Stress

Spring Grove

Counseling & Wellness Center

A Private Practive Group

Stress

The constant pressure associated with living in a fast-paced world has created an environment where nearly everyone is suffering from excessive stress. Stress is a general term used to describe the reactions our body and mind experience in reaction to everyday tensions and pressures. While it is often easy to notice the effect that large changes have on our functioning, we often underestimate or ignore the impact of the common everyday hassles—like rush hour traffic, waiting in line, and problems at work. These “minor” stressors are often the ones that cause the most damage over time.

Stress often expresses itself as resistance, tension, strain, or frustration that throws off our physiological and psychological equilibrium, keeping us “out of sync” and off balance. If our balance is disrupted for too long, the stress can show up as disease or emotional problems.

Stress affects people physically, mentally, and emotionally. According to the American Institute of Stress, up to 90% of all health problems are related to stress. Too much stress can contribute to and agitate many health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, and sleep problems. Research has clearly shown this link between stress and illness:

	Over one-half of heart disease cases are not explained by the standard risk factors, such as high cholesterol, smoking, or sedentary lifestyle.
	According to the Mayo Clinic, among individuals with heart disease, psychological stress was the strongest predictor of future cardiac events, such as cardiac death, cardiac arrest, and heart attacks.
	Three 10-year studies each concluded that emotional stress was more predictive of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease than smoking. People who were unable to effectively manage their stress had a 40% higher death rate than non-stressed individuals.

What can you do about stress?

First it is important to understand that it is not the events or situations that do the harm—its how you respond to those events. Emotions have a powerful effect on the human body. “Negative” emotions like frustration, helplessness, and anxiety inhibit optimal functioning. “Positive” emotions like appreciation, care, and love promote health and well-being. Various strategies can be used to help you decrease the amount of “negative” emotions and increase the positive. These include Counseling & Therapy, Mindfulness Training, and Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRV). Talking with a trained professional can help to identify the contributing factors to your stress, help you evaluate your current strengths and areas of needed growth, and develop a plan for addressing needed skills and lifestyle changes.

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Stress

Last modified: September 17, 2008