Stress – just hearing that word can conjure up negative feelings and emotions!

Stress itself is not necessarily an un-healthy thing, after-all, without our ancestors reacting to threats via their “fight or flight” instinct, we wouldn’t even be here.

It’s chronic stress that is the real foe.

When it comes to learning requiring the use of memory, chronic stress is a killer. It has devastating effects on both learning and memory with children being particularly affected.

Stress triggers negative reactions in the immune system and contributes to inflammation. Inflammation is linked to an array of health concerns and diseases – everything from diabetes to cancer, asthma and heart disease.

Past studies prove that the hippo-campus (the brain’s memory center) experiences an 8 percent shrinkage – as the result of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Chronic stress not only affects the way we feel and act, but affects the way we look! Many physiological processes are negatively affected and some are actually turned off by the stress response. Breathing and heart-rate increase, glucose is released (for immediate energy) and adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) flood the body.

Lack of blood flow to the skin, immune system functions, digestion, growth and reproduction are all put on hold.

This lack of blood flow to the skin affects how old we look.

But even worse than loss of blood flow, is how chronic stress affects the aging brain.

Toxins, poor diet, no exercise or social connections and repetitive routines all contribute to the loss of brain cells as we age but chronic stress exacerbates the issue. It actually kills brain cells.

Weight gain can result from chronic stress because digestion is dialed down during a stress response, leading to a variety of digestive disorders. Constipation, cramping and diarrhea can all be the result.

It’s very clear that if we want to age gracefully and enjoy stellar health, chronic stress must be managed.

Here’s some stress relief help:

1. Increase social engagement. The mere act of sharing your daily woes with others is a great way to bring your troubles down to size and put them into perspective. Once you realize you are not the only person to have to deal with crazy situations and people you will feel a lot better about your lot in life.

2. Do more physical activity. Once again, exercise comes to the rescue. Adding moderately intense physical activity to your life is a great way to lower the level of circulating cortisol in your body and decrease stress.

3. Watch shows that make you laugh. It is very difficult to laugh and also be stressed out at the same time.

4. Get more sleep. Lack of sleep is a great way to amplify the little stresses in life and make them seem intolerable. If you are sleep deprived, look for ways to hit the pillow sooner. A great night of sleep can make a world of difference to your outlook on life.

5. Eat better. It may sound strange to hear nutrition mentioned when it comes to stress reduction. But one of the consequences of high stress is that your body prioritizes the production of cortisol over the synthesis of other important hormones that your body needs to properly regulate itself.

It’s time to take command of your life, and control of your stress.

Stress is our modern society’s silent predator. It creeps up on us all unawares until one day, we have a melt down and the doctor says: “Take a holiday, distress – you’re carrying too much stress”. A friend of mine thought he was having a heart attack – he had all the symptoms – but it turned out that he was just highly stressed and didn’t know it… Scary huh?

Unfortunately, we adults aren’t the only ones prone to carrying too much stress. Our children carry more stress then we realise, their young lives are filled with stress inducing situations.

How Stress Builds

Stress is our body’s response to adrenaline and cortisone in our blood stream. These two neurotransmitters are released when we perceive ourselves to be in dangerous or threatening situations. Sometimes these situations are life threatening – like when a bush fire is raging near our home, or we are in a car accident.

Other times (and more commonly) the situations are ones we would term stressful because we need to perform at a high standard under public scrutiny. For example, the athlete at a track meet, the public speaking you need to do at the next team meeting, meeting your boy/girl friend’s parents for the first time, going on a blind date…

Stress is a useful thing in small doses. It builds, we perform in a heightened state of awareness, it leaves and we feel drained but pleased by our performance. Problems begin to creep in when we don’t fully discharge the stress. When we move from stressful situation to stressful situation and don’t have the explosive charge of energy that releases the pent up feelings created by the release of adrenaline and cortisone into the blood stream.

We become irritable, edgy, restless. Not massively, but just enough to not be fully comfortable. It’s a vague sense of “something isn’t right”, and most of us have crutches that we use to mask it. Things like coffee (in large amounts), TV (shows we MUST see…), computer games (I need to play for 3-4 hours so that I can unwind), sex, alcohol, cigarettes, food… All of these and more. The crutches we reach for when we are feeling stressed, overwhelmed or under the weather…

The crutch masks the feeling for a short while but doesn’t actually do anything to release the feeling. When our crutch wears off, we feel much the same as we did before and so we reach for it again…

Over time, as more stresses build (job, things we view on TV, things we hear on the radio, or talk about at our coffee breaks, our home life situation, relationships with spouse, children, bosses, family and friends) and we don’t release that stress, it becomes an ingrained habit. It affects our body posture, the way we hold ourselves; even when we are “relaxed”. Muscles are tensed and held in tense anticipation of sustained effort; except we don’t follow through with the action.

