Living with Less Stress

Dimensions of Stress

2011-04-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

Many guides to dealing with stress are strictly practical. But first you need to know why it is not just a nice thing to do, but something that can effect your total health in serious ways. Stress is not just unpleasant...it is positively dangerous.

Today we are looking at the effects of stress on that vital organ, the brain. From experience you may know that when you are very stressed, it becomes more difficult to remember things clearly. You probably shrug this off as not all that important, just one of those things.

But science is warning us that just shrugging off these facts is not a useful thing to do. Serious levels of stress are when cortisol are consistently produced. This actually affect the functioning of the brain. (See the video below which shows the impact.)

Experiments with rats show that injecting rats with daily injections of corticosterone (rat cortisol) for several weeks at a time kills certain brain cells. Just causing rats the same amount of stress every day has the same effect.

Cortisol helps us deal with a challenge in the short term, but if it isn't managed and if we continue to produce it over time, we will also be killing of some brain cells and increases the likelihood of heart attacks and strokes.

The title of the blog is "stress aware" and as the vital first step, we do need to learn to self monitor our own stress levels and to know when it is time to take some radical action. The brain needs time to recover from a cortisol onslaught. Otherwise burn out can happen in the short term and in the long term even illnesses such as Dementia and stroke.

So one practical thing to do, is book time off work, even just for a long weekend! Ideally take a proper break of 2-3 weeks. It is not laziness or self indulgence, it just might help your brain cope with the high level of stress in your current lifestyle. And leave the mobile phone at home sometimes! Why should we be accessible to others 24/7 just because we can be? Sometimes putting your well being first is the most unselfish thing you can do.

Panic Attack Symptoms From Neil Redfern

2010-01-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

Some panic attack symptoms are quite vague and don’t necessarily feel like they are caused by panic. This article will tell you a little more about more common panic attacks symptoms, but the list is lengthy. The rule of thumb is, if you have symptoms which come about when you feel anxious or have panic attacks, they are caused by the anxiety, not some other unknown condition. Panic attacks can be extremely terrifying, but this article will start you on the path to awareness that will expedite your full and permanent recovery.
Doctors explain the word symptom as an effect of illness. Anxiety is not an illness , it is a behavioral condition. Still anxiety can bring forth awful feelings.
True fear can only be present when there is something there to be scared of. If you have panic attack symptoms when there is nothing present to be scared of, you are experiencing inappropriate anxiety, the sensations of fear, but not true fear!
Even any strange or anxious thoughts you experience are all the result of the anxiety reaction which creates doubt in your thoughts. Thoughts intended to make you create reasonable decisions swiftly leave when real fear is present. When there is no real fear present, the thoughts work on presenting you with negative ideas such as ‘worst case scenarios’ and some can be very odd and upsetting. These may contain aggressive thoughts or sexual feelings. Thoughts about stuff you know you would never actually perform. Troubling, but harmless and a documented common panic attack symptom.

The following is a list of the most common panic attack symptoms. A limited symptom attack is when you experience four or less of these panic attack symptoms.
* Rapid heartbeat, pounding heart or palpitations * Sweating * Smothering or shortness of breath sensations * Chest pain or discomfort * Shaking visibly or inside * Choking sensations or lump in throat * Feeling light-headed * Nausea, bloating, indigestion or abdominal discomfort
There are many more to list as panic attack symptoms that vary from patient to patient.
For additional info or queries in regards to Panic Attack Symptoms please send all messages to Neil Redfern at www.upbeatandconfident.com

Stressed? Dark chocolate might help� - Yahoo! News UK

2009-11-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

Stressed? Dark chocolate might help� - Yahoo! News UK

Dark chocolate, which is rich in a variety of bioactive compounds, also partially corrected other imbalances in the body related to stress, making it a natural way to ease stress.

"The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams (1.4 ounces) during a period of two weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers," wrote the researchers led by Sunil Kochhar, from the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The study, published online in ASC's Journal of Proteome Research, comes amid growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other illnesses.

Stress and the unexpected crisis

2009-08-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

And nowadays, so much change is beyond our control. Jobs are lost, loved ones leave or die, savings dwindle, friends move on. Fundamentally life includes these events and they cause stress.

So how to deal with this? Techniques and tools can help of course. Perhaps you are feeling very fearful, even panicky. These are stressful times and many people are anxious and worried about changes that are out of their control. I still remember the sense of relief I had when I came across this information on panic that has helped very many thousands of people, without drugs.

A very important question is, though, "Do you trust yourself, Life, God, the Universerse?"

