Dealing With Stress
Written By: Dr. Jan McBarren, Duke and The Doctor
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Published - Apr 20, 2011
In this modern world we live in, we deal with a number of stressors in our daily life. For example, driving by a gas station and seeing gas prices go up another five cents a gallon overnight is enough to run my blood pressure up. Let’s face it, we all have stress in our lives but it’s how we deal with stress that defines us. Left unchecked, stress can and will have adverse affects on your wellbeing. Not only does it affect your emotions and how well (or not) you effectively deal with situations, but it can affect you physically too. Experts agree that long-term stress has a direct and negative impact on adrenal glands. The adrenal gland produces a hormone that is responsible for the “fight or flight” response. This is a normal function and meant to be a short-term reaction to situations; however, long-term stress exhausts adrenal functions thereby compromising us physically. Let’s take a look.
- Head. Stress can cause your blood pressure to rise, often resulting in headaches
- Heart. You may experience irregular heartbeats which can lead to heart attack and heart failure
- Immunity. Stress compromises your immune system causing you to be sick more often. Individuals suffering from allergies, autoimmune disorders or chronic illnesses may experience more severe symptoms when stressed out
- Digestion. People under stressful situations often complain of stomach pain, ulcers, nausea, diarrhea, GERD, IBS, colitis and a number of other stomach-related conditions
- Muscles. Stress can cause neck, shoulder, back pain
- Reproduction. Stress has been linked to infertility, ED, painful menses and difficulties during pregnancy
- Lungs. Stress can cause shortness of breath or hyperventilation. Individuals who suffer from COPD or asthma may experience worse symptoms
Avoiding stress is pretty much unavoidable; however, there are natural and effective ways to deal with stress. Dr. Jan McBarron, MD, ND offers these tips:
- Exercise. You don’t have to be a body builder, simply take a walk. Get up and move around, walk around in the neighborhood or go to a park and walk among the trees. Take up yoga or Tai Chi
- Breathe. When feeling stressed, take a moment to step back and breathe. Take in a deep breath through your nose and let it out slowly through your mouth. Repeat as often as necessary
- Listen to music. Music soothes the savage beast. Although misquoted, it does offer merit. We’ve enjoyed listening to music since the beginning of time. Whether you prefer to listen, sing, whistle or hum; music helps you relax
- Meditate. Find a quiet spot, get comfortable and concentrate on your breathing for 10-15 minutes. This will help empty your mind of negative thoughts and distractions
- Think positive, pleasant thoughts. The power of positive thought is often underestimated. Positive thoughts offer happiness, empowerment and tranquility
- Laugh and smile. Laughter is a powerful and contagious stress buster as well as promotes health and wellness. Laughing is so beneficial that a growing number of researchers support laugh therapy or humor therapy in a variety of terminally ill treatment centers
- Do something for someone else. A random act of kindness will make you feel better about yourself
- Share your feelings. Perhaps one of the most destructive things a person can do when feeling stress or frustrated is to keep it bottled up inside. Confide in a friend, therapist, pastor –anyone so that you can get the negative feelings out
Dr. McBarron adds that not only should we take care of our emotional wellbeing in times of stress, but we shouldn’t neglect our physical needs as well. At times of stress, our bodies burn through vitamin B. B vitamins are key to normal functioning of our brain and nervous system. It affects our mood, energy levels, and metabolism, and low levels will cause fatigue, depression and poor memory. She recommends the supplement Vita Logic Stressed Out for overall health and Vita Logic Adrenal Formula to support adrenal glands and protect against the risk of adrenal fatigue.
So when you’re feeling stressed out or a little blue, step back, take a moment and lighten up.
Resources:
http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-management-effects-of-stress