Think about it for a moment. When you are stressed, do you tense your shoulder muscles? Clench your jaw? Tighten the muscles in your lower back or buttocks?

For the majority of people, that is all they do. Tense the muscles and soldier on. Muscles get locked in contracted positions and the ache we first felt gets ignored. Over time we become desensitised to the stiffness and tension. Until eventually, we have a major catastrophe.

Where Do We Store Stress?

As mentioned above, stress is stored primarily in our muscles. Most notably, lower back, middle back and shoulders. How many people do you know complain about a sore back? Or stiff neck? If you are anything like me, you know plenty.

How does this affect us?

Have you ever noticed people who walk hunched over? Their shoulders are collapsed and their chin is tucked in… Do these people seem vibrant and open to learning? Not really. More often we would say that they were depressed, had the weight of the world on their shoulders, looked sad etc.

Stress does that to a person. The more stress we have carried and desensitised to, the more our body shows it. In the case of lower back pain, we carry ourselves stiffly; no longer do we have a full, swinging gate. The hips are blocked and our natural rhythm is restricted. We look tense!

So, how does this relate to our children?

Have you ever noticed your child coming home from school with a similar body posture to the one described above? Their little shoulders are hunched over, their head is tucked in and their back almost seems to bulge out… They shuffle in and head for the fridge, TV or computer game… Ask them how their day was and you get a single word answer as they disappear from sight. Chances are, your little one is carrying a large amount of stress that they don’t know how to deal with.

Or, your child comes home “in a mood”, comments from yourself or their siblings result in a snarling, angry, defensive response. They are like little kettles – always on the verge of “going off”. You step carefully around them, not sure what will set them off.

So where does all of this stress come from?

Stress In The Learning Environment and Its Impact On Learning…

Stress for our children often begins right from the moment they get up (and according to some experts even while they sleep). In most families, the TV is one of the first electrical appliances to be turned on of a morning – so that the parents can “catch up on the news”…

However, the images that are on most morning programs are violent, depressing, scary and horrific. They instantly increase the body’s production of cortisone and adrenaline because the human mind cannot differentiate between it’s happening to them and it’s happening to me when we are viewing it on a TV screen!

Most TV producers know this. They know that the shows which increase our production of cortisone and adrenaline are the ones we become addicted to. They provide us with our “fix” – the fix of heightened awareness. That is why shows need to become more violent, more dramatic and scarier in order to keep their audiences spellbound and the ratings high.

So stress is beginning before the day has really started… Then there is the food they eat for breakfast. Most kids catch a hurried meal of some “nutrient enhanced” cereal. Not only are the ingredients used to create these so-called healthy breakfasts suspect, most kids have a difficult time digesting wheat and dairy products.

This kind of stress is called environmental stress – stress created by external stimuli in the environment.

Then, our already stressed child hits the school playground. Most kids with a learning difficulty live in fear of being picked on by others. Fear rises as they approach the school gate; stress rises as they imagine what might happen that day at school…

Class starts, and our stressed student begins to struggle. Their Learning Profile comes into play and depending on which senses are limited, their day continues to deteriorate. The teacher, their peers and themself all become frustrated and stressed.

Lunch time rolls around. The natural reaction to stress is to move – explosively, with force and with little regard to the well-being of others. Uh oh, here comes the teacher on playground duty! Run, duck, hide, nope caught. Stress levels climb again.

Or worse still. Lunch time detention. No outlet to release the stress that has been building all morning. Forced to sit still with a teacher that has the expectation that you are going to be “bad” or ” naughty”- after all, you wouldn’t be in detention if you were one of the “good” students.

Afternoon session rolls around. Yay, it’s fun activities such as sport or art or music. Except no one wants to pick you for their team, or sit beside you or share their art supplies because you’re bouncing off the walls with excess energy – energy caused by the adrenaline and cortisone in your body. So more stress rises as you realise that no one likes you and the teacher is getting very frustrated with you and it’s likely that this afternoons’ behaviour is going to result in detention or some form of punishment tomorrow…

Then it’s home we go. For some kids there is a punishing round of sport and extracurricular activities that are meant to enhance our chances of success in life. For others, it’s home to the afternoon cartoon and kids shows on TV (which are filled with violence, danger, excitement and drama) or computer games that are again based on violence, competition, or drama of some kind. Usually accompanied by soft drinks, convenience foods such as chips, lollies, chocolate etc.

