Archive for the ‘Stress Management’ Category

WATCHING TELEVISION

Watching television these days has become part and parcel of our daily lives just like brushing our teeth or having a bath. We cannot imagine a life without television. In fact, a majority of us cannot possibly survive without watching television for at least some time during the day. Those who have been used to a life which was more active, tend to watch it less. However, the generations in the last thirty years or so cannot even imagine a life without it.

Various studies around the world have been done around television watching habits and its impact on life. One such study has been recently concluded by the journal, JAMA.

THE STUDY AND RESULTS

The study involved tracking television viewing habits of 3200 individuals who were at age 25 during the start of the study. They were tracked till mid – life. That is quite a few years to present fairly accurate results. The synopsis of the results are as follows:

• Young adults who watch more television daily, tend to be more unhealthy with lack of physical activity.
• Watching more than three hours of television in a day led to deterioration of health in the middle years itself.
• All those who watched above three hours as mentioned above did worse on different brain tests compared to those who did not watch so much. The lesser the television, the better the performance even twenty five years down the line.

Therefore it is fairly clear that we need to be involved in physical activities and not just seated activities. In the same study, it was also found that physical activity not only improved physical health but also had the following benefits for the brain:

• Physical activity improved the processing speed of the brain which enabled better understanding of information and better responses.
• Verbal memory improved with physical activity and less television. This means better retention and recall.
• Another important aspect which was found was an improvement in what is known as, executive function. This means the ability to plan, organize, stay more attentive and therefore work better in teams. So this is also a big professional success factor.

The net conclusion for all of us is very simple; start moving and shut off the remote. It is exceptionally difficult but there are two great programs from wellzee.com which will help you to make rapid improvements and forget the remote.

PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS PROGRAM

The first program is the professional success program. Just practicing this on a regular basis will ensure:

1. The mind will start overcoming the negative effects of watching television for years.
2. The brains starts getting reprogrammed quickly and in as little as ninety days, the brain starts making progress.
3. Within one year, you will get back to your absolutely original and intelligent state of proper executive functioning. This will reflect in greatly improved performance and professional success, whether you are in a job or are self employed.
4. In just ninety days you will find the cravings reduce a lot of watching television or being on the internet or electronic media.

STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

The other important program from wellzee which can help you with this goal is our stress management program. Most of the times we are either bored or stressed. In fact, boredom is a symptom of underlying stress. Once we start becoming stress free, many benefits occur. You will see most of these entering your life and causing rapid improvements with just ninety days of regular practice of this program. The benefits you can expect with this online stress management program are:

1. Relaxation of the brain and feeling more calm.
2. Lower dependence on external sources for remaining involved in life.
3. Improving the endocrine functions and restoring hormonal balance.
4. Stress reduction leads to improvement in work as well as interpersonal interactions.
5. Prevention and reduction of many diseases; most of which are caused by stress.

In short this program when practiced on a daily basis for even twenty to twenty five minutes will start changing your life a lot. If you practice this for a year with the correct nutrition plans and exercise, walking or online yoga will ensure that you will be a changed person.

BACKGROUND

It is now official! Multiple researches over the years have shown that the one of the biggest reasons for diseases and falling ill has been linked to chronic or creeping stress. It is a slow and silent killer because the impact can be felt years down the line. As a result we are unable to correlate stressful periods in our lives with the diseases we get.

Stress causes the following the body; sometimes quickly and at times rapidly:

1. Hormonal imbalances
2. Increased secretion of Glucagon (the hormone which increases sugar levels in the blood)
3. It reduces the level of insulin
4. It changes the composition of sex hormones leading to lower sex drive
5. It changes the body metabolism leading to weight gain
6. Calcium absorption is faulty leading to bone problems or blockages in the circulatory system
7. Release of certain hormones which cause depression and make you lethargic
8. Release of chemicals which make you more emotional and even more stressed
9. Inflammation of the immune system.

