Stress Management
How To Break Free From
A Stressful Life
Presented By MasterResellRights.com
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - What
Is Stress?........................................................................................
Chapter 2 - Stress
Manifestation.................................................................................
Chapter 3 - Identifying Stressors.................................................................................
Chapter 4 - Self
Induced Stress..................................................................................
Chapter 6 - The Right Ways To Deal With Stress......................................................
Introduction -
Stressed Out?
Just about
everyone who you talk to nowadays will complain about being “stressed out.”
Thirty years ago, no one ever even used this term. Today, however,
it is a staple in most conversations. We often refer to ourselves as being
“stressed out” when we discuss our careers as well as our personal lives.
Recent studies
indicate that even children are “stressed out.” Little kids, who shouldn’t have
a care in the world, are becoming “stressed” due to activities at home or at
school. In most cases, they are simply inheriting the stress from their
parents.
Psychologists
who deal with “stressed out” individuals blame the current situation on
everything from the foods we eat to our society. Most agree that people today
attempt to do “too much” and end up getting burned out.
We all
experience stress during the course of our lives. There is a difference,
however, in being constantly stressed out and experiencing stress due to a
certain situation.
Anything that
dramatically disrupts our lives is a cause for stress. Most people recover from
the stressful situation after it has been resolved or over a period of time.
Other people
tend to get stressed out all the time. In fact, their entire life appears to be
one big stress factory. This is unhealthy and is gradually taking its toll on
our society.
Each year,
billions of dollars are spent on symptoms of stress. There are dozens of
prescriptive medicines on the market today that address stress and anxiety.
Millions of people are on some sort of medication for “stress.”
What has
happened in the past thirty years that has caused us to become such a nation of
stressed out individuals? Is society expecting too much from us or are we
expecting too much from ourselves? Why are so many people suffering from the
following:
·Anxiety disorder
·Social anxiety disorder
·Obsessive
compulsive disorder
·Anorexia Nervosa
·Depression
·Panic attacks
Years ago, no one ever even heard of these conditions, now they are
featured in every magazine you encounter. There is a huge market to treat both
depression and anxiety, which usually go hand in hand and are the offspring of
stress.
Pharmaceutical
companies are cranking out different anti-depressants all of the time. These
are said to be ‘better” than the other anti-depressants that they discovered a
year prior. Thirty years ago, no one ever even heard the term
“anti-depressant.” If you used that expression back then, people would think
you were talking about something to do with your car.
Today it seems
as if every single person you encounter is “on something” for stress,
depression or anxiety. All of them can neatly be lumped into the same category
and are caused by stress.
Stress is
usually at the root of all of the above psychological disorders. It also
affects us physically as well. Stress has been linked to every disease known to
man, including heart disease and cancer. Clearly, it is not a good idea for
people to be under stress.
But, as human
beings, we are going to experience stressful situations. There is no avoiding
this fact. Therefore, in order to really be able to help cure ourselves from
being “stressed out” we need to know how to do the following:
·Identify stressors
that affect our daily lives;
·Eliminate the
stressors of which we can free ourselves;
·Learn to deal
with stressful situations in a healthy way
If you are one
of the millions of people who are feeling stressed out, you must take a look at
the reasons why you are stressed out and try to do what you can to eliminate as
much stress as you can from your life. If you continue to be “stressed out” you
will most likely find yourself taking some sort of prescription drug for one of
the above disorders. Taking prescription drugs for stress does not mean that
you are “crazy.” This book will discuss alternative ways to deal with stress,
but as a last resort, you are better off with the medications than allowing
your body to be battered by stress.
Life is way too short to go through it being stressed out. And
chances are that you will shorten your lifespan significantly if you continue
to be “stressed out “ through the daily course of your life. This is especially
true as many of the things over which you may be stressed are minor, but have been blown up in your mind
to be worse than they actually are.
Wouldn’t it be
nice to actually be able to go through life without being “stressed out” over
everything and without drugs or medications? This book will teach you
everything you wanted to know about stress and how you can avoid this scourge
that seems to be plaguing millions of people.
Chapter 1 - What
Is Stress?
Stress is an
intrusion on your peaceful existence. All of us strive to have orderly and
peaceful lives. We tend to develop well when we get into certain routines.
Human beings are all animals. If you have ever owned a dog, you may have
observed that the dog thrived very well on routine. You had to walk the animal
a certain time each day, it had to be fed at a certain time each day and it
slept at a certain time each day. The dog depended on a routine.
When the
routine was broken, the dog would do things such as have accidents in the
house, or behave in another destructive type manner. This is because the dog
was actually stressed out. Why was the dog stressed out? Because his or her
routine had been broken.
Human beings
behave the same way. Parents often find that their children will behave much
better when they have a set routine than if everything is pandemonium in the
household. Routines give a child a feeling of security, which is the one thing
that a child wants most of all.
Many people will
complain that their kids are unruly and do not want to go to bed on time. Their
bedtime “routine” involves telling their kids to go to bed. It then escalates
into screaming at their kids to go to bed to threatening their kids with
punishment if they do not go to bed.
The entire “go
to bed” issue can be avoided if the parents simply set a bedtime routine. Milk
and cookies. A bedtime story and being tucked in. Every night. The children
know what to expect and actually end up looking forward to bedtime. This gives
children an added sense of security, something that they really need in their
lives.
We all want to
feel safe and secure, but as we get older, we realize that we cannot always
count on things being the same. We experience different incidents in our lives
that turn our world upside down and cause us to feel stress. Most of these
incidents we cannot control, others we can control to a certain degree. Some of
us are fortunate enough not to experience these stressors until adulthood.
Others experience stress as young children.
Stress can be
pinned to an outside factor or something that we create in our own heads. If we
are creating self induced stress, chances are that something from the outside
triggered this condition and the resulting response.
Some of the more
notorious causes of stress are the following:
Death of a loved one
This can be a
spouse, parent, child or friend. Death is part of life, but the death of a
loved one is something that causes significant stress. Our hearts are broken as
we
grieve for our
loved one and our lives are seriously disrupted. This is something which we can
do little about, unfortunately, and also something we all have to deal with,
sooner or later. Many people recover from this stressor and continue with their
lives.
Others never
fully recover. Death of a loved one can cause a number of serious illnesses
that we take on ourselves, including depression.
The death of a
child is probably the worst pain anyone can endure and many people never fully
recover from this type of stress, however, they do manage to go on with their
lives for the sake of others around them. Despite the fact that the death of a
child is enough to put anyone over the edge, most people have more of a life
force and feel compelled to go on. However, this is one stress factor that can
be completely devastating to someone emotionally and is one from which one
never fully recovers.
