Stress Awareness Month
At some point, everyone experiences stress in their life. Stress is different for everyone. What is stressful for one may not be stressful for another. Anything can cause stress. What is stress? It is anything that causes your body to change the way it is functioning right now. Stress can cause physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms. When you feel threatened your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart pounds faster, your muscles can start to tighten, your blood pressure rises, and your breath quickens.
When you feel stressed, you may start to experience excess sweating, pain in the back of the chest, headaches, high blood pressure, and cramps or muscle spasms. Stress not only takes a toll on you in a physical way but it also can affect you emotionally and behaviorally. If in a heightened state of stress you may expereince feelings of restlessness, anger, anxiety, sadness, and depression. You may find yourself unable to concentrate. You can be more forgetful and irritable if you are feeling stressed. All of these stressful feelings can cause you to overreact and have angry outbursts. Many people who expereince stress self medicate by overeating, using drugs or drinking alcohol.
Managing Stress
Stress is just a fact of life, but how you respond to it is most important. Stress can be overwhelming and if left unmanaged it can lead to serious health problems. If you are feeling stressed stop what you are doing, and take a moment to breathe. Time management and prioritizing your activities can help with feelings of being stressed. We can only do so much in a day. Take time to practice self-care, exercise, eat a balanced diet and rest. If you are feeling stressed communicate it to those around you, maybe they can help.
Acupuncture and massage are great tools to help relieve stress by restoring a healthy flow of energy. Both acupuncture and massage are powerful healing therapies that can provide complimentary health benefits.