DISEASES CAUSED BY STRESS

Stress has been found to cause the following diseases due to inflammation of the immune system and hormonal imbalances:

• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Obesity and eating disorders
• Cardiac problems
• Many forms of cancer
• Progression of HIV patients to AIDs. It has been found that if stress is managed and there is no chronic inflammation of the immune system, individuals with HIV do not get any diseases and live long and healthy lives.
• Chronic depression
• Digestive problems
• Sexual Health Problems

CAUSES FOR STRESS

Stress can be physical or mental and internally triggered or externally triggered. In most cases the following are the main causes of stress:

1. Mental Stress and Life Pressures
2. Physical Issues like wrong lifestyle and eating habits.

In most cases we tend to ignore all the warning signs of stress. Soon it becomes part of our daily lives and we do not even notice if we are stressed. At times, it becomes our usual state of being. This leads to a slow and steady deterioration in the body, like very slow poison.

This process starts early in life when we think nothing can happen to us. It starts with teenage years and goes on till adulthood. Suddenly, we get problems (even if we are exercising) and then wonder why have we got diseases or fall ill. However, we are unable to connect stress building up over the years with our health conditions.

This process is called ‘creeping stress’. It goes on for month and years and also manifests as behavioral or lifestyle issues. It becomes part of our normal life and this is the danger. The body is continuously stressed but we think there is nothing wrong with us.

CREEPING STRESS

The symptoms of instant and serious stress are easily noticeable. However, the symptoms of slowly creeping and prolonged stress are less visible. In fact, an individual may not even realize that he or she is undergoing prolonged periods of stress because they get so used to it that it even becomes a ‘comfort zone’ for them. This can go on for months or years and suddenly one wonders why were they afflicted with some disease even though they had an apparently normal or healthy lifestyle.

The symptoms are easy to spot if one is always aware of even the minor changes in one’s body, thoughts, eating patterns, emotions or behavior. We miss these because a lot of times we ignore these changes or signs or go into denial or ignoring mode.

SIGNS OF CREEPING STRESS

There are many signs of slow, prolonged or creeping stress. It is just that we are not aware what these signs are. Some of the signs are actually perceived to be good or normal. Let us look at some of the lesser known signs of creeping stress:

• The desire to have just that little more alcohol at times or party more or binge drinking because we are young, are making more money or under the garb of socializing.
• A gradual reduction in sleep or phases where we get less sleep.
• Increase in beverages like tea (including green tea), coffee or soft drinks.
• Getting just a little more irritable or angry and justifying it to yourself by saying it is due to colleagues or work, etc.
• A greatly increased or reduced sex drive.
• A constant desire to look for entertainment, go on holidays and inability to stay peacefully with yourself.
• Thinking or brooding a lot.
• Being bored when alone and continuously trying to be engaged with social media, etc.
• A drive for ‘perfectionism’ and having ‘high standards’ are another sign of creeping stress. Anyone driving themselves or others on this path is causing stress to everyone concerned.
• Anything adverse or different from what you were (or what you were doing before) and what you are now (or doing now) are indicators of chronic and creeping stress.

The best solution to this kind of stress and avoiding diseases or managing them (if you already have them) is to opt for some great online yoga programs, stress management programs or sleep management programs. All of these three kinds of programs are available online on wellzee. Opt for an appropriate one and turn around your life.

Background

Procreation is the prime activity of all living creatures. Plants, cells, bacteria, birds, animals and humans; all of them reproduce. Nature takes care of all its constituents. In the case of humans, a slight difference occurs due to two reasons. A thinking individual is giving birth to another individual who will eventually develop her or his full thinking capacity over a period of time. So in the case of animals, birds, etc. one need not worry about the state of the parents. In the case of humans, the mental, physical, social and physiological state of the mother is more important than the physical condition of the fetus. This is because the former determines the latter.

