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Stress Management

    When a person is suffering from stress-induced anxiety, they will often experience a wide-range of physical symptoms.  Some of these symptoms will manifest in the heart region.   They might complain about pain in the chest and palpitations.  They could feel that something is wrong within their heart or their body itself.  A person suffering from anxiety is often quite exhausted and suffers from fatigue.  Anxiety often creates a situation for an individual where they don't want to discuss certain things with people. They can find themselves exhausted when they are not able to control the conversation according to what their needs are.  Weight loss can accompany anxiety, as a person often loses the desire to eat, or the physical symptoms associated with the stress cause a disturbance in the natural flow of the body.  Diarrhea or constipation can be a result of anxiety.  Additionally, stomach aches, indigestion, heartburn, colicky colon, irritable bowel syndrome, frequent urination, bladder control problems, and headaches can all be physical symptoms of anxiety.

    People who are suffering from anxiety might also find their sleep patterns disturbed.  They might find themselves unable to sleep at night, suffering from insomnia.  They might find themselves unable to function normally during the day, requiring additional sleep during daylight hours.  They might have trouble waking and find themselves constantly exhausted.  People who are suffering from anxiety might suffer from panic attacks and find themselves unable to think clearly.

    In addition to the numerous physical symptoms of anxiety, there are many mental symptoms of stress-induced anxiety.  Anxiety can result in feelings of self-consciousness, shyness, excessive perspiration, incessant introspective thinking and analyzing.  People who suffer from anxiety might find themselves over-thinking situations and worrying constantly.  Their constant worrying and thinking can create a cycle of emotional needs and demands, which create a feeling of unworthiness, if they don't get their needs filled. 

    Anxiety is one cause of stress that is commonly experienced by people.   When people experience stress, there are many mental symptoms that they may exhibit.  People suffering from stress may feel unable to cope with people and situations and may be extremely volatile and uneasy.  They might lash out at some people or be constantly irritable with others.  Often people suffering from stress have a difficult time letting go, laughing, showing their emotions, expressing their thoughts and feeling pleasure with life.  Feeling intense anger, rage and frustration are also symptoms of stress.

    Further emotional symptoms of people who are suffering from stress are: when they feel self-hatred, when they are neglectful of themselves and others, when they are unable to concentrate or they lack the desire to concentrate.  Those who are suffering from stress often feel that they are the target of anger, disgust or animosity from others.  They feel uncomfortable with other people, yet they don't want to be alone.  Stress can create feelings of dread for the future, panic attacks and fear of disease and illness. 

    When an individual is feeling stress, it is necessary and important to reduce the stress.   There are numerous techniques that can be used to help them.   There are many things that people can do to help reduce the stress in their daily life.  Many of these approaches to stress-reduction are simple lifestyle changes that can have great impact on people.  In a stress-filled world, we can do things slower:  Allow one-half hour for each meal, which allows one to eat slower; chew each mouthful slowly and completely; talk, walk and move at a slower pace; and work methodically, by doing one thing at a time, completing it before going on to the next.

    In order to reduce stress in our everyday lives, people need to take stock of their work life.  People should consider their job and decide if it can be changed or modified if they are unhappy with it.  They should consider what changes they could make.   People should work a maximum of ten hours daily and ensure that they have between one and two days off weekly.  People do not take enough holiday time away from work and life, they should allow themselves one holiday per year to get away from everything.  

    In order to reduce stress, people need to make some changes to their lifestyle such as: Finding a creative outlet or hobby, such as painting or music; massage, yoga or tai chi classes to aid in relaxation; take time daily to exercise or at least four times weekly; and find 15 minutes (at least twice a day) to meditate or practice relaxation techniques.

Changes to a person's lifestyle and work situation can certainly aid in stress-reduction, but a person needs also to do some work on their own attitudes and behaviour to aid in stress-reduction.  Smiling and being friendly to people can aid in reducing stress.   If a person is in an emotionally volatile stress-filled personal relationship, they need to seek help from a therapist to find answers and a solution.  Taking responsibility for who you are being and what you say to others is very important.   Stress becomes bottled up within if we do not release it and it is important for people to express their feelings openly, without hostility.  If you cannot express what you feel, think and experience, these emotions can get bottled up and trapped within, with no outlet to vent or express yourself and can cause stress for you. 

    Stress can be created not necessarily from what we are experiencing in this moment, but from concentrating on what happened previously and what has happened in the past.   People can cause themselves stress when they spend time focusing on what has happened previously and place unnecessary energy and worry into what was.   Additionally, when people worry about the future and spend time and energy thinking about what is to come, they can find themselves feeling undue  stress and anxiety.   A simple technique to help eliminate stress is by remembering that now is what is happening "in this moment" and we can't change the past and the future hasn't happened yet, so we should not worry about an unknown or something that we can't change.    

    When people suffer from stress and anxiety there are many techniques that can be employed to aid them in reducing the stress and tension they are feeling.  Some of the techniques, such as massage and exercise class, are something that they can "attend" or experience.  It is not something that they can personally "control" insomuch as their attendance is the key to following through.   Some of the other techniques are lifestyle changes that people need to employ.   These changes are something that they must do for themselves in order to reduce their stress, they are not something that is done to them.  Something that is important to stress management is finding the right tools for the person and being supportive for them.  It is important to empower people, give them numerous techniques for stress-reduction and support them in their change of lifestyle and behaviour.

    It is important to recognize the signs and symptoms of stress.   Anxiety is often caused by stress and many physical symptoms can be manifested in people.  There is a correlation between stress and anxiety and it is important to be aware of the many possible ways that stress can manifest in people.  It manifests physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  Stress management gives tools to people to use to help themselves alleviate stress and anxiety from their lives.  

Please note:  I am not a doctor.  I do not diagnose specific health challenges.  You are responsible for seeing to and continuing with your own medical care and treatment. Holistic Therapy, Counselling, and Spiritual Healing are complementary treatments which can be used in conjunction with other medical treatment.

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