The stress no more: January 2013

Neck Stress: How to Relieve Shoulder and Neck Stress

How To Relieve Stress Without Drugs

We live in a high stress modern society. It is not uncommon for a large number of our neck and shoulder muscles to be chronically stressed, frozen, or hypertonic. This is not only what leads to stiffness and pain, but also results in a continuous, fatiguing energy drain.

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We carry much of our stress in our neck muscles. When these muscles tighten up, they cause other muscles in the body to weaken whenever you move your head. In other words, other muscles in your body tend to become reactive to your neck muscles when you are under stress.

Neck Stress: How to Relieve Shoulder and Neck Stress

There are many causes for neck stress and there are many ways to correct neck stress. The basic cause of neck stress is what we call- "Repetitive Muscle Stress," RMS.

Muscles we discovered are the missing link to our aches and pains. We need to restore the muscle tone that was lost by doing repetitive or strenuous activities caused by accident or injury.

Muscles pull bones! Bones do not pull muscles. When we balance the muscles, the pain may diminish. When given time to heal, the pain goes away completely. Muscles have to work together in groups or in pairs. If you have neck stress from turning your head, other muscles have to relax. The signal has to come from the brain to relax muscles. However, if the signal has been blocked by stress or an injury, the result may create pain. This is why we say we work with the body-mind.

Here is a sample technique for "Neck Stress Release." This technique sends a signal to the brain to release the tension in the neck muscles and also, corrects reactive interactions with other muscles. There are muscle fibers in the neck that run up and down the neck and around the whole neck.

Do some neck rolls. Look up with the head, then you look left, right and down. Gently pinch the neck muscles in and up and down direction with your thumb and index finger. Work on each side of your neck from front to back and on both sides. It is important to keep your thumb facing downward. Go around the whole neck. You can pretend that your thumb and index finger is a little "Pacman" gently nibbling on your neck. This activates the sensor cells under the skin and sends a signal to the brain to relax the neck muscles.

Here are some benefits of the "Neck Release."

Computer operators repetitively look from their display down to their keyboard or over to material they are working on.

Hyperactive school children reduce stress by looking at the teacher or looking around the room.

It improves performance in sports such as golf, basketball and tennis.

Also, it can be helpful in reducing vertigo and balance problems. Most people getting up from a sitting position have a natural tendency to look down. As a result, the muscles in the neck signal the muscles in the legs to go weak. The simple "Neck Release" technique may eliminate most vertigo conditions.

Neck Stress: How to Relieve Shoulder and Neck Stress

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Does Stress Cause Acid Reflux?

Let's start out with a few acid reflux statistics.

According to a study, 44% of Americans have bouts of heartburn once a month. Another 14% suffer this weekly and 7% have daily occurrences. GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease) is reported as one of the most common complaints received by doctors.

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There is no evidence that stress actually causes the disorder, but investigators have long believed that stress is a major factor in worsening the symptoms of GERD. This is supported by a Gallup poll done that found 64% of people with heartburn reporting a worsening of their symptoms when subjected to stress.

Does Stress Cause Acid Reflux?

Investigators have even electronically monitored acid production and concentration in GERD patients. What they found was startling and revealed something that we all need to know. These patients registered no increase in acid concentration during periods of induced stress. BUT they did find out that when patients suffering from symptoms of GERD underwent relaxation, their symptoms decreased.

So apparently, stress can cause one's discomfort to increase without actually increasing the acidic concentration in the esophagus. Relaxation, however, did positively affect the study participants in the area of their symptomatic intensity.

While stress has not been proven to cause GERD, it can physically affect how the patient feels. There seems to be a psychological factor in there somewhere. The fact is that regardless of this information, we all need to avoid stress, so here are a few tips to help you reduce stress.