Pregnancy associated challenges

There are so many challenges in today’s day and age which are associated with pregnancy. Some of these are:

• Physical and health condition of the mother. Long term lifestyle plays a key role.
• Mental make – up of the parents or mother. Why are we having children. How will we raise them. Are we equipped to take proper decisions and able to take care of our offspring?
• Stress related to now knowing what to do during and after pregnancy.
• The type of delivery and issues related to forced deliveries.
• We are more worried about our career and ‘me time’, than our babies. This leads to a lot of physical and mental complications in many parents. These later on also affect the child.
• Post partum depression is one of the fastest growing problems.
• Worry about change in body, weight, looks, etc. Women cannot be the same through their lives. However, this is now the prime driving factor for ego and sexual reasons; one should look like they are sixteen immediately after pregnancy.
• A large proportion of parents do not know what to do with their children. We therefore depend on schools, governments and many other individuals and entities. We feel that spending money and feeding our children a lot is all that is required. This creates problems later on for parents and children.

Yoga during pregnancy

Yoga has many practices which helps during pregnancy in different ways. The physical practices help the body remain in the correct physical state. A lot of pregnancy associated problems like high blood sugar, high blood pressure, acid reflux and sciatica are prevented by regular yoga practice. Even if you have not been practicing before pregnancy, daily practice for these nine months is very beneficial.

Breathing during pregnancy

Breathing plays a very important role in keeping the mother physiologically healthy and also impacts the fetus positively. There are also breathing techniques available which help prepare the body and breathing patterns during delivery. This is a great help in ensuring a smooth and stress free delivery.

Stress Management

There may be a lot of apprehensions, worry and stress related to pregnancy. This includes diet, activities, health of the mother and the unborn child. There is lots of information available some of which may seem to be contradictory.

Additionally, a lot of women work throughout pregnancy and also need to manage the home. All of this causes extra load or pressure. At times like these Yoga helps out. There are many meditative asanas and stress management asanas which can be done through the three trimesters. They help to keep the mind calm, focused and alert. The very reduction of stress and keeping the mind calm does wonders during this important phase of a woman’s life.

Post Pregnancy

After pregnancy, it is important for the mother to remain healthy. This will enable care for the child. Gentle yoga asanas can be started after forty five days of delivery. After three months one can practice wonderful online yoga programs which will help start reducing excess weight. These also help the mother to get back in shape, physiologically. A healthy and happy mother automatically leads to a healthy child.

We can thus see that there are practices in yoga which help at every stage of bringing in a child in this World. Right from conception to delivery and post delivery. So start practicing yoga regularly. Even if you have not practiced before, you can opt for online yoga for pregnancy programs from wellzee. These are simple, safe and effective. However, make sure you take a clearance from your doctor before you start any yoga program or classes.

Orthopedic Problems on the Rise

One of the major problems these days is an impact on the spine due to the kind of work we do. Most of the work is table bound and done on computers and devices. To compound the problem, there is no activity at all for hours in a row. A combination of these factors along-with incorrect nutrition leads to different types of orthopedic problems. The most common one is weakening of the spine and losing flexibility. This leads to aches and pains and many other problems later on. All the degenerative diseases which were previously the prerogative of senior citizens are now to be seen in young people and even children.

Role of the Spine

The spinal cord is the most important part of your body after the brain. It is part of the central nervous system and carries nerves which carry messages to and from the body. The bone structure around it brings strength and flexibility to the body in addition to protecting the spinal cord. We can all well imagine how we could function without a spine.

Interesting Research on Spine

There has been an interesting research done in India in two groups. The first were laborers working on construction sites and the second group consisted of office goers and middle and upper level executives. They was adequate representation of men and women in both the groups.

Group 1 – Laborers

The laborers in many cases were found to have some damage. In many cases the cervical or lumbar bones were fused. In some there was wear and tear observed. But the spine was strong and flexible. Also, the laborers did not experience any pain. They did not get any diseases as well.