Divorce
Even if we are glad to get rid of our ex-spouse, divorce is a major
stressor in our lives. In addition to causing us to feel stress, it can also
stress out our children. Many
couples are so wrapped up with their own emotions during a divorce that they
fail to notice the impact of the situation on their children. Chances are that
the kids are feeling quite a bit of turmoil, even if they are too young to
understand what is really going on.
In fact, younger
children can experience even more stress than older children in the case of
their parent’s divorce because they cannot put their emotions into words, nor
can they understand that daddy or mommy going away has nothing to do with them.
To a young child, everything in the world has something to do with them.
A child who
experiences the trauma of his or her parents’ divorce will feel stress. In some
cases, the stress may manifest itself to a number of psychological disorders,
including anxiety. The routine has been broken and the child no longer feels
safe, so he or she will come up with a way to alleviate the stress and retain
some sort of control over their lives by developing a disorder such as
anorexia. Children should see a counselor when the parents’ divorce, whether or
not they appear “fine.” Some children will be able to deflect the stress better
than others, but it is always a good idea to make sure that the child truly is
“fine.”
Moving
Even if you are
moving from a shack to a palace, this is still stressful. It may be a happy
occasion, but it is still a disruption of your routine. And any disruption of
your routine causes stress. Moving disrupts the entire family. And it is a real
pain in the neck. Plus you have to deal with the packing.
Everyone hates
moving. Packing up all of your belongings and then unpacking them is just a
hassle. Very few of us are fortunate enough to be able to have someone do all
of this labor for us so it tends to be stressful. However, even if we do not
have to lift a finger, moving is still a disruption of our normal routine.
It will take a
while before you can get established into your new home. Until you do, you
should try to
maintain as much of your normal routine as possible, especially if you have
children.
Major Illness
Any type of
major illness is a significant stressor for the entire family. One person being
ill does not just affect that person, but everyone around him or her. A major
illness is one of the worst stressors we can endure as it can go on for years,
taking its emotional toll on everyone around, especially children.
Many people who
experience a major illness enter into a depression. This is usually due to the
dramatic change in their life. Others will most likely also enter into a state
of depression or exhibit unusual behavior. A young person who has a very ill
parent may start turning to drugs, alcohol or other behavior to alleviate the
stress he or she feels due to the parent’s illness. They will be unable to deal
with the stress and chances are that the rest of the family will be emotionally
unavailable for help. Self medicating with drugs, alcohol or even promiscuous
sex is a way for some young people to cope with the illness of a parent.
Job Loss
In addition to being humiliating, the loss of a job will most likely
through you into financial turmoil.
Losing a job often results in depression as well as anxiety. Not
only did your self esteem take a hit, but you are also worried about money. You
will probably experience stress until you get a new job or reconcile
yourself to the fact that you will have to get by on less money.
Until you get
your bearings, you will face a disruption in your lifestyle as well as your
financial status. The uncertainty the surrounds getting another job also
affects us when it comes to stress. Losing a job and having to find another job
is very stressful.
Even if we quit
a job for a better job, this is still considered a stress factor. Starting a
new job, while a good thing, is stressful for most individuals. Why? Because it
breaks our routine. And anything that breaks our routine causes stress.
These are just
a few of the major stress factors that we, as a society, face. There are other
things that can lead to stress, but these are among the worst.
In some cases,
happy events such as the birth of a child, marriage, or even a new job can lead
to stress. Even though these are joyous occasions, they are stressful. Why?
Because they disrupt our lifestyle.
Are you sensing
any sort of pattern here with regard to stress? Each of the aforementioned
stressors all has one thing in common - they disrupt our lives. We don’t like
to have our lives disrupted and when it happens, even if it a good disruption,
it causes stress.
We cannot go
through life like robots and expect for nothing to ever change. We are going to
experience stressful situations throughout our lives. How we handle the
stressful situations will determine how well we can manage stress. There are
both good ways and bad ways to manage stress.
Chapter 2 -
Stress Manifestation
Stress usually
takes a toll on us emotionally as well as physically. Many people who have been
exposed to a series of stressful situations are diagnosed with anxiety
disorders. Anxiety disorders encompass an entire range of symptoms. All anxiety
disorders have one thing in common and that is that the desire for the person
suffering from the disorder to control his or her environment.
Obsessive
compulsive disorder is thought to be inherited, although it is a common
reaction to stress. There is no specific gene that has been found that causes
this disorder, yet, like most psychological disorders, it is common for someone
who suffers from this problem to have close relatives who also suffered. Is
this genetic or a learned condition on how to react to stress?
People who
suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder usually cannot control their
obsessive thoughts. They feel out of control most of the time and, to combat
this “out of control” feeling, they go through a series of rituals, or
compulsions, that help them feel that they have some control over their
environment. This can be washing their hands over and over, locking and re-locking doors, or even repeated praying. The
compulsions make them feel as though they are in control.
Anorexia Nervosa
is similar to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. In this case, a person, usually a
young woman, will actually convince herself that she is fat and proceed to
starve herself, in some cases, to death. The root of the problem is usually a
desire to control something within her environment that appears to her to be
out of control. Many young women exhibit symptoms of anorexia when they enter
college, a stress factor because their lives have been disrupted.
General anxiety
disorder is a name given to a condition where someone experiences severe
anxiety but does not fall into known categories such as social anxiety disorder, where you fear social
situations, anorexia, or obsessive compulsive disorder.
Those with generalized anxiety disorder normally do not know that they
have the condition until they wind up in the emergency room of the local
hospital experiencing symptoms of what appears to be a heart attack. An anxiety
attack, or panic attack, presents like a heart attack. It is usually brought on
by stress, either real or imagined.
Stress usually
manifests itself in anxiety and/or depression. Anxiety manifests itself in many
different ways, including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Anorexia.
Depression
manifests itself in one way - the person does not get any enjoyment out of life.
If left untreated, depression can be fatal.
Each year, we
hear about young people who kill themselves. Suicide among teenagers and even
younger children has been somewhat of an epidemic for the past two decades.
Prior to 1980, we rarely heard of a suicide in young people. Most people did
not know more than one person who killed themselves. Today, most school
districts can
name quite a few
students who killed themselves in the past two years. Most high school students
can name at least two young people who they knew who killed themselves. This is
tragic. Young people with their entire lives ahead of them are killing
themselves due to stress. In most cases, the stress is self inflicted - the
young person wants to get into a certain college and feels that they are not
getting the best grades. At the age of 17, a young person feels that his or her
life is over because they are just not good enough for the world. This is a
tragedy.