At some point, parents raise the subject of homework, which reminds our stressed child of all the negative, stressful things that occurred during the day. At this point, homework becomes a battleground and often the parent retreats in defeat or forces the issue which creates more stress and a feeling of ill-will between parent and child…

All living beings have some level of stress. It’s part of the natural process of life. Your mind and body react to both positive and negative triggers for stress. Whether positive or negative in nature, certain experiences generate a stress reaction, which subsequently has a direct effect on the body.

Benefits and Detriments of Stress

Your body’s response to stress in the short-term helps you deal with difficult situations. Your body releases hormones, raises your heart rate, and increases your breathing. As a result, your brain gets more oxygen, which gives you a definite advantage in dealing with the source of your stress. Thus, momentary stress is beneficial because it helps you function better. However, continued and chronic stress causes many negative symptoms and is detrimental to your overall health.

Alleviating Stress

When people think of alleviating stress, they usually think of things like long hot baths, warm oil massages, cozy catnaps, meditation, or a large glass of wine. They don’t usually think of acupuncture. However, over the centuries acupuncture has been used to treat anxiety, pain, stress, and other forms of discomfort and disease in the body. Acupuncture has been around for thousands of years and is still used by many, even many high-profile people in the world.

Acupuncture for Stress Relief

The hub of Traditional Chinese Medicine is acupuncture. It has been used for centuries in the treatment of many ailments, specifically in pain management. The idea of needles being placed in your skin may be a source of stress in itself, but actually, the placing of the special acupuncture needles into the energy nodes of the body relieves blockages interfering with the flow of qi (pronounced chee), or the life force. Many well-known actors, athletes, politicians, singers, and models get regular acupuncture treatments to help them manage stress and promote their overall health, just ask supermodel Elle Macpherson who gets regular acupuncture treatments. Actually, many people from all walks of life have found the benefits of acupuncture for relief from stress and stress symptoms.

New scientific studies are showing that acupuncture really has a biological response in the human body. In these recent studies, stress hormone levels are shown to be considerably diminished in laboratory animals that are given acupuncture treatments. Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine have known for a long, long time that the healing practice of acupuncture helps reduce stress and anxiety in those patients who receive it, while it supports their general health and wellbeing.

Presently, there are some health centers, mental health clinics, and rehabilitation centers that offer acupuncture as part of their treatment options, and it might even be covered by your insurance. We can only hope that acupuncture becomes more and more accessible to everyone in order for people to deal with the many stressors of the modern age.

We all know the word stress and most of us know when we are being stressed, but do you know the symptoms that show you are over stressed?

If you do, and can spot them early and there are some exercises and techniques explained below that can let you beat them before you need medication.

The Stress Symptoms

Almost always when you are being stressed, you will notice a tightening of your muscles, usually in the hands and arms, sometimes the legs and feet.

Your blood pressure will rise, and your skin temperature will as well. These are normal responses from your natural “fight or flight” reflex.

If you are a bit observant and watch yourself carefully, you can identify these stress responses by your body.

Short-Term Stress is Good. Long-Term Stress is Deadly

If the above stress responses occur because you are in some sort of danger, and you have to protect yourself (by fighting or fleeing), then the stress is good. However they must be controlled.

A good example is being in a long line at the airport, with a nasty airline employee greeting you after your turn finally comes. The employee can stress you to very high limits, and you need all your self-control.

You will see your stress symptoms appearing.

Your quick reaction is needed. You must assert yourself, and get the employee to do their job, and quickly, and politely.

Your fighting will be by mental means, and verbal delivery. This short-term stress was a good thing.

Your body’s reactions were healthy for you, and all your natural anti-oxidants raced throughout your body to clear up any free radicals that were present.

However, if you suffer the above symptoms from an aggressive boss or co-worker at work on a daily basis, you are heading for real trouble.

Daily stress will:

o Weaken your immune system.

o Cause various organs to malfunction or fail.

o Produce undesired chemicals (hormones and enzymes) in your system.

Eventually you will become ill if you subject yourself to a daily stress that has the ability to produce stressor-reactions.

De-Stress! And Beat Stress

If you understand that your stress is becoming chronic, you must begin to de-stress at the sign of the first symptoms.

