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Rabu, 11 Maret 2009

Working Organisations and Stress Related Disorders

Workers who are stressed are also more likely to be unhealthy, poorly motivated, less productive, and less safe at work. The organizations are less likely to be successive in competitive in modern market. Stress can be brought about by pressures at home and at work. Employers can not usually protect workers from stress arising outside of work, but they can protect them from stress that arises through work. Stress at work can be a real problem to the organization as well as for its workers. Good management and good work organization are the best forms of stress prevention. If employees are already stressed, their managers should be aware of it and know how to help.

What is work stress?

Work-related stress is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope. There is often confusion between pressure or challenge and stress and some times it is used to excuse bad management practice

Work related stress Hazards?
• Job content- Monotones, lack of variety, unpleasant tasks etc..
• Work load and work place- time pressures
• Working hours- inflexible and unsocial hours
• Participation and control- lacking in decision making and control
• Career development, status and play
• Role in organization-unclear role, conflicting role
• Interpersonal relationship
• Organizational culture
• Home-work interface
Stress Stages
Our mind has different stages while encountering a event. The two stages of stress are beta stage and alpha stage.
Beta Stage:

The beta stage is the situation where the person is in the waking stage. The alpha stage is the first step to unconscious. Usually the decisions we make in our life is a combination of conscious and sub conscious state. Now lets go in detail about how we these states work together.
Alpha Stage:

The alpha state is the stage where we do our work. This is the stage where we will be relaxed. We will be warm and comfortable. In this stage we will be waiting to take up the work with a fresh mind. For example, waiting in the car for some one on a sunny day, with a mild breeze blowing over you, is a perfect state of alpha stage. The work done in the alpha stage is mainly controlled by the sub conscious state. Thus what ever we do in this state, it will be correct and there is very less probability of making mistakes during this state. The alpha stage occurs only twice per day. It is when we wake up in the morning and when we are about to sleep during the night. Our conscious mind has the reasoning capability. Our conscious mind is like a tape memory. We cannot delete it and copy another data, instead we can create another copy of data on it. During the decision making stages, the sub conscious state is the one which take up the decisions. No mater what the conscious state does, it need to co operate with the sub conscious state in order to take up a decision. Thus this is the reason why we call the sub conscious mind as our energy source. For example, suppose we scold a small child and degrade him for some mischief done by him, the words of degradation will always exists in the child mind. Thus it will be stored in the sub conscious mind which will remain there for ever. Thus the child will be always a failure because conscious mind will not be able to over take the sub conscious mind in him. Thus we need to be careful while speaking to a child. We also need to know the fact that whenever a conscious mind takes up a decision, it has to be asked with sub conscious. If the sub conscious mind has already decide upon a particular decision and if the conscious mind changes the decision, then it is not possible for the sub conscious mind to again change.
Stress and Stress-Related Disorders:
Although information on this topic is still sketchy, reliable evidence has begun to emerge on both the extent of job stress and stress-related disability in many organizations. Indicators of occupational safety and health risks associated with the organization of work and workplace stress come from following sources:
• Data on the prevalence of stress and stress-related disorders in the workplace, and how the employees experiences job stress and how it have changed in recent years.
• Data on the scope of workplace exposures to workplace conditions that are known risk factors for stress and stress-related disorders, and on how these exposures have changed.
• When affected by work stress and work related disorders workers become increasingly distressed and irritable, unable to relax, difficult in logical thinking and decision making feel tired, depressed, experiences physical problems, musculo-skeletal disorders.
According to American Psychological Association, 54%of Americans are concerned about the level of stress in their everyday lives. Stress makes cancer cells stronger and less likely to die. Research indicates that a protein called BAD that kills cancer cells, does not work in the presence of epinephrine – which is produced by the adrenal glands during stressful situations and depression.

Economic Factors:
Stress can be linked to the external factors such as Economic factors, occupational risks, the environmental and emerging issues. Stress can also be linked to the external factors which govern our own irresponsible behaviors negative thoughts that surround us, or unrealistic desires and expectations. Organizational practices of concern in the work organization and stress field are the products of macroeconomic, technological, demographic, and other forces at the national and international level. These developments have had significant impacts on business practices relevant to the organization of work, including the organization of firms, the organization of production, the nature of employment contracts, and other human resource policies such as work-life programs and fringe benefits. In many countries, these trends have occurred against the backdrop of an aging and increasingly diverse workforce.
These causal pathways between work organization and worker safety and health are illustrated in the figure below. This figure portrays a somewhat broader causal model, showing that new organizational practices of concern are the products of various background forces, including the growing global economy, changing worker demographics and the labor supply, and technological innovation.

