The Problem with Stress.

Stress is a serious problem for many people today. Busy lives, busy lifestyles, there is just no way that most people can avoid some stress in their lives. so the best thing is for people to be aware of it and alert to it. Is it just a normal level of stress, or is it spoiling life? Of course it can affect health- the heart and the immune system will be affected if the stress goes on too long without relief. Stress is an emotion, but also an experience in the body. The common symptoms are the shortness of breath, the racing thoughts, a very unpleasant sensation of feeling compelled to do something but just not being able to do it.

Meeting a deadline, paying bills, facing unpleasant situations of all kinds- they are all stressful. Another cause of stress is that we have so many more sources of stimulation. Coming from all sides, we have to keep up with email, phones, mobile phones.....our grandparents had a small amount of post and perhaps a few phone calls in each week.

Now we feel we are somehow failures if we are not online, on the phone and probably writing something at the same time. Noise is a source of stress for many people. From the radio, ipod, television, announcements on the Tube or train, we do not experience much peace and quiet. Some people are actually more disturbed if they cannot hear some noise around them, so used are we now to quite noisy environments.

The trouble is our minds can twist themselves in knots and somehow accept all this stress as normal. But our bodies know differently and the results of stress are apparent in the doctor's surgery as stomach ulcers, chest pains, heart conditions, anxiety and even chronic illnesses such as diabetes.

More time is lost from work as a result of stress than any other reason, and no one knows exactly how many people are ill as a result of prolonged efforts to keep going no matter how stressed. The strange thing is how much this stress is caused by "labour saving devices."

Japanese city dwellers have found one way to lower their levels of stress.