Stress Management

Symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder

2008-07-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder
According to the DSM, "The essential feature of Acute Stress Disorder is the development of characteristic anxiety, dissociative, and other symptoms that occurs within 1 month after exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor" (p. 469). The following specific diagnostic criteria are reproduced verbatim (except for codings and page references) from the DSM-IV TR (where 'IV TR' indicates fourth edition, text revision), pages 471-472. Also see the separate page on the closely-related PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder).

Diagnostic Criteria for Acute Stress Disorder
A. The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

the person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others
the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror
B. Either while experiencing or after experiencing the distressing event, the individual has three (or more) of the following dissociative symptoms:

a subjective sense of numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional responsiveness
a reduction in awareness of his or her surroundings (e.g., "being in a daze")
derealization
depersonalization
dissociative amnesia (i.e., inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma)
C. The traumatic event is persistently reexperienced in at least one of the following ways: recurrent images, thoughts, dreams, illusions, flashback episodes, or a sense of reliving the experience; or distress on exposure to reminders of the traumatic event.

D. Marked avoidance of stimuli that arouse recollections of the trauma (e.g., thoughts, feelings, conversations, activities, places, people).

E. Marked symptoms of anxiety or increased arousal (e.g., difficulty sleeping, irritability, poor concentration, hypervigilence, exaggerated startle response, motor restlessness).

F. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning or impairs the individual's ability to pursue some necessary task, such as obtaining necessary assistance or mobilizing personal resources by telling family members about the traumatic experience.

G. The disturbance lasts for a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 4 weeks and occurs within 4 weeks of the traumatic event.

H. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition, is not better accounted for by Brief Psychotic Disorder, and is not merely an exacerbation of a preexisting Axis I or Axis II disorder.
source-http://counsellingresource.com/distress/anxiety-disorders/acute-stress-symptoms.html

Acute Stress Disorder

2008-07-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Acute Stress Disorder

The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which both of the following were present:

The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event
or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or
a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.

The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

Either while experiencing or after experiencing the distressing event, the individual has three (or more) of the following dissociative symptoms:

A subjective sense of numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional
responsiveness.

A reduction in awareness of his or her surroundings (e.g., "being in a daze").

Depersonalization - dissociative amnesia (i.e., inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma).

The patient persistently re-experienced the traumatic event in at least one or
more of the following ways: recurrent images, thoughts, dreams, illusions,
flashback episodes, or a sense of reliving the experience; or distress on exposure
to reminders of the traumatic event.

Marked avoidance of stimuli that arouse recollections of the trauma (e.g., thoughts,
feelings, conversations, activities, places, people).

There are marked symptoms of anxiety or increased arousal (e.g., difficulty
sleeping, irritability, poor concentration, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle
response, motor restlessness).

At least 1of the following applies:

The patient feels marked distress from the symptoms.

They interfere with usual social, job or personal functioning.

They block the patient from doing something important such as getting legal or medical help or telling family or other supporters about the experience.

The disturbance lasts for a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 4 weeks
and occurs within 4 weeks of the traumatic event.

The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance
(e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition, is not
better accounted for by Brief Psychotic Disorder, and is not merely an
exacerbation of a preexisting mental disorder.

Associated Features:

These symptoms may occur and are more commonly seen in association with an interpersonal stressors such as childhood sexual or physical abuse, domestic violence, impaired affect, self-destructive and impulsive behavior, dissociative symptoms, somatic complaints or a change from the individual’s previous personality characteristics.

Differential Diagnosis:

Some disorders display similar or sometimes even the same symptom. The clinician, therefore, in his diagnostic attempt has to differentiate against the following disorders which one needs to be ruled out to establish a precise diagnosis.

Mental Disorder Due to a General Medical Condition;
Substance-Induced Disorder;
Brief Psychotic Disorder;
Major Depressive Episode;
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder;
Adjustment Disorder;
Malingering.

Cause:

When an individual who has been exposed to a traumatic event develops anxiety symptoms, re-experiencing of the event, and avoidance of related stimuli lasting less than four weeks they may develop acute stress disorder.

Treatment:

Counseling and Psychotherapy [ See Therapy Section ]:

Anxiety disorders are responsive to counseling and to a wide variety of psychotherapies. More severe and persistent symptoms also may require pharmacotherapy.

Psychotherapies include focused, time-limited therapies that address ways of coping with anxiety symptoms more directly rather than exploring unconscious conflicts or other personal vulnerabilities These therapies typically emphasize cognitive and behavioral assessments.

It is possible that more traditional forms of therapy based on psychodynamic or interpersonal theories of anxiety also may be used However, these therapies have not yet received extensive empirical support

Pharmacotherapy :

Antidepressants:
Clomipramine

Benzodiazepines:
Alprazolam;
Clonazepam
Diazepam
Lorazepam

SSRI class:
Fluoxetine
Sertraline
Paroxetine
Fluvoxamine
Citalopram

Combinations of Psychotherapy and Pharmacotherapy:

Some patients with this disorder may benefit from both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy treatment modalities, either combined or used in sequence

source-http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/acute_stress_disorder.htm

Work stress and UAE dimension

2008-01-11T02:48:00.001-08:00

Work stress and UAE dimension
By Carole Spiers, Special to Gulf News

The very conditions that have enabled Dubai's explosive commercial success have also been shown to represent a dangerous downside in terms of workplace health - a startling reminder that you don't get something for nothing in this world.

To outsiders, including many Europeans thinking of moving to Dubai, the prospects of a healthy life here seem outwardly favourable. We have sun, sea and cleansing winds across the desert. We have this wonderfully new capital city, where everything is efficient and hygienic.

And in the big corporate offices in their state-of-the-art tower blocks, you can find all the best-equipped executive gyms to encourage year-round fitness of body and mind. From a distance, it can certainly look as though we have simply taken everything that threatens employee health, and designed it out of the system.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But the medical statistics tell a different story. For the UAE is afflicted with the second biggest incidence of heart disease and diabetes per capita on earth. And against a world average age of 65 for heart-attacks, the UAE figure is just 50. Inevitably, this means that many people are suffering their first heart-attack at 30 or younger. What lies behind these truly terrible findings?

One factor is genetic bad luck. The local population happens to be pre-disposed to heart disease, and the many expats from India and Pakistan even more so. But that is a secondary issue, compared to the huge impact of workplace stress, equally affecting the European community, who are not normally prone to this kind of disease on genetic grounds.

From the fitness angle, working conditions in Dubai run counter to any of the normal rules of health, and are sure to frustrate any attempt at a sensible daily regime.

That perfect climate, for example. Unless you're swimming or sailing, the heat can actually be quite oppressive, placing strain on the heart, while also virtually forcing you to stay indoors for long hours in sedentary mode.

Your only excursion will probably be out to lunch (by taxi, of course, to save valuable time.) And in a city geared to top-level business, all the emphasis will be on lavish entertainment, either to impress important visitors or just to advertise your status around the corporate village. Any idea of a sensible, moderate diet goes right out of that 30th-storey window.

Then there is the sheer atmospheric pressure of working right up here at the summit of global commerce. A terrible logic starts to take hold: if you don't work that extra hour, your competitors will, and they'll snatch the business from you.

It is this universal imperative, even more than the accelerating pace of the e-mail and mobile-phone way of life, that proves so fatally hypnotic to corporate executives. Did someone mention the gym? Not now. Not now. Some other time...

Like the monkey with its hand in the long-necked jar, you must force yourself to let go at some point, or you're just going to be one super-rich corpse. Stress management, (which includes the increasingly important time management) should start to bulk-up bigger as a central part of executive training and practice. Soon.