It’s easy; anyone can do it, anywhere. Follow these steps exactly, you will de-stress at once.

o Initial deep breathing. Stop a moment, whatever you are doing, and take three deep and profound breaths. Close your eyes and visualize the air racing into your lungs with healing energy, and racing out of your lungs with stress-filled spent energy.

o Withdraw! Wherever you are, there will be a restroom. Go there at once. Wash your face and especially your wrists with cold water. Feel the cold water bringing you balance (from the overheating the stress causes). Your skin temperature will actually drop! While you are alone, deep breathe as in the next step

o Take three more deep breathes, but this time, double the inhalation response and the exhalation response. This is done by taking a double breathe, one short, followed by a longer breath. The exhalation is the same, double. At the end of three deep double breathes, you will be back to normal.

o The last step is to wait. Feeling calmer, sit down (a toilet is an ideal place) and wait about 3 minutes. Feel yourself getting back to normal.

You are ready to face the world again, de-stressed. Remember, do these exercises each time you feel a prolonged stress, as the short stress is good for you, but long term stress is a killer. Look after yourself!

A stress fracture in your foot or ankle often results in pain, swelling and tenderness. Stress fractures involve a small crack or severe bruising found inside the bone. These tiny cracks are often caused over a period of time, from overuse and repetitive motions. They can also be associated with sudden changes or increases in physical activity.

Stress fractures may be the result from several causes, rather than one issue in particular. Bone insufficiency, poor conditioning, improper technique, inadequate equipment and changes in training surfaces, may all be responsible for causing this common source of pain. It is also possible to sustain one during a fall, a sports injury, or from dropping something heavy on top of your foot.

Because feet and ankles are responsible for weight bearing activities, it is extremely common to sustain a stress fracture in these areas. Here is an overview of four different types of stress fractures located in the foot and ankle.

1. Navicular: This condition is caused by an incomplete crack in the navicular bone. Navicular describes the bones located in the mid-foot. Fractures in this area are caused by excessive weight bearing activities over time.
2. Metatarsal: This type of fracture impacts one or more of the five metatarsal bones located in the forefoot.
3. Ankle: While this pain is sometimes misinterpreted as shin splints, stress fractures in the ankle are difficult to diagnose. The area of the ankle is quite complex, so this common injury can sometimes be overlooked. It’s important to consult an experienced physician if you have an ankle injury that is causing you pain.
4. Heel: This large bone, forming the foundation of the back of the foot, is susceptible to stress fractures as well. These injuries are more severe when they involve the heel bone. Sometimes they involve damage to the joints or even the cartilage. Heel pain or fractures could become a chronic issue, so it very important to treat the symptoms early.

These four different types of stress fractures in the foot and ankle have different levels of pain and consequences. Regardless, it is always necessary to treat the pain before it worsens. The best way to treat any of these areas (your foot, heel, toes, and ankle) is by using the RICE method. This includes: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. If normal activities become too painful to complete, its advisable to rest the area for some time.

Stress fractures may become severe if left untreated. If after following the RICE protocol and slowly returning to your activities still leaves you in pain, you should seek medical attention from a qualified physician like an orthopedic doctor. A thorough medical examination may be necessary to confirm the type of injury and best treatment plan.

We all get stressed out at work occasionally, but how do we know if it’s just pressure from a looming deadline or a more serious problem? Business stress is a common ailment in our society. We have tons of conveniences that help us do work faster, but somehow, this just translates into us having more work to do.

It’s important to know how to tell if you have a problem and even more important to know what to do about it.

The first indicator of too much stress at work is an extreme dissatisfaction with your job. Sure, most people aren’t truly happy with what they’re doing, but true job dissatisfaction seeps into other areas of your life. If you find you’re miserable when you’re at work and only dread going to work rather than enjoying your time off, you need to make some changes.

Stress at work can also cause physical symptoms. These include:

• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Contracting contagious illnesses more frequently
• Difficulty sleeping, whether you can’t go to sleep because you’re angry or worrying about work, or you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back to sleep because of a work-related problem

A combination of stress and these added physical problems can contribute to mental and emotional symptoms as well. If you are overstressed at work, you may find you have difficulty concentrating and finishing tasks, or find it more difficult to control your emotions. You may also find yourself having regular anger outbursts.

If you have some or most of these problems, there’s a good chance you already know. That’s because your work performance is probably suffering, whether it’s because of the physical and mental side effects, or just because you don’t want to be there.

The problem is, stress at work can overtake your life. It can endanger not only your career, but also your personal life, and most of all your health. Many people have heard by now that stress can increase your chances of serious illnesses like heart disease, but the secondary effects can be just as damaging as well.

