Anger & Stress Management

Managing Stress

cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:45:13 +0000

Our lives have become much more stressful in the last 30 years. As a result, the need for managing stress has arisen. Stress is defined to be the body’s reaction to any changes in our life. Stress is, in a way, a signal which prepares us or getting prepared for eventuality. Thus, some amount of stress is essential for a healthy and lively life. However, the problem arises when stress increases beyond limit and you are under stress for a very long time. Facing stress for a prolonged time can give rise to serious types of illnesses which can be both mental as well as physical.

In extreme cases you can take professional help for managing stress. However, in mild cases some simple things can help you help you manage your stress. Laughter, positive imagery, deep breathing and muscle relaxation are some them.

Laughter is the best tool which definitely helps when it comes to managing stress. Spend much of your time with cheering around with people. Even if there are not much people around, books and videocassettes also are enough to make a person laugh and feel happy. Try taking everything lightly and cheerfully. You are not going to attain anything by worrying too much.

Thinking something positively and forgetting negative or unwanted things can keep you away from stress. Visualize that you are having the things which you like or you have always wanted in your life. The positive mental image that you will visualize will definitely bring changes in your mental state and emotions.

Deep breathing also is one of the practically effective techniques of reducing stress. Concentrate on your breathing a number times during a day. You can do this anywhere and anytime during a day. The deep breath should be right from the pit of your stomach, and inhalation should only be through the nose. Feel of energy coming in your which is revitalizing your body. Breathing out should be through the mouth, and it should be quiet, relaxing, sounding like, “whooossshhh”.

Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique which was developed by an American physiologist Edmund Jacobson. It is based on the principle that body responds to anxiety-provoking situations and thoughts with muscle tension. Muscular relaxation reduces such mental and bodily tension. The procedure for managing stress through muscular relaxation is a four step procedure which you can do at your home and without anybody’s help.

These are only four of the several useful techniques for managing stress. However, if such techniques do not help you, you can also take professional help i.e. from a reliable physiologist. He will first of all diagnose your case and study the conditions which have given rise to stress.

It is quite possible to measure stress and stress is actually measured in the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. Even devices that measure blood pressure as well as galvanic skin response are useful for this purpose.

Then depending upon your case he can use any of the techniques available for managing stress. Some of them are Autogenic Training, Cognitive Therapy, conflict resolution, exercise, meditation, deep breathing, relaxation techniques (fractional relaxation, progressive relaxation, stress balls) natural medicine, clinically validated alternative treatments, time management and music therapy. Also there are some medications available for relieving a person from severe stress.

Ways to Relieve Stress

cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:44:06 +0000

Stress is a psychological and physiological response to events that upset our emotional balance to a great extent. We all face different obstacles, challenges in our daily life and this creates pressure, which becomes difficult to handle. You may feel stressed out due to tension, when you are not sure of satisfying others needs, or when you feel overwhelmed. Stress keeps you on toes during if you are planning to appear for tests. Stress can be helpful to a certain extent. It can give you a push in the right direction, motivate you to do your best, along with all of this, stress can also help you to stay focused and alert. However, when it becomes difficult for you to cope up with this demanding world, you tend experience emotional as well as physical stress. There are various stress signs that can be easily identified by us, although, they vary from person to person. Stress can severely affect our body, mind and emotions. Some primary signs of stress are persistent stomach problems, skin outbreaks, and lower back pain. Hypersensitivity or crying jags are also indications of severe stress.

There are number of stress busters that help you relieve stress. Some ways to relieve stress are:

* Take three deep breaths slowly. If you don’t feel like meditating or if you don’t have the time to do so, just stop for a minute, take a deep breath through your nose, and let the tension drain from your muscles as much as possible. Deep breathing will relax you significantly.
* Making decisions and acting on those decisions can be another way to relieve stress. You can resolve everything that is bothering you. Make a list of things you want to do and get going. Sometimes letting things go can be an effective stress buster. Shopping too can be an amazing stress buster.
* Relax your tongue. If your teeth hold your tongue tightly, free it up so that it can just rest without tension.
* Take a vacation in minutes and visit to all the places you desire by means of creative imagination. You will definitely find peace and happiness through this type of exercise.
* Relaxing your facial muscles can be a way to relieve stress and try to maintain this relaxed face throughout the day.
* Slow down when you do not require moving very fast.
* Laughter is the best medicine. Laughter reduces stress and promotes relaxation.
* Listen to soothing and uplifting music.
* Enjoy watching a sunset.
* Practice progressive relaxation or yoga.
* Enjoy the aspects of water like bathing or swimming.
* De-stress yourself by talking to family and friends.
* Always do things that you enjoy. When you are totally engrossed in any activity, you won’t find any room for stressful thoughts. Also, get involved in physical activities. Physical activities include organizing or decorating your house, playing with the dog, cooking etc. These activities will help you drop your worries and keep a mental balance.
* Spend time with your partner.
* Decide your goals and formulate practical strategies to reach them.
* Go for an outing on a weekend with family or friends. This will definitely help you change your mood and will be a good way to relieve stress.
* Always exercise. The power of exercise acts as an excellent stress buster and also alleviates our mood during depression.
* Another way to relieve stress is known as forehead release. Place your palm and fingertips on your forehead in a gentle manner. Breathe deeply but slowly. Focus on whatever that is stressing you. Do this for at least three to five minutes to get effective results.
* Another way is to concentrate on the “third eye point”. Shut down your eyes and locate your fingertips on the point between the midst of your eyebrow. Breathe deeply but slowly for about three to five minutes in the same position.

