We welcome your Questions about Stress and will answer them either by email, our website or Blog.

Stress

1) What is stress? 

Stress is the pressure, strain or sense of inner turmoil resulting from our perceptions and reactions to events or conditions. Leading researchers agree that stress boils down to problems in perception and problems in communication.

2) What is Chronic Stress?

When daily stresses accumulate and you are unable to find relief, stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress is damaging to the body and mind and if not addressed, can lead to serious conditions.

3) How does chronic stress affect your mind?

Studies have associated prolonged exposure to cortisol (the major stress hormone) to shrinkage in the hippocampus (memory center). If stress becomes chronic, it can cause:

• Memory loss
• Loss of concentration
• Decreased performance and productivity at home and at work

 4) How does chronic stress affect your body?

Excessive stress is associated with:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Headaches
• Digestive problems
• Lowered immune response
• Weight gain
• Insulin-resistance, a primary factor in diabetes.
• Insomnia
• Sexual and reproductive dysfunction

5) How does stress affect your emotional health?

The inability to adapt to stress is associated with the onset of:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Disruption of normal levels of serotonin – critical for feelings of well-being
• Alcohol or drug abuse

6) How does stress affect your relationships at home and work?

Stress has been associated with a lessening of feelings of compassion for others. That, in addition to short tempers and feelings of not having enough time to spend cultivating relationships will have an adverse affect. Work relationships suffer for the same reasons with the addition of competitiveness and alienation due to feelings of insecurity stemming from stress-related loss of productivity and performance.

7) Is there such a thing as “good” stress?

The interesting dynamic is that some people seem to thrive with stress and others become exhausted – physically, emotionally and mentally. The bottom line is that how an individual perceives and reacts to the experiences of their lives determines whether they are stressed or not. The second and equally important variable is how we deal with the emotional reactions that accompany stress episodes. The people who thrive under stress learn to move quickly out of stressful emotions. Stressful feelings like anger and frustration deplete us while positive, heartfelt feelings like appreciation and enthusiasm give us vitality. So the answer is that if you experience a stressful episode and you’re able to feel and sustain a positive emotion, it can be called “good” stress.

8) If everybody’s stressed out, isn’t stress normal?

In our world, where every day there’s a new change and we are having to adapt much more rapidly than any of our ancestors, it is no wonder that people are feeling stressed. In those terms, stress is normal. But we do not have to allow everyday stressors to negatively affect our body and mind. We don’t have to just give up and say “it’s just the way things are.” It’s more important than ever before to learn ways of coping with stress that are easy, simple and practical. Our health and longevity depend on it.

9) Is there a simple and quick way to reduce my stress?

There are many stress relief practices, many of which involve deepening your breath for a period of time, that work to trigger the relaxation response in the body/mind. Visualization, counting breaths and becoming mindful of the sensations in the body all help to refocus the mind away from stress-producing thoughts. These techniques work in the short run, but in order to build stress hardiness, we need to reprogram our emotional reactions to stressors. That can be done through cognitive behavioral and other psychotherapies over time or by using the techniques offered by StressRx which are simple and easy and have been proven to work within a couple of weeks.

10) I said “yes” more than 3 times on the stress inventory.  What can I do to reduce my stress?

This website and many others offer stress tips and techniques which you can use to begin getting your stress under control. Yoga is a wonderful practice for calming the body and mind. Certain lifestyle and dietary changes are helpful, as well. However, if you are looking for a simple and easy step-by-step process that works quickly yet is life-changing and sustainable over time, we recommend the system taught by StressRx and developed by researches at the Institute of HeartMath. It has been research-tested by independent sources like hospitals and universities and has won awards for its stress monitoring and training technology.

Symptoms of Stress

1) What are typical symptoms of stress?

• Irritability and short temper
• Worry
• Depression and resignation
• Excessive eating, drinking too much, turning to drugs for relief
• Forgetfulness
• Aches and pains including headaches, neck pain
• Gastrointestinal distress
• Tension in face, jaw, shoulders, back or chest
• Shallow breathing and breathing mostly in upper chest
• Nervousness
• Fatigue
• Sleeplessness
• Getting sick more often
• Allergies
• Time pressure: feeling as if there is not enough time, too much to do

2) Will relieving my stress help with my memory loss?

Memory loss has been associated with prolonged exposure to cortisol (the major stress hormone), which causes shrinkage in the hippocampus (the brain’s memory center). The techniques offered by StressRx have been tested in research studies and found to improve memory and mental focus. Other studies on memory loss associated with stress indicate that when stress is reversed or minimized, the hippocampus is able to recover to some extent.