If you find your job is making you stressed out you need to take quick action. Not only will it make you feel better and improve your health, it will also help increase your performance at work. Here are a few ways to help ease your stress:

• Address problems with your co-workers. This may mean working out differences or just establishing a privacy policy when your door is closed.
• Address job-related problems with your boss. If your problems have to do with your job duties rather than the people in your office, ask your boss if you can have a one-on-one chat. You may find your boss will gladly make some changes in order to get your productivity back up.
• Relax. Take small steps in your down time to reduce your stress level. This could include regular exercise, meditation, warm baths, aromatherapy, massage, or any other of a wide variety of methods.
• Find a new job. If all else fails and you’re still stressed out, you might want to consider looking around for something else. While it may add stress for a while, it will pay off in the long run.

When I bring up the topic of word stress to a group of non-native, English-speaking professionals, I’m usually met by blank stares. Word stress plays a minimal role among non-native speakers, but an enormous role in the intelligibility of your spoken English when speaking with native English speakers across borders.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Let’s look at a simple example. The word calendar can be broken down into 3 syllables: cal-en-dar. Of these three syllables, one is stressed more than the others, meaning it is said louder, longer, at a higher pitch, and/or with a purer vowel sound. In this case, the stressed syllable is the first one: CAL-en-dar. In Singapore for example, this word stress has changed to the second syllable, so it is common to hear it pronounced cal-EN-dar. This pronunciation has little resemblance to the standard one, and this is why native English speakers might have a really hard time making the connection.

There are many differences between Singapore English word stress and standard word stress. In this short article, I would just like to focus on one small piece in this puzzle: 2-syllable words. These words are so short it’s surprising that a simple shift in word stress can make such a huge difference – but it does.

2-syllable nouns and adjectives

Most 2-syllable nouns and adjectives have stress on the first syllable.

In Singapore however, this stress is often moved to the second syllable, or both syllables are given equal stress. Some words I often hear in Singapore are collEAGUE (instead of COLLeague) and purCHASE (instead of PURchase). This pattern of word stress is so ingrained in Singaporeans, many will fight me on this point until they are blue in the face (if we don’t find a dictionary before then).

And it’s not just Singaporeans! My husband, a non-Singaporean and non-native English speaker, came home the other day and told me he had to write up a few purCHASE orders. When I corrected his pronunciation, he completely resisted and declared that this time, I was definitely wrong! I asked him where he learned this word, and when he said, “From my collEAGUES!” I decided to give up.

2-syllable verbs

2-syllable nouns, when used as verbs, shift their stress to the second syllable.

The majority of nouns that also have a verb form (eg: progress, present, object, produce, record) will be stressed on the first syllable when used as a noun, and the second syllable when used as a verb. Take for example the word progress. Watch how the stress changes depending on how the word is used.

We are making great PROgress in this field. (noun)

New technologies are helping us to proGRESS in this field. (verb)

Unfortunately for us, there are many exceptions to this rule. Some words will remain the same (keeping stress on the first syllable), such as answer, picture, travel, visit and several others.

Remember the old taxi booking recording? “Please do not hang up. We are proCESSing your booking now.” According to our general rule, this pronunciation would make sense, but unfortunately, the word process is an exception. Listen carefully the next time you order your taxi. You’ll notice that they now use the proper pronunciation, ‘PROcessing.’

If you had never heard about word stress before this article, please don’t get too stressed out! The good news is that non-native English speakers pay little attention to word stress when speaking English with each other. Ironically, it’s only the native English speakers that get confused! If you find that native speakers are having trouble understanding you, pay special attention to how you are stressing your words. Sometimes it isn’t what you say, but how you say it that matters!

In order to understand stress better, it is a good idea to understand that there are different stress levels. These levels vary in the form of stress they take and they can often provide an indication of how to treat the stress. Furthermore, there are tests available that can help people understand their own, particular brand of stress and, with this knowledge, they can also understand themselves better. Then, with this information, a complete stress management method can be constructed. So, when you examine your own stress, keep these stress levels in mind so that you can come to grips with yourself and learn the proper methods for keeping your mind balanced.

These stress levels were found and characterized by Dr. Hans Selye and Dr. Richard Earle of the Canadian Institute of Stress. Thus, the names and types are theirs.

Type 1 – The Speed Freak

This stress level is characterized by an incessant need to be giving 110% at all times. They are often perfectionists, they tend to speak quickly, and they are very impatient. Generally, Speed Freaks have learned that it is necessary to work hard in order to succeed, so they figure that, if they are working hard all the time, they are certain to succeed. This, of course, is not necessarily the case, since running full-bore all the time will only lead to stress over minor issues.

