress, helping one to feel more relaxed and at peace. A factor to consider is the root cause of the stress, if you can find the root cause (memory, trauma etc.) in most cases you can eliminate the stress. More information on this can be found on the “Services” Tab on this site.