Group 2 – Executives

In the executives it was found that there was no damage to the spine. However, a lot of them had debilitating pain, cervical pain, sciatica and more. Even when they were told that there was no damage to the spine, the pain would not go. Eventually, in such cases, there is bone density loss and slipped disc and cervical spondylosis after a certain age.

This research shows that the spine needs to be in action.

Keeping the Spine Healthy

The spine remains fit and healthy not due to any one factor but many factors. Like all other parts of the body, the more use it in different ways, the healthier it remains. However, over straining may damage it. Conversely, not using it damages it even more. The following are some of the key factors for a healthy spine:

• Moderate but consistent physical activity through the day
• Some weight bearing activities
• Correctly stretching it regularly
• Correct postures while standing, walking, sitting and even lying down
• Regular Walking
• Good diet and nutritional inputs

Asanas and the Spine

Yoga is very clear as regards to spine fitness. When we go through Yoga anatomy, it is clearly mentioned that the spine has to be stretched regularly in six ways. These are:

• Upward stretching
• Side bends or stretching
• Twisting
• Forward bending
• Backward bend or stretching
• Inversions

If all of these are done regularly, the spine remains healthy. Therefore, asanas are designed to incorporate all of these. However, one cannot do this on their own. Guidance is required especially if you have any other health problems. Also inversions are to be done only under guidance and after you have practiced regularly for at least six months.

To improve your spine and get rid of aches, pains and orthopedic problems take our relevant online yoga programs from wellzee. A fit and healthy spine leads to longevity and great brain health as well.

Background

Professional success is something we are all concerned about all the time. The problems is we do not what is professional success. Is it getting promotions or rising up the ladder? Is it making more money or getting a fancy car? Is it having many properties or is it being known in the industry? There are many aspects to professional success and it is not essential that all of these have to be present. Success is anyway subjective, situational and contextual. We all have our own parameters of success. However, there could be some parameters to success.

Parameters of Success

• Doing much better than you were in terms of stability and money.
• Doing better than your peers. However, this is very subjective and fickle.
• Doing better than your parents or grand parents in terms of income or lifestyle.
• Earning lots of money.
• Getting fame and recognition.
• Being content with your chosen field.
• Using the workplace as a source of money so that you can lead a balanced life.
• Being able to manage a family.
• Social recognition and stability.

There could be many more parameters to determine whether you are successful at work or not. However, the above gives an indication that professional success is not as objective as you think it is. Everyone has their own standards. If you do not have, then it is important to understand your own parameters. Not look at or ape others or follow the ‘done thing’. Also, you will find that these criteria will keep changing throughout life. We are not consistent in what we want. However, whichever criteria we adopt, we are always looking for ways to reach our goals.

Tools for Success

There are so many programs and tools being offered these days. These are in the forms of books, videos, corporate programs, motivational speakers, business coaches and so on. Some claim to have their own methods. Some propagate, adopt or modify aspects from different cultures and religions and convert them into programs. Therefore, we have programs based on Buddhism, Karma Yoga, Arthashastra, Gita, Bible and so on. It just shows how anxious we are to get what we want.

We feel that doing these courses and reading self help books will automatically make us successful. What we forget is that we need to make a lot of changes within us which is difficult. Some of the changes required for professional success are:

• Change in lifestyle. Follow routines and discipline.
• Learn to achieve moderation. Over-work does not help.
• Learn to eat healthy and in moderation.
• Learn to rest well.
• Have some hobby or recreation.
• We have to remain fit and disease free if we have to be successful.
• We need to learn to manage stress and also manage our emotions.
• We need to change our interpersonal aspects and interactions.
• Improve our focus and channelize energy in the right direction.
• Try to work with full attention and awareness.

All of this is a tall order and it may or may not be possible to manage these simultaneously. However, there are a set of practices which can be followed daily which make you more focused and relaxed and help reprogram your brain effortlessly. You just need to follow this routine. It is available on wellzee as part of our stress management section. Take your online success program today and improve upon your success.