The writer is a BBC broadcaster and motivational speaker, with 20 years' experience as CEO of Carole Spiers Group, aninternational stress consultancy based in London.

Ronnie Nijmeh appears on the Radio Program "The Rutherford Show"

2008-01-11T02:46:00.001-08:00

Ronnie Nijmeh appears on the Radio Program "The Rutherford Show"
ACQYR's Ronnie Nijmeh offered some timely advice on managing Holiday and Family Stress in a special holiday segment on AM 770 CHQR's "The Rutherford Show" Alberta's #1 Talk Radio station.

The segment aired on December 27, 2007 and a replay is now available below.

You can listen to the family & holiday stress segment (8:33) here:

Learn about The Stress Factor a newly designed stress management program by Ronnie Nijmeh. Sign up to receive The Stress Factor Course, a 7-day transformation stress e-course.
http://www.acqyr.com/Articles/News/1037.php

Don't Worry, Be Happy

2008-01-11T02:44:00.001-08:00

Don't Worry, Be Happy

A few years ago an (irritatingly) catchy little tune called Don't Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin was going the rounds. Once heard it took ages to get out of your head. But within that simple song lies a profound message; we spend way too much time worrying.

The thing about worrying is that no good ever comes of it. Worry dissipates your energies, diverting them from more constructive use. As we've got better at curing physical illness so it seems mental illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety (essentially all aliases for worry) have expanded to fill the gap. And of course these conditions adversely affect physical health.

But even worse than that, worry is a form of thought. And as countless teachers have told thoughts are very powerful things. They tend to manifest themselves in reality. So by worrying, you actually serve to create the very thing you are worried about!

If something is bothering you all the worry in the world isn't going to help (and will most likely harm). Whatever it may be - money, work, relationships, kids, health, family... DO something about it. If the problem is money, start planning and budgeting a little better; if it's work, start checking the job ads or consider something more radical like self-employment or re-training; if it's health, eat healthy, exercise and follow the doctor's orders...

Sit quietly, take a few deep breaths, analyze what's wrong and what you can do about it. Don't be afraid to ask for help through prayer, or even from those you trust.

In most situations you'll have a choice of potential actions (including simply doing nothing and letting what will be just be). And for each, since we can't see the future, a range of possible outcomes - including the best, worst and most likely.

You'll now be empowered by knowledge. Decide what you're going to do. Then do it. And stop worrying, because you KNOW that you've done the best you could in the circumstances, and whatever happens you KNOW that you couldn't have done any better.

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday

Think back to childhood. I'm pretty sure you worried then too. Perhaps you forgot to revise for a class test, or maybe you got dropped from the football team, or your best friend didn't want to let you in a game... At the time didn't it seem the biggest problem in the world, but looking back don't your childhood worries seem inconsequential? And that's how today's worries will seem when reviewed in the world of Spirit. So stop worrying and be happy.

Stressed ad woman loses $1.2m claim

2008-01-11T00:48:00.001-08:00

Stressed ad woman loses $1.2m claim

An advertising director who sought more than $1.2 million from her former employers as compensation for stress caused by an exacting client has had her claim dismissed by the Employment Relations Authority.

Shelley Menelda was an employee of advertising firm Publicis Mojo between 2003 and 2006. Her main account was the cosmetics giant L'Oreal.

The authority heard Ms Menelda was told before her appointment as an account director in March 2003 that the managing director of L'Oreal New Zealand, Frances Stead, could be difficult and exacting in her demands, but her expectations were not unrealistic.

Ms Menelda said she was confident she could meet Ms Stead's expectations.

In August 2004, Ms Menelda received a $20,000 pay rise in recognition of the "fabulous job" she was doing managing the L'Oreal account.

But by March 2005, Ms Menelda was describing her interaction with Ms Stead as "soul destroying", saying in emails to her managers she was "over it".

In June 2005, Ms Menelda said she wanted to resign because of frustrations with the L'Oreal account.

The agency fought to keep her on, paying her airfare and half the bill of a luxury five-day stay at a health resort to ease her stress.

Six months later, Ms Menelda threatened resignation again.

The agency responded by appointing two other account managers to help her with L'Oreal and investigating future options for her within the agency.

But in September 2006, after a particularly stressful meeting with Ms Stead, Ms Menelda suffered what a colleague described as a "meltdown", bursting into tears in the L'Oreal carpark.

Subsequent consultations with her GP and a clinical psychologist revealed she had suffered a nervous breakdown, and was exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ms Menelda appealed to the authority, saying her employers failed to keep her safe from harm at work.

She sought lost salary for 10 months, $30,000 compensation for hurt and humiliation, and a 20-year loss of opportunity claim totalling $1.2 million, based on a projected salary loss of $60,000 a year between 2007 and her expected year of retirement in 2027.

But the authority determined the company had acted appropriately in response to her concerns by responding promptly when issues were raised and by appointing new account managers to help her to balance the workload.

Furthermore, it found Ms Stead's behaviour towards Ms Menelda, while demanding, did not constitute workplace bullying.

"Rather, Ms Stead's expectations and dealings with the applicant - even at the level of detail and direction she exhibited - were part of the course of the commercial relationship and requirements between client and agency in the advertising industry."

Massage therapist writes about weight lost the natural way

2008-01-11T00:46:00.000-08:00

Local man publishes healthy book
Massage therapist writes about weight lost the natural way

Larry Pahl is hoping to make a difference in how people think about weight loss.

The 53-year-old completed a book in the fall, "Mother Nature's Weight Loss Secrets," after five years of research that began with pain management. During his research, Pahl, a massage therapist, found chronic pain often was connected to weight issues, and if the weight issues were addressed, then the pain could be addressed.

"The reason I want to help them so much is that in addition to the physical problems, there's a lot of mental (issues)," Pahl said.

Pahl's book and ideas on weight loss center around stress management and a manageable plan, rather than diets and weight loss pills.
"We're not wired to lose fat fast, but that's what everybody wants to do," Pahl said. "I know so many people who lost hope due to failed attempts. You have to do (weight loss) nice and slow because that's how we gain it."

When a person is not managing stress, Pahl said the body's metabolism slows down the way it burns calories, which can cause muscle loss and increase fat gain.

"The more stress we have the more weight we gain, and the more weight we gain the more pain and disease we have," Pahl said.

The keys to reducing stress are to drink water - no more sugary drinks - to remain hydrated and getting a full night sleep to keep energy up, which will keep emotions up, Pahl said.

Sugar also has a high-impact on weight gain because it quickly turns to fat, he added.

"Anyone eating more than 600 calories at once causes a sugar spike, loses muscle and stores fat," he said.

However, people shouldn't restrict calories below 1,300 to 2,000 calories, because the body will go into "starvation mode" and start storing fat.

"All I'm trying to do is increase awareness," Pahl said.

Pahl's book includes other thoughts on weight loss and strategies on how to live healthy. Among other things, he suggests creating a lifestyle plan that is reasonable, enjoyable and sustainable.

Pahl studied massage therapy at Massage Away, now the National Institute of Alternative Medicine, and is hoping his book and ideas on weight loss will appeal to a diverse audience. Anyone interested in getting a copy of the book should contact Pahl at 701-6519.

Author shares lessons of coping with stress

2008-01-11T00:45:00.001-08:00

Author shares lessons of coping with stress
The best way to deal with stress is to treat it like a vacation: Start planning for it.

That is the advice of Dr. Claire Michaels Wheeler, the author of the new book, “10 Simple Solutions to Stress: How to Tame Tension & Start Enjoying Your Life.”

Wheeler will have a discussion, question and answer period and a book signing on Jan. 16 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Beaverton Borders, 2605 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.

