1-800-Stop-Stress

4 responses so far ↓

• 1 Bipolar Birdy // Mar 12, 2009 at 10:25 pm

  I take pills, lol

  there is no other way for me

• 2 astrologus491 // Mar 12, 2009 at 10:43 pm

  Pills such as Xanax are quick and easy ways of dealing with chronic stress. If they work and the anxiety is interfering with your life, I would recommend taking them as needed.

  Other ways to manage stress include…

  1. Breathing: Your breath is the only action in your body that you can do voluntarily and involuntarily. Thus, it is the best way to affect your involuntary actions (such as increased heart rate and the overall achy feeling). It does seem simple but it works faster than even a Xanax. Breathe through the nose, out the mouth (make a whooshing sound) and make your breathing through the diaphragm instead of the chest. Do it as slow as possible. It has a big impact on mood.

  2. Exercise is good. Aerobic is ideal opposed to anaerobic. Keep doing it 3-5 days a week for 20+ minutes.

  3. If you procrastinate or feel overloaded, try time management techniques such as making to-do lists and prioritizing

  4. Try to find the trigger of the stressful event and avoid/accept it.

  5. See a therapist if it gets out of hand. The best therapy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but there are others that work just as well.

  6. Yoga/T’ai Chi/Meditation are eastern approaches. Since you exercise, you don’t need to strain your body more with Yoga and T’ai Chi. Meditation is basically breathing with a sensory focus (like focusing on a certain picture or sound)

  7. Sound Therapy helps. Listen to calming music.

  8. Eliminate all caffeine. I know you said that you don’t drink soft drinks but also eliminate coffee and dark chocolate.

  9. I’ve found that Calcium/Magnesium Supplements to work just as fast and well as Klonopin (a similar drug to Xanax). A B-Vitamin Complex can also work ESPECIALLY after exercise. These don’t interact with medicines and you really can’t overdose on most B vitamins.

  10. Find a hobby and occupy your time with that.

  I hope this helps! Best of Luck!

• 3 Oil Coil // Mar 13, 2009 at 4:25 pm

  Hi Perfect Purple,
  Quite often I say that first you have to see where the stress comes from.

  Many fight against the devastating effects stress has on them: panic attacks, aches all over the body, insomnia … I will stop enumerating all pains this strange state of human mind has on us.

  The net is full of cures about the effects. The previous reply contains 10 of them. They help – I don’t deny it. The bad thing is that their effect is of short duration.

  The key to overcome stress in the long run is to avoid the stress factors in your life. In short avoid everything which makes you feel bad. Straightforward, huh?

  Yes, we can do it!
  Find out how here:
  It is FREE of any charges

  Regards,
  Oil

• 4 Dr. MCR // Mar 16, 2009 at 11:04 am

  To understand how to reduce and combat stress, it’s useful to know what happens in our bodies when we’re under stress, so let’s start there. In response to stress, our bodies undergo a cascade of physiological events which help us cope with the stressful situation. Perception of a stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), a process known as the “fight or flight” response, which mobilizes energy to help us respond to the stress. For example, activation of the SNS diverts blood flow away form the stomach and digestion to the heart and lungs to prepare for a possible need to run away form a threat. Stress also increases release of cortisol from our adrenal glands, which further contributes to redirecting energy toward dealing with stress and away from other bodily functions. At the conclusion of the stress, all these reactions are reduced to normal levels, and the body quickly returns to its state or balance, or “homeostasis”. This is a normal pattern of stress responsivity and recovery, and when this happens, we remain healthy in our minds and bodies and, importantly, ready to respond to the inevitable stresses that will come our way.

  Note that a critical part of the “stress cycle” described above is the stressful situation ending, and the body recovering. When stress does not end, or when stresses come rapidly and for a long time, one after another, as it sounds like it happening in your life, the body does not have time to recover, and the stress becomes chronic. Chronic stress prolongs activation of the SNS and the cortisol response. This extended activity of the physiological stress response that these systems has been shown to have serious detrimental effects on mental and physical health, and this is where stress management and coaching for stress reduction can be really helpful.

  Of course, it’s impossible to completely eliminate stress completely from your life, but you can make decisions that control your stress level and help you control the effects of stress on your health. At the core of stress management are things like following a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and making time for uninterrupted relaxation, even if it’s just a few minutes a day. Antoher thing that be a big help, if just saying no to anything you do not have to do to make more time for relaxation and to take the pressure off. If you have to, tell people it”s ahealth issue and you have to say no.

  Happily, research has shown that people, even those living busy and stressful lives, can avoid many of the negative effects of stress when they implement and stick to stress-management techniques. So, the good news is that with a little planning and some support, stress does not have to create problems for your health- you can anticipate stress, build in support, and take care of your mind and body, even in a stressful world!

  Hang in there, and take care!

  Mary

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