These are a few ways to relieve stress. If they are taken into consideration, these simple tips will definitely help you reduce your stress as well as other stress- related diseases.

Symptons of Stress

cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:32:34 +0000

We humans are in a constant process of movement, both physically and psychologically, throughout our life. Therefore, stress is present in every step of the way. Whenever something new comes up, it is a ‘change’ and a ‘challenge’ for all individuals, thus the natural defenses of the body will unconsciously kick in to high gear in an attempt to face this ‘stressful’ situation.

Here’s a list of common signs and symptoms of stress that may come out in many facets;

Cognitive symptoms
* Memory issues
* Inability to concentrate
* Poor judgment
* Inability to make decisions
* Anxiety
* Anticipating negative things
* Worrying constantly
Emotional symptoms
* Agitation
* Restlessness
* Short temper
* Sense of isolation
* Sense of loneliness
* Moodiness
* Inability to relax
Physical symptoms
* Insomnia
* Headaches and Back pains
* Nausea and Dizziness
* Muscle tension and stiffness
* Acne
* Weight gain or loss (depending on the personality)
* Chest pains
Behavioral Symptoms
* Eating more or less than usual
* Sleeping too much or too little
* Overreacting
* Neglecting responsibilities
* Isolating from the company of others
* Excessive use of alcohol and cigarettes
* Displaying nervous habits such as nail biting, pacing etc.

It is important to remember that this list is not a full or comprehensive description of signs and symptoms of stress because reactions to stress vary from individual to individual.

However, going by statistics, psychologists have been able to come up with a list of top causes for stress; among which are death of a spouse/parents, divorce, separation from family, jail term, death of a close relative, injury or illness, marriage, loosing a job, marriage reconciliation, and retirement. We can safely say that there can be no particular symptoms of stress.
Coping with such situations is not easy. However, if at all you have been feeling stressful for a very long time, take action immediately. The important aspect is to feel good about yourself despite what is happening around you. When you feel good about yourself, you will feel confident. Feeling confident allows you to take charge of your life, including stress.
Attitudes are behavioral patterns which can be de-programmed and re-programmed. Therefore, it is important that you adapt a positive attitude and a sunny approach to life. It is important to come to terms with the reality and know that nothing on this earth is permanent. It is important to live your life with the realization that suddenly, one day your spouse may be gone, or your daughter may drop out of college or you may loose your job. Therefore, altering our perception and expecting the unexpected without falling victim to depression are great ways in which we can prepare ourselves to cope up with stress.

On a day to day basis, you meet a lot of people and involve in a lot of activities. It might take you more than a few weeks to realize that these menial activities have stressed you out. Once you come in to this realization, here is what you can do:

* Learn how to say ‘NO’ and be assertive. Voice your opinion without being arrogant.
* Avoid people that stress you out or whose company you do not enjoy. If it happens that you feel stuck with someone you don’t like, make sure you put the idea across in a tangible manner
* Take control of your environment by making sensible choices. There’s no rule which says that you must watch news on TV. If TV shows nothing but aggression, violence and gossip which you find difficult to swallow, simply switch your TV off.
* If you find yourself getting in to heated arguments with almost everybody over one or two topics (such as politics, religion, or ethnic conflicts) simply avoid the topics. You will feel much better
* Prioritize your work and delegate your tasks to reliable people

When you feel you can do all of the above and more, with minimal effort and stress to keep yourself in balance, your positive attitude towards life will flow over and through you!