Occupational Safety and Health Risks
Although information is limited, indicators of occupational safety and health risks associated with the organization of work and workplace stress come from two sources:
• Data on the prevalence of stress and stress-related disorders in the workplace, and on how experiences of job stress have changed in recent years coincident with changing organizational practices, and
• Data on the scope of workplace exposures to workplace conditions that are known risk factors for stress and stress-related disorders, and on how these exposures have changed.
Emerging issues:
The aspects of work organization affect general well-being, physical health, and stress-related outcomes. There is a number of important emerging scientific and health issues related to work organization practices are:
• Work-Life / Flexibility:
Women are entering the workforce at increasing rates, and couples are working longer hours. Due to these circumstances and recent trends in family planning, workers are increasingly finding themselves “sandwiched” between work and domestic responsibilities. The links between work-life conflict and employees’ well-being and functioning (both at work and home) have become a growing concern for both employers and workers. It is necessary to examine the risks posed by work-life conflict and especially the design and benefits of work-life programs to restore work-life balance.
• Disaster Mental Health/Traumatic Stress.
9/11 and recent hurricanes have served to elevate disaster mental health as an area of concern in occupational safety and health, with special attention to stress experienced by emergency responders. Effort is needed along several lines to reduce stress risks among disaster workers, including (1) development of psychosocial instruments to reliably assess psychological stress in post-disaster situations, (2) how disaster response work can be better organized and managed to reduce stress risks, and (3) ways to improve the resilience of disaster workers and to improve mental health interventions.
Depression / Psychological Illness.
The mental health of workers is an area of increasing concern to organizations. For example, depressive disorders affect approximately 10% of adults in the U.S. each year and they are among the most costly health problems for organizations. Evidence linking work organization with depression and other mental health problems, and with increased productivity losses, is beginning to accumulate. There is a pressing need to better understand organizational practices and factors that contribute to poor mental health, to develop interventions that effectively target these risk factors, and to translate and disseminate information on risk factors and interventions for application in organizations.
Workplace Violence.
Studies indicate that as many as one-third of workers report they experienced some sort of psychological aggression, emotional harassment, or abuse while on the job .Workplace psychological aggression can be costly in terms of individual outcomes, such as increased psychological stress, reduced satisfaction, and poorer physical health, and in terms of organizational outcomes such as turnover, counterproductive work behaviors, and decreased productivity.
Older Workers:
A critical challenge in public health during the next decade is how to ensure the safety and health of an aging. Workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that between 2000 and 2015, the number of workers 55 years and older will increase by 72 percent – from 18.2 million to 31.2 million. This compares to a rate of only seven percent for workers between the ages of 16 to 54. Despite this unprecedented increase in the number of older workers, we have only limited knowledge of the safety and health risks they will encounter. Company need to better understand the types of jobs and working conditions older workers experience identify risk factors that may disproportionately affect these workers, and develop best practices and organizational-level interventions designed to improve the safety and health of older workers.
Minority Worker Health.
Evidence suggests that racial and ethnic minorities, who collectively comprise at least 25% of the workforce, are overexposed to a variety of health- and safety-compromising conditions due to their overrepresentation in low status occupations and due to issues related specifically to race and ethnicity. Despite these exposures, few research efforts have been directed toward better understanding the occupational safety and health of minorities
Coping with stress:
Stress can yield benefits but employees don’t tend to look that way. For them it’s just an escape route. What Management sees as an “opportunity to excel”, employees sees them as “Threat of excessive pressure”. Employees today do not want to put extra efforts, they just want to have 9-5 p.m.job, with very little to contribute, and the expectations are so high. There is a tendency for desire, even though they do not deserve, while the case should be first deserve, and then desire.
There are two approaches:
Individual approach i.e., employee himself takes the responsibility for reducing his or her stress level, by implementing time management, increasing physical exercise, adopting relaxation techniques, and expanding his social network. Stress is essentially an outcome of mismanagement of time. Whenever we encounter a stressful event, our bodies undergo a series of hormonal and biochemical changes that put us in ‘alarm mode’. To reduce stress Meditation, yoga, physical exercise helps to create dynamic peacefulness within you. Apart from these the following can also be done by employees to reduce the stress at work life.
a) Job Analysis:
To do a good job, one need to fully understand what is expected of him/her. While this may seem obvious, in the hurly-burly of a new, fast-moving, high-pressure role, it is oftentimes something that is overlooked. By understanding the priorities in your job, and what constitutes success within it, you can focus on these activities and minimize work on other tasks as much as possible. This helps you get the greatest return from the work you do, and keep your workload under control. Job Analysis is a useful technique for getting a firm grip on what really is important in your job so that you are able to perform well. It helps you to cut through clutter and distraction to get to the heart of what you need to do. And it shows you the tasks you should try to drop.
b) Time Management:
Good time management is essential if you are to handle a heavy workload without excessive stress. By using time management skills effectively, you can reduce work stress by being more in control of your time, and by being more productive. This ensures that you have time to relax outside work.
• Assess the value of your time, understand how effectively you are using it, and improve your time use habits;
• Focus on your priorities so that you focus on the most important jobs to do, delegate tasks where possible, and drop low value jobs;
• Manage and avoid distractions; and
• Create more time.
c) Valuing Your Time:
A first step in good time management is to understand the value of your time.If you are employed by someone else, you need to understand how much your employer is paying for your time, and how much profit he expects to make from you. If you are working for yourself, you should have an idea of how much income you want to bring in after tax. By working these figures back to an hourly rate, this gives you an idea of the value of your time. By knowing the value of your time, you should be able to tell what tasks are worthwhile to perform, and which tasks give a poor return. This helps you cut away the low value jobs, or argue for help with them.
Activity Logs:
Activity logs are useful tools for doing things. They help you understand how you use your time, so that you can identify and eliminate time-wasting and unproductive habits. This gives you more time to do your work, increases your efficiency, and makes it more likely that you will be able to leave work on time and have good quality time to yourself to relax. The first time you use an activity log, you may be shocked to see the amount of time that you waste! Memory is a very poor guide when it comes to this: It is too easy to forget time spent reading junk mail, browsing interesting but unhelpful web pages, talking to colleagues, making coffee, waiting for meetings, traveling, etc. By keeping an Activity Log for a couple of weeks, you can identify the unproductive time in your daily routine. By cutting this out, or by changing your habits, you can substantially increase your productivity.
To Do List:
Keeping a To Do List is one of the most fundamental but important working skills that people can have. To Do Lists help people to deliver work reliably, without letting tasks “slip through the cracks.” This obviously helps in reducing the stress of having failed to do something important. it is essential when you need to carry out a number of different tasks, or where you have made a number of commitments. If you find that you are often caught out because you have forgotten to do something, then you need to keep a To Do List.While To Do Lists are very simple, they are also powerful, both as a method of organizing yourself, and as a way of reducing stress.This may leave you feeling out of control, and overburdened with work. Keeping a To Do List guides you in your approach to work, puts the work into context, and gives you a starting point for negotiating deadlines.

2. Organizational approach:
Stress activities that cause stress like task of the employees and the role demands and organizational structures are controlled by the management which can be modified or changed. The management needs to focus on personnel selection, job placement, training and development, job redesign, improved employee improvement, establishing corporate wellness programs etc. Goals should be set realistically which serves as a means of motivation to the employees who when achieves them, are most stress free. Finally the wellness program which focus on employees total physical and mental conditions like, providing workshops for developing the regular exercise program shall contribute to the removal of stress in organizations.
Conclusion
Work stress is a real challenge for workers and their employing organizations. Individuals vary greatly in their capacity to endure stressful situations, and there is, undoubtedly, self-selection in the kinds of jobs and stressors that individuals choose. Because sources of stress may vary from worker to worker, providing a solution for one worker may create stress for another worker. Stress can be both positive and negative which has an impact on the employee’s performance at work. If taken positively, the results are positive and if taken negatively it may yield disastrous results. For most of the people.

Article Source : www.articlesbase.com

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Stress is a Double Edged Sword

One standard medical text estimates that 50 – 80% of all diseases have their origins in stress. Stress has both negative and positive effects on the body. It is positive when physical activity strengthens the heart and muscles. Exercise is a form of stress that produces positive physical and psychological results. The negative effects of stress are evident in diseases that originate from poor diets, lack of exercise, pollution and increased amounts of social stress. Emotional stress is more likely to cause disease than physical stress.

Disease is a long term effect of stress. Short term effects include elevated blood pressure, accelerated heart rate and loss of appetite. Stress can also alter a person’s brain wave activity, endocrine and immunological balances. Stress can cause sweaty palms (among other types of perspiration), dilated pupils, and difficulty in swallowing, which is often characterized as a ‘lump in the throat’. A person under stress may feel a tightness in the chest, and when the stress is relieved, the person says it is like ‘getting a load off the chest’. The stomach is also in danger from stress. Acid is pumped into the stomach during extreme stressful situations, creating an ideal environment for an ulcer to form. Many skin diseases result from emotional stress as well. The prolonged exposure to stress can also lower the body’s resistance to infection.

Stress has a tremendously negative effect on our ability to fight illness and disease because it suppresses our immune system’s capacity to produce and maintain lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells.

There are two factors responsible for illness or disease: an invading foreign substance and a lowered resistance. Stress can alter and may even shut down the immune response. This lowers our resistance and leaves us susceptible to attack from everything from the common cold virus to cancer cells. One cancer theory is that everyone at some point in his or her life develops a cancer. The difference between those who are afflicted and those who aren’t is their immune system response, which is controlled by stress. Cancer victims are the ones whose natural killer cells were weakened or made inactive by stress and therefore could not control the damaging cells.