Typically, she said, people underestimate the power of stress until it affects basic human functions such as sleep, memory, eating and sex or leads to chronic conditions such as autoimmune disorders, coronary heart disease and depression.

“The trick is to really get a little creative and deliberate in how we approach stress and look at what’s worked for people medically,” Wheeler said.

For her part, Dr. Wheeler, 47, isn’t exactly a model of stress-free living. She’s seen death up close in the E.R., been through a divorce and experienced the fallout of cancer in her immediate family. She runs a private medical-consulting practice, speaks nationally and works as a professor.

“I have my bad days just like anyone else,” Dr. Wheeler said. “But it’s all about doing what inspires you and has meaning for you – even if it’s not always fun – and knowing that it will really make you a better, healthier person.

“Stress management is a process, not a reaction, that’s very much tied to lifestyle choices. Honestly, you can’t start reducing stress until you start living life.”

For more information visit www.stresshappiness.com/about.

Needles stick it to pain, stress and weight loss

2008-01-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

Needles stick it to pain, stress and weight loss

By Greta Burroughs - For The Sun News
Pain management has been a problem for modern medicine for decades. In recent years, however, more physicians are beginning to integrate therapies such as acupuncture into their practices.

"The nice thing about acupuncture is that it doesn't interfere with any drugs or other therapies, and there are no side effects," said Suzanne Swearengen, a board-certified acupuncturist with the Alternative Health Clinic in Myrtle Beach and Conway. "You can use it concurrently with any other treatment and get better faster."

She said most of her patients have tried everything else and are seeking relief from pain. She works with patients' primary care physician, coordinating her treatment with other treatments the patient is receiving. Sessions last for around 30 minutes and improvement is usually seen within three sessions, she said.

"I tailor the treatments to each individual patient," she said. "I can have two patients come in for the same problem, but the treatment for each one will be different. It depends on the root cause of the condition."

The most common conditions Swearengen sees are body pain or nerve pain, but she also treats patients for infertility and stress.

"Acupuncture is best known for pain management, but we can help with other things, too, such as stress. I'd say about

95 percent of the population suffers from stress in one way or another and we can help with that."

In acupuncture, small sterile needles are placed in specific points in the body.

"There are 365 documented points on the body," Swearengen said. "Each point has a function and indication and we develop a point prescription based on the condition to be treated and the function of each point."

In addition to the needles, cups are used to help break up and clear congestion. The inside of the cup is heated to remove oxygen and produce a vacuum before being placed on the body.

"Acupuncture opens passages and restores the balance the body needs," she said. "The body needs help sometimes, and we provide the tools to do it."

She said primary health providers are positive about and accepting of acupuncture.

"They know we will do no harm," she said. "The general attitude is 'go ahead and try it' if a patient wants to try acupuncture, and some doctors have even started recommending it."

Teresa Liu, an acupuncturist at Alms Chiropractic Center in Myrtle Beach, said people come to her for a variety of problems "such as pain, sinus, arthritis, rotator cuff, back, stomach, bladder infections, weight loss, nerve problems, pregnancy, and vomiting associated with cancer treatments."

She said her clients often come to her as a last hope before surgery or when no other medical treatment has been successful.

"I try my best to help them," she said. "If after five or six treatments there is no improvement, then I do not force them to come back. Most of my clients are very happy with their treatments. We have a 50 to 70 percent success rate with weight loss and even higher success rate with pain management and other problems we treat."

While doing her schooling in China, Liu had training in herbal medicines, which she combines with acupuncture.

Liu said many doctors in this area are not open to complementary therapies.

"Clients come to me on their own, and when they tell their doctor about it the usual response is 'That's OK if you want to try it,' but there are other doctors who are very protective and don't want competition," she said.

Several doctors interviewed said they saw no harm in acupuncture, as long as it was administered by a trained practitioner.

"My basic feeling is that acupuncture is something that has been used for thousands of years in China and it continues to be popular, so it has to have something to it," said Dr. Paul G. Goetowski, an oncologist at Carolina Regional Cancer Center.

Goetowski spent a couple of weeks in China working and observing at a cancer institute where western and Oriental medicine were combined.

"They used chemotherapy, radiation and other methods that are used here in the states, along with complementary treatments such as acupuncture," he said. "I felt it had positive benefits, especially with pain and nausea. It worked and was very helpful. There was no harm done and the patients benefited from it."

Goetowski said he had some acupuncture treatments for back pain and that it helped a little bit, but he still had to take pain relievers.

When asked if he would recommend acupuncture for his patients he said, "If a person wants to try acupuncture, I feel there is no harm in it as long as it is practiced by someone who is properly trained.

"If one of my patients wants to try a complementary therapy, I want to discuss it with him or her first. If I feel it is reasonably safe, then OK.

"The biggest problem is herbal medicines," he said. "Some people are afraid to tell their doctor they are taking herbal remedies because they think the doctor will not approve. Always let your doctor know and give him or her an opportunity to discuss it with you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information
Suzanne Swearengen, Alternative Health Clinic, 692-9243 or 347-5445

Teresa Liu at Alms Chiropractic Center, 238-6070

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/131/story/309367.html

Stressed out workforce means less productivity

2008-01-11T00:28:00.001-08:00

Stressed out workforce means less productivity
By Shareen Han

Brunei-Muara - Employers must adopt a proactive approach in dealing with the increasing stress levels of employees in workplaces, a Singaporean certified hypnotherapist said.

It is imperative for employers to view the issues of workers' mental health in a more holistic manner to manage work productivity, said Dr Francis Or Kum Hoong, who was a speaker at Universiti Brunei Darussalam's International Conference on Business and Management. "Workers are getting more and more stressful," he said, adding that employment costs would increase if employers do not change their mindset in providing solutions to increasing stress levels in their working environment.

Providing solutions can include better time management, as well as communicating with employees on how to cope with stress, he said.

"An unhappy workforce with low team morale wills underperforms, under-deliver and eventually bring down productivity and affecting the bottom-line of profitability," he said. "Bosses also suffer when workers are stressed out," he added.

The founder of Singapore's Cre8future Hypnosis Hub said that pressure helps to keep workers motivated, but excessive pressure often leads to stress which is costly to employers, including loss of working hours of staff reporting sick or even absenteeism.

He said that workers and employers need to collectively realise that "many things happening to us and around us can affect both workers and employers".

Employers should change their perception of business productivity management by integrating stress management instead of stress prevention as a priority, he said.

"Health promotion programmes, whether in-house or through external consultants should be adopted," he added.

He said that greater awareness of proper and appropriate stress management programmes through public education as well as active participation of various change agents will help in better managing productivity in workplaces.

In his preliminary study on two focus groups of 10 members each, half of the respondents mentioned that they did not have time to relax because "there was just too much work to do".

The findings also showed that 75 per cent of the respondents felt that the workload and responsibility in their jobs make them feel stressed out.

Furthermore, more than half of the respondents were unsure on how to manage their stress.

"About 55 per cent of the respondents did not feel that stress will make them work harder and 75 per cent did not like stress at work because they felt stress will hamper their focus at work," Dr Or said.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

Goal management: eliminating stress

2008-01-11T00:20:00.000-08:00

Goal management: eliminating stress

Before I depart from my beloved university, I want to offer six pearls of wisdom about setting goals.

Sometimes we get stuck, lose passion and get depressed when we don't accomplish a particular goal. What happened?

Let's explore some possibilities.

First, a goal is not realistic enough.

My first major was secondary education with concentration in language arts. I chose it because I enjoyed teaching youth.

Soon I realized that I was more of a spontaneous person so I needed a very flexible, multi-dimensional career. In other words, your general nature and present patterns can point to where you should be directing your attention.

Be honest with yourself, and make sure your goal is really attainable.