In addition to
causing mental problems, stress can also cause physical problems. It is linked
to heart disease and is considered to be one of the primary causes of high
blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.
People who are under a great deal of stress often get sick with colds or
flu. Stress is said to actually harm our immune system. There are some
indications that stress can also be a contributory cause of certain cancers.
Although we
cannot always control stressors in our life, we can learn how to effectively
deal with stress so that it does not end up causing us either psychological or
physical damage. We are all going to have to deal with stress in our lives so
it is better to know how to react to stress in a positive way so that we can
control our behavior and not allow stress to become a health threat.
Chapter 3 - Identifying Stressors
Many of us may
feel “stressed out” in our daily lives without knowing why. As many people are on medication due to anxiety and
depression, it is obvious that many of us are under a great deal of stress.
While medications to alleviate the symptoms of stress can help, they are merely
a mask. The real problem is the stressful situation that we are enduring,
either in our minds or in reality.
Janet was a
secretary for a large law firm. She had a boss who would criticize her every
move on a daily basis. Janet was in no position to leave her job as she was the
sole supporter of her two young children. Her husband had died two years prior
and this was the first job Janet had since his death. She worked hard, but no
matter what she did, she could never please her boss. However, she had to work
so she kept her mouth shut and never said anything. Janet’s boss had been
through three secretaries in the
past six months before he hired Janet.
Although her
boss was very critical, Janet liked the people with whom she worked very much
and considered herself lucky to be able to earn enough money to keep her
children in the lifestyle to which they had all been accustomed when her
husband was alive. She considered herself happy.
She felt that she was finally able to get on with her life after the
unexpected death of her husband.
She could not
understand, therefore, why she felt anxious all of the time. Especially on
Sunday evenings. One Sunday night she ended up in the emergency room of the
hospital with heart palpitations. She thought she was having a heart attack so
she got her mother to look after her kids and went to the hospital. After a
series of tests, it was determined that Janet suffered from a “panic attack.”
The ER doctor gave her a prescription for tranquilizers and advised her to see
a psychiatrist.
A psychiatrist!
Janet wasn’t “crazy.” And everyone
knows that only “crazy” people have anything wrong with them mentally. So she took the tranquilizers
and ignored the advice of the physician. She continued to experience “panic
attacks” on a more frequent basis until one Monday morning, she couldn’t get
out of bed. Her children got very upset and called their grandmother who found
Janet in a catatonic state. She took her daughter to the hospital where she was
admitted to the psych ward for a few days. Janet had what used to be called a
“nervous breakdown.”
Was Janet
“crazy?” No, she was just suffering from severe anxiety and depression caused
by several stressors. One of them was her boss who was just a bully. The other
was the fact that her husband had died and left her as the sole provider for
her two children.
Fortunately,
Janet’s mother took her to the hospital as Janet had been thinking more and
more about joining her late husband. Even more fortunate for Janet was the fact
that the doctor at the hospital was able to help Janet identify her stressors.
While Janet
could not do anything about the death of her husband, she could do something
about the second stress factor, which was her boss. She looked for a new job
with a boss who was a bit more human and finally found herself not only with a
better boss, but more money. She was still able to keep in contact with the
friends she made at her old job, who regaled her with stories about how her
bully boss kept going through secretaries.
Identifying
stressors is not so easy for most people as it was in Janet’s case. While some
of us can point to different stress factors that have occurred recently in our
lives, others have absolutely no idea why we are stressed. In some cases, the
original stressor can be something that happened in our childhood.
In the film “The
Three Faces of Eve,” a woman is depicted as having a “split personality disorder.” The film follows this very
usual psychological disorder until they get to the root of the problem which
was the fact that she was made to kiss the face of her dead grandmother as she
lay in her coffin. This was not done as a form of abuse, but was a cultural
belief. Her mother, who made her kiss the dead woman’s face, did not do this to
abuse her child, but believed that by kissing the face of the dead, it would
cause you not to miss them and for them not to haunt you.
Unfortunately,
the trauma that this girl endured caused her so much stress that she actually
felt it necessary to retreat into her own mind and develop other
“personalities” who usually emerged whenever she was under any sort of stress.
The personalities took over the her life and Eve had no recollection of what
the personalities were doing when she was “out of it.” She would simply black
out and one of the personalities that she created in her own mind, would take
over for her.
The film ended,
of course, with the woman being helped. The simple recollection of the incident
in her childhood that had been buried in her mind, was able to “cure” her of
her split personality disorder. She no longer needed the personalities that she
created to help her cope with stress in life.
While some of us
can identify stressors as easy as Janet, others may have a difficult time
putting our finger on what causes us to react to stress, such as in the case of
the film example.
If you are
feeling “stressed out” sit down with a pen and paper and try to identify the
cause of your stress. In most cases, it will be more than one different problem
that is causing you stress. Try to pinpoint the source of your stress by
writing down everything that is worrying you.
Keep a journal
of your day to day activities and how you feel periodically throughout the day.
Think about the different people with whom you interact with during the course
of the day and how you feel about each interaction.
Once you have identified the source of your stress, you can then
make a determination on how you can handle the stress that is affecting your
daily life. Chances are that your stress factors will be one of the following:
·A personal relationship;
·Money;
·Job situation;
·Health concerns.
Some of the
stressors you will be able to control, others you will not be able to do
anything about. But in order to help yourself, you are going to have to know
what you are up against when it comes to the cause of your stress.
Chapter 4 -
Self Induced Stress
Some people are
just so driven that they actually create their own stress. Not only do they
create stress for themselves, but for others around them. You can often observe this in parents of
young children who are so busy projecting their dreams onto their children that
they create a tidal wave of stress throughout the house. These people are so
obsessed about being “the best” at everything that they lose sight of what life
is about. They rarely enjoy their lives and make sure that their children also
do not enjoy the lives they have, either. They
can be found heading up PTA drives
and in a dozen other activities. People often look at them with envy because they
seem to have it all and are so ambitious. In reality,
they have very little. Ambition is good - driving everyone around you
nuts to validate your life because of personal insecurity, is not.
Take the example of Shirley. A corporate attorney for a large company, she expected no less than the
best from all of her employees. She couldn’t understand why anyone would settle
for anything less than perfection and became known as “Shirley the Slave
driver” throughout the office. Shirley knew that this was the nickname that had
been given her and didn’t care. She was proud of being a “perfectionist.” A
perfectionist, by the way, is not a
good thing to be. Because it has the word “perfect” in it, many people proudly
call themselves “perfectionists.” It stems from gross insecurity. A perfectionist will never be satisfied with
anything and will rarely be happy. Worse
yet is the perfectionist who becomes a parent or a boss.
