Archive for the ‘stress’ Category

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Jumpy…………..by Susan

Monday, September 24th, 2007
I've always been a bit on the jumpy side.   My three sons always enjoyed that particular trait of mine and helped it develop further as they grew up.   Their growing up spanned quite a few years since the oldest one is 40 and the youngest one is 26. 

Like many mothers of sons,  I experienced the usual scare of one of my sons jumping out at me from behind a door or a piece of furniture.   It was all in fun and I have to admit I enjoyed it, even when one of them put a fake spider on my pillow. 

I have a problem with anxiety now and am quite jumpy.   Sometimes this reminds me of the fun I once had with my sons.   Now it isn't a pleasant kind of jumpy and sometimes can be embarrassing.  The other day I was in the waiting room of my doctor's office filling out a form.   I didn't hear the doctor enter the room and walk over to me.  He started to hug me.  I jumped out of my skin!

I apologized and said,  I guess I was really focused on the form I was filing out.  Actually, being very tense and jumpy has been my way of life for some time now.   A few nights ago, my husband and I were taking a walk around our neighborhood when a man on a bicycle came riding past us very quickly.  I didn't see or hear him until he was right beside us and right at that minute he said loudly, "nice evening isn't it?"  I jumped out of my skin.....again" 

These are only two examples of how I've embarrassed myself lately by being so darn jumpy.  Feel free to comment and share your stories if you are also jumpy in nature. 

Posted in Anxiety, depression, Family, Mental Health, stress | Comments Off

Stress or Physical Illness? ………..by Susan

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
I have been very stressed out for the past several months.  I thought my mental health was deteriorating for some reason even though I have been feeling happier than I have felt in several years.  It didn't make a lot of sense to me but it certainly seemed to be happening.

Wrong........this time I wasn't suffering from anxiety, stress or panic attacks.  I very recently found out that my problem is a physical illness called high blood pressure and migraine headaches.  I was very surprised to have these problems after having never experienced either one before in my life.  I always had low pressure and I thought my headaches were sinus headaches.

In the past two weeks I've started taking a couple of medications to control these problems and low and behold, I no longer feel stressed out.  I thought that stress could cause high blood pressure but in this case it seems that high blood pressure was causing me to feel very stressed even to the point of getting red in the face and then feeling exhausted in just a short time. 

If you have mental health problems don't rule out the possibility that you might also have some physical health problems as well.  Sometimes we and our doctors overlook that when treating us on a regular basis for depression or anxiety.   I'm happy to say that my doctor paid attention when I told her my headaches were different lately.   

Pay close attention to your body as well as the state of your mind. 

Posted in Anxiety, depression, fatigue, Mental Health, stress | Comments Off

With Dignity…………by David

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
I guess my biggest resentment in all of my life has been how the world is full of people who basically care only for themselves.  They are incapable of, or won't treat others with respect.

First of all, there were clicks when we were in school.  You may have been in one or you may not have had quite the social skills, looked the part or your parents were not financially solvent enough to belong to a click.

Next are people who treat you one way when it is just you and them and they treat you another way when the two of you are around someone else.  I really could go on and on about examples but I won't.  It is a very special person that knows (deeply feels) that it is truly a joy to give more than it is to receive and it is a shame that these people usually get taken advantage of, used and sometimes abused.

My doctor has helped me over the years to expect something in return, that's a very difficult thing to learn.  It is a very, very rare person who can see the beauty of a child or man or lady who has a very big heart.  You become bubbling with joy if you act like you need them, or you need them to do something for you, or if you just want to be around them.   It is sad that so many people just don't understand the concept of giving of themselves instead of all the time taking, being a friend to someone at all times and not letting that change because they are in the company of the "select" few.

It's a long old journey this thing called life and we don't need to be settling for just any kind of treatment from people.  If nothing else, stay away from people like I do.  I was not put on this planet to baby sit grown adults who do not know how to behave!  It is all I can do just to take care of myself.  My emotional energies are spent on my daughters and my sister.

If you can't distance yourself emotionally from people who are no good for you then you are better off alone.  You do not need the abuse, you are a much better person than that!  There should be a special, few people in your life who treat you with dignity, and I do mean it would be a few because now-a-days, they are few and far between,  but you do have a choice.  Make your choice and stick with it. 

Posted in Bipolar, depression, his-hers, Relationships, stress | Comments Off

Stress Tests (Know your stress level)

Sunday, May 20th, 2007

When one is excited, walking fast, climbing a staircase or running – the heart rate increases puttin it under “Stres”. Stress tests are noninvasive procedures that they provoke and detect signs of decreased blood supply to the heart muscle. This is done by the use of exercise employing the treadmill, bicycle or handgrip. If one is unable to exercise because of orthopaedic conditions, old age or other problems, then non-exercise modalities area adopted. Stress Echocardiography helps to detect myocardialischemia at stress.

Ask yourself with the following questions, and if answers are yes, you are greatly in stress condition.

1. Do you feel angry or irritable much of the time?
2. Do you suffer irritations from repeated thoughts or actions in a day?
3. Do you have feelings of lack of self-worth?
4. Do you feel constantly guilty?
5. Do you find yourself unable to concentrate?
6. Do you get aches in your back and shoulders?
7. Do you suffer from insomnia, nightmares or simply wake up still feeling tired?
8. Do you suffer from breathlessness?
9. Do you feel constantly tired?
10. Do you suffer from sweaty or clammy hands?
11. Do you pick fights with people?
12. Do you set yourself unrealistic deadlines?
13. Have you found either that you are overeating; or that you have entirely lost your appetite?
14. Do you work longer and longer to achieve the same or less?
15. Are you too busy to relax?
16. Do you rigidly stick to routines?
17. Do you have mood swings dramatically?
18. Did you had a bad moment in the last 3months?
19. Have you not relaxed / vacationed in the last 3months?
20. Having sex difficulties or irregularities?