Speed Freaks need to learn how to relax and they need to clarify their goals so that they will work hard on things that really matter, while relaxing while they are working on more mundane tasks. By doing this, they can get up to speed when they need to put in the effort and conserve energy the rest of the time.

Type 2 – The Worry Wart

The Worry Wart stress level is characterized by an inability to stop thoughts, but an equal inability to put thoughts into action. They tend to overanalyze things to the point that they paralyze themselves. Thus, they simply end up spinning their wheels as they get nowhere. True to the name, Worry Warts tend to spend a lot of their time worrying and this only leaves them even more incapable of action.

Worry Warts need to think very specifically about the problems they are facing, write down every possible thing that can go wrong, then think about just how likely these events are. Then, once everything is treated with a philosophical distance, the worry will decrease and the Worry Wart can move on toward their goals.

Type 3 – The Drifter

Drifters are people who keep so many options open that they are incapable of actually developing any skills in depth. Instead of focusing their energies on specific life goals, they end up putting effort into a variety of tasks so that none of them every really get done. Thus, their hours are spent productively, but their hours rarely produce anything concrete. In fact, they create a paradox of complete freedom in which they are trapped by their own inability to use that freedom effectively.

Drifters need to clarity their life goals, focus on things that make them feel worthwhile, and try to build up a life that is open to more than just work. Then, once they have a place to direct their efforts, they can shed all the excess nonsense that they surround themselves with.

Type 4 – The Loner

This stress level is recognizable by the fact that Loners are unable to create meaningful relationships with others. This is due to the fact that they generally work alone, so that do not receive much feedback from others. Thus, rather than building relationships that can help support them, they tend to crawl into a shell and keep other people outside of it. Thus, as they avoid shared experiences with others, they become incapable of finding out what they enjoy and who they enjoy doing it with.

Loners should attempt to clarify their own values, then work to build relationships with people who share those values, which in turn gives Loners a way to move toward their goals. This will give them both a purpose and a support structure that can help them succeed in that purpose.

Type 5 – Basket Cases

This stress level is very dangerous, as Basket Cases are creating their own energy crises. Instead of caring for themselves, they tend to be achy, depressed, and they often decide that activities are simply too much effort. They are often in poor health and their own malaise and depression makes it hard to do anything about it.

Basket Cases need to start eating right in order to start the healing process. Then, after a few weeks, they should start exercising. Then, once they have a little more energy, they need to learn how to conserve energy by taking breaks during work and not overextending themselves.

Type 6 – Cliff Walkers

Cliff Walkers are people who are at risk for destroying their health. They tend to look worn, they often smoke, eat badly, drink too much, and rarely exercise. However, they usually figure that nothing bad will ever really come out of their bad habits, so they cause themselves even more damage. Thus, they tend to have problems maintaining their energy.

The treatment for Cliff Walkers is the same as that for Basket Cases. Eat right, then start an exercise program, then learn to conserve energy so that they are not constantly worn out.

By understanding stress levels, people can not only learn more about themselves, they can also learn how to succeed. Then, once a person’s particular type of stress is treated correctly, the very portions of the personality that were once a burden can become a boon. Thus, learning about stress levels can actually help people achieve their goals.

Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton

Most people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis can do a better job of managing the stress in their lives. While this holds true for most people in general, and not just those with an autoimmune hypothyroid disorder, the fact remains that stress can be one of the causes behind this condition. And if it isn’t the cause of your disorder, then without question it can make your condition worse if you don’t do a good job of handling it.

What you need to realize is that our bodies were not designed to handle chronic stress, but instead was meant to deal with acute stress situations. So what happens is when a person has chronic stress (which seems to describe most of us in this society), this in turn can weaken the immune system, and can also have a negative effect on other areas of the body, such as the adrenal glands. This compromised immune system or stressed adrenal glands can ultimately lead to the formation of an autoimmune condition, such as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.

So the goal here is to give you twelve stress management tips that can help restore your health back to normal, prevent your condition from becoming worse, and/or reduce the likelihood of developing other conditions in the future. This might sound too good to be true. But when you understand that chronic stress is not something your body was designed to handle AND that there a number of things you need to do to manage the stress in your life, you’ll realize that following the advice I’m about to give can do wonders when it comes to your health.

Here Are The 12 Stress Management Tips:

Tip #1: Try to keep a positive attitude most of the time. While a positive attitude alone isn’t enough to manage your stress, having one can definitely help. Obviously nobody can be positive 100% of the time. But many people seem to always carry a negative attitude with them, which definitely won’t help you cope with the stress in your life.