Shirley caused
many of her employees to quit or ask for a transfer because of her incessant demands.
Many of her employees considered themselves to be “under stress.” The more she
demanded, the more stressed they became and it seemed to them that she was
downright impossible to please.
In addition to
being herself a major stress factor for her employees, Shirley was also a
stress factor for her children and husband, of whom, of course, she expected
“the best.” Her children felt compelled to excel in everything they did in
order to please their mother. Her husband felt that Shirley was beyond being
pleased and sought refuge in other women on occasion.
When the
children were young, they were “exposed” to many different sports, each of
which they were expected to excel. Shirley was never really athletic, so she
projected her wish to be athletic onto her children. After work, she spent most
of her time driving her children back and forth to various games and sporting
events. Her friends marveled at how much energy she seemed to have.
In private,
Shirley worried about everything. She had come from an impoverished household
and wanted to make sure that her children wanted for nothing. She wanted to be
sure that they had every advantage to succeed in life that she never had. She
remembered growing up and feeling inferior because of her poor clothing and the
fact that she had to take charity lunches at school. Kids made fun of her old
shoes. Even though she was now a successful corporate attorney, inside was a little girl with holes in
her shoes eating
a government subsidized lunch.
Despite the fact
that she seemed to “have it all,” Shirley was far from a happy person. She felt
like she was on a roller coaster all of the time, yet she didn’t know how to
stop it. Unfortunately, a heart attack was the result of her continued, self
induced stress.
Fortunately, Shirley
survived her heart attack, after which she began to look at life much differently.
It no longer seemed to be important if her children were in every
sport known to man or if they got a “B” instead of an “A on a quiz. When she
finally returned to work, she began to realize that the place had been running
well without her, despite the fact
that she felt she was the only one who knew what she was doing.
The heart attack
forced Shirley to relax and get grounded. She began to realize what was
important in life. It also got her to understand that she was driving herself
and everyone around her, into a state of stressful frenzy. She was really
fortunate to have discovered a whole new life. Her husband also appreciated her
new attitude and became more attentive. Her children relaxed. Her employees
stopped calling her names behind her back and began to see her for the truly
talented individual she was.
Many of us have
only ourselves to blame for our stress. It is self induced because we feel
compelled to have to “do everything.” Self induced stress is a product of
modern times. People today tend to judge success on how many material
possessions they have and how well their children compete with others. Many
parents today involve their kids in some sort of organized sport in which the
parent, instead of the child, is competing. While organized sports are great
for kids who express an interest in athletics, it is not right to force your
child to participate in sports that he or she is not interested in joining.
The fact that
most women work outside the home has also led to more stress in our daily
lives. Thirty years ago, many families had only one car. A woman usually stayed home while the man worked. A man got
home from work, the family ate dinner and the kids went out and played until it
was dark. The kids came in, went to bed and the husband and wife had time alone.
Today, a man comes home
from work and, if it is his turn to cook, heats up something or whips up a meal
or picks something up from the nearest fast food restaurant. A woman comes home
from work to do the same. The family wolfs down a few bites of their meal and
it is off to one of the following:
·Soccer practice
·Cheerleading
practice
·Baseball practice
·Dance lessons
·Karate lessons
·All of the above
and more
It is no wonder
that people are stressed out. We never give ourselves, or our children, a
chance to just relax! When was the last time you went with your family on a
picnic? Do people even do this anymore or has it become “a waste of time?”
There is little
that we can do about the fact that both spouses work or that women work outside
of the home. This is not a bad thing as it has given women an opportunity to be
able to financially support their children. Years ago, if a husband died or
decided to take off, many women had little choice but to just find another
husband. And in some cases, the husband was not nice to his stepchildren.
Today, neither men nor women are forced to stay married to someone who is
abusive because they are unable to support themselves and their children.
However, this
new way of life is not without a price. And the price is that most people end
up eating poorly and feel “stressed out” because of their lifestyle. When we
add kids into the mix and our expectations for them, which are really based
upon our expectations for ourselves, we end up with one heck of a stressed out
life.
We can either
live with self induced stress and continue on a merry go round of anxiety like
Shirley, or we can slow down and eliminate some of the stressors from our
lives.
Are you
experiencing self induced stress? How do you feel when you come home from work
- are you happy to come home or do you feel that you are just coming home to a
life of chaos? Many people say that they are more relaxed at work than they are
at home. If you cannot relax at home, when can you relax? Do you even know how
to relax? Some people actually feel guilty when the are “doing nothing.”
People today
tend to expect way too much from themselves and very few people know how to
relax. As a result, they are raising children who also do not know how to
relax. What have we got to look forward to except a bunch of future stressed
out adults? The only ones who will benefit from this are the pharmaceutical
companies who are busy cranking out better and better medications for stress.
Allowing self
induced stress to control your life or even enter your life is like
volunteering to be shot out of a cannon. Other people will watch you appear to soar, but in reality, you will be in a lot of pain that could end up to prove
fatal, even if it is just metaphorically.
Some signs of
self induced stress are the following:
·You do not have time to talk to friends on the phone because you are always
“running around;”
·Your children are involved in no less than two activities a week to which
you provide transportation;
·You look forward to the day when Taco Bell
offers charge accounts;
·Your kids do not know what mashed potatoes are unless they come in a KFC package;
·You feel you can relax at work better than you can at home;
·You feel guilty if you have nothing to do;
·You eagerly count the days until (pick one) Soccer, Basketball, Baseball or Ballet season ends.
If you identified with one or more of the above situations, chances
are that you are experiencing some signs of self induced stress. Superman and Wonder Woman were fictional characters - stop trying
to be a superhero to yourself and learn how to
relax.
Chapter
5 - The Wrong Ways To Deal With Stress
The right way to
deal with stress will be discussed in the next chapter. Unfortunately, many
people do not know the right ways to deal with stress and decide to deal with
stress in the following ways:
·Drinking alcohol
to excess;
·Illicit drugs;
·Tranquilizers;
·Risky sex practices;
·Overspending;
·Violent behavior
Most people who
are alcoholics suffer from depression caused by stress. They use alcohol as a
way to make themselves “feel better” about their stress and the related anxiety
and depression that it causes. They are, in fact, self medicating. Instead of
getting to the root of the cause of their stress, they prefer to mask the
stress with alcohol.
Alcohol works
to numb the effects of the stress and does relieve anxiety. Unfortunately,
alcohol is a depressant and only serves to magnify the depression. Alcohol is
also addictive both mentally and physically. People who abuse alcohol can
expect to live a shorter lifespan than others due to diseases of the liver as
well as the heart that are caused by alcohol abuse. In addition to that, they
usually do not have many friends except those that they meet in the bar.