Popular Causes of Stress

It has become quite popular these days to talk about stress and what to do to manage it. We mainly relate all stress only to work life or personal life. It is either pressure at work, interpersonal conflicts or expectations mismatch which seem to cause stress. On the personal front, it is more related to marital conflict or worrying about children or other family related challenges. Very recently, people have just begun to focus on lifestyle management as a way to manage stress. However, one of the most important causes of stress; mental, physical and physiological is left out completely due to lack of awareness.

One Of The Main Causes Of Stress

One of the most valid causes of stress which needs urgent attention is incorrect eating.

These days, there is quite a fad to ‘be stressed’ as it is considered to be exclusively mind related. However, there is something less known is that mental stress can also be caused by eating habits. In fact in many cases, it is not some genuine adverse situations which are causing stress. It is your dietary habits which are causing stress. It is not just about what you eat. It is also about how much you eat, when you eat and how you consume your food and drinks.

How Does Eating Cause Stress?

Imagine that you have a generally happy and ‘stress-free’ life with no major challenges. You may also be reasonably fit and involved in some physical activities as well. Now let us assume that the only weakness you have is good food or eating. So you could be doing any one or some or all of the following:

• Eating at wrong times or in a haphazard fashion
• Eating the wrong types of food, frequently
• Overeating sometimes when you like something
• Eating quickly and not giving enough attention to chewing
• Eating while talking, working or in front of the television, computer or smart phone

Every time you do any of the above, you load your stomach and digestive organs with either a lot of food, unhealthy food, partly chewed food or giving it food when the body does not need it. In all these cases, the organs have to work much harder. It is the equivalent of forcing someone to work very hard, like forced labor.

Gradually, the body perceives this as actual stress and a life threatening situation. This makes the body go into actual stress response mode. A lot of extra chemicals and hormones are released to manage the unwanted food. Blood is diverted from other essential functions to the digestive systems. On a prolonged basis, the body is always overworking and does not have a change to recover.

The body then stores more sugar and cholesterol. It may also divert some energy from other muscles to the digestive ones. Can we now relate this with how we feel when we eat a lot or we eat at the wrong time (or heavy food and desserts)?. We feel as if we cannot move; there is no physical strength, lethargy sets in. The body wants to sleep and so does the mind.

Health suffers and the mind follows. This impacts the mind and all the other organs and a cycle of stress is created. This leads to diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac problems and even cancer. Eventually, even a perfectly happy, healthy and fit person becomes stressed due to incorrect eating and get diseases.

The Solution

The solution to this challenge is very simple. Eat foods which are simple and nutritious. Eat less and do not eat at the wrong times like late nights. Stop eating stress causing foods like non-vegetarian food, spicy and hot food and heavy food like bakes, breads, pizzas, processed food, sugar and refined flour. Avoid beverages like coffee and alcohol. If you want to know how to eat correctly, take one of the wellzee online diet plans or diet consultation to have a ‘stress-free’ and balanced diet plan. 

What Is Stress?

Stress is a condition where the body or the organism is faced with a very severe or life threatening situation. The human body has evolved over centuries and thousands of years as a response to external environmental factors and situations. These include diseases, natural calamities, conflicts and lack of food. The main factor determining all bodily mechanisms, functions and responses is survival. Therefore any perceived threat to survival leads to a stress response. The situation causing this is called, ‘stressor’. When such a situation arises, the body gears up quickly to face this stressor or adverse situation.

What Happens During Stress?

Imagine a mainly agrarian or hunter – gatherer human, a few thousand years ago. Now imagine that he has sensed a dangerous animal like a lion or tiger near him. How would he react? The entire body automatically ensures that all his internal systems go on the alert. This alertness enables this human to either defend himself, attack the animal or run away.

During this stage, certain changes are brought about in the body. A lot of the body’s systems which are not urgent are shut down; like the digestive systems and sexual systems. There is in an instant release of glucose to provide great amounts of energy. Stimulating hormones are released to bypass pain and induce hyperactivity and alertness.