Secondly, a goal is not faith-filled.

You really don't have confidence to fulfill it, or it may not be based on your core values, what you treasure or should treasure the most out of life.

For instance, when I was younger, I shaved my sideburns and neck, leaving me with razor bumps and blackheads. Yes, bad decision.

By now, my skin should be much clearer. But at the time I didn't value physical appearance enough to invest in a quality product and to use it on a more consistent basis.

Next, a goal is not your own. How many of us start on a path without consulting self but rather cling to what others want us to do?

This summer, I had to choose to stay in an organization or finish college. I was going to lose a lot of time and peace of mind. This decision brought pain to some people, but I had to do what was best for me and secure my future.

Fourth, a goal is an illusion of the real thing we should be pursuing. While in college, my mother experienced two miscarriages. She didn't want or need another child, but it was a sign that she was aborting her calling as a minister.

Basically she allowed fear to hinder the pursuit of her spirit's cry. To some Christians, fear is an acronym: false evidence appearing real.

Then, there's wrong timing. For some reason I was on a quest for a man. Yet I wasn't emotionally stable enough to handle that commitment because of unresolved issues from my past. I needed healing, not a husband.

Finally, wrong motives. We can even do good things for the wrong reasons. I consistently check my motives. Once I noticed this, I would offer help to satisfy the need to be needed and give to prove that I was a giver. Wrong.

These are six reasons why you may have not reached your goals.

Remember you have the power and right to change your mind and your direction. It's your life, and it doesn't necessarily mean you failed if you decide to switch gears.

Another route could be more fulfilling, long lasting and soul saving.

Stress Management: New Age Solutions

2007-12-17T03:17:00.000-08:00

With the hectic pace of life today, most people experience stress on a daily basis. The debilitating effects of stress are such that corporations provide employees with free stress management programs, an increasing number of people are seeking treatment for an anxiety disorder, and medications are being dispensed for people who experience an anxiety attack. In this age, new therapies for stress relief are being developed, such as hypnosis and self-hypnosis.

There are those who believe that Americans aren't actually experiencing more stress, but rather that we just can't handle it as well as our forefathers. While it's true that the rate of anxiety attack and anxiety disorder is increasing, there's also scientific evidence that there are a greater number of stressors today than there were in years past.
About 20 years ago, a study was performed to gauge how stress had increased in the prior 100 years. In a nutshell, the study found:

* You have over one thousand times the number of stressors each day that your great grandfather had.
* You experience over 300,000 individual stressors daily that your body processes unconsciously.
* Only ten percent of those stressors are psychological or social; the rest are physical, chemical, and electromagnetic.
* There are 500,000 synthetic chemicals in our environment that didn't even exist 100 years ago. They permeate our food supply, water and the air inside and outside our homes.
* There are over 200,000 electromagnetic frequencies in our environment that didn't exist in nature 100 years ago.

Combining stressors like chemical pesticides, electromagnetic smog, impossibly busy schedules, a demanding job, family obligations, and accelerating change creates a cascade of physiological responses that will lead to disease if not properly removed or discharged.
Stress relief is crucial, but it doesn't have to take the form of pharmaceuticals to ameliorate anxiety disorder and anxiety attack. New Age stress management techniques can lessen anxiety and provide stress relief. The first step in utilizing New Age stress management techniques is to have a thorough understanding of why our minds naturally cling to old ways of dealing with stress.
When you encounter situations or people that threaten or challenge you, you experience stress. When you experience stress, a change occurs in your brain chemistry that favors quick thinking over rationality. This same response dampens what you feel within your body. Although this fight or flight mechanism served our ancestors well when they were living in the wild, today it can cause serious health disorders and disease.

When you're stressed, you move unconsciously and continuously into a state of readiness that prevents you from noticing the stress and strain you are under. Your conscious mind denies the effects of stress and relies on the powerful subconscious mind to defend against the onslaught of imagined physical harm. As a result, your mind sabotages any real progress toward deep and skillful relaxation, as this seems dangerous to a mind under perceived threat.

Ironically, you find yourself fighting against your own self-defense mechanism. And there's no way to win the battle until you retrain yourself to respond differently to those things that cause an anxiety attack or anxiety disorder. Retraining yourself does not require a change in external circumstances. It simply means that you must alter how the external situation affects your inner world of thoughts and feelings, since these directly affect your physical body and health.

This is where stress management new age solutions come into play. In this age, new stress relief techniques can alleviate the harmful effects of stress through relearning a new response to stress triggers.

Musical Stress Management solutions

2007-12-17T03:14:00.002-08:00

Digital Music: Musical Stress Management solutions
Where there is a celebration, there is music. Where there is music, there is joy. The simplicity of music therapy to create joy or other moods is one of the easiest ways of controlling the mood of yourself, of a party, of a nightclub or of a concert. Musical tempo can create different brain wave states from increased energy to calmness, to relaxation to the higher genius states of super memory and accelerated learning.

One of the greatest challenges in Life, as Human Beings, is to gracefully direct our energy levels at particular times of our artificial 24 hour cycle, we call a day. How to get ourselves motivated to feel awake & accomplish conscious activity, then relax ourselves to regroup & sleep, as well as the awareness states in between, to achieve the levels of knowing, bodily ease & learning memory, without too much artificial help is the daily challenge we all face. The Studio's 7 THEME songs are all designed at 7 various tempos for 7 different brain wave states of consciousness from BETA to THETA.

Musical stress management solution- The Studio's 7 THEME songs are all designed at 7 various tempos for 7 different brain wave states of consciousness from ...
Digital Music presents the light hearted musical mottos & messages of goodwill and enjoy & use these songs to practice joyously peaceful patience if it goes astray. These songs are designed to increase the graceful harmony within the individual, through the awareness of joyously peaceful patience, so the individual may have the privilege of creating more constant graceful harmony in their personal daily life, to enable them to share graceful harmony with others & our environment.

Relaxation technique for Stress Management

2007-12-17T03:14:00.001-08:00

Stress Management: A Self Help Guide
There have been many words written about stress management, though many people do not realize that it can be managed. In fact, stress is a scary thing but it is also a self-creating thing. The more stress you feel, the less able you are to deal with the things that are stressing you, causing the stress to increase. This is a vicious cycle and the key to stress management is to not get into it in the first place. How do you do that? Well, there are many ways.

One of the most effective relaxation technique for managing stress is through meditation. This is a simple method of simply focusing the mind on nothing instead of focusing on everything that is stressing you out. It is not some sort of mystic trance or mysterious method. In fact, it is a simple method to help you strengthen your mind and learn to focus on the task at hand. Though there are many deep levels of meditation, the best place to start is with simply closing your eyes and taking deep breaths while concentrating on your breathing. By paying attention to your breathing and really focusing on it, your mind will clear itself out and permit you to relax easily. This is best done every single day as a preventive measure rather than as a cure for stress. However, it can also be effective when you need to ditch some stress in a jiffy.

As well,another relaxation technique for stress management is possible through simple chores or hobbies. Either building a model airplane or organizing a coin collection or cleaning the kitchen will help you get your mind on a task rather than on everything that needs doing. The tasks will still be there later, but simply giving your mind something to focus on that is not stressful will help you cope with stress much better. This method of managing stress is a sort of distraction for your mind. It moves your mind away from all the things that are cluttering it and organizes something in your life, even if it is just your CD collection. And organizing something is a nice way to get your mind off of everything in your life that is not organized.

Another way to managing stress in your mind is to take care of your body. Playing a sport, lifting weights or running is a good way to clear your mind and get healthy at the same time. Going out to the gym and, for instance, playing racquetball is a good way to get your mind away from things and change your focus for a little while. As well, by taking care of your body you are also cleansing toxins from your system, enabling you to clear your system of those pollutants that aren't doing your mind any good. So take care of your brain by taking care of your body and give yourself a nice little mental break.

