Paul Eckert

Stress Management – Getting To The Root Of The Problem

Paul Eckert – The Root Of The Problem By Richard Reid.

Stress Management is a relatively new phenomenon that was brought in for the purpose of preventing, managing and treating anxiety ridden illnesses among workers in a commercial establishment. Stress or anxiety has come into the limelight in the fast moving world of business where intense competition and the drive to achieve targets nearly wreaks havoc on a persons emotional and physical balance. In fact, a stressful and anxiety filled life and all its attendant evils take place when an employee is depressed in his work place or his job and is unable to get a grip on everyday life.

The causes of stress are numerous and in workplaces it can result from fear of meeting targets, strain, sleeplessness, fatigue, bullying mentality on part of seniors, job dislocation, family problems, fear, overwork and poor diet. Stress, if gone unchecked can have serious implications on a workers life, output and creativity. It is mainly in high growth business societies that stress, off late, has emerged as one of the prominent health issues affecting the life of an employee. The UK undoubtedly, has a significant challenge in containing this menace as its industries, service sectors and IT sectors have grown phenomenally over the past few years.

Stress management involves prevention, control and taking remedial measures in places of occurrence and can either be treated with medication or counseling. Stress can either be physical or emotional or both. Again one can lead to the other and vice versa. Among the different options of managing stress the most prevalent ones in the UK are social or professional counseling, medication or hypnosis by systematic oral suggestions. Professional counseling has grown in importance and used to stress upon time management, effective communication, relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, meditation, problem solving, modifying ones behaviour, getting rid of anger, thinking positively and learning to say no.

However, this is good when the initial symptoms are mild. When the illness assumes serious to chronic proportions medication is advised. The use of depressants or drugs must be taken under the supervision of a medical doctor as many of these drugs have side effects besides being drawn to addiction. At times, stress can pave way to other form of illness like headache, migraine, insomnia, partial coma and a host of other illness. Therefore it is all the more necessary to consult a physician. The relatively lesser therapy is hypnosis or suggestive art therapy. According to CBI studies in the UK 6.7 million work days are lost every year due to stress disorders and it is believed that 54% of self reported illnesses are due to stress alone.

Although a great deal has been done to introduce stress management as a way of work life, it would be worthwhile for the British industries and services as a whole to get to the grass roots of this problem.

Stress Management, The New Health Trend

By: Trenton Martkes

What is it about stress and stress management that everybody has their panties up in a bunch about now-a-days? I mean do we really think that our society today is more stressed out than back in the days when people were dying right and left, eaten by large animals, starving, being shot with arrows, etc.? I mean you’ve got to be kidding me right? Well yes and no. The fact is that people who are stressed out by today’s standards have more life limiting diseases such as cancer and heart disease and these are also the same people who aren’t living as long. This is in comparison to the average person who doesn’t face any of the stresses like those mentioned above and the present day people that do.

So what the heck is going on? Well there has been a lot of research done on the nature of stress and the mechanisms that were designed by God in our bodies to deal with it. Most people have heard of the fight-or-flight response and this turns out to be a major mechanism that affects our health negatively. So what has changed? This mechanism is certainly been helpful to our ancestors as they dealt with stress–a life preserving rather than life limiting process. Well it turns out that the kind of stress that we face today turns this system on almost as well as the other more immediate life threats but our bodies don’t absorb it in the same way and so it goes unnaturally unchecked and takes its toll. We therefore need a different type of stress management than we were naturally getting by running away from the large beast that was trying to eat us.

Exercise is one obvious type of stress management that helps to use up or absorb some of the sympathetic tone that is the “fight-or-flight” response to job and life stress. It does things like check the increased heart rate and the high amounts of insulin and other hormones in our system, and it gives us natural mood enhancing substances (endorphins) which counter the stress response as well. Another aspect is the cognitive response to stress that needs to be addressed.

Partly or emotional and mental health is addressed by exercise but it also needs to be addressed in terms of some of the behaviors that we choose to dull rather than correct our unhealthy stress response. We need to find correct ways of thinking rather than use substances like alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs to mask our low moods. We need to train our minds to think positively. We need to find alternative activities and vents for our feelings like art and social release. We need to eat better and be out side more to get the natural anti-depressants that are found there and are much healthier. Only then will we be approaching stress management in a healthy and life extending way.

5 Steps to Stress Relief

5 Paul Eckert Stress Relief Steps By Lacey Savage.

Take a moment to think about the week that just passed. Are your first thoughts of long hours at work, driving your kids to every kind of practice imaginable, hurrying to make dinner, clean the house, do laundry, vacuum and wash dishes? Is it any wonder that in today’s busy world, more and more women suffer from stress-induced anxiety than ever before?

If you often find yourself struggling with the effect stress has on your physical and emotional well-being, follow the following 5 steps to stress relief:

1. Acknowledge it. It sounds simple, doesn’t it? It might even sound futile. But taking a moment to admit to yourself that something is stressing you out is the first step in letting go of it. As women, studies show that we often take on more than we can handle. By acknowledging that an extra activity will put more added stress on an already hectic lifestyle, you can balance out the pros and cons and make a decision that’s right for you.

2. Get a massage. I don’t mean one of those extravagant, $200 massages with a hunky Swiss masseuse (though that might be something to put on your birthday list!), but the kind of stress-relieving, muscle-relaxing rubs that husbands and boyfriends are great at providing. And don’t underestimate the power of bribery in obtaining these… “If you rub my feet for 10 minutes, I’ll… [insert pleasurable activity of choice] for 15.” No man can resist!

3. Laugh. You’ve just had a huge argument with your boss. Your mother called for the third time this week to ask if you’re pregnant yet. Your son’s teacher called you in to discuss his habit of peeing on walls. When you’re stressed, even the smallest annoyance can seem like one more added pressure that you’re not able to cope with. So forget about it for a while. Grab a good friend or family member and watch a funny sitcom together. Or a romantic comedy. Or a cartoon. Read the funny pages, or share a good joke. The more you laugh, the more mood-enhancing endorphins you’ll produce!

4. Sleep. Not getting 8 hours of sleep every night? You should. If you’re already exhausted when you head in to work, you’ll be less likely to be able to handle whatever life might throw at you that day. If you have small children, sleeping through the night might seem like a luxury you don’t have. Try napping during the afternoon when they do, even if it’s just for half an hour. It’ll do wonders for your mood, your stress levels, and your patience.