In extreme cases, the human may also lighten the body by given up excess water and solids in the form of urination, sweat or excretion. Basically, everything unwanted is shut down and all emergency systems are activated. This helps the human to run, fight or defend himself better. Pain and hunger is ignored to stop interference with the important activity of saving himself.

What Happens In The Modern Time

This is the same thing that happens to humans even today. The only difference is that in most cases, there are no life threatening situations on a daily basis. The body reacts in the same way when we get angry, irritated, hurt or when things do not happen the way we want them to. If we do not get an increment or promotion, we react in the same way. When someone inadvertently pushes us on a bus or train, we get angry. When we have fights with a partner or arguments during work; all of them are registered as stressors and the body fights in the only way it knows: by activating all the stress mechanisms.

The body does not recognize which situation is life threatening or which situation is not. So what is happening is that the body and the mind go for ‘overkill’ because they cannot differentiate between the severity of various situations.

Results Of Overkill

The results of this same stress response by the body are drastic. The body remains in a constant state of anxiety. It has been seen that stress response mechanisms get activated very fast; even within a second. However, to ‘cool down’ or reduce these take between a few hours to a few days. During this entire period, all the systems in the body remain in a state of stress. This impairs digestion, sleep, sexual functions, physical abilities and so on. At yet another level, there are elevated levels of hormones and glucose. All of these over a period of time lead to diseases like high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, cardiac problems, ulcers, asthma and some forms of cancers.

The Culprit Is The Mind

The culprit in this entire game is the human mind. It is only based on what the mind perceives, that the body reacts. It is in very rare situations that the mind gets bypassed. An example is fire. When we touch something hot, we instantly pull off our hand. For most other situations, the mind does a quick assessment and decides whether something is life threatening or not. Because this process takes place quickly (fraction of a second), we are not aware that the mind has done an assessment.

Control The Mind

More often than not, it is the perception of situations which gives us stress. If someone is rich, they have genuine stress. Even people who are well placed in life are stressed. The trick is to convince the mind to change its perception of situations, even though it is apparently difficult to change perceptions.

However, there are many things which can be done to gradually change this situation. Leading a balanced lifestyle is the key. In addition, follow some hobby or passion on a regular basis. This itself gives a lot of benefits. Most importantly there are many yoga techniques which can help reprogram the brain. These are to be found in our stress management programs. In addition you can ask us questions and we will resolve your queries for free through our contact sheet. 

Stress Is Integral To Life

Stress is a part of life. In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that if there is no stress, there is no life. Or to be more accurate, different situations have the probability to cause stress every single moment of your life. Stress is nothing but the perception of the degree of threat. If we perceive something to be threatening (even unconsciously), the body activates all stress response mechanisms.

Continuous activation of these stress response mechanisms leads to internal fatigue and long terms metabolic and hormonal changes impacting the entire internal body and all the systems. This adverse impact leads to various minor or major diseases.

Body Strategy To Deal With Stress

The human mind and body has various strategies to deal with stress. This is known as ‘coping’ with stress. These strategies are based on many factors like:

• Inherent nature of the individual
• Past experiences
• State of mind at the time of the stressful situation
• Ability to genuinely and consciously relax.

This response to stress or the strategies deployed are therefore known as coping. How we cope with perceived adverse situations is a strategy.

How Are Stress Strategies Implemented

An integral part of stress response is coping with the stress (psychologically). Based on an appraisal of the situation, the mind will implement a stress response or reaction. The body will then follow this decision response or reaction to support the mind’s decisions. The body does this by making rapid physiological alterations. These are so rapid that in many situations, physiological changes occur within a few seconds or even within a fraction of a second. This process is geared towards reducing the threat perception as well as the state of mental and physiological arousal. This is done by undertaking an action or set of actions to bring forth a positive result.

‘From a stress physiology point of view the actual action or performance is not important. What matters is the perception of being able to cope that reduces stress’.