That does not mean trusting that everything will work out exactly the way you would like, or prefer or find comfortable. It does mean trusting that there is a much bigger picture, into which everything fits. Some of the changes we are experiencing are for the greater good, not in the short term, but in the long term. If you can trust that the process of Life, in spite of how things may appear, you will experience a life with less fear and less stress.

Stress and Change

2009-08-08T03:16:00.000-07:00

Life keeps changing. In fact, without some change, we would be much more dead than alive!
(If you would like some relaxing music as you read, just press play below.)

Yet, change is also stressful.

Barbara De Angelis, in her excellent book, "Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know" makes the point with a story about a woman who was seeing a therapist. They had great discussions, the woman explored her life in great depth. The therapist one day asked her what changes she had made. The woman said she had not made any. The therapist asked why she kept coming to therapy. The woman replied: " Because I'm into personal growth and working on myself....But I never said anything about actually wanting to change...."

This week I had a small experience of how that resistance operates in my own life. I arrived at the local train station just in time to catch my morning train. For months now they have been landscaping the surroundings of the station. Passengers have had to use a side entrance gate, and for me this has been quite convenient as, once I am through the gate, I am on the right platform.

One morning, I arrived at the gate to be told that we could not use the gate. Now we had to use the newly landscaped path. A sudden and inconvenient change, as this path meandered to and fro for about 300 extra yards...and on this occasion that meant missing my train.

Apart from the momentary annoyance of this, I was aware of how much I did not want to have to use a different path. This minor disruption to an established habit was a jolt, and I mentally resisted- the inconsiderateness of giving us passengers no warning!... Just how much stress this small change caused!

I said a few words to the "Customer Service Agents" about this inconvenience and the response was unhelpful to say the least. So I had a choice...get more stressed and angry, dwell on the issue for the whole journey and allow it to spoil my day? Perhaps even miss the next train? That was a definite possibility!

So how did I deal with it? It was a simple 3 step process which went like this-

1 I gave myself permission to feel what I was really feeling, for a relatively short period of time, and to express that to myself

2 I asked myself, Is it REALLY that important in the grand scheme of things? A psychologist would call it cognitive restructuring!

3 As soon as possible, I started to "soothe" myself with thoughts like- you can write a letter if you want, or call the customer complaints line. The message here was "Your feelings matter and I will take care of you."

So there you have it, a "first aid for minor stress" process, for more wellbeing, less stress.

Stress Test

2009-07-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

If you are very stressed, the last thing you will want to do is take a stress test.
But if you know you are getting gradually more tense as the days go by, this test, offered by Channel 4, can get you thinking.

We often get used to the things that stress us, to the extent that we hardly notice them. That does not make them less stressful. Take noise for example. If you live in a city and commute, you may scarcely notice the physiological effects of the traffic, the honking of horns and screech of brakes, but it is having an effect.

Here is a very short stress test...

Do you like your work?

Do you enjoy living where you live?

Do you have enough contact with your family?

Do you have control over how you spend your time?

Do you have financial worries?

Do you have at least 5 close friends do you have?

Do you have a faith, religion or regular spiritual practice?

Are you in good health?

Do you see the funny side of life, quite easily?

Do you regularly spend time in nature?

If you answered No to more than 5 of these questions, you are quite stressed.
If you answered No to more than 7, you are very stressed.

It is important to take action in both cases. Your answers will give you some idea where to begin.
But don't worry, with a conscious decision to change, it is quite possible to make changes quickly. Small steps can have a big impact. You could probably think of one small, but important change that you could start from today. For example, getting away from your desk for just 30 minutes at lunch time, whether you eat, walk, read or chat....as long as it is a complete change of activity, will leave you feeling much less stressed.

Stressed Out People

2009-07-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today I heard the phrase "Stressed Out" many times, from people on the train, in the office, clients...so many people are leading lives that are full of pressure. Travelling is quite stressful in itself. Trains are delayed or cancelled. Explanations are not given. There is hardly even an apology now.

How to cope?

We can't control trains and travel. This inability to control our lives is a tremendous source of stress. We have been brought up to be on time. But is it realistic, if we live in a major city. Perhaps we have to look at things differently.

What you can control is what goes on inside of you. It does not happen easily but you can commit doing it immediately. This is about saying to yourself that your life matters, and that you want to have the best quality of life possible.

In her book "Secrets of Life Every Woman Should Know" Barbara De Angelis writes about her own experience of dealing with a flood in her home, just as she was working on the chapter in her book about having everything we need to be happy, inside ourselves. She was amazed to find that in spite of having six inches of water throughout her home, just when she had put it on the market, she was calm throughout the experience.

Recognizing what you can and cannot change, and choosing not to allow the latter to ruin your experience of life, will mean you become more calm, less stressed out.

The Problem with Stress.

2009-07-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

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.