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Stress
is normal. It’s even healthy, because it keeps us active,
motivated, and productive. But too much stress isn’t
healthy or normal, even though it’s become commonplace in
America.
Are you stressed out?
Excess stress affects
different people in different ways at different times in
their life. Your ability to cope will depend on several
factors, such as your overall health, your personality
type, the way you’ve learned to cope in the past and how
many stressful events you have experienced recently
without having the opportunity to recover in between. We
can take so much stress, but eventually we reach a point
when even small amounts of pressure can result in
emotional or physical collapse.
The Results
of Chronic Stress (exhaustion)
-
Stress hormones go out of
balance
-
Insulin is erratic –
hypoglycemia becomes diabetes
-
Poor sleep recovery
-
Immune system significantly
deficient – more frequent infections
-
Major illnesses begin
-
Heart disease
-
Stroke
-
Cancer
-
Infections
-
Autoimmune disorders
To avoid this situation of
deterioration or collapse of your physical or
emotional/psychological state of health, it is wise to
learn how to spot the signs of stress. Knowledge is power
– power to take action to reduce the stressful events or
circumstances.
Following are several short questionnaires regarding
psychological, emotional, physical, and behavioral
symptoms which give an indication of the levels of stress
you are suffering . For each
questionnaire, place a tick next to any of the symptoms
you frequently suffer from. If you tick three or more symptoms
in any one section of the questionnaire, you are likely to be
experiencing a significant amount of stress in that area,
and it is time to take action to reduce the stress.
Stress
Self Assessment
How
to deal with Stress ?
1. Make your life regular as clockwork
2. Give yourself a break today
3. Lighten up your load of social engagements
4. Postpone making any changes in your living environment
5. Reduce the number of hours you spend at work or school
6. Keep your blood sugar steady
7. Eat more vegetables
8. Take a quality multi vitamin and mineral capsule
9. Reduce use of pick-me-up’s (sugar, caffeine, chocolate,
alcohol)
10. Avoid allergens
11. Start an enjoyable exercise – rest your mind
12. Visit a professional counselor
13. Visit a nutritional consultant
14. Have a regular massage
Why do
we feel stressed?
It is important for survival that our bodies produce the
stress response known as the fight-or-flight reaction. When we are stressed, our
bodies produce adrenaline, and it is this hormone which
makes us experience most of the physical and emotional
feelings when we are distressed.
If we did not produce adrenaline, we would not feel
stressed, but we also would not respond appropriately to
the dangers or tasks of life. Without adrenaline, we would
not survive in the jungle, and we would not survive in the
modern city, with all its expectations.
Adrenaline is produced by the Adrenal glands. These small
glands sit one on top of each kidney. If you think of them
like a boiled egg, then the outer white part is called the
adrenal cortex, and the yolk is called the adrenal
medulla.
The yolk, or the medulla, is part of the body’s
sympathetic nervous system. It is the first part of the
nervous system to act as a line of defense during times of
stress.
Stress - Mood altering drugs and nutrients
Each year Americans take nearly 5 billion doses of
tranquillizers to calm down. They take another 5 billion
doses of barbiturates to unwind and sleep, and another 3
billion doses of amphetamines to perk up.
Stress can change metabolism and eating behavior, but
dietary habits can also change sensitivity to stressors.
In this sense, eating right is just as important as
managing stress, because vulnerability to stress increases
with poor diet. There are two ways in which this happens:-
1. Excess sugar depletes vitamins and minerals. These are
needed to keep the nervous system working. Depletion of B
vitamins (B1, B3 and B12) increases nervous system
reactivity, irritability and nervousness. So you increase
your vulnerability to stress by eating sugar.
2. Coffee, cola, chocolate (and other caffeine sources)
increase stress sensitivity. As little as 2 cups of coffee
can cause nervousness, insomnia and headaches. Caffeine
acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system. It
tends to charge up the autonomic system and it lowers the
thresholds for stress reactions. In other words, you are
more likely to interpret an event as stressful if you take
too much caffeine. You are also more likely to respond
impulsively and intensely in stressful situations after
excess caffeine.
Supplements that may help with
Stress, Emotional Distress and Depression
Nutri-Calm - herbal tablet combination with vitamins
included
Stress Packets - a combination of many different herbs for
stress in a packet
Valerian - Calming herb and sleep aid
Vitawave - Liquid vitamins, essential amino acids, and
adaptogenic herbs
5-HTP
- natural serotonin supplement
St John's Wort - inhibits serotonin re-uptake thus
allowing more to be available
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Stress in America
1 in 6 Americans suffers from
depression.
Only 22% of depressed patients
are treated adequately and say that their depression is
alleviated.
By 2020, depression will be
the No. 2 reported treatable condition in the country.
We spend more than $40 billion
annually on anxiety treatments.
Stress statistics in the U.S.
continue to skyrocket as we add pressures to our lives.
Financial, career, family, social, religious and health
demands increasingly overwhelm us, and our bodies are
responding with stress, depression and anxiety.
What Is Stress?
A nervous response of the
body and mind to external or internal irritants --
Essentially anything outside your comfort zone that you must deal with
--
Not just emotional or mental.
A prolonged illness or injury can cause your body to
respond as though under stress, taxing your adrenal
system as your body tries to heal itself.
Can be caused by “allergic
reactions, poor diet, nutritional deficiencies,
substance abuse or biochemical imbalances,”
—Dr. Konrad Keil, N.D.
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