Blog: Stress...Got any?

I realized last night, or make that early this morning, as I was lying wide awake in bed trying to figure out what I was going to write for my master’s program registration essay, that I have a stressful life.  I know you're thinking "Who doesn’t?" but hang with me for a minute.  Everyone has stress in his or her life.  Stress is what makes us get out of bed in the morning but how we manage that stress can impact every aspect of our life.

Stress is known to affect your body by causing headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, chest pain, change in appetite and my favorite: insomnia.  It also affects your mood.  Stress can cause anxiety, restlessness, depression, lack of focus and again my favorite: irritability. All this can lead to some behavior changes.  You may notice angry outbursts, social withdrawl, use of tobacco or alcohol, changes in eating patterns, under eating, or my favorite: overeating. 

Stress also has been found to lead to health issues.  One area of concern is the decreased immune response.  The body’s ability to heal itself and fight infection is related to the immune system.  The body releases cortisol during a stress event, which is part of the fight or flight response.  Over time, a higher level of cortisol in the body has been found to decrease the body’s immune response.  This can lead to more incidents of colds, illnesses, slower healing time and research continues on the link between stress and cancer.

So now that I am more stressed because of what stress is doing to my body, now what?  Do I go hide in the house, turn the television and cell phone off, quit my job and unplug my internet?  That is not a reasonable response but the best thing that you can do is learn how to manage your stress and learn relaxation techniques to use after the stressful incident. 

For more information on the bodies stress response there are several websites that you can utilize.  Try Google searching stress and you will get 406,000,000 responses.  Here are a few of my top findings: www.stress.org (American Institute of Stress) www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stress.html (National Institute of Health) and www.webmd.com (my favorite quick look spot for medical information).

Stay tuned next week I will reveal my favorite stress prevention and relief techniques.  You may be surprised at my favorite.