Chances are that their alcohol abuse will take its toll on both their
professional and personal life.
If you think
that you can deal with stress by any of the above methods, you are wrong.
Alcohol is not a “cure” for stress. It will, however, eventually lead to more
stress in your life such as:
·DUI arrests;
·Being fired from
your job;
·Your spouse leaving you;
·Your children not having any respect for you;
·Financial issues;
·Health issues.
Using alcohol is
definitely a mask and not a cure when it comes to eliminating stress from your
life. The same goes for using illegal
drugs and tranquilizers. Many people
will go to the doctor and complain about stress. Quicker than a fast draw at a
Wild West shootout, the doctor will pull out his prescription pad and write a
prescription for a tranquilizer. Tranquilizers are virtually booze in a pill.
Only they are twice as addictive. Like alcohol, they have a tendency to build
up a tolerance, requiring an increased
dosage to get
the same effect.
Tranquilizers
can be very effective if they are used properly. For example, if someone
experiences the loss of a loved one, they may be prescribed tranquilizers for a
brief period of time. However, they should not be used as a long term cure for
anxiety or depression caused by stress. And they should be monitored, not given
out freely as many of them are in today’s society.
Many people who
are addicted to illegal drugs suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder or
depression. The drugs allow them to cope. There is really no difference between
someone who is an alcoholic or a drug addict except that one vice is legal and
the other illegal.
Risky sex
practices, overspending or violence can all be indicators of an underlying
mental problem that was probably brought on by stress. In some cases, it can be
the result of bi-polar disorder, which used to be called “manic depressive
personality.” Chances are that they are using money, sex or violent behavior as
a means to control their environment because of undue stress.
If you are
suffering from stress, do not assume that a tranquilizer will be the “cure all”
for your condition. Again, doctors are very quick to prescribe tranquilizers,
yet very few will tell you to “have a drink.” Yet tranquilizers are just as
dangerous and addictive. In fact, they can be more dangerous and very easy to
abuse.
Do not attempt
to self medicate yourself with drugs or alcohol. Although this may “take the
edge off” of your stress, this is a case where the cure can be worse than the
disease. In some cases, it can have tragic results, as in the case of Sam.
Sam was very
stressed out after he lost his job and went to the doctor suffering from what
the doctor diagnosed as a “panic attack.” The doctor promptly prescribed an
anti- depressant as well as a tranquilizer to “take the edge off” of the panic
attack. Sam really liked the tranquilizer as it did, indeed, take the edge off
of his panic. It felt pretty good and he didn’t even get a headache from it.
The prescription
for the tranquilizers was soon exhausted so Sam went back to the doctor to get
some more tranquilizers. As these pills are only supposed to be used on a short
term basis, the doctor did not want to prescribe them for Sam, but relented as
Sam begged. He told Sam that he would give him one more prescription for the
tranquilizers and that was it. He also advised Sam to “wean himself off” of the pills.
Sam couldn’t
“wean himself off” of the pills. As a matter of fact, he seemed to need more
and more of the pills to achieve any effect at all. Where he began by taking one pill, he was not up to five at
a time. He knew he was going to run out of pills, so he went to another doctor
and got another prescription. He had it filled at another drugstore and felt better.
Then Sam found
something wonderful - the internet world of drugs! He found that for a few
dollars more, he could order all of the controlled substances he wanted on the
internet. So he began ordering more of his favorite prescription. While he was
at it, he decided to try other tranquilizers as well. Sam was like a kid in a
candy store. Before long, he had used up most of his savings on prescription
medications he purchased online. But he didn’t care because he was feeling
good.
Although he knew
that he shouldn’t take the tranquilizers with alcohol, it didn’t seem to bother
him. He was now up to seven pills and that he could do with still taking a
drink. It had been quite some time since he actually fell asleep without some
sort of medication. His entire life revolved around getting more tranquilizers.
The one or two
times Sam actually tried to quit taking the tranquilizers, he felt as though he
was crawling out of his skin. It was
pure agony.
Sam decided that it was far better to continue taking the pills. Unfortunately, he never thought to go to
the doctor and tell him about his problem. Like many others, he thought that
stress was “no big deal” and that he could solve the problem himself. Besides,
the drugs were legal, right?
One night, he took seven tranquilizers and a drink before going to
bed. He got a little sleepy and “forgot” that he had already taken
tranquilizers and took some more. His landlady found his dead body the next
afternoon after his girlfriend kept calling without getting an answer and Sam
never showed up at work. Sam
was only 26 years old.
Tranquilizers
are not the answer. Alcohol is not the answer. Marijuana, heroin, morphine or
any other drug is not the answer. You cannot lose yourself in the arms of
multiple sex partners nor can you find the answer at the mall with an unlimited
spending account. Your answer will
not come from using anyone as a punching bag,
either.
The answer to
dealing with stress is to find the source of the stress and either eliminate it
or deal with it in a healthy, head on manner.
Chapter
6 - The Right Ways To Deal With Stress
There are many
ways that you can deal with stress that do not involve using drugs or alcohol.
As a matter of fact, you are better off if you can avoid any type of
prescription drug for your stress. Stress can be managed by many different
natural methods.
The first thing
that you need to do is to find out the cause of your stress. Once you have
found the cause of your stress, you need to address this fact. The cause may be
something that you can eliminate, or it can be something with which you have to
live.
In many cases,
stress is the result of something happening with your job. In such a case, you
have to ask yourself if the job is worth your health and the health of your
entire family. Remember, when you suffer from stress, it often causes others to
suffer from the same stress. If you are employed at a place where you are
actually stressed out all the time, is it really worth it to continue in this employ?
What sort of quality of life do you have if you hate what you have to do every
single day?
Quality of life has significant value, or at least it should. There
comes a point in everyone’s life when they have to decide what is truly
important. Remember that no one ever, on
their death bed, lamented that they didn’t work hard enough. Many
of us end up not seeing the truly important aspects of life until it is too late.
If you can
eliminate the stressor, be it a personal relationship, a job, or even a certain
situation, you will be all the happier for it in the long run. If a job or a
person is really giving you that much stress, to the point that you have to
seek professional health - is it or they really worth it?
Are you involved
in a toxic relationship that is causing you stress? Get out of it now. Hate
your job to the point where you dread going into work on Monday morning? Find
another job that you won’t hate. Even if you have to take a pay cut, it is well
worth it to enjoy quality of life.
If the cause of
your stress is something over which you have no control, you need to evaluate
the problem, face it and seek help. There are many different counseling methods
that incorporate behavior techniques to address stress. Medication can be
useful in some situations, but tranquilizes should never be a long term “cure”
for stress.