The body responds to stress in three stages. Stage one is called the alarm stage. In this stage the body prepares to fight or flee when confronted by a stressor. Hormones are released from the endocrine glands and cause an increase in heartbeat and respiration, elevation in blood sugar level, increase in perspiration, dilated pupils and slowed digestion. At this point the body has a burst of energy that can be used to either fight or flee the stressor. It is during this stage that the resistance of the body is reduced.

Stage two is called the resistance stage and is used to repair any damage caused by the stress. Resistance can occur only if the stressor is not too powerful. Body adaptation develops to fight back the stress or possibly avoid it.

If the stressor remains consistent, the body is thrown into stage three, the exhaustion stage. Stage one symptoms reappear at this point. This is the most dangerous stage because disease can develop if the stress persists. If the stressor does not let up, the person may experience migraine headaches, heart irregularities or even mental illness. The body can even run out of energy and may even shut down its basic functions.

This three stage process is called the General Adaptation Syndrome. The resistance stage is dangerous in that we adapt to the stressor. In other words, we become adjusted to a higher level of stress without noticing it. We feel good, unaware that our body is still in a state of stress resistance.

Our body works overtime during this stage to keep us healthy, but at the same time it loses its ability to keep up with the demand the stress puts upon it. The General Adaptation Syndrome is thought to be the reason stress is becoming such an abundant source of health problems. Today’s society is becoming more complex, offering increased demands and new challenges we must constantly face at a faster and more intense pace. By changing the way our body normally functions, these stress challenges disrupt the natural balance crucial for well-being. Stress can virtually eliminate our chances for extending and improving life. It does so by breaking down resistance and increasing the odds that all our bodily functions will eventually give out and fail us.

To understand what physiological processors take place during stress, we must look at the brain. When stress occurs, the nerve impulses reach the brain and stimulate the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus does two things. First, it sends nerve impulses to the adrenal glands located on top of our kidneys, and second, it sends a chemical message to the pituitary gland located at the base of the brain.

Stimulation of these glands is what prepares the body for the fight or flight response mentioned earlier. This process causes three more reactions: a surge of adrenaline, a discharge of cortisol and a release of endorphin. Adrenaline causes the heart rate to quicken, which increases blood pressure and blood flow. This brings extra oxygen – nature’s purest fuel – to every cell in the body. Adrenaline also increases glucose or blood sugar necessary for extra energy needed during stressful encounters.

Cortisol causes an increase in blood amino acids as well as an increase in blood sugar. Protein is made up of amino acids, and because stress leads to tissue damage, proper recovery depends on cortisol being released by the adrenal gland.

Endorphin is released by the brain in any stress situation. It is several hundred times more potent than morphine and works as a natural tranquilizer. Exercise causes endorphins to be released, and therefore a regular exercise program will heighten one’s ability to combat normal daily stressors. People who do not exercise are more susceptible to the negative effects of stress reactions.

Good versus Bad Stress: The Difference can Help or Hurt You

Although the stress response is basically the same in all of us, the degree to which it affects us depends on how we handle stress as individuals. Stress can be either good or bad depending on how we perceive it. We can become more stress tolerant by changing our attitudes and conditioning ourselves to look at it in a new way. We need to change our response to stress from negative and harmful to positive and beneficial – to view it as something constructive rather than destructive.

To achieve this shift in attitude we must be highly internally motivated. The internally motivated person feels that he or she is in control of events that occur – that they are masters of their own fate. We commonly refer to these people as self made individuals, who, in spite of the odds against them, pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps.

On the other end of the spectrum is the external person, who feels that ‘no matter how hard I try, the deck is stacked against me’. In general, good stress results from situations we can control and bad stress results from situations we have no control over. This internal/external view of life determines whether an individual feels control over stressors. External people are stress prone because they feel powerless to control or influence the events around them.

Stress Prone Personalities

A more common identification of internal/external personalities is Type A and Type B people. A type A personality is someone who is hard driving, excitable, volatile, and success and career oriented. These people rush from appointment to appointment. They’re continually bombarded with short term stress and create dangerous health situations because they allow no time for relaxation. They are the prime candidates for a heart attack.

Type B personalities are just the opposite. They’re relaxed and unhurried, patient, non competitive, non aggressive, and are not under severe time constraints. But being at this end of the spectrum is not necessary healthy either. Selye theorized that some people suffer from too little stress – something he called hypostress. These people actually need more external stimuli and more activity into their lives. They become addicted to drugs or alcohol due to a lack of motivation and the stabilizing effect of constructive goals. This does not mean that all type B personalities are unmotivated or spend all of their time meditating. It’s just a factor that must be considered when weighing the pros and cons in each type of personality.

It’s possible for type A people to modify their behavior by changing their outlook on stress and breaking some of the long term stress habits they’ve acquired over the years. Certain exercises, called Type B Behavior Exercises, can help a type A person achieve a new approach to stress. These exercises include: putting down your knife and fork between bites at meal time, forcing yourself to do more recreational activities, spending the entire day without your watch, and turning your frowns into smiles even when it hurts. The idea is that once people recognize themselves as type A, they can then modify their behavior.

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Stress - Types, Causes and Cures (part Three)

How the body reacts to prolong stress is described by Dr Hans Selye in terms of the General Adaptation Syndrome. Selye divides the stress response into three phases: Alarm Response, Adaptation and Exhaustion. The Alarm Response is the fight or flight response that prepares the body for immediate action. If the source of stress persists, then the body prepares for long term protection through the secretion of further hormones that increase blood sugar levels to sustain energy and raise blood pressure. This Adaptation phase, resulting from exposure to prolonged periods of stress, is common and not necessarily harmful but without periods of relaxation and rest to counter-balance the stress response, sufferers become prone to fatigue, concentration lapses, irritability and lethargy as the effort to sustain arousal slides into negative stress. Under persistent, chronic stress, sufferers enter the Exhaustion phase: mental, physical and emotional resources suffer heavily and the body experiences 'adrenal exhaustion', where blood sugar levels decrease as the adrenals become depleted, leading to decreased stress tolerance, progressive mental and physical exhaustion, illness and collapse.

Exposure to excessive stress results in hormonal imbalances, which can produce a variety of symptoms:-

Physical symptoms - changes in sleep patterns, missed heartbeats, fatigue, palpitations, changes in digestion, breathlessness, loss of sexual drive, headaches, infections, indigestion, tingling of hands and feet, aches and pains in various parts of the body, dizziness, sweating and trembling.

Mental symptoms - lack of concentration, panic attacks, memory lapses, difficulty in making decisions, disorientation and confusion.

Emotional symptoms - deterioration in personal hygiene and appearance, bouts of depression, impatience and irritability, fits of rage and tearfulness.

Behavioural symptoms - appetite changes, eating disorders, increased intake of alcohol and other drugs, nail biting, fidgeting, restlessness, hypochondria and increased smoking.

The term 'cardiovascular' refers to the heart and the body's system of blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease is probably the most serious health problem that can be linked to stress - it is the most common cause of death in the UK and the USA. The primary causes of heart disease include smoking and high fat diets but stress is a significant contributory factor.