Stress management is also possible simply by owning a pet. People who have pets such as dogs or cats or even fish can simply watch their pet or even play with their pets, giving them a nice little break from the regular stresses and strains of life. It has been shown that pets are actually better than spouses for relieving stress, as spouses have expectations of you. A pet, however, is going to love you no matter what and that is a nice thing to think about after a hard day of work. And petting a dog or cat has been shown to be very therapeutic. So, if you are stressed out all the time, it may be time to get yourself a pet in order to have a friendly face waiting for you whenever you walk in the door.

The final relaxation technique for stress management here is probably the most important. That is to get some sleep. Let's face it, nobody gets enough sleep any more. People are usually getting at least two hours less than they need every night, putting them into serious sleep debt. This debt is going to have to be paid up sometime, but sleeping in on the weekends is not going to get it done. The adult body needs, on average, 8 hours of sleep every night, but most adults get about 6 hours. This does not do your body any good and it does not do your mind any good. In fact, it tends to weaken the mind and make it more susceptible to stress, which is exactly what you want to avoid. So get to bed early and make sure that you are getting the sleep you need every night.

Stress Management & Relaxation Central-Stress Management, stress reduction; affordable tools to help you learn stress regulation, stress coping, how to relax and control stress.

Stress Management And Hypnotherapy

2007-12-17T03:11:00.001-08:00

Stress Management And Hypnotherapy
Stress has become a part of everyone's life today, and we often find ourselves stretching beyond our means to meet the demands on our time. The balancing act between the professional and personal world can be taxing to most of us, and in a lot of cases this constant balancing has led people to serious health problems. Burn-outs, nervous breakdowns, cardiac problems are all offshoots of this ever present stress management. And at the moment it feels like that stress has been your partner for the longest time.

Why are we all so stressed? Why have the percentages of health problems related to stress shot up so drastically in the recent years? And more importantly, what can we do to help ourselves? Have you ever given hypnotherapy for stress management a thought? Does it seem incongruous to you that hypnotherapy could actually deal with a lifestyle problem such as stress? The truth is yes, it can. And you can now avail of the benefits of Hypnotherapy in High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire.
Stress is a debilitating feeling. It causes anxiety attacks and it provokes anger. It takes a till on our health and our relationships with people.Visit effects of stress .Remember the last time you had a showdown with a colleague in office when you were both stressed out on a project? Stress leads people to have emotional outbursts and angry scenes more often than they imagine. Everyone wants to relieve themselves of the stress they face. Even you might have tried everything from yoga classes to kick boxing to drain the stress, but found out that it only cures the problem temporarily. If you are looking for a more permanent solution to your stress management problems, hypnotherapy could be your answer.
Hypnotherapy helps you soothe your senses. Through techniques like visualizations, a person is taught to be calm and relaxed; things which can help you a great deal when dealing with a stressful situation. Stress has the power to confound your brains to a point that you can't think straight. Hypnotherapy will help you get back on track, and clear your mind of all the haze. Hypnotherapy teaches you to reach a comfortable state whenever faced with a stressful situation. The result is a calm, cool and collected you facing stressful situations with an ease which inspires awe in people.

Hypnotherapy helps you erase stress from your life constructively, and it shows long lasting effects. Lots of people have benefited from hypnotherapy in High Wycombe and Buckinghamshire, at the clinic of Terry Doherty, a leading hypnotherapist in UK. Contact him now to benefit from the results of Hypnotherapy for stress.

Life Management Stress

2007-12-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

Stress Management Must-Do's: Ways to Go From Distress to De-stress
In our continually changing environment, our bodies and minds are suffering from wear and tear. We call it STRESS. Sometimes it's family problems, money problems, or problems at work. However, we all have to deal with it from day to day.

The first step to determining how you handle life management stress is knowing what causes it. Many find keeping a life management stress journal very helpful for understanding not only the causes, but also for giving you insight as to how you react. Use it to record each event in your life, how you're feeling, exactly what causes you to feel stressed and out of control, or in other words, the patterns of stress in your life.

Once you've determined the cause or causes of life management stress in your life, you can then go about finding ways to de-stress, or decompress, bringing harmony back into your life.

1) Relaxation techniques, such as music are very effective in calming your harried mind.This is one of the best technique for reducing life management stress.Music helps by calming you down, giving your mind a chance to relax if only for a few minutes. Find a quiet place, where you can be alone, pop in a CD of soft sounds, such as ocean waves or falling rain. Experiment until you determine which sound makes you feel relaxed and calm. Turn on the CD, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus on the sound, push everything else from your mind. Let your muscles relax, one at a time. Let yourself just get lost in the sound.

See Musical Stress Management Solutions and Relaxation technique for stress management.

2) Breathing techniques are very helpful and can be used almost anywhere, even at work. Once again, find a quiet place to sit down. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, then let it out. Take the next breath slowly, counting to five, hold that breath to the count of four, then release it very slowly. This works particularly well if you feel a bit panicky. When in panic mode, the body tends to breathe very fast and shallow, intensifying the feeling of fight-or-flight. Doing this breathing technique for fifteen or twenty minutes will be very calming.

Visit Stress Management Tips.

3) Sleep is so important, especially during extremely stressful times, but stress often makes getting to sleep very difficult. The thoughts keep swirling around in your mind, keeping you awake. Let your body get used to a routine by keeping the same bedtime each night, even on weekends. In addition, several hours before bedtime, give your brain a chance to wind down. Avoid any mentally demanding work and agitation. Cutting back on alcohol and caffeine will help you fall asleep more easily. Instead of watching television, find a nice relaxing, book. Before you know it, your body will relax, your eyes will close, and you'll drift off for a great night's sleep.

4) Exercise is another great way to de-stress your body and your mind. It improves blood flow to the brain, bringing it more oxygen. Believe it or not, long hours of sitting and thinking cause the neurons of your brain to build up toxic waste products. If you've ever experienced that foggy feeling, that feeling that your brain has turned to mush, this is why. Exercise releases chemicals called endorphins, into your blood stream. These endorphins are what give you that happy feeling, a feeling of well-being. When the pressure is on, it's the more physically fit people who are able to fight off illness. You'll stay healthier and suffer less from burnout. Please remember to talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. In addition, keep in mind that exercise should be fun. If it stops being fun, you'll stop exercising.

Stress Management, Prevention and Reduction

5) Try and spend time with your loved ones. Relaxing with family and friends is a great stress reliever. Finding fun activities will make you feel happy, relaxed, and more able to handle the day-to-day life management stress. They say laughter is the best medicine, so laugh and enjoy life whenever you can. Take regular vacations. Not only will you enjoy the break from work and home duties, but just the act of planning and looking forward to the vacation will improve your state of mind. Sometimes, anticipation is half the fun.

6) Find a hobby or a sport that you enjoy. If your work is very competitive, try and find something that will allow you to relax and enjoy yourself. Reading, gardening, sewing, etc. allows your mind to focus on something besides the worries. Moreover, working with your hands and being creative is very freeing.

7) Try a little positive thinking. It's a fact that optimists enjoy increased health and long life, have less stress, and are able to move forward and succeed where others might quit. We all have to expect some failures, some sorrow and frustration, but we don't have to let them rule our lives. Find some like-minded friends who will remind you of your successes now and then. Focus on realistic goals and remember that failure isn't fatal. And don't be so hard on yourself. Tomorrow is another day.