Natural cures
for stress include behavior management techniques, proper diet and exercise,
herbal remedies and yoga techniques. These will actually work towards
alleviating your stress.
Behavior Therapy
In some
cognitive behavior therapy, a patient is monitored for signals of stress in
their body by being hooked up to a machine. This will determine stressors by
the heart rate,
which usually
rises whenever stress is present.
The method used
to train someone to behave in an appropriate manner is similar to how you might
train a dog, except they don’t get whacked with a rolled up newspaper. Instead,
whenever the patient responds appropriately to a stressor, the machine lights
up, indicating that this is the appropriate response. The patient continues
with this therapy until he or she realizes how to behave whenever they
encounter stress.
Have you ever
hear anyone say to “count from ten backwards?” This is a popular method used to
“calm people down” before they say or do something that they will regret.
Counting is also used to control stress. Many of us, when we are trying to fall
asleep, say we are counting sheep. This is a method used to keep our mind off
of our stress and concentrated on something else. It is very difficult to worry
about work while you are counting. In fact, it is difficult to think about
anything else when you are counting, which is why counting is such a popular
therapy for relieving stress.
If you find
yourself in a stressful situation, start counting to 100. Every time you are
reminded of the stress, start counting to 100. Is your teenager driving you
nuts? Start counting to 100 whenever you start thinking about him or her. This will help relieve some of the
stress.
Massage Therapy
The demand for
massage therapy has doubled in the past 10 years. This is largely due to the
fact that massage therapy is so effective at relieving stress. Many people
still think of massage therapists as prostitutes working out of sleazy massage
parlors. This is no longer the case. Massage therapy is now big business as
well as a licensed practice.
Massage is very
useful helping with stress and particularly the symptoms of stress, which are
tightened muscles, aches and pains. Massage therapy can work wonders on the
stressed out body and also work to relieve your mind.
There are
several different types of massage therapy that are available to people who are
undergoing stress. They range from a traditional Thai massage to a soft tissue
massage. In addition to relieving stress, massage therapy is also used to treat
aches and pains resulting from exercise or sports injuries as well as a number
of other ailments. A licensed massage therapist will be able to recommend the
type of massage therapy for your particular situation. It is not that costly
and even if you go once a week to the massage therapist, it is far less
expensive than seeing a doctor and getting a prescription filled.
Proper Diet and Exercise
Have you ever
wondered why so many people are on medication for stress? What is it that is so
different about now than 30 years ago?
One of the major
differences in our lives is the food in which we eat. Most Americans do not eat
a healthy diet and more than a fair share are overweight. Many doctors believe
that stress and the onslaught of people suffering from depression is due to a
vitamin deficiency. The stress that many of us suffer from today may be the
result of simply not eating a healthy diet.
We all know that
proper nutrition is essential for a healthy body, but what about a healthy
mind? We are hearing more about good nutrition for mental health as well as
physical health.
Certain foods
are natural mood enhancers. These include:
·Dairy products.
Dairy is usually high in protein and can improve a physical response to stress. You can take dairy in milk or cheese and expect less physical
problems due to stress as well as enjoying a lighter mood.
·Fish. Fish that is rich in fatty acids, such as
salmon, is good for the body as well as the mind. We all know that fish is
considered “brain food,” but fish that is high
in
Omega-3 fatty
acids is a natural way to treat depression. There are studies that indicate
that people who suffer from depression related to stress have low levels of
Omega-3 fatty acids in their body;
·Strawberries.
These can keep your blood sugar levels stable, which can be another cause of
stress. Strawberries are a natural way to stabilize your mood and are a lot
tastier than any SSRI medications;
·Spinach. Folic
acid is essential to good health and spinach is high in this B vitamin. Studies
have also indicated that people who have low levels of folic acid are more prone to depression. Folic acid
increases serotonin naturally, which
is exactly the way that medications to treat depression work on the brain;
·Turkey. Another food that boosts the serotonin. Turkey contains Tryptophan, an
amino acid that can actually make you calm. Remember how sleepy you felt after
eating Thanksgiving dinner last year? That was from the Tryptophan, a natural tranquilizer;
·Brazil Nuts. These
contain selenium, which is another mood enhancer,
however, too much of this can prove toxic for your system so eat these
nuts sparingly, but include them in
your diet;
·Complex
carbohydrates. These also contain tryptophan and, although we have been warned
to “stay away from carbs” these past few years, we need complex carbs, not
simple carbs. If you are watching your diet, stay away from simple
carbohydrates, such as cakes, cookies and sweets, but eat complex carbs, such
as sweet potatoes, that are rich in tryptophan;
·Clams, Oysters,
Cottage Cheese - all are high in Vitamin B12. Raw clams and oysters
have been
considered an aphrodisiac for a long time, but cottage cheese is also rich in
this vitamin that has been known to enhance your mood and stave off stress.
If you are not
getting enough of these foods in your daily diet, consider taking a multi
vitamin or a supplement. If you are suffering from stress, chances are that you
may be deficient in vitamin B as well as Omega-3 acids.
Eating a proper
diet certainly will not hurt you and may actually end up relieving much of your
stress.
Exercise is
also crucial to relieving stress. As a matter of fact, when you feel stress
coming on, the best thing that you can do to stave it off is to exercise. Doing
something physical can sometimes really work out the problem that you are
having.
Cardio exercises
are the best way to work out stress. These get your heart pumping and naturally
raise the serotonin in your brain, putting you in a better mood. Stress can be
very draining on your physical being and exercise can right the wrong and get
your body back into shape. Exercise also boosts the body’s immune system, which
also suffers under stress.
Get yourself
into an exercise routine. Work out in
the morning or after work doing cardio vascular exercises that will give both
your mind and body a boost, as well as help control stress. In the evening, you
can practice yoga or stretching exercises that can help tone your body as well
as relax you.
Don’t want to
exercise? Do something physical. Cleaning the kitchen floor will not only
relieve your stress, but will also get the floor really clean. Doing something
physical such as cleaning, is one of the best stress relievers available. It
works better than any pill, costs nothing and, when you are finished, you will
have a really clean house.
Herbal Remedies
There are
natural, homeopathic remedies that are also used to treat stress, although the
jury is still out on just how effective they really are.
One way to treat
stress homoeopathically is through the use of St. John’s Wort. This herb has
been used to treat stress and anxiety for years. There is an indication that it
is very effective in treating mild anxiety and depression as well as stress. It
naturally releases serotonin and has both mood stabilizing and calming effects.
St. John’s Wort is available in most drug stores and health food stores.