Adrenal hormones act to increase blood pressure; temporary rises in blood pressure present no threat to health but a frequent or perpetual state of high blood pressure can have a serious effect on health in the long term. High blood pressure is linked with the development of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Arteriosclerosis is the result of the development of blood plaque in the arteries, which progressively narrows the pathway through which the blood flows. Eventually an artery can become blocked, leading to angina, stroke and heart failure.

Infections, viruses, harmful bacteria and cancer are stopped from harming the body by the immune system. Excessive stress can damage the immune system by affecting the thymus gland, which manufactures white blood cells for regulating immunity and also produces various immune related hormones. The stress reaction diverts resources to the main parts of the body that need to deal with stress, mainly the brain, heart and muscles. The immune system and other systems are deprived of resources. The thymus gland may shrink because of the hormones that are produced by the adrenal glands. This will also degrade the work done by the white blood cells, which will cause damage to the body's ability to fight infection. Reduced resistance to common infections, such as flu, colds and herpes is a result of high stress. Because certain types of white blood cells produced by the thymus are active in preventing the development of cancer cells in the body, any damage to the thymus may effect the bod's ability to resist cancer.

Asthma is a respiratory disorder marked by the temporary constriction of the bronchi, the airways branching from the trachea to the lungs. Attacks are usually brought on by allergic reactions to antigens, such as grass and tree pollen, mould spores, fungi and certain foods but also may be caused by chemical irritants in the atmosphere or by infections of the respiratory tract. Susceptibility to an asthma attack is based on hyperactivity of the bronchial muscles, which constrict on exposure to one or any of these agents. Chronic stress reduces the efficiency of the adrenal glands, reducing the output of anti inflammatory and anti allergic adrenal hormones, which may make an asthma attack more likely.

Diabetes is caused by the inability of the body to metabolise sugar correctly, leading to excessively high levels of sugar in the blood. Sugar metabolism is the responsibility of the hormone insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas. The majority of diabetics are able to produce insulin but a number of factors limit its efficiency; this is known as 'insulin sensitivity'.

Blood sugar levels are significantly impacted by the release of adrenal hormones under stress. Adrenaline causes sugar in the liver to be put into the blood stream and cortisol acts to reduce the metabolism of glucose by cells. Large amounts of cortisol act to decrease insulin sensitivity. High blood sugar levels are not dangerous in normally healthy individuals but chronic stress, combined with other factors such as obesity, act to increase the likelihood of developing diabetes.

Ulcers are frequently associated with stress, although no conclusive link has yet been demonstrated. Normally the lining of the stomach is covered with a layer of mucus to protect it from the digestive acids and enzymes used in the breaking down of food. Over time, chronic stress can stimulate the overproduction of gastric juices, which break down the protective mucus and act upon the walls of the digestive tract, resulting in ulceration. Ulcers usually occur singly in round or oval lesions; the erosions are usually shallow but can penetrate the entire wall, leading to haemorrhage and possibly death.

Many problems with the digestive tract, such as constipation, diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome are linked to stress. The brain will send messages to the nerves in the digestive tract in the form of hormones. These messages will tell the intestinal muscles to expand or contract. Hormonal imbalances can cause alterations in intestinal function, such as spasms, constipation and diarrhoea. Chronic stress tends to shut down the digestive system altogether, exacerbating intestinal problems.

Stress increases levels of toxicity in the body and contributes to hormonal imbalances, both of which have an effect on the skin. The visible effects of stress on the skin include:- acne, spots, skin diseases, eczema, excessive pallor and psoriasis.

Headaches are one of our most common afflictions and are normally caused not by disease but by fatigue, emotional disorders or allergies. Intermittent tension headaches are caused by worry, anxiety, overwork or inadequate ventilation. The most common type, a chronic tension headache, is often caused by depression. Brain tissue itself is insensitive to pain, as is the bony covering of the brain (cranium). The stimulation of the nerves of the cranium, upper neck and the membranous linings of the brain will cause headache pain. This stimulation can be produced by inflammation, by the dilation of blood vessels of the head or by muscle spasms in the neck and head. Headaches brought on by muscle spasms are classified as tension headaches: those caused by the dilation of blood vessels are called vascular headaches.

Migraine is the most common cause of vascular headache. Many things seem capable of triggering migraine attacks, including stress, fatigue, drugs and foods that contain substances that affect the blood vessels. Chronic headache may be physical symptoms of depression or other kinds of severe emotional problems.

Stress has a debilitating effect on the nerves in general and certain premenstrual symptoms may be aggravated by stress. Many sufferers of PMS have abnormal levels of the adrenal hormone aldosterone, which may account for some of the problems of excessive fluid retention and weight gain, breast tenderness and abdominal bloating. Further release of aldosterone caused by stress will exacerbate these problems.

Chronic stress can produce severe depression because of its debilitating psychological effects. The physiological changes produced by stress can also contribute to depression. Adrenaline and noradrenaline are not only adrenal hormones but chemical messengers in the brain. Deficiencies of noradrenaline have been linked to depression in certain individuals and so adrenal exhaustion through chronic long term stress may be a contributory factor in depressive illness.

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Learn Why You Must Start Combating Stress Immediately and Six Resources For Stress Management

The real problems with stress arise when you don't do anything at all. Some people are not aware they are at risk for problems such as heart attack and stroke. Stress is so common and strikes so slowly that few people are aware of any danger till its too late. A little statistic might make this a little clearer; webmd.com estimates that 75% to 95% of all doctors' visits are stress related!

In other words, if you have symptoms of stress, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep problems, headaches, faster aging, strokes, depression, ulcers, asthma, weaker immune system (reducing your natural ability to fight off infection), panic attacks, loss of memory or even obesity...stress can be a significant factor.

Stress occurs when you perceive a demand on you to be greater than your resources. This can happen studying, working, dealing with events, holidays, running your own business and so on. The symptoms include an elevated blood pressure, release of hormones, increase of tension in your muscles, rapid breathing, and sweating.

Some stress can actually be good for you, as it can motivate you. But all the physical symptoms of stress can make your body weaker, breaking down its immune system. So stress for a longer period of time than a few days can be very dangerous.

Think of it this way; If you bought a car and then drove it around recklessly, not taking proper care of it, the car will break down. You are putting way too much exertion on the engine to keep it running for very long.

Your body is the same way with stress. You have to consciously take control of and manage stress, or your body will begin to run like a broken down car.

Unfortunately the fast paced living we are used to is designed to put your body into a state of stress from the very moment you wake up! It begins with the sharp sound of an alarm bell, followed by the stress of the morning commute, add coffee and sugar filled snacks and your body is beginning to get hit hard...and all of this before the work day has even begun!

By the time you get home there is so much stress stored up in your body that you may even find it difficult to allow your mind to relax. You have probably been "storing" stress in your body for years and don't realize it. This leads to trouble relaxing and sleeping, one of the most common symptoms of stress.

"Stress is harmful to the body as well as the mind." Time Magazine January 20, 2003

The topic of stress relief has been the object of controversy in recent decades due to the various ways to administer it. There are different ways for different cultures. Where the Hindus have yoga the Japanese have Zen. Both of these methods are excellent in relieving stress. There are many types of yoga and this practice includes stretching of the muscles and various positions to relax each body part. Meditation and concentration for each movement will eventually with continued effort give you a youthful glow and allow you to keep stress levels at a minimum. Zen, on the other, hand is a style focusing on more of the meditation. Zen is a more philosophical approach to stress relief and really works if practiced on a regular schedule.