Having stress in your life is not the issue these days, how you cope with it is more important. Living a healthy lifestyle is one way to reduce the stress levels. When you're living healthy, you just automatically cope with stress better. Developing ways to deal with managing stress makes you more resilient, more energetic, with concentration that is more effective. Free Books, on Stress, Stress Management, Positive thinking ... Life -Stress Management Techniques.Stress: How to Cope Better With Life's Challenges -- familydoctor.org. See on Job Stress Management:Stress Causes & Effects- Tips for Workplace Stress Reduction.

Stress Relief Management

2007-12-17T03:10:00.000-08:00

Stress Management: Find Your Own Relief!
Would you believe that one of the biggest contributors to your state of health is how stress free your home environment is? Those who live in stressful conditions in home or at work are much more likely to have accidents or become ill when compared to those who consider themselves to be in a non-stressful work or home environment.

Unfortunately, the modern world has created situations in both home and work that are at a higher level of stress than those of past generations. The world today runs at a much faster pace then the world even ten or twenty years ago. And it is speeding up if anything. The demands we make on ourselves are increasing, as are the expectations we have of our relationships and ourselves. Is it any surprise that Heart Attacks are a leading cause of death in the United States? What can be done to fix this?

For stress relief management, First consider that you will actually spend more working hours at work than you will at home. Given that consider how stressful your job is and what about it makes it stressful. Once you pinpoint the causes see if you can find a way to reduce the stress level or delegate the responsibility of certain tasks that are particularly troublesome.

Stressful activities are not the only employee problem though. The fact is many feel stress simply because they do not like the job as a whole. If you do not like your job then you owe it to yourself to go about seeking other employment rather than staying at the risk of long-term health problems. Sometimes the simple act of even exploring other opportunities lessens the stress in your life. So even if you only look it is probably more beneficial to you than continuing to endure a job that you do not enjoy.

For stress relief management, Second, consider the town or city that you live in. Is this the ideal place for you? Life is too short to live in a where you are unhappy. Yet, we all know many people who complain day in and day out about the place they live and yet they don't do anything about it. Often we make compromises about living preferences to be close to family and these are not bad decisions. The support and foundation that extended family provides is very important for our overall health and well being. However, if that is not a consideration then there is no reason one should not make a move to a happier and healthier environment.

The perfect environment for one person is not necessarily the perfect environment for another though. For some, being beside the ocean is the ultimate in tranquility while for others it is a stressful nightmare because of the hurricane risk. Make a decision that is right for you in terms of where you choose to live.

Third, for stress relief management consider your actual home in terms of the actual physical environment itself and also the emotional environment created by the members living within the home. Ideally both of these should be healing, peaceful and stress free.

It is always easier to fix the physical environment first. Decide to build a sanctuary in your home. A sanctuary is a place you can retreat to that resonates with positive energy. What is needed in that place depends on your own personal taste. Some may want to make it a religious sanctuary or sacred space while for others it may simply be a quiet place in nature. And do not underestimate the effect of plants and landscaping on your own individual health. Healthy plants reflect a healthy life.

Lastly, think about the emotional environment created by those who live in your home. Is it healthy, peaceful and supportive? What underlying conflicts disrupt the harmony in the home? Go about seeing that these are settled for the best interest of all.
Create an environment that you are happy with both in your personal life and in your professional life and you will appreciate the long-term benefits that result.

Successful Stress Management Techniques

2007-12-17T03:09:00.001-08:00

Following are the successful stress management techniques.

1. Make stress your friend
Acknowledge that stress is good and make stress your friend! Based on the body's natural "fight or flight" response, that burst of energy will enhance your performance at the right moment. I've yet to see a top sportsman totally relaxed before a big competition. Use stress wisely to push yourself that little bit harder when it counts most.

2. Stress is contagious
Stressed people sneeze stress germs indiscriminately and before you know it, you are infected with stress germs too!
Protect yourself from stress germs by recognising stress in others and limiting your contact with them. Or if you've got the inclination, play stress doctor and teach them how to better manage their stress.

3. Copy good stress managers
When people around are losing their head, which keeps calm? What are they doing differently? What is their attitude? What language do they use? Are they trained and experienced?
Figure it out from afar or sit them down for a chat. Learn from the best stress managers and copy what they do.

4. Use heavy breathing.
You can trick your body into relaxing by using heavy breathing. Breathe in slowly for a count of 7 then breathe out for a count of 11. Repeat the 7-11 breathing until your heart rate slows down, your sweaty palms dry off and things start to feel more normal.

5. Stop stress thought trains
It is possible to tangle yourself up in a stress knot all by yourself. "If this happens, then that might happen and then we're all up the creek!" Most of these things never happen, so why waste all that energy worrying needlessly?
Give stress thought-trains the red light and stop them in their tracks. Okay so it might go wrong - how likely is that, and what can you do to prevent it?

6. Know your stress hot spots and trigger points
Presentations, interviews, meetings, giving difficult feedback, tight deadlines……. My heart rate is cranking up just writing these down! Make your own list of stress trigger points or hot spots. Be specific. Is it only presentations to a certain audience that get you worked up? Does one project cause more stress than another? Did you drink too much coffee?
Knowing what causes you stress is powerful information, as you can take action to make it less stressful. Do you need to learn some new skills? Do you need extra resources? Do you need to switch to de-caffeinated coffee?

7. Eat, drink, sleep and be merry!
Lack of sleep, poor diet and no exercise wreaks havoc on our body and mind. Kind of obvious, but worth mentioning as it's often ignored as a stress management technique. Listen to your mother and don't burn the candle at both ends!
And those are the successful stress management techniques! Take time to learn them, use them and teach them, and be a great stress manager.

Everyone needs successful stress management techniques. Easy to learn and easy to implement, you can use stress management techniques for your own stress management.Manage your stress and be a healthier, happier and more pleasant person to be around.

Stress Management Techniques & Self Improvement - The Wholistic Development Exchange - A Wholistic Approach to Stress Management & Self Improvement that empowers you to deal with stress, pressure & other life challenges. Click here for the latest Tips, Articles, News, EBooks, Products & Resources related to Stress Management & Self Improvement.

Stress-Relief Tips for Anger Management Children

2007-12-17T03:07:00.001-08:00

Families that deal with heavy loads of stress sometimes face problems from creating anger management children. In other words, parental conflicts and family dysfunction may lead to anger management children issues that require professional assistance. If you notice that your kids are lashing out with angry comments or withdrawing with sulky behavior, it may be time to make an appointment with a therapist for help with your anger management children.

Types of Anger Management Children
Kids are just as capable of rage as adults, although they may express it differently or to a variant degree. In a troubled home, kids may be upset by parental neglect, abandonment, busy schedules, or avoidance, to name a few. Anger management children require early diagnosis and special interventions or anger management training to help them cope and become adjusted to more normal emotional processing as quickly as possible.

Anger management children may not even realize they are hurt and upset about family situations. They may have stuffed their feelings so far down inside that they cannot even recognize them anymore. These kids are just as surprised as everyone else when they suddenly snap, yelling, hitting, or fleeing a conflict-based situation at home or at school. When these behaviors occur, it is best to consult an anger management therapist who can provide a suitable intervention plan to help anger management children learn how to deal with frightening emotions.

Helpful Tips for Dealing With Anger Management Children

If your child has demonstrated problems with controlling his or her anger or attitude, you may want to consult an anger management specialist who can advise you about whether your child might benefit from counseling or group therapy. In addition, you may want to work closely with your child's teacher to provide assistance in recognizing and avoiding triggers of your son or daughter's rage. Anger management children may not even realize they are angry, so this will require diplomacy and discretion on both parents' and teacher's parts.

