Sunday, June 19, 2011

Stress And Mental Health- Is There A Connection?

Expert Author Sylvia Dickens
When we are under stress, our mental health suffers. It might not seem that way, but over time, it can happen. Imagine your mind constantly bombarded with pressures at work, at home, on the way back and forth between the two. Your mind races. You cannot focus. Your work suffers. You become agitated easily. You snap at your family, at co-workers, at the car next to you in the driveway.
It all mounts. One thing after another seems to create just a little more stress until you feel like you are about to blow.
The thing is, you overall health will suffer as well. Common conditions associated with unresolved stress include stomach ulcers and various aches and pains, not to mention a few minor illnesses. At some point, expect to have heart problems from tensing your body constantly.
Most likely, your appetite will be affected while you are stressed.
All this shows that there truly is a connection between stress and mental health, and your overall health.
We all face stress every day. If we do not find a way to escape from it, the next stage is anxiety. Before you know it, you are suffering not only from stress overload, but from anxiety and eventually panic attacks.
Researchers have proven that people under stress tend to make more mistakes. They make wrong decisions and impromptu choices. Your choices can compromise your career, destroy your business, or hurt others in some way. Anger is a common result of constant stress.
Some Tips To Help You
Here are some ways you can begin to regain control and ease your stress.
1. Find out what's causing your stress.
List them down and try to give them a rating in terms of how much stress they cause you. Those with the highest number are the ones you want to focus on right away. The rest you can do later.
2. Put your stressors into perspective.
Be realistic in how legitimate is your response to those situations. You might find that it's not just one thing, but a set of things that cause stress to build up.
3. Go through each one and focus.
Take each item on your list and see what you can do to reduce the amount of stress it causes you. Is there an easier way to do that task? Can you delegate it to someone else? Can it be broken into smaller parts to make the work easier? What you are doing is looking for solutions, because those items are problems for you.
4. Find a way to escape.
You need to get a break from the stress. Not just through a two-hour lunch or relaxing on the sofa for an hour after work. That's not escaping. It's winding down. Your stress is still there, even though you don't feel it. Find an activity that separates your mind from your body, as is possible through certain relaxation techniques such as shiatsu, meditation and visualization.
When all else fails, look towards the experts in stress management. They are not difficult to find. A quick tour of your self-help section in the book store or library will reveal plenty.
Most of all, take action. Otherwise, you will continue to see stress and mental health issues in your life and they will only worsen over time.
Want more ideas for handling stress? Read this blog post for keys to Stress and Mental Health - What You Can Do To Ease Both. Grab a copy of Sylvia's Stress Relief Management book for more ideas. Formerly with the Canadian Mental Health Association, Sylvia gives her reviews of some of the best program for anxiety and stress on her blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sylvia_Dickens

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