What the above statement means is that the mind should think that it can cope up easily. Actually speaking, no action may be initiated. Based on this understanding and past experiences, the mind and body builds up a pattern to perceive or ‘cope’ with stressors (stress causing situations or elements).

How Coping Shapes Your Personality

The mind first tends to deploy coping strategies that have worked in the past. The more the same strategy is employed, the more ingrained it becomes. Depending on the way an individual successfully copes, the mind will store and use this as a generalized coping strategy. This style becomes relatively stable and starts being viewed as a ‘personality trait’ for that person. Some examples of traits which build up and become part of your entire personality are given below:

Aggressive or dominant – Many individuals always react in an aggressive fashion and try to dominate. If a few times in the past, the individual gets his or her way by being aggressive, it gets ‘stored’ or hard coded in the mind. In most situations, the standard response would be to bull doze, insult or get angry at others. This sets up a cycle of perception and responses, making the person ‘hot headed’, dominant or egoistic.

Meek or Timid – There are individuals who respond or react by trying to ‘submit’ in the hope that the situation will get resolved. Such individuals will tend to be looked at as meek or timid, even though they may be intelligent.

Indifferent – Many a times, indifference is deployed. It is genuinely ignoring a situation assuming it will resolve itself or thinking that it is not too important. Such individuals may come across as aloof and indifferent.

Hopelessness – this is a condition where the mind perceives (correctly or incorrectly) that most responses will reach a negative result. This means that the individual is convinced that whatever he or she does, there will be no improvement in the prevailing undesired situation. A prolonged state of hopelessness may lead to depression. These individuals are the sad looking ones with a fatalistic outlook. Alternatively, they may be very lively but with suicidal tendencies.

Similarly, there could be various other personalities which get ‘shaped’ by stress and how we react or respond. Once we are aware, we can bring about some changes to make our coping strategies more balanced and situation specific. This will help us to avoid getting ‘hard coded’.

How To Cope Better and Change Your Personality

There are various coping theories put forward over the years; some with a lot of technical terms and jargon and yet others which are simpler to understand. Most of them address the ‘why’ and ‘what’ theoretically, but none really address the practical aspects of how to cope. This is addressed practically and effectively by our stress management handbook (which is available free) and practical stress management programs. Sign up with wellzee to become a better individual.

Are We Stressed Or Not?

There are many a times we may feel that we are stressed and there are times we may be relaxed. However, it does not necessarily mean that we are not stressed when we think we are relaxed. Also the reverse is not true. We may be having an adverse situation but we could be coping well and actually not have stress.

There are also signs of slowly building up stress also called, ‘creeping stress’. Sometimes, it goes on for months and builds up into a disease or behavioral issue. We can also have a situation where we get so used to stress that it becomes part of our ‘normal’ life. This is the most dangerous form as we think everything is fine whereas the body is completely stressed. 

Noticeable Stress

The symptoms of an immediate stressful situation are instantly noticeable and can also be realized by the individual during or immediately after the event. Examples are a conflict, anger, anxiety, fear etc. These feelings and emotions also visibly subside as soon as the event is over. However, the impact of stress caused due to these feelings linger on from a few hours to a few days. We do not realize this but the way the body’s mechanism works is very simple; stress sets in almost instantly in terms of the physiological response but recedes slowly. Sometimes it does not recede if you do not stop thinking about it.

Creeping Stress

However, the symptoms of slowly creeping and prolonged stress are less visible. In fact, an individual may not even realize that he or she is undergoing prolonged periods of stress because they get so used to it that it even becomes a ‘comfort zone’ for them. This can go on for months or years and suddenly one wonders why were they afflicted with some disease even though they had an apparently normal or healthy lifestyle.

The symptoms are easy to spot if one is always aware of even the minor changes in one’s body, thoughts, eating patterns, emotions or behavior. We miss these because a lot of times we ignore these changes or signs or go into denial or ignoring mode.