Another way to help your child work through anger-provoking issues is to provide daily quality time for sharing thoughts, experiences, and moods in a quiet place where other family members will not intrude. Processing daily issues rather than waiting for them to build up and explode can help your child retain control of his or her temper. Anger management children sometimes act as though they don't want your help, but inside, most are grateful.

If you are a parent of anger management children, you may be unsure about where to find information or help. One way to find free useful information is by browsing the Internet. Check out sites like anger-management-information.com that can provide resources and support as you work through this challenging situation. You also can ask your child's principal or school psychologist for referrals to anger management therapists who may be able to help your anger management children learn to deal with uncomfortable emotions in socially acceptable ways. Give your child plenty of hugs and be a good listener to learn more about his or her personal needs and concerns.

Stress-Relief Tips for Anger Management Children

2007-12-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

Stress Management Program

2007-12-17T03:06:00.000-08:00

5 Minutes Daily Program to Stress Management
It is important to find ways to decrease and prevent stressful incidents and decrease negative reactions to stress. Here are some of the things that can be done by just remembering it, since life is basically a routine to follow like brushing your teeth or eating breakfast. You can do a few of them in a longer span of time, but as they say-- every minute counts.

Build healthy coping strategies

It is important that you identify your coping strategies. One way to do this is by recording the stressful event, your reaction, and how you cope in a stress journal. With this information, you can work to change unhealthy coping strategies into healthy ones-those that help you focus on the positive and what you can change or control in your life.

Lifestyle

Some behaviors and lifestyle choices affect your stress level. They may not cause stress directly, but they can interfere with the ways your body seeks relief from stress. Try to:

* Balance personal, work, and family needs and obligations.
* Have a sense of purpose in life.
* Get enough sleep, since your body recovers from the stresses of the day while you are sleeping.
* Eat a balanced diet for a nutritional defense against stress.
* Get moderate exercise throughout the week.
* Limit your consumption of alcohol.
* Don't smoke.

Social support

Social support is a major factor in how we experience stress. Social support is the positive support you receive from family, friends, and the community. It is the knowledge that you are cared for, loved, esteemed, and valued. More and more research indicates a strong relationship between social support and better mental and physical health.

Changing thinking

Dealing with your negative thoughts and how you see things can help reduce stress.

* Thought-stopping helps you stop a negative thought to help reduce stress.

* Problem solving helps you identify all aspects of a stressful event and find ways to deal with it.

* Changing your communication style helps you communicate in a way that makes your views known without making others feel put down, hostile, or intimidated. This reduces the stress that comes from poor communication. Use the assertiveness ladder to improve your communication style.

Managing time

Time and stress management skills can allow you more time with your family and friends and possibly increase your performance and productivity. This will help reduce your stress.For daily and busy sheduled life stress time management is very important.Stress Management and time management are the necessary steps for achiving success in any field.

To improve your stress time management:

* Save time by focusing and concentrating, delegating, and scheduling time for yourself.

* Keep a record of how you spend your time, including work, family, and leisure time.

* Prioritize your time by rating tasks by importance and urgency. Redirect your time to those activities that are important and meaningful to you.

* Deal with procrastination by using a day planner, breaking large projects into smaller ones, and setting short-term deadlines.

* Examine your beliefs to reduce conflict between what you believe and what your life is like.

Stress Management Program is designed to promote a stress-less life in order to prevent physical and emotional dis-ease. It consists of gentle stretches, breathing and relaxation techniques.Stress Management Program removes all the frustration, grief, anxiety, and yes, stress.There are many Stress Management Training Programs that offers cost effective stress management and training programs.Many different Stress Management Programs are available, ranging from a 1 hour basic class to a 6 week program.Ultimate stress management programs are also availabel for stressed people..Participants learn numerous stress management techniques.

Stress Management: How Much Stress Do You Have In Your Life?

2007-12-17T03:05:00.002-08:00

There are numerous 'stress scales' to measure your stress levels. In this article, we've give you several ways to approach the analysis and measurement of the stress levels in your life.

If you are one of those people that accepts and tries to adjust to the stress, no matter how much life piles on your plate, you may be surprised at the results of these stress management tests.

Whatever you do, don't take long-term stress lightly and feel you can 'handle it' without at least considering how you might eliminate, reduce or learn to handle stress more effectively.

If you don't address the stress in your life, and if this stress is long-term, you will experience physical, emotional and mental effects, and by the time you decide there is a problem, some of these problems may be difficult to solve.

What makes this fact particularly dangerous is that we have all come to take managing stress for granted, and in so doing, we have gradually adjusted to the physical and mental toll stress can take on our bodies and minds.

If you have a job, a relationship or a life that is particularly stressful, you may find yourself wondering if the managing stress you endure is hurting you.

Will you know when the damage is irreparable before it is too late? Is the managing stress as bad as you think it is, or are you overreacting?

These are good questions to ask in stress management test. Answer 'yes' or 'no' to all of the following questions and keep track of your answers. Then total your scores in each section, as instructed, to see how you did!

Routines and Habits

1. My sleeping patterns have changed (I sleep a lot less, a lot more or at different times of day)
2. My eating habits have changed (I eat a lot more, a lot less or under different circumstances, I have problems with digestion, pain in my stomach, etc.)
3. My weight, exercise or recreational activities have changed (I exercise less, I am obsessive about exercise, I have gained or lost a lot of weight, etc)
4. My social life has changed a lot (I go out less/more, talk on the phone less, don't feel like seeing anyone)

Thoughts and Feelings

1. I am tired all the time, I have no energy
2. I am worried a lot
3. I have knots in my stomach a lot
4. I feel anxious even when nothing is happening
5. I feel depressed or 'blue' a lot of the time
6. I feel overwhelmed much of the time
7. I cry too easily
8. I don't laugh often anymore
9. I don't care much about my appearance or what people think anymore - I'm just tired of trying to please people
10. I often feel like my brain is racing in 20 different directions at once

Relationship Problems
1. I have problems with my boss or co-workers at work
2. I have problems with my girlfriend, boyfriend, spouse, etc.
3. I have problems with my children
4. I have problems with in-laws
5. I have problems with others (friends, neighbors, club members, associates)
6. I often find myself in arguments with others, or feeling angry or hurt by the behavior of others
7. I feel like I never have time for myself
8. It is hard for me to focus or concentrate
9. I miss a lot of appointments, or I'm late a lot because I have too much to do
10. I find it hard to say 'no' when someone asks me to do something, even if I don't have the time to do what they are asking

Changes or Life Events

1. I was recently separated or divorced
2. My child is having problems in school or in life in general
3. I lost my job
4. I have recently been ill or hospitalized
5. A family member has recently been ill or hospitalized
6. There has been a death in my family or in my circle of friends
7. I am having financial difficulty
8. I am having problems with sexual performance or in my sex life in general
9. I or someone in my family have recently had legal problems or been in jail
10. I recently moved or relocated or started in a new school or a new job
11. I recently had a new addition to my family (child, relative moving in, new dog)
12. There is a lot of disruption where I live (new neighbors, increased noise level, crime, remodeling of home
13. Our family or circle of friends does not seem to get together as often anymore
14. I just got engaged, married or entered into a new intimate relationship
15. I just got a promotion, raise or a lot more responsibility at work
16. I just took on a lot of new responsibility at school, in the community or with family (caring for an older relative, etc.)
17. I just retired
18. My child just left for school, got married or moved out of the house
19. I just changed careers
20. My spouse just started working outside the home, or got a new job
21. I just took on a large loan or financial responsibility
22. I just suffered a major setback (default on a mortgage, repossessed car, didn't get the promotion I wanted, failed the bar exam, dropped out of school, etc.)
23. I am pregnant or about to adopt a child
24. I just got back together with my spouse or girlfriend, boyfriend (after separation or divorce)
25. I am working or studying a lot more hours during the week