Tip #2: Begin a regular exercise program. You want to engage in some type of cardiovascular activity at least 3-4 times each week, ideally for at least 30 minutes each time. This can include taking a walk outside or on a treadmill, going on the elliptical machine or stationary bike, or anything else that will make you sweat a little. I realize some people with autoimmune disorders might not have the energy to exercise. If this describes you, even 20 to 30 minutes of walking will be beneficial. Besides engaging in cardiovascular exercise, other activities that can help you to manage stress include yoga and Pilates.

Tip #3: Eat healthier foods. Most of us can do a much better job of incorporating healthier foods into our diets. I don’t expect anyone who has been eating poorly to immediately give up all of the “bad foods” they love. But even making small changes in what you eat can have a big impact on your health.

Tip #4: Drink plenty of purified water each day. Many sources suggest that you should drink at least eight tall glasses of water each day. The problem with this is that everyone has different needs based on their weight, and so I recommend that you should drink half of your body weight in ounces. So for example, if you weigh 140 pounds, then you would want to drink at least 70 ounces of water each day. And please don’t drink tap water, as you really should be drinking purified water.

Tip #5: Take quality nutritional supplements. Since most of us don’t eat a perfect diet, it’s important to take some quality nutritional supplements on a daily basis. At the very least you should take a quality multi-mineral vitamin and fatty acid each day. There are a lot of poor-absorbing supplements being sold, and so you do need to be careful. I personally recommend whole food supplements to my patients, rather than the synthetic vitamins that are sold by most retailers.

Tip #6: Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night. I know this might seem difficult to do, especially if you need to wake up early for work. And once again, some people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis will have difficulty falling to sleep and/or will wake up in the middle of the night. So until they get this problem addressed then it admittedly will be difficult for them to get eight hours of quality sleep on a regular basis. Often times sleep problems are caused by stressed out adrenal glands, which most endocrinologists and medical doctors don’t address.

Tip #7: Avoid environmental toxins as much as possible. While it’s not possible to avoid these completely, you need to realize that these toxins really do affect our health. I’m not going to discuss everything you can do to avoid these toxins, but I will tell you two things you can do to that will help you in the long term. First of all, install a filter in your shower that removes chlorine, as this can really help boost your energy levels. Second, stop buying household cleaners with harsh chemicals, and instead get some natural household cleaners at your local health food store.

Tip #8: Make love more often. Having sex increases the endorphins in your body, which also will help you to manage stress. So make love with your partner more often.

Tip #9: Get a monthly massage. Schedule an appointment with a licensed massage therapist and treat yourself to a monthly massage. Massage therapy is not just about stress management, as there are many other benefits as well. But one of the big benefits of massage therapy is that it can help to relieve stress.

Tip #10: Consider seeing a chiropractor. Okay, I’m admittedly a little bit biased here, being that I have a chiropractic background. But since spinal adjustments help to balance out the nervous system, receiving them from a chiropractor can also help to relieve stress. Like massage therapy, there are so many other benefits when it comes to chiropractic.

Tip #11: Talk to someone. Sometimes speaking with someone can help relieve your stress. This doesn’t necessarily mean talking with a counselor, although in some cases this can be helpful. But even talking with a good friend, family member, or acquaintance can really help.

Tip #12: Don’t take life so seriously. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take certain aspects of your life seriously. But on the other hand, many of us let things stress out that really shouldn’t. Write down a list of some of the things that cause stress in your life, and then take a look at these tips I have just given you, and determine how you can apply this advice to those things that stress you out on a regular basis.

For example, if you have a job that stresses you out, then perhaps you need to change your attitude (or change your job!). Or it might be that you’re not eating well and/or not getting enough sleep. These lifestyle changes won’t get rid of the stress in your life, but will help you better manage it. If your spouse is stressing you out, then perhaps counseling is the answer for you.

So here you have it, as if you follow at least 75% of these tips (9 of 12), including all of the first six I listed, you will do wonders in managing your stress. This admittedly is an incomplete list, as there are other things you can do to manage your stress. But these are some of the more important ones that can truly help to restore your health, and help you to maintain your health.

Stress can be defined as a state of mental, physical or emotional strain resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. High stress levels are linked with excessive amounts of the hormone cortisol, which can induce negative mental and physical effects. In “The Cortisol Connection,” Shawn Talbot describes how stress (“what you feel when life’s demands exceed your ability to meet those demands”) can cause blood levels of cortisol to rise excessively. Unless amounts of this hormone are brought under control, there is little point in dieting or exercising to prevent weight gain and disease. The book describes ways of lowering cortisol to levels compatible with excellent health.