Take a walk. Get away from the stress-inducing situation.
Exercise regularly. Start a regimen of physical exercise and do it daily.
Get enough sleep. The average person requires 7 to 8 hours a night.
Watch the food you take in. A balanced diet is a large factor in controlling GERD symptoms.
Limit your caffeine, salt, tobacco and sugar. These things heighten stress levels internally.
Take a "mental break". Sit back, close your eyes and go to a happy place. Imagine yourself in some activity that you enjoy.
Some folks have taken to meditation for stress relief. Studies have shown that people who meditate actually have lower levels of stress.
Use a "white sounds" recording. Listening to the sounds of the ocean or rain falling on a tin roof can be soothing.

So while stress can and will affect how you feel, it can also heighten the symptoms of acid reflux disease. As I have said earlier, there is absolutely no evidence that stress can cause acid reflux disease but it does tend to increase the intensity of the symptoms.

Stress relief is the key and should provide you with a good base to handle any situation that comes up. Conversely, relaxation has been shown to positively counteract the effects of acid reflux disease. When you start to feel a little under the weather, try the relaxation suggestions above or find your own new ways to relax and just chill out.

Whatever works for you is good.

Does Stress Cause Acid Reflux?

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Psychological and Physical Effects of Stress

Although some of the effects of stress are still unknown and debated, but 80-90% of all doctors visits these days are in part due to stress-related ailments. Stress has been linked to anxiety, panic attacks, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, digestive track diseases, etc. One thing for certain is that stress wrecks havoc our immune system.

Stress affects us both physically and psychologically. The psychological effects of stress is more subtle, but prolonged stress will increase in intensity and if not treated can lead to all sorts of problems such as depression, anxiety and panic attacks. An individual who is under stress will be more quick-tempered and easy to anger. He or she will lose interest in every other aspect of life. People who are under stress tend to find it harder to concentrate and have greater difficulty making decisions.

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Both psychological and physical effects of stress are not unrelated. The effect starts on your brain which then leads to impacts on your body. Two brain components: the hypothalamus and the pituitary glands lead the charge during stressful events. They release a substance called ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) that stimulates the adrenal gland, near the kidney, to release cortisol.

Psychological and Physical Effects of Stress

Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, it is always secreted in higher levels during the body's 'fight or flight' response to stress. Natural levels of cortisol rise and fall during the day, when it rises our body should be given the time so that it can return it to a normal level. Serious problem can occur if our body's stress response is activated too often that the body doesn't have a chance to return to normal, hence resulting in a state of chronic stress.

High stress can cause a shortened attention span, less efficient memory recall, lowered objectivity and other mental problems. As dire thoughts take control and race around the mind, ability to solve life's daily challenges in a rational way diminishes. This often leads to moodiness, anger, feelings of injustice and other emotional consequences.

Chronic stress often has detrimental effects; it often results in depression, anxiety, increased fear of failure and an overall sense of doom. But those are extremes and they are by no means inevitable.

By focusing on the root cause that led to stress, evaluating the stress factors realistically and keeping a sense of perspective about their consequences, stress can be reduced and even eliminated before it becomes a chronic problem. For instance, if you have an unreasonable boss and are often stressed out that it starts to take a toll on your life and family, it is time for you to put thing in a sense of perspective. Remember that job is disposable but your health and family are not.

Psychological and Physical Effects of Stress

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Stress- Acne - How Does Stress Affect Acne?

A number of clinical studies have confirmed what the acne sufferers and dermatologists alike have suspected about stress and acne: stress indeed does affect acne. Having established that, the next question is: how does stress affect acne? Before examining this, let us take a look at how stress affects skin in general.

How Does Stress Affect the Skin?

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Skin and brain originates from the neuro-ectoderm during the embryonal stage. Skin, as the fifth sense organ is supplied by millions of nerve endings that are connected through the nervous system with the brain. In fact, it is only proper to state that skin indeed is an extension of the brain, the seat of our mental activities and the master controller of the body. Hence, any changes occurring in the nervous system and the brain can affect the skin in a number of complex psycho-neuro-immuno-hormonal pathways. Sebaceous gland, an important gland of the skin, naturally, is also affected by stress similarly.(See below)

Stress- Acne - How Does Stress Affect Acne?

How Does Stress Affect Acne?

