Stressed out - what can you do

“Every year over 13 million working days are lost to stress or stress-related illnesses, and it accounts for 70% of visits to doctors. The credit crunch and recession have made more people stressed as increasing numbers lose their jobs and homes, and worry about how to make ends meet.
   Life is full of stress all the time. You can get over one hurdle and be sure that the next one is just around the corner, but because you can’t change events you can only change how you respond to them. Major life events that cause stress include bereavement, serious illness, divorce, and job loss. Many people find that the more joyful events in life can be stressful too, such as getting married, moving home and having a baby! And that’s not to mention traffic jams, overcrowded trains, or trying desperately to talk to a human being at the bank and having to listen to telephone prompts and ‘soothing’ music.
What is stress?
Stress is often linked to depression, anxiety, anger, grief, frustration, guilt or sadness. It makes you feel as if you can’t cope and that everything is overwhelming you. Signs that you are stressed vary from person to person and are often easier to recognise in someone else. You may cry a lot, feel irritable, feel tired all the time, be depressed, have physical ailments such as stomach problems and headaches, become irrationally angry or avoid people and situations.
   It can also cause serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, strokes, nervous breakdown and heart disease in the long term. There are plenty of ailments that can be stress-related such as ulcers, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, skin rashes and frequent colds.
The big picture
Yoga enthusiasts are most likely aware that active relaxation is one of the best ways of helping yourself to cope with stress. Nevertheless no-one is perfect and even the most balanced person can find it hard to cope when life becomes very difficult...”

Written by Frances Ive (author of STRESS -THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE, published by Need-3-Know), the article also covers the types of behaviour patterns that can cause stress, and continues to outline ways of reducing this.

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