Other ways to relieve stress include deep breathing exercises, light physical exercise, reading, getting out into nature, the calming effects of light music; each individual has their own method. Some may prefer bingo or bowling while another may choose baking or smoking a cigarette. Whatever the choice, there are certain consequences. For instance, if you choose to smoke to relieve your stress it may not be the best solution and could result in a health risk. Other ways to relieve stress are acupuncture and hypnosis. To locate a professional simply use the internet or it's as easy as your phone book under physicians or alternative medicine.

I have researched and compiled a list of 6 extremely useful resources on the internet. Each resource has a description from it's website to give you an idea of what to expect. This will give you a jump start on understanding the roots of stress and how to efficiently reduce stress in your life today.

1. A Completely Free Stress Management And Stress Relief System: If you want to learn exactly how you can control stress in all aspects of life, step by step, you will love this program. I think this is the most effective stress management & stress relief system on the net today and it's available free. Might as well take advantage of it. Read about it @ http://www.InstantStressManagement.com

2. The American Institute of Stress: Many studies have proven beyond any doubt that stress affects your mind AND body. This site is "Dedicated to Advancing Our Understanding of: (1)The Role of Stress in Health and Illness, (2) The Nature and Importance of Mind-Body Relationships, and (3) Our Inherent and Immense Potential for Self-Healing." @ http://www.Stress.org

3. American Psychological Association Help Center: As stated on the website, "APA's Help Center is your online resource for brochures, tips and articles on the psychological issues that affect your physical and emotional well-being, as well as information about referrals." @ http://www.apahelpcenter.org

4. International Stress Management Association: This is a charity that, "exists to promote sound knowledge and best practice in the prevention and reduction of human stress. It sets professional standards for the benefit of individuals and organizations using the services of its members." @ http://www.isma.org.uk

5. The Job Stress Network: Everybody gets stressed at work. Although there are many good methods for quick stress relief (see resource #1), sometimes it is important to get information on work stress in particular. This can help you cope with your job better. As stated on the website, "The purpose of this site is to bring together, for public dissemination, information about and related to Job Strain (specifically) and Work Stress (in general)." @ http://www.workhealth.org

6. Stress Management Information at About.com: At this website you will find collections of articles, tips and tests that you can take. If you are looking for a general understanding of stress then this is the place to go. http://stress.about.com

It is very easy to maintain a relaxed mind and body if you just have the tools and knowledge. We all have to deal with life's every day stresses but they don't have to destroy our lives. Being able to control our stress levels is important to our overall body health.

Making some time for yourself that is quiet and free from things like your children or your spouse is very important because just because we love the people in our lives; they often cause a lot of our stress.


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Stress - How it Affects you and How you Can Treat it

Your life is full of stress! Any arguments? Didn't think so. Your life is full of pressure, frustration, and stress. Worrying about job security, being overworked, driving in rush hour traffic, arguing with your spouse, even dealing with medical bills - all of these create stress in your life.

According to the American Psychology Association, more than half of all Americans report being concerned about the level of stress in their lives. Most people are feeling overscheduled, overextended, and overworked. By far, the most commonly reported source of stress is the workplace.

Studies suggest that stress is a contributing factor in the development of chronic and degenerative conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. High stress levels at work can lead to job burnout, reduction in productivity, ill health, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism. As these problems add up over time, you worry more about keeping your job while your boss becomes more dissatisfied, leading to more stress and an ever-growing vicious cycle.

When you experience stress, glands within your body respond by releasing a hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone - we'll call it ACTH for short. When your glands send out a burst of ACTH it is like an alarm system going off within your body. ACTH tells other glands to flood your body with the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. These two hormones cause your heart rate and blood pressure to increase. They shut down your digestive system and even alter your immune system. When you remove yourself from the stressful situation, the levels of cortisol and adrenaline decrease. As cortisol and adrenaline decrease in your system, your heart rate, blood pressure, digestive system and immune system return to normal.

As you pile one stressful situation on top of another, your body has no time to recover. If you are in a constant state of stress, or experience many stressful situations, your body's stress response system can disrupt nearly all of your body's processes. Some of the effects can lead to chronic illness and disease.

Stress affects the digestive system so much that stomachaches and diarrhea become common. The hormones related to stress slow down the release of stomach acid and the process of emptying the stomach. The same hormones stimulate your colon which speeds the passage of its contents - a.k.a diarrhea.

Chronic stress dampens your immune system making you more susceptible to colds and other infections.

Stress affects your nervous system and has been linked to depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and dementia. Over time, chronic release of cortisol can even cause damage to several structures in the brain.

Stress affects your cardiovascular system by causing an increase in heart rate and blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Unlike most other diseases that affect Americans, there really isn't any routine medical treatment for stress. Some doctors prescribe antidepressants. But drugs have a limited ability to alleviate stress.

The most effective way to reduce or relieve stress is through lifestyle habits.

Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment, exercise, breathing exercises and coping strategies are the most effective ways to reduce stress.

Exercise is a good way to deal with stress because it is a healthy way to relieve your pent-up energy and tension. By getting physically active, you can decrease your levels of anxiety and stress, and elevate your moods. Numerous studies show that people who exercise exhibit a marked improvement in their ability to concentrate, sleep better, suffer fewer illnesses, suffer from pain less, and report a higher quality of life.

One of the consequences of stress is a tendency to unconsciously tense up your muscles, especially in your upper back and shoulder regions. This chronic tension, coupled with poor posture, causes the vertebrae of your spine to become misaligned. Misalignment causes irritation. Irritation causes more tension. More tension causes greater misalignment. And the cycle continues and you continue to get worse. Most people experience a notable improvement in their own stress levels almost immediately after a spinal adjustment. You can reduce your level of stress by visiting your local chiropractor to have a spinal adjustment.

There are two types of nutritional supplements. There are nutritional supplements that help reduce stress and there are nutritional supplements that help the body better cope with the effects of stress. Supplements that help reduce stress belong to a class of herbs that helps the body relax. Herbs such as chamomile, skullcap, valerian, and lavender help to clear your mind and calm intense emotions. Many of these herbs are taken in the form of a hot or warm tea.

Supplements that help the body cope with the physical effects of stress are the B-vitamins and zinc. When you experience stress, your body needs more zinc and more of the Vitamin-B complex. Your health suffers and you are more prone to illness when you don't have enough of each in your body. Taking a B-complex with zinc in the form of a liquid nutritional supplement will help protect your body from the negative effects of stress.

The final key to treating stress is healthy thinking. Most stress is caused by two factors - dealing with change and feeling out of control. While you can't predict the changes that will occur in your life, you can - control how you plan each day, - you can positively respond to change, and - you can act with purpose.

The combination of these three positive thinking habits can help remove stress from your life and diminish the effects of stress. These three simple 'attitude adjustments' will help you feel more in control and once adopted as a habit, can be quite relaxing.