Routines and Habits
If you didn't answer 'yes' to any of these questions, skip to the next section and continue adding your totals.
If you answered 'yes' to 1 of these questions, add 2 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 2 of these questions, add 5 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 3-4 of these questions, add 10 points to your score

Thoughts and Feelings
If you didn't answer 'yes' to any of these questions, skip to the next section and continue adding your totals.
If you answered 'yes' to 1 of these questions, add 2 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 3-4 of these questions, add 5 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 5-6 of these questions, add 10 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to more than 6 of these questions, add 20 points to your score

Relationship Problems
If you didn't answer 'yes' to any of these questions, skip to the next section and continue adding your totals.
If you answered 'yes' to 1 of these questions, add 2 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 3-4 of these questions, add 5 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 5-6 of these questions, add 10 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to more than 6 of these questions, add 20 points to your score

Changes or Life Events
If you didn't answer 'yes' to any of these questions, you can now begin to total your scores for each section and proceed to the TOTALS section below, to see how you did.
If you answered 'yes' to 1 of these questions, add 1 point to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 3-4 of these questions, add 3 points to your score.
If you answered 'yes' to 5-6 of these questions, add 5 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to 6-8 of these questions, add 10 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to 9-12 of these questions, add 20 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to 13-15 of these questions, add 30 points to your score
If you answered 'yes' to more than 15 of these questions, add 50 points to your score

TOTALS
In this stress management test,Total your points for each section and add them together. Now look at the list below to determine your stress levels or results of stress management test.

0-10 - Your long-term stress levels are low. You are doing just fine!

11-30 - You have moderate levels of long-term stress in your life. You should look for ways to reduce stress (time management, more aggressive negotiation of deadlines, training in conflict management, etc.)

31-60 - Your long-term stress levels are a real concern. Review the areas in which you feel the most stress and work on those to improve your quality of life. Consider a meditation, exercise program, and/or counseling to help you reduce stress more quickly and analyze the areas you may need help so you can set goals and work toward reducing stress in the short term and long term.

Over 60 - Your long-term stress levels are VERY HIGH. You should immediately assess the areas of stress in your life, talk to friends, family and co-workers, and begin a program to reduce AND to handle stress better. Consider exercise, meditation, counseling and other stress management techniques as appropriate (time management, training in conflict management and assertiveness, career change or counseling, etc.)

As you assess your stress levels and consider options for dealing with your managing stress, remember that everyone is different. Each of us has a different capacity for handling and tolerating stress. If you have a high score because of temporary conditions that you KNOW will change soon, you need not be as concerned as if you have managing stress factors that are longer term. These will, over time, affect your mental and physical health and your relationships, unless you address these stressors and find a way to deal with them or get rid of them.

Benifits of stress management.

2007-12-17T03:05:00.001-08:00

I say stressing can be motivating. Many of us perform at our peak level when we have that adrenalin rush moving through our veins. Anyone who has ever waited until the last minute to study for a test or complete a project knows what I'm talking about here.

Stressing can also be a way of telling others they better back off. I know when I felt stress, it was my unconscious goal to let my boss know she had better not ask me to do one more thing or I just might lose it! I would send out signals of overwhelm---lots of sighing, threatening looks, irritability, loss of humor. I have to admit that since I didn't do it very often, it was quite effective. Whenever I was stressed, my boss generally left me alone to do my work.
Stressing can also get us the help we need. When the message is out there, others may rally around us to support us. People may actually offer to do some things for us so we can reduce the overwhelm.

Another possible benefit is that stressing can provide us with recognition. I don't know how he/she gets all that done. It's amazing!" There are some who appreciate this positive recognition.

One final thought on stressing benefits. . . When we stress long enough, we may develop physical symptoms. When we don't take care of managing our stress levels, our physiology takes over and creates physical symptoms for us. Do you understand the purpose of the physical symptoms that accompany prolonged stress? Of course, it is our body's way of telling us we have to stop or slow down. It produces the physical symptoms that are hard to ignore. When we attend to them, we get the rest we need and therefore reduce the stress. Can you see how all behavior is purposeful?

If you are experiencing the effects of stress in your life, I am not suggesting that you are to blame. What I am saying is that up until this point, you have been doing absolutely the best you know how, consciously or unconsciously to get something you want by stressing. If you can pinpoint what the benefit(s) of stress is/are to you, then you can look at ways to get what you need without having to stress management.

For managing stress and reducing stress, you have many stress resources and programs such as Stress Management Training,stress management workshops,stress time managment,seminars etc.

Stress Management

2007-12-17T03:04:00.000-08:00

Stress is a part of day to day living. As college students you may experience stress management meeting academic demands, adjusting to a new living environment, or developing friendships. Managing stress is not necessarily harmful. Mild forms of stress management can act as a motivator and energizer. However, if your stress level is too high, medical and social problems can result.

Although we tend to think of stress as caused by external events, events in themselves are not stressful. Rather, it is the way in which we interpret and react to events that makes them stressful. People differ dramatically in the type of events they interpret as stressful and the way in which they respond to such stress. For example, speaking in public can be stressful for some people and relaxing for others.

Have you ever said the words, "This job/my life is so stressful!" Or something else along those lines?
Most people believe that stress is something that happens in their lives.See Life Management Stress. They believe it is the result of outside circumstances beyond their control. We are stressed if our work is too difficult. We get stressed when people in our lives aren't doing what we want them to do. We are stressed when it's been too long since a vacation. We get stress over deaths, weddings, major purchases and a host of other things. We talk as if stress management is something outside ourselves---a condition of things in our external environment. It's not.

Health professionals will tell us that managing stress is a contributing factor in many physical ailments---heart attacks, asthma, high blood pressure, stroke and many others. There are several diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, the diagnostic tool of therapists and psychiatrists that describe many stress-related disorders. Stress management is a killer. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to handle managing stress better than others do?

We are choosing managing stress as a proactive attempt to get something we want. This choice is almost never conscious, but I want it to become conscious for you. Once it is conscious, then you have the power to choose to do it differently if you so desire.

So managing stress is nothing but stress management.Stress management helps to understand what possible benefits or purposes one could achieve by stressing.

Benifits of stress management.
I say stressing can be motivating. Many of us perform at our peak level when we have that adrenalin rush moving through our veins. Anyone who has ever waited until the last minute to study for a test or complete a project knows what I'm talking about here.

Stressing can also be a way of telling others they better back off. I know when I felt stress, it was my unconscious goal to let my boss know she had better not ask me to do one more thing or I just might lose it! I would send out signals of overwhelm---lots of sighing, threatening looks, irritability, loss of humor. I have to admit that since I didn't do it very often, it was quite effective. Whenever I was stressed, my boss generally left me alone to do my work.
Stressing can also get us the help we need. When the message is out there, others may rally around us to support us. People may actually offer to do some things for us so we can reduce the overwhelm.

Another possible benefit is that stressing can provide us with recognition. I don't know how he/she gets all that done. It's amazing!" There are some who appreciate this positive recognition.

Stress Management

2007-11-26T02:02:00.001-08:00

Home
Stress Management
Stress is a part of day to day living. As college students you may experience stress management meeting academic demands, adjusting to a new living environment, or developing friendships. Managing stress is not necessarily harmful. Mild forms of stress management can act as a motivator and energizer. However, if your stress level is too high, medical and social problems can result.

Although we tend to think of stress as caused by external events, events in themselves are not stressful. Rather, it is the way in which we interpret and react to events that makes them stressful. People differ dramatically in the type of events they interpret as stressful and the way in which they respond to such stress. For example, speaking in public can be stressful for some people and relaxing for others.