Most doctors
will never recommend that you even try St. John’s Wort. Nor will they tell you
to eat properly. Today’s doctors seem to be consumed by the need to prescribe
medicine. The pharmaceutical companies are making billions of dollars making
sure that everyone is prescribed an SSRI or a tranquilizer every time they have
a problem with stress.
Doctors and
pharmaceutical companies are not the only ones to blame. We are as well. Have
you ever wondered why Americans suffer from more stress than any other nation?
We probably don’t, but more of us are hooked on medication for this condition.
One of the reasons we agree to take the pills for stress is because we want
‘instant cure.” yes, we are always in search of the quick remedy for any
problem.
Nobody wants to
take the time to exercise or actually come to terms with different stressors.
Nobody wants to hear that they have to eat right. Yoga? Meditation? We don’t
even give them a chance. We want a cure for what ails us and don’t want to be
inconvenienced with it any more than necessary.
This is not to
say that anyone who is suffering from stress and depression should not seek
medical attention or take medication when necessary. In some cases, it is
necessary to take prescription pills. However, a prescription should be used as
a last resort, not the first thing that we try whenever we feel stressed.
Throughout our
lives, we are bound to encounter stress. We have to learn how to deal with it
effectively or we will be doomed to taking medication just to get through every
day life.
If you are
suffering from stress, try St. John’s Wort, a natural herbal remedy, before you
embark on a series of SSRI medications or tranquilizers.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is
yet another natural treatment for stress and involves the use of essential
oils. Essential oils are derived from natural by-products such as tree bark,
flowers, fruits or grasses. They are very concentrated and can be used either
with an infuser, in which case the healing powers are inhaled into the lungs,
or on the body as a massage oil, in which case the healing powers of the oil is
absorbed into the bloodstream by way of the skin.
Essential oils
are very concentrated and should never be used directly on the skin. Lavender
is the one exception and is pretty much a cure-all for just about whatever ails
you. Lavender oils are available at a variety of different places including
online. In order for the aromatherapy to
actually work, you have to use pure essential oils and not anything that is
chemically produced.
Essential oils
are not meant to be taken orally, but have been used as a treatment for a
variety of minor ailments for thousands of years. Aromatherapy is particularly
effective when combined with massage therapy. Most massage therapists
incorporate aromatherapy into their practice, although this is something that
you can easily do on your own. Simply get some lavender oil and an infuser and
burn the oil so that you can inhale the scent. Not only will it relax and calm
you, but it will also make the whole house smell fragrant.
Yoga and Meditation
These are
Eastern arts just like aromatherapy and, like aromatherapy,
have been around for thousands of years. People in the West tend to want
to hurry everything along, which can be one reason why we are so much more
stressed than people in the East. Yoga involves
a series of stretching exercises that are designed to allow you to concentrate
on something other than yourself.
Meditation is the process of clearing your mind of negative thoughts and
concentrating on nothing. Both are equally effective at calming you down if you
understand how to use these techniques towards alleviating stress.
Yoga and
meditation work pretty much the same way as exercising, cleaning and counting
do to relieve stress - they draw your attention away from the stressful
situation and to something else. This is the secret to controlling your stress
- to focus your attention on something that is either positive or neutral. Once
you have learned how to use these different techniques to alleviate stress, you
can then work on controlling how you react to stress.
Chapter
7 - How Do You React To Stress?
How do you react
to stress? Do you fly off the handle? Do you get an upset stomach? Do you rush
to the nearest bar to grab a drink?
You cannot control the all of the stress in your life. There are
some things that you can eliminate, such as negative people or a job that
drives you crazy, but for the most part, you are at the mercy of the rest of
the world.
Most mental
disorders, such as anxiety disorders that are the result of stress, are related
to control, or lack of control. When we feel as though our environment is out
of control, it can be very disconcerting. Once we realize that we cannot
possibly control everything in life, we can then start to learn to live.
Realizing that
we are not in control of everything can take a lifetime and is something that
some people can never quite “get.” The idea of being unable to control
everything around us is so frightening that many of us spend a good portion of
our life trying to dismiss this idea. As babies, we thrive on feeling secure
and the idea that we are not in control conflicts with that sense of security.
When we have conflicts in our life, it causes stress. How we choose to react to
stress is entirely up to us.
While you may
not control the stressors entering your life, you can control how you react to
stress. Your reactions are one of the only things that you can control as you
cannot control the actions of other individuals nor everything that happens in
life.
You can choose to react
to stress in a negative way, such as
taking a swig of whiskey, or you can react in a positive way, such as cleaning the kitchen floor. With one way, you are bound to
spend money and time and wake up with a headache. The other will cost you
nothing but time and in the morning, you will have a sparkling floor.
Negative reactions to stress include:
Drinking, drug
use, being unable to get out of bed, having a panic attack, abusing a family
member or even an animal, abusing prescription drugs, promiscuous sex, and
compulsive behaviors such as gambling or over spending.
Positive reactions to stress include:
Exercising,
practicing yoga, meditating, cleaning, breathing techniques, talking your
problems out with a therapist or friend, listening to calming music or even
counting.
You can choose
to react to stress in a negative way or in a positive way, it is all up to you.
This is the only choice that you have when it comes to most stress.
Think about a
stressful situation that you have in your life at the moment. If you are like
most people, you
will not have to think for long as most of us have some sort of stress in our
lives. Think carefully about the stress. Write it on a piece of paper.
Is this stress something that you can control? Is it something that
you can do without? If the stress is something that you can eliminate from your
life, why are you not ridding yourself of this stress?
If the stress is
something that you cannot control, how are you reacting to the stress. Are your
reactions negative or positive.
For example,
suppose the one thing in your life that is “stressing you out” is that you are
worried about money. Most of us worry about money at one time or another, so
this is not an usual stressor.
Is this
something that you can control? To an extent. One way to alleviate the stress
is to look for a better job or a second job so you can earn more money.
What if you
cannot control this problem? Suppose you cannot find another job? How should
you react to the stress in the meantime?
If you react
negatively by drinking or taking drugs, do you think that will earn you more
money? Perhaps if you do something physical, you can not only alleviate the
stress but also actually make some money.
Anne was always
worried about money. She would “stress out” about it quite a bit. In her small
town, there was little opportunity. She had a job, but she barely got by. She
could never see a way out of her rut and this bothered her a great deal. She
worried that if some catastrophic event occurred, she would be broke. How would
she live?
How would she
pay the rent and be able to eat?
Anne could have reacted to her stress in a negative manner.
Actually, she did do that for quite some time. She went to the doctor and was
prescribed tranquilizers. These were soothing and her insurance covered the
cost of the prescription.