Don't let prolonged or repeated episodes of stress lead you to chronic or degenerative disease like diabetes or heart disease. Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment, exercise, breathing exercises and coping strategies are the most effective ways you can reduce stress and the effects of stress on your body.

Article Source : www.articlesbase.com

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Stress And It'S Causes

STRESS AND ITS CAUSES

Stress can be referred to as an emotional, physical and psychological state of being which is so intense that it hinders our ability to function properly, exhaustion is also a major factor of stress. In this world that we are living in there are thousands of problems that can lead to someone having a stressful life. Some people thing that only persons in high ranks such as lawyers, politicians, general mangers, Judges have stress. This is definitely not so stress isn’t any respecter of persons; it comes to us at any age or time in our life.

We can see stress with our eyes, meaning if someone is stress out we can know, because of individuals’ physical appearance and reaction. Some individuals may have the same burden to carry, but different levels of strength. E.g. a housewife may have plenty work to do on a daily basis and she won’t even complain. On the other hand a next housewife may have the same amount of chores to do as the first house wife mentioned, but this one would complain to almost everyone how much things she has to do. I said this to say that everyone carries around their load in different ways; it depends on how much courage and strength you have to deal with the things life offers.

Sometimes we cause our own stress by over working ourselves, crossing our limitations, one thing we must learn is not to abuse or limits. When we over do this brings on stress because we are only made up to take a certain amount.

STAGES OF STRESS

Stress does not sneak up on its victim, capturing him or her in an unpredictable surprise attack. As humans we can detect when something is not right with us. Stress passes through stages until it reaches its highest level.

§ The alarm stage

When we hear the word alarm we know that it is alerting us of something. Therefore when stress reaches alarming stage it is notifying us that something is there, that needs to be on guard. To identify this stage your physical behaviour would change. Your potential drops due to the stressful situation (e.g. too much work, difficulty completing task, etc). Sometimes is only when the stress becomes overwhelming that’s the time the individual, may now realize he/she is in the alarming stage. This is where you have the opportunity to pull yourself together, before things get worse.

§ Resistance Stage

When stress goes beyond the initial alarm stage, the person enters into the resistance stage.

E.g. If a business owner tries to complete the backlog of work his employee/employees might have left behind for himself. Remember the day just have 24 hours and out of that we need some rest. This business man wants to meet all his business requirements so he pushes himself to the limit. Which in the end causes frustration. He/she becomes drained and their productivity drops and a lot of their energy would be used up.

§ The exhaustion Stage

This is the final stage of stress. Depression and anxiety is characterized by fatigue.

Fatigue: this doesn’t have to do with how some one feels after a long days work. Even if the businessman sleeps for a whole day this would not relieve him. This kind of fatigue is accompanied by nervousness, irritableness, tension, and anger.

A person would get very anxious even if the occasion doesn’t call for anxiety.

Depression is referred to when a person lack motivation, self esteem; they won’t even find pleasure in fun activities. Sleeplessness and negative thoughts (e.g. suicide etc).can trigger off a person physically and psychologically.


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Stress Reduction Techniques - 3 Reasons Why Weight Training Reduces Stress And Negative Thoughts

Are you stressed out and tired of not being happy? Perhaps you are not paying enough attention to yourself. While many stress reduction techniques are available, I would like to discuss weight training as a stress reduction technique.

The payoff for a regular weight lifting routine is enormous benefits to your body and mind. This includes increased muscle tone and optimal body functioning.

Here are three reasons why lifting weights reduces stress and negative thoughts.

First, the act of lifting weights helps you shift focus off of others and on to yourself. You'll have a mental and physical break from rising energy prices, taking care of your children and working marathon hours wondering if you?re getting downsized. You?ll find it very tough to think of other things while moving weight.

Try to find a secluded space at home or limit socializing at the gym. Your outlook will change on many things. As weight lifting becomes your hobby, allow extra time to focus on yourself by planning your workouts ahead of time in a journal. A journal helps your set goals for your workout while you forget about your daily grind.

Next, exercise makes you feel good. Meaning, you can have an overall feeling of happiness that you may have been missing lately.

During weight training (and almost any exercise), endorphins are released into your body. Endorphins provide an effect similar to pain relievers and anti-depressants. Also, working out can increase antidepressant chemicals in your brain. In other words, if you feel depressed from a discouraging day, weight training can make you feel better.

Finally, weight training builds self confidence. Confidence is the key to achieving your goals. After completing your work out you?ll have a sense of achievement. Achieving goals helps you build confidence in yourself.

If you don't have confidence in yourself, you'll make it impossible to achieve your dreams. The more workouts you complete the more you start believing in yourself. You will set the tone for your life.

Starting a weight training program will help you with stress overload. It is very easy to start your own program. However, talk to a doctor on how exercise can help you ease your mind and body of stress and make sure you are physically able to start weight lifting.

All you need is a standard weight set and maybe a weight bench to get started. If you can afford a gym membership and/or a personal trainer, that will benefit you greatly. You may be surprised that you can reduce your stress levels.


Submitted By: John Purfield

Published At: www.Isnare.com

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Stress In Women: Coping With Job Stress And Household Duties!

Two women are close friends. One has the job; the other is the homemaker. The former complains about the job stress. The later has the stress that her friend has the job and she does not have a job! The first type is the job stress and the other type is job-related stress.

A woman is affected physically as well as emotionally in every type of job. For, mostly it is the case of dual responsibility of office job and household responsibilities for her.

Even if she engages domestic aids and attendants, there is no complete escape from the household responsibilities for her. A woman is always more attached to her house emotionally. Therefore the level of stress will be more if the hours of work are irregular and unpredictable. Shift duties also add to the woes of woman. If she is a part-time worker she would always compare herself with full time colleagues and their emoluments. Such petty jealousies also add to their stress.

The greatest factor that adds to stress in woman in relation to her job is the unresponsive management and its lack of support to her normal expectations as an employee. In all work places the full time workers are more respected. The facilities given to them are more and this creates a division and friction amongst the various workers.

There is nothing to boost their morale they feel. An undercurrent of unhappiness always flows within them. This affects their performance and they develop a feeling within themselves, “why should I work more than this?” Work is not worship to them; they just carry on for the sake of carrying on.

Women are more sensitive as compared to men. A particular stress thus affects them more than the men. To a given situation, both will react in a different manner. The pivotal point of men’s life is the job, for women it is always home and family. Many times she has to pass through the periods of double stress- stress in the family and stress in the job environment.

Another job-related stress is the environment in which she works. Sexual harassment to women in their job places is the most talked about and discussed topic of late. The issue is mainly individual with legal implications. It concerns the woman in particular, not the women in general!

Submitted By: Ashish Jain

Published At: www.Isnare.com

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Stress And Relaxation - How You Can Live A Happy, Stress-Free Life

Many of us feel like we don't have time for relaxation - we simply have so many demands on our time that relaxation seems like a luxury. However, the link between stress and relaxation is a strong one - unless we take the time to relax, the effects of stress can take over our lives and begin to wear us down, both physically and emotionally.

Using stress relaxation techniques will help you to feel more grounded. When you become stressed, you tend to lose focus of the things around you. This can cause a variety of problems, from missed deadlines, to accidents, to forgotten appointments or meetings. When you take the time to relax, you will have fewer of these problems, which will make you work more efficiently.