The Physiology of Stress

Stress is the body’s way of responding to threat. The experience of fear or a perceived threat to safety, status, or well-being triggers the release of a complex hormonal mix into the bloodstream, which switches the body into ‘fight or flight’ mode. Stress symptoms include anxiety, irritability, insomnia, digestion problems and depression. In addition, excessive stress quenches the immune system, increasing vulnerability to disease; and shuts down the brain, leading to difficulty concentrating and to poor decision-making. Cortisol is one of the most important stress-related hormones, acting on the brain to control mood, motivation and fear. At normal levels, it exerts beneficial effects, but when levels become too high it can cause unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure and immune system deficiencies.

Stress benefits

Cortisol can and does play a positive role in everyday life. In moderate amounts, it regulates alertness, relaxation and activity levels, The daily act of waking up from sleep is closely followed by a boost in cortisol levels to provide energy for the demands of the day, while another boost in the late afternoon provides second wind. Short-term surges in cortisol levels also occur in response to experiences perceived as exciting and fun, such as rock-climbing in adults or the anticipation of birthday presents in children. A boost in brainpower is the reason many people work better under stress, which also promotes resilience and, at least temporarily, increases immunity to pathogens.

Chronic Stress: causes and consequences

The causes of chronic (ongoing) stress are varied and highly individual: one person’s stressor could be another’s relaxant. However, some fairly universal triggers of negative stress are bereavement, unemployment and sleep deprivation. A chronically stressed body produces higher cortisol levels than normal, which adds the problem of overweight to life’s other burdens. Furthermore, the fat gained with cortisol-induced stress tends to accumulate around the abdomen, and is linked with the development of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But it does not end there: cortisol secretion increases with age, explaining why most people grow fatter with the years, and why people with high stress levels are less able to lose weight than relatively unstressed individuals, even when exercising. To cap it all, excessive levels of cortisol can not only cause disease and speed up ageing but can also act on the brain directly, increasing forgetfulness and accelerating the development of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

Thus, the best chance of combating weight gain and health problems appears to lie in minimising or, better still, eliminating stress triggers that cause the immoderate cortisol increases in the first place. It turns out that the negative effects of chronic stress can be reversed (even in people nearly 100 years old) through stress-lowering practices, regular exercise and optimal nutrition. In an ideal world, everyone would sleep at least eight hours per night, have only a brief work commute, spend a maximum of seven hours a day working and have plenty of free time. For those who live in the real world, however, the author offers this book as a manual for navigating successfully through stressful situations into an ongoing state of good health.

Remedies for chronic stress

That a lot of research went into the production of this book is evidenced by the extent and variety of its references, which include 15 books and almost 300 journal article citations current at the time of publication – a useful compendium in its own right. There are chapters dedicated to supplements that produce a variety of effects: stress adaptation, cortisol control, metabolism and relaxation. Common dietary supplements to avoid are also listed, with clear explanations of their negative long-term effects. The appendix contains daily food plans, and an extensive bibliography. It is unfortunate, however, that the author lays more emphasis on the role of supplements than on those of nutrition and exercise.

The role of food

One problem with food supplementation is its deviation from nature: food is meant to be consumed in its natural milieu, where the various nutrients can interact in ways best fitted for good health. An orange, for example, provides about 70 milligrams of vitamin C, but this vitamin is embedded in a matrix of fibre that helps maintain bowel health, and also contains vitamin A, some B vitamins, and the minerals calcium and magnesium – with a small dose of energy (about 50 calories) to boot. The standard vitamin C supplement provides an overwhelming excess (usually 1000 mg) of that vitamin alone; no fibre; and a variety of fillers, sweeteners, binders and other potentially harmful additives. Many studies, including a recent randomised controlled trial, have shown that positive changes in diet alone can effectively improve mental health even in cases of clinically diagnosed depression. When regular exercise is added to the dietary changes, results are even more spectacular.

Conclusion

It is well-known that good health is achievable through eating right, exercising more and stressing less. The Cortisol Connection describes ways of fine-tuning mental as well as physical health by lowering cortisol levels. Written in language accessible to the layperson, it documents numerous cases of positive results from cortisol-lowering supplements. Studies continue to demonstrate that most people can lower cortisol and stress levels effectively by consuming food of the right type and in the right quantities, without breaking the bank. Still, in these days of increased uncertainty and vulnerability over work, family and social interactions, this book may offer useful guidance on managing any attendant stress.