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What Are The Reasons Of Stress?

Sunday, May 20th, 2007

Broadly speaking, circumstances. Circumstances here means, changing people, change of job, change of boss, change of neighbour, daily household duties, and on top of all – trying to make balance in personal, family and professional life. Stress is related to the situations that you feel are difficult to handle. For example,

My New Jersey friend James LD Naylor wakes up at 4:00am. A thought of this itself is a stressful job for me (as I get up at 8:00am). Well next he says, it takes him 2 hours driving by road to reach his office. This again is a stressful moment for me. But he says, this is good for him. He gets time to think while he drives, he enjoys driving & listening to music. By this I mean to explain that we cannot list down a specific list of circumstances, which holds true for everyone as a reason of stress. One person feels happy in a specific situation whereas a second person might feel stressed with the same situation.

The important reasons for stress are:

  • How you view things?
  • How high are your expectations?
  • How much currently you have in comparison to your expectations?

    • Other reasons for stress are:

  • Work profile
  • Particular coworker / senior / boss
  • Office environment
  • Particular family member
  • Unexpected expenses / events
  • Irresponsible behavior
  • Poor eating habits (which relates to poor health)
  • Pessimistic attitude
  • Unachievable expectation
  • Improper time management

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    Why stress is a problem?

    Sunday, May 20th, 2007

    Don’t ever underestimate anything. Remember, little bit of stress can be good for you and it can give you the reason to do something. It becomes a severe problem when it goes beyond the limits. Now who will decide what is the limit? How will you calculate your limits? These limits cannot be counted in number or ratios. Whenever you start feeling the symptoms of stress, you should understand that your stress bearing capacity has been crossed. That is the time you SHOULD work in a direction to remove stress as your body and mind had stopped taking it anymore.
    If not handled properly, stress can lead to physical and mental problems. To list down few, please read the following:

    Physical Problems

  • High Blood Pressure

    Continuous high blood pressure causes abnormal heartbeats, heart attacks and strokes.

  • Digestive Problems

    Excessive stress can create indigestion causing diarrhea, cramping, acidity, burning.

  • Tiredness

    Unresolved stress brings sleepless nights. People without proper sleeps, get physical and mental laziness and tiredness. This cause problem with taking new jobs and challenges i.e handling new situations & circumstances.

  • Weight gain

    Due to digestion imbalance, the ratio of sugar and fats of your blood changes. This results in you desiring for heavy food of your choice of salty, fatty and sugary food.

  • Weight loss

    Because of acidity and burning disorders, you do not feel hungry and starts missing up your meals. Slowly this becomes your habit, which reduces your appetite.

  • Sexual problem

    Stressful days bring up weakness in men and inability to achieve orgasm in women. Reproduction of hormones gets affected which reduces the desire of having sex. Women may skip their period and in extreme situations, will affect infertility for both sexes.

  • Body pain

    With disturbed sleep, tiredness, you get back pains, neck pains, headache, migrane

  • Skin problem

    Repeated stress makes your skin rough, dry and itchy. The initial start of skin problems can be seen on hands and face.

  • Hair Loss

    Irregular eating, Digestive problems causes imbalance of vitamins and resulted with hair loss.

    • Mental Problems

  • Memory loss

    During stressful day, you tries to think and think only on the issue / situation which has created the tension for you. So your brain only works for that particular situation. Since your brain is not thinking about anything else, your memory power reduces.

  • Lack of concentration

    Your attitude of not thinking on any subject other than the stress-giving situation, reduces your concentration and learning ability on different subjects.

  • Insensible thinking

    You tend to think about stress-giving situations only and thus not interested to listen about other issues/subjects. This makes you frustrated & irritation and you tend to overreact & behave insensibly.

  • Depression

    Your inability of not been able to cope up with your current situation and anticipating new coming problems, you tend to go into depression. Depression is directly proportional to eating dislikes, lack of interest in your hobbies, lack of energy.

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    What Are The Symptoms Of Stress?

    Sunday, May 20th, 2007

    We experience stress when we are trying to adjust with different circumstances. And while we are trying to adjust ourselves, stress plays its role by creating hinderances. This results in delays or failure of adjustment/execution of work that results in your physical and mental retardation. In the preliminary stage of stress or less stressness, we normally overlook it. But, excessive stress may leave you with the feeling of “Getting Tied Up With Knots” and you will experience stress symptoms.

    Physical Symptoms:

  • Body feels “Tied Up With Knots”
  • Fatique
  • High blood pressure
  • Sweaty palm, feets, neck
  • Stomach problems (no stomachache), cramp, regular acidity, diarrhea
  • A feeling as you had when you were going for college final exams (a fear, examphobia)
  • Irregular heartbeats
  • Headaque, migrane
  • Neck pain, back pain, lower legs pain
  • Lack of immune system towards fever, cough, cold

    • Emotional Symptoms:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Lack of thought process
  • Lack of decision making
  • Lack of concentration
  • Overeacting things
  • Nervous
  • Fear
  • Emotional detachment from your family members
  • Arguments with family members & coworkers

    • Posted in stress | Comments Off

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