Some Signs Of Stress

The desire to have just that little more alcohol at times or that gradual reduction in sleep, increase in beverages, propensity to get more irritable or just a little bit more angry (and defending it by telling yourself how exasperating the world is), are some of the signs of creeping stress.

Another important cause and result of stress is so called, ‘perfectionism’ and having ‘high standards’. Anyone driving themselves or others on this path is causing a lot of genuine stress to themselves as well as to others. In short, anything adverse or different from what you were (or what you were doing before) and what you are now (or doing now) are indicators of chronic stress.

Symptoms of Stress

The symptoms of stress are felt at various levels. We need to be consciously aware to identify them in different areas of life. Some of these are given below to understand what is happening.

a. Sensation

Sensations are the feelings we sense inside the body and internal physical discomfort. Some of these are increased heart rate, headaches, nausea, aches and pain, tremors, fainting, numbness, dry mouth, stomach cramps, excess sweating, indigestion, frequent urination and palpitations.

b. Cognitive Feelings

These are internal feelings which take deep roots and trouble us a lot. These are represented by statements like, “I must do well”, “Life should not be like this”, “I must have what I want”, “This is terrible, I cannot take this any longer”, “Everyone should like me”, “I feel betrayed”, “I have to get back”, and many more like these.

c. Physical Aspects

The body also gives obvious physical signs which need to be paid attention to. Some of these are getting fatigued faster, feeling of lethargy, getting more injury prone, greater propensity for inflammations, pulls and sprains while doing the same level of activities as before. Of course this may not hold true for a large age gap. One cannot be at the same physical levels at sixty as at forty or twenty, but if these symptoms are seen at say, thirty five, but were not there when you were thirty three, then it could be stress.

d. Health Related

Some of the health indicators are also signs of stress; increased frequency of colds, coughs, fever, flu, allergies and gastrointestinal problems. Yet others are high blood pressure, fatigue, heart problems, decreased sexual activity and lower immunity.

e. Diet related

Adverse changes in eating and drinking patterns indicate stress. Examples are overeating, under eating, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or ‘mood eating’, loss of appetite, increase in tea and coffee, increase in alcohol intake, resorting to prescription drugs, smoking or other psychotropic substances.

f. Behavioral Aspects

Changes in behavior, even for short durations are sure signs of stress. These could be avoidance issues, sleep problems, insomnia, time management issues, irritability, restlessness, speech problems and becoming accident prone due to lack of attention or awareness. Personal grooming may suffer or conversely, one may fret excessively over grooming and how they look. Getting bored frequently is also a definite sign of stress.

g. Emotional States

Emotional issues which surface tell us if we are stressed. These are also definite signs of stress and not of any disease. Some of these are frequent bouts of anxiety or depression (however mild), anger, guilt, shame, embarrassment, feeling hurt, jealousy, ‘feel like dying’, ‘feel like crying’, becoming moody, a feeling of emptiness, aggression, feeling of worthlessness and boredom.

h. Work Related Symptoms

Most of the stress related symptoms emerge at the workplace. Becoming suspicious, withdrawn, gossiping, aggressive, bossy, unable to focus on work, missing your own work plans on a more frequent basis, staying at work for longer hours, feel like running away from work, etc. are all signs of stress.

h. Interpersonal Relationships Changes

Interpersonal issues are at the forefront of stress. It is not that these issues give us stress. It is the other way around. Stress is the cause for interpersonal issues. Some of these could be; becoming more passive or more aggressive, more introvert or more extrovert, become a loner and timid and withdrawn or become unduly competitive, gossiping increases, becoming manipulative or secretive. In short any interpersonal behavior which is not ‘you’ and you start exhibiting, is due to stress. At times positive changes occur due to a conscious effort and make you feel better. Such efforts should not be confused with stress.

So we can see that if we are aware, we can figure out if we are going through stress. If you need more help than you can write to us or take one of our wellzee stress management programs.