When the
insurance at work changed, however, the prescription for the tranquilizers was
no longer covered. Fortunately for Anne, she had a doctor who understood her
situation and helped her wean herself off of the tranquilizers. He then
suggested some exercises to relieve Anne’s stress that have been mentioned in
this book.
Instead of
popping pills, Anne began to write. She enjoyed writing so much that she began
submitting stories and articles on different sites on the internet. This took
her mind off of her problems and allowed her to express herself creatively. One
day, she got an offer of $10 for one of her stories.
Pretty soon,
Anne was writing in her spare time and earning extra money. It wasn’t long
before she had a nice nest egg stashed away and the stress about money was far
behind. By
choosing to react to her stress in a positive manner, she not only controlled
her stress, but ended up eliminating the stress.
Choose to react to your stress in a positive manner instead of in a
negative way and you will achieve positive results. Choose to react in a
negative manner and you will begin down the route of self destruction.
Chapter
8 - Tips To Break Free Of Stress
By now you
realize that you cannot control stress and that, as long as you live in the
world, you are going to encounter some sort of stress in your life. You have
probably learned the types of stress that you have encountered as well as the
types of stress that you were able to control and those of which you had no
control.
You have also
learned that although you cannot control stress in your life, you can control
the way that you react to stress. You have
learned the difference between negative reaction and positive reactions.
There are many
different ways you can alleviate stress in a positive manner. Here are a few
positive steps to alleviate stress:
1.Breathing exercises. Breath
in through your mouth and out through your nose. Take deep breaths and count to 10 in between each breath. Try to hold the air in your lungs for at
least 10 seconds before exhaling through your
nose;
2.Get into a routine of
watching a certain television program every evening and stick to it. Make sure
that it is entertaining and funny. You can look forward to seeing this bit of
entertainment each night and will put some stability in your life;
3.Get a dog.
Although a dog may be stressful at first, a dog will force you to slow down
when it comes to life. Like people, dogs thrive on routine. In addition to
getting you to slow down, a dog will
also help you settle into a routine;
4.Find a creative pursuit.
Stifled creativity can be very stressful for some people. This can also be the
reason for your stress. Taking up a
hobby that is fruitful such as painting or writing, can not only relieve your
stress but eliminate the stress.
5.Read a book before bed
instead of taking sleeping pills. Reading
a book is a natural way to relax and is a much better for insomnia than
sleeping pills;
6.Join a gym and force
yourself to go. You may be more
inclined to exercise if you actually shell out some money for the club. In
addition to exercising, you will also get to meet different people;
7.Join a group where you can
meet people who have interests similar to your own. This will give you a renewed
sense of confidence, enable you to make new friends and get your mind off of
your own stressors;
8.Volunteer
to
help someone else. Sometimes, just seeing other people who are way worse off
than you is a real eye opener and instant stress relief. You end up doing something nice for another
person who needs the help and everything gets put in its proper perspective;
9.Take a fast walk or run around the block. Sometimes, just getting out in the
fresh air and running is a giant stress reliever.
If nothing else, it is good exercise. Chances are that you will feel
refreshed when you return home;
10.Cry! Johnnie Ray
said it best - “go on baby and cry!” Crying, like laughing is a great way to release stress in an
instant. Sometimes we all need a good cry. If
you have been bottling up emotions, let it out by crying and chances are you
will feel better.
Chapter 9
- When To Seek Treatment
If you have been
experiencing severe stress for more than a couple of weeks and have exhausted
all natural remedies to no avail, you should seek medical attention. Yes, this
book has repeatedly said that tranquilizers are bad, and they are, if taken at
the first sign of a little stress and abused. However, if your blood pressure
is shooting through the roof because you are stressed out all of the time, a
little “chill pill” will not hurt.
If you are not
finding any relief from your stress and feel that you are more stressed out
than ever, despite everything that you are doing, talk to your physician.
Your doctor
will most likely prescribe some sort of medication to relieve your stress or
anxiety. He or she may diagnose an anxiety disorder after he or she examines
you and asks a series of questions.
They will most
likely want to know if you can identify the cause of your stress. They will
want to know you family history and if anxiety disorders run in the family.
They will also want to take a blood test and check you for diabetes as well as
any thyroid conditions, both of which can be an underlying cause of anxiety or
stress.
Your doctor will
take your blood pressure and most likely want to see you again if your
condition has not improved. If your blood pressure is high, he or she will
probably want to see you again in a week.
In most cases,
your doctor will recommend counseling or even a psychiatrist. Your regular physician is not a
psychiatrist, who is a medical doctor who specializes in psychiatric medicine.
A psychiatrist can make a more accurate diagnosis of your condition as well as
prescribe medication.
In addition to
seeing a psychiatrist, you will probably also want to see a counselor. While a
psychiatrist is a medical doctor, he
or she will be more interested in monitoring you with medication. A counselor,
therapist or psychologist will be the person with whom you want to discuss all
your issues.
Seeing a
doctor for stress or anxiety does not make you “crazy.” As a matter of fact, it
really makes you quite normal as more and more people are seeking medication
for stress and anxiety disorders.
Your doctor will
also want to know if you are having thoughts of suicide or harming others. If
you have suicidal thoughts, seek emergency treatment. Do not think that this
will be a solution to all of your problems. All it will do is hurt every single
person who loves you for the rest of their lives. Do you really want to do that
to them?
A doctor may
also prescribe medication to balance your moods. If you are a woman who is
close to menopause, the symptoms that you are experiencing could be due to
menopause and
hormone replacement therapy may or may not be recommended. If given a choice
between an anti-depressant and hormone replacement therapy, many women will opt
for the anti-depressant as it has less of a chance of harmful side effects. The
anti-depressants act to boost the body’s production of serotonin and end up
stabilizing your mood.
If untreated,
stress can lead to a number of different ailments, including cancer. Stress is
not something to mess around with or ignore. Going to a doctor for stress is
very common today and there is absolutely no need for you to suffer in silence.
Try to use
alternative means to relieve your stress with medication, if necessary. You may
get to the point where you can control your reaction to stress and do not need
the medication any longer. Do not attempt to self medicate yourself and do not
abuse prescription drugs.
You can learn to
overcome stress if you follow the tips that are given in this book. Eat right,
exercise, have a routine, do not be afraid to laugh or cry and do not allow any
person to continue to be a bane to your very existence. If you have a job that
causes you a significant amount of stress, think about doing something else.
Get out of the
rat race and re-join the human race. Quit allowing stress to run your life and
the lives of those you love. Make a vow to stamp out stress and start loving
life again.
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