Stress Anxiety

cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:29:54 +0000

Anxiety is a common expression that is used to illustrate several varieties of uncharacteristic, pathological fears, angst and other such phobias. The term exemplifies the state of these atypical nervous system problems as illogical or unscientific in its origin. These are the sort of fears that are usually not based on fact and are actually creations of the mind. Stress anxiety is a common term that is used to define a response to the very fact of being put under pressure.
Stress anxiety is universal in the sense that is may be perceived in a person. The expressions anxiety has accurate scientific meanings, but its extensive usage has made it synonymous with the term stress. Stress anxiety is more or less credited to the mind than the brain. Though this difference is difficult to point out, the fundamental fact is that anxieties are perhaps ‘created’ and thus, put people into a state of fear. As a case in point, a phobia is a type of anxiety that is also defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as an “unrelenting or unreasonable fear.” Fear is appropriately described as an emotional and physiological response to a recognized tangential peril or the source of such a threat.

Stress anxiety is an unpleasant emotional state, but the sources of this state of emotions are less readily recognized or known. It is often an appendage to the already existing physiological symptoms that could cause fatigue or complete exhaustion. Since fear of recognized intimidations causes comparable intolerable mental, emotional and physical changes, patients every so often use the expressions fear and anxiety in a transposable sense. It is important to distinguish among diverse anxiety types since precise diagnosis is more probable to be the answer to an effective and useful treatment and thus, an improved diagnosis. Surveys have revealed that as many as 30% of the American population may be distressed by such anxiety disorders. The symptoms of anxiety disorders are unwarranted worry and tension, an impracticable outlook towards problems, restlessness, irritability, tensions of the muscles, sudden changes in behavior, mood swings, getting easily startled etc.

Stress anxiety is thus, the result of the breakdown in adapting powers of the body. It is the condition that results when the transactions with the external environment lead the individual to make out an incongruity, whether real or imaginary, between the demands expected as a result of a particular situation and the resources of the person is able to provide to face the situation. When a person feels that the demands are over burdening him, he feels stressed out. Stress anxiety is thus, created by a person since he ‘feels’ that he is under stress. Stress anxiety may also be a result of unique happenings and situations that one may need to face in one’s life. For example, a person who has been subjected to some form of emotional torture may find it stressful to make normal relationships. Thus, anxiety is often times a by-product of the way a person’s mind functions.

Heart Stress Test

cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:25:07 +0000

The heart stress test is used for diagnosing heart diseases. The stress tests are the tests performed by an expert technician or physician to consider the amount of stress that your heart is able to manage before developing either evidence of ischemia or an abnormal rhythm. The exercise stress test is considered to be the most commonly performed stress test. The heart stress test is performed for several reasons like:

* to determine if there is proper blood flow to your heart while developing levels of activity
* to evaluate the effectiveness of your heart medicines to manage ischemia and angina
* to test the effectiveness of procedures performed to develop blood flow within the heart vessels of those who have coronary heart disease
* to identify uncommon heart rhythms

A stress echo cardiogram is one of the major types of the heart stress tests. This test is generally known as “echo”, which is a graphic outline of your heart’s movement. A stress echo can perfectly show pumping action and the motion of the heart’s wall when your heart is stressed.

Nuclear stress test is another major heart stress test that helps to find out which parts of your heart are healthy and work normally and which are not. During this test, a very small harmless quantity of radioactive substance is entered into the body of the patient. After that, the technician uses a special camera to identify the rays generated from the substance within the body. This procedure provides clear pictures of the heart tissue on a screen. Before preparing for this test, you can discuss with your doctor about any particular instructions.

The Adenosine stress is also performed as the heart stress test and it is used in patients who are unable to do any type of exercises. During this test, a medicine is provided to make the heart respond as if the patient was exercising. With this test, a doctor can identify how your heart responds to stress. Preparation for this type of test varies from the preparation for other tests.

Your doctor will inform you not to drink or eat anything except a small amount of water for at least three hours before the heart stress test. At the same time, you should avoid eating foods that have caffeine for 12 hours prior to the test, as the caffeine can interfere with the results of the test. You are also suggested no to take the heart medicines on the day of your test. However, if the doctor advises only then, you can take any type of medications on the day of the test. If you have any queries regarding your heart medicines, discuss with your doctor before the test. If you use an inhaler for adequate breathing, you should bring it with you into the test room.

If you have diabetes and take insulin to control your blood sugar, then ask your physician what quantity of the medicine you can take on the day of the test. Generally, the doctors suggest to take only half of the daily morning dose. However, if you take tablets to control the blood sugar, it is advisable not to take the medicine until your heart stress test is complete.

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cmsyquia — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:19:32 +0000

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