Incorporating stress management relaxation techniques into your life will also help you to feel better physically. The pace at which you live your life takes its toll on your bodies. It's true, you do become more prone to illness and disease, and long term stress can put you in a physical state of feeling run down all the time. Using techniques for stress and relaxation can help make sure you are in top physical condition, so you can be ready for anything that comes your way.

Quick Tips to Help You Relax

One of the best techniques for stress and relaxation is learning how to let little things go. No matter how hard you try, there will be little things that will get in your way and frustrate you. It's normal!

People will cut you off in traffic, bosses will dump projects on you with tight deadlines, and your children will refuse to go to bed at bedtime. Learning to let go of the stress associated with these things will help you free up energy, so that you can be more focused on the positive things in your lives. Don't let the little frustrations in your day overshadow all the wonderful successes. It's not worth it!

Another effective stress and relaxation techniques is to take a few minutes each morning for prayer or meditation. Starting your day without this physical and mental preparation is like charging into a forest without a map. Prayer and meditation helps to calm you down, focus, and be open to opportunities and ideas that will present themselves throughout the day. We can all use a little more silence in our day!

Finally, getting away from the routine tasks in your life, even for just a few hours, is a great stress and relaxation technique. Arrange a dinner out with your spouse, spend some time playing with the kids, or just grab a good book and find a quiet spot to read. The mental break will help you to recharge, and will help you deal with your tasks more effectively. And make sure to specifically schedule in relaxation time. It's just as important as everything else in your life.

Don't just stop with these suggestions - implement them into your daily life! These stress tips and techniques are only valuable if they are fully integrated into both your work and family life. You really can live a happier, more stress free life, if you choose to put yourself first!


Submitted By: Ronnie Nijmeh

Published At: www.Isnare.com

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Some Symptoms of Stress

There are many symptoms related to stress. It is only when our mind and body does not overcome the amount of stress that we have many symptoms of stress.

Symptoms of stress can be a death sentence. Stress symptoms can include gastrointestinal problems and this is why it is very difficult for the person to return to health.

Are symptoms bad?

Symptoms are important -- if we listen and learn from them. Stress symptoms speak volumes about a state of well-being. The symptoms of stress are symptoms related to one of the main causes of stress: physical, electromagnetic/geopathic, thermal, allergies/sensitivities, toxins/poisons, nutrition, and emotions.

Emotional stress is what people consider when they think about stress. Emotional health is paramount to your health and well-being. To get a grasp on your stress you have to take time to understand your emotional state. When you do you can change it to reduce the stress in your life.

Name one symptom and it is related to stress. We all have stress symptoms. This is a part of life. How we each deal with stress in our lives leaves clues to our quality of life. Symptoms speak volumes to how we deal with life.

You want to be more specific? Your heart beat is related to stress. At rest it beats to pump blood through your body. The more you work, the harder it beats and when you really over-do it, it can't keep up with your demands.

Physical stress, emotional stress, and nutritional stress all exhibit symptoms of stress in different parts of the body and mind.
But the question isn't all the symptoms of stress that society keeps chasing. It is in finding the cause of stress related to your symptoms. Remove the cause of your stress and you remove the affect of your stress.

How to remove the cause of your stress takes work and dedication. There are some tools that work and some things you can do that will increase your stress. Find what works for you and make a stress management plan for a lifetime.

Stress is a normal response of your body to situations that you perceive as 'dangerous'. We all have amounts of stress every day that we each have to deal with.

Burn this into your brain: Any symptom you have is related to stress to some degree or another!
A great practice to get into is to correlate the symptom you have to a particular stress. Is your symptom related to lack of sleep, bad food, insufficient exercise, or emotional stress?

Can you even identify your stress? Is your stress buried deep?

When you ask pointed questions about your symptom and your stress you might find an answer you need to move beyond your current level of health.

Physical symptoms of stress are virtually any symptoms that show up. Physical symptoms are a mirror from the body to the stress the person is going through. Chronic stress brings with it many of the physical symptoms you are probably dealing with today.

Symptoms caused by stress go through many physiological changes.

The first effect on the body is that blood is diverted from less vital to more vital organs. Over time and amount chronic stress, less blood in a certain area causes that area to become malnourished. Then this body part may give physiological symptoms.
All due to a stress response and reaction by the body. The cure? Remove the stress--THEN attend to the physical symptom.
After a period of time, your body will nourish the non-vital area once again and the body will heal. Can you see why addressing the physical symptom of stress without finding the cause of stress is foolish?

The first hallmark sign of the body’s reaction to stress is dysfunction of the adrenal glands; an adrenal enlargement. These are the stress glands of choice in the body. These glands literally become fatigued and "stressed". Caffeine, sugar, inactivity, emotional stress, physical stress all have a profound effect on the adrenal system and lowers any chance of dealing with stress.

The second effect in reaction to stress is the activity of the lymphatic system; an intense shrinkage or atrophy of the thymus, the spleen, the lymph nodes and lymphatic structures throughout the body. They cannot keep immune surveillance. Do you know people who are always sick? Check out their stress and you'll find a correlation.

The third effect of stress on the body is bleeding or deep irritation to the lining of the stomach and intestines. They literally ulcerate. Stomach ulcers. Intestinal ulcers.

It is when the mind and body does not overcome the amount of stress that we have effects of stress show up on the body.
Are symptoms of stress bad? If we listen and learn from our symptoms we can lessen the effects of stress and become healthy.

Article Source : www.articlesbase.com

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Reduce the Stress of Corporate Life With Promotional Stress Toys

The business world is full of stress. There are customers that you have to deal with, there are orders to fill, inventory to keep straight, and bookkeeping to make sure is right. There are deadlines to meet and vendors to contend with. But one thing that doesn't have to be a problem is choosing a promotional item. Because when you choose the right promotional item you will find that it's going to help your stress go away. The right promotional items are promotional stress toys.

Why are promotional stress toys the perfect promotional item? Let's take a look and see why they are the promotional item that a lot of companies are turning to.

Great for employees

One of the reasons why promotional stress toys are a great promotional item is that they are something that a company can give out to its employees to help reduce their stress. When people are less stressed, they are able to work better and more efficiently.

Great for customers

Another reason why promotional stress toys are something that companies are using to promote their business is that they are something that companies can give out to customers. Customers, no matter who they are, are going to have some type of stress in their life. They are going to love to get something that is going to help them wit the stress.

Great price

Something that companies know about promotional stress toys is that they aren't going to get stressed out when they are ordering them because they are something that is completely affordable and something that isn't going to break the budget of the company that is ordering them.

Easy to transport

Another thing that companies know about promotional stress toys is that they aren't going to get stressed out about taking them with them to trade shows. They are light weight and they don't take up a lot of room in the representative's luggage. They won't have to worry about their luggage being overweight and paying extra for getting on the plane.

Something that people will like

The last reason that companies know that using promotional stress toys is a good idea is that they are something that people are going to like. They don't have to stress out about the promotional stress toys being something that people are going to throw out when they are given them.

There aren't too many things that a company can use to promote their business that are going to solve a problem without causing another problem that the company has to deal with. Promotional stress toys are something that not only relieves stress, but they do it without causing more stress in the process. When a company is using promotional stress toys, they are going to find that they are going to have a lot less stress in their corporate life in more ways than one.

Promotional stress toys help companies to alleviate some of the stress that they find in their daily corporate life.


Submitted By: Matt Franks

Published At: www.Isnare.com

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Reduce Stress With Meditation CDs - The 'Easy Button' For Stress Reduction

You can reduce stress with meditation and without:

* Becoming a Buddhist monk
* Total dedication
* Living on a mountain top
* Emptying your wallet

To many people, the idea of fitting meditation into their lifestyle seems ridiculous. Their perception is one of long haired weirdos, sitting on a meditation cushion for hours a day, staring at the wall and focusing on their breathing. It is definitely not something that they can imagine themselves being a part of or benefiting from.

But I can tell you from my own experience that, with the ever increasing pace of life and the stress that accompanies it, meditation can do a lot to save our sanity. It is easy to integrate into our lives as well and doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, it can be almost effortless.

It is true that some of the traditional forms of meditation can require focus and concentration and it can take many years to see results. And results are not guaranteed. After investing all that time, you might still be left with the feeling that something is lacking. This not a path that many of us want to follow.

Luckily for us, research has provided an alternative solution. Now you can buy CDs that will help you, possibly in just a few minutes, to reach levels of tranquility that meditation masters struggle to attain. This is done using binaural beat technology.

Each side of your brain produces electrical impulses across a range of frequencies and of varying strength, all of the time. The level of these frequencies are related to the type of mental activity you are involved in. For instance, doing mathematical problems tends to generate higher amplitude beta frequencies on the left side of the brain.

By wearing headphones, different carrier frequencies can be applied to each ear. These signals are processed by two olivary neuclei in the brain, causing it to produce frequencies associated with deep relaxation. This process, known as entrainment, and was discovered in the nineteen seventies.

You may find this kind of information fascinating, or you might have already tuned out. Either way, it doesn't matter. You don't need to understand all this stuff to benefit from it. When you have battled through the traffic after a hard day at work, you don't want to go back to school. You just want to know that this is safe and it will give you what you need.

The fact is that by using this technology, you can reduce stress with meditation like a master. You don't have to wonder if it is working. Your brain has no choice but to go to those deep meditative levels, even if you are consciously thinking about what you have to do tomorrow.

And unlike the traditional forms, you don't have to invest 20 years in the hope that something will change. You try it for a few weeks, and if you don't think it is working for you, you get your money back. No problem.


Submitted By: Rich Russell

Published At: www.Isnare.com

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Reduce Stress - Give Life Permission

Those of us who are "stress prone" make too big a deal about the inconveniences of the world, like traffic, long lines at the store, and unexpected weather changes. We make too big a deal out of the choices other people make and how they behave. We react as though we have to have the world and other people function a certain way or we're going to lose control of what goes on inside our own minds and bodies.

How can we improve control over our own insides? A beginning is to learn to respond to bumps in the road by giving these events "permission" to occur. Sounds crazy or silly, perhaps, but simplicity is required to change habitual behaviors. For example, let's say you put your socks on every morning, left sock first, right sock second. You could slow that chain of behavior down and consciously choose to put your right sock on first and your left sock on second.

The same way you could change that behavior, you could decide to break your automatic way of responding to stress-inducing situations. We stress prone individuals typically respond to bumps in our plans by saying out loud or to ourselves statements like, "I can't stand this!" "This is ridiculous!" "This isn't fair!" and "I can't believe this is happening!" Once we "decide" to give these problems permission to exist, our statements change to, "Oh, of course, the traffic is taking three rotations to get through the light." "And, yes, I did give that lady permission to get in the 10 item express lane with 14 items." "I gave permission for them to run out of coffee before I got there." "I decided that today, everyone in my office has permission to be themselves." "It's all right with me for the meeting to start late. It can even end late, as far as I'm concerned."

Now these are all events or behaviors...that are going to happen anyway. We are just deciding to react in a new way, a way that blocks our stress response.


By Barbara DeShong, Ph.D.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

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Rapid Stress Relief and Stress Treatment Through Self-hypnosis

Stress is the label we apply when we place too much pressure on ourselves

It is such a far reaching condition that its effects are thought to be felt in practically every kind of illness, every kind of disease.

Yet so few of us really have an effective stress management strategy in place in order to bring about the essential stress relief that we need.

A certain amount of stress, of course, can be beneficial. In small to moderate amounts, it really doesn't hurt and, indeed, may be necessary in order to motivate us into getting things done and prodding us into performing at our very best.

But when stress takes on too much of a driving, overpowering role, it can exact a real toll and have truly damaging effects on both our mental and physical health.

Such, unfortunately, is the case in many industrialised countries such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia today, where the most common mental health issues are anxiety and depression and in which stress plays a major underlying role.

At work, stress can turn us into jittery, anxious and resentful workers, unable to function as we really should; while at home, stress can provoke marital conflict and problems with children.

Often, we are able to notice the signs of stress in others much easier than we can in ourselves.

Yet few of us truly know how to manage stress -- even if we are fully aware we suffer from it. We simply lack the stress management and stress relief strategies for dealing with and releasing it.

And so alcohol, drugs, tranquillizers and anti-depressants are regularly turned to in an attempt to escape from and cope with the often devastating and frequently incapacitating effects of stress. But such attempted remedies are far from being effective stress treatment; they are temporary at best and short sighted at worst.

Usually however, they merely serve to worsen and aggravate an already inflamed situation.

Yet there are other ways to deal with and manage stress that are really effective and far from harmful. Meditation, yoga, good nutrition and exercise are all classical and effective methods of stress busting. (In fact, we recommend that everyone engages in some form of regular exercise.)

But for sheer effectiveness and rapidity of results, few things can match the power of self-hypnosis for stress management and stress treatment.

This is because in hypnosis you can experience a state of being that is so far removed from stress that it has sometimes been referred to as 'a state of grace'.

Indeed, self-hypnosis offers a method of completely releasing stress, providing a valuable way - through post-hypnotic suggestion - to manage stress and anxiety. When done correctly, it can provide potent and ongoing stress relief and stress treatment that lasts far beyond the actual sessions of self-hypnosis.

And the amazing thing is that practising self-hypnosis needn't take forever.

Here in the UK, we teach people how to enter a deep trance state in a matter of seconds. Remaining in this wonderful, calm state of hypnosis for a few short minutes, they are able to let go of and free themselves from the harmful and potentially devastating effects of stress.

But learning self-hypnosis from a hypnotherapist is certainly not the only way. True, this is the easiest, most rapid and effective method of mastering the art of self-hypnosis since, correctly done, it is taught while actually in the trance state, but it is not the only way. A visit to your local book shop will produce a selection of good books that will take you through the process step by step.

One thing is sure: time invested in learning and practising self-hypnosis pays very real dividends in the area of real stress management and stress relief. It is an extremely potent method that enables you to manage stress and is perhaps the most effective stress treatment there is.

If stress is something you find yourself struggling with on a regular basis, self- hypnosis - together with good nutrition and moderate exercise - is the very best stress management and stress relief tool you could use.

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