It has been hypothesized that stress, the modern day nemesis, can affect acne in three ways:

A period of continuous stress can induce a new eruption of acne
Acne, which is already present, is sustained despite treatment and even become resistant to conventional therapies during an especially stressful period of time.
A sudden crisis in life, exacerbates the acne lesions already on the face. Hence, learning to relax is a very important aspect when you consider the best treatment for acne options.

The effects of stress on acne may be mediated through various pathways:

Stress-acne: Hormonal Causes. Stress through the stimulation of neuro-chemical pathways in the brain, stimulates release of various hormones from the pituitary and other endocrine glands. The release of androgen hormones are controlled by these master glands. Androgen hormones are the main perpetrators of sebaceous hyperactivity which is the most important factor in the causation of acne.
Stress-acne: Psychological Causes. Stress caused by anxiety due to acne eruptions and due to other causes induce teens to pick on the acne lesions leading to exacerbation of the lesions and scarring. This further increase the tension and the whole triggering cycle is repeated. In some acne sufferers the stress induces bulimia or overeating response leading to increase in the hormonal activities and new acne eruptions.
Stress- acne: Psycho-Social Causes. The self imposed social alienation because of facial disfigurement and perceived social stigma further add to the depression and anxiety and aggravate acne and related problems.
Stress- acne: Immunological Causes. Stress reduces immunity through its effect on the thymus gland which produces T cells that protects our body against invading germs. Reduced immune status leads to the multiplication of bacteria inside the sebaceous glands causing inflammation of the acne lesions.
Stress- acne: Chemical Mediators: Stress, through its activity on the autonomic nervous system and hormones stimulate the release of neuropeptide P and certain other chemical mediators which induce inflammation in the skin and pilosebaceous units, thus leading to formation of new acne lesions.
Stress- acne: Genetic Susceptibility: Some individuals are, through genetic predisposing characteristics, more stress prone than others and respond with increased sebaceous activity when under stress.
Stress- acne: Target Organ Theory: Different individuals respond to stress in different manner. Due to genetic and hereditary predisposition, living style, dietary habits, relaxation responses etc, certain organs in the body are more prone to be affected by stress induced structural and pathological changes. The weak, target organs are affected first, when the body is kept under stress mode for long. In some, it may be the heart, in some the brain, in some the immune system, and, in others, the skin in general or the pilo-sebaceous unit in particular. Thus their skin may respond to a particular stressor by producing more acne lesions!

The above review is sufficient to visualize the extend of stress-acne relationship.

There are still certain issues to be addressed on the topic of stress acne relationship:

It is still not clear up to what extend stress is responsible for acne in normal individuals
There are conflicting reports as to whether stress does really increase sebum secretion. More clinical and laboratory studies are required to straighten this issue out.
How much importance should be given for stress management in the management of acne?

All said and done, it is becoming increasingly evident that acne cannot be treated satisfactorily unless you combine anti acne therapy with an effective stress management program.

Stress- Acne - How Does Stress Affect Acne?

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Stress Relief Food to Help Lower Stress Levels

Foods play a vital role in providing mental and physical nourishment for relieving stress. For stressed people, the foods that you need to avoid are the ones that contain a great amount of caffeine and alcohol. Sugar should also be avoided because it causes the blood sugar to soar and then drop very quickly.

To get rid of stress, there are different kinds of stress relief foods that you can try for your mental and physical wellness. Below are several types of stress relief food to help you manage stress:

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1. Asparagus - This green vegetable is high in folic acid that helps stabilize your mood. The body releases hormones that affect the mood when stressed and eating asparagus is a good way to block these hormones. Folic acid is actually needed by the body to make serotonin, it is a chemical naturally produced in the body that affects mood in a positive way.

Stress Relief Food to Help Lower Stress Levels

2. Beef - Beef is also a good stress relief food even though it is usually not considered when talking about health but beef contains good amount of zinc, iron, and B vitamins that also helps in stabilizing the mood. People always think that beef is not good for the body but it is actually more nutritious than chicken. The secret to making a nutritious meal with beef is to not include the fat because it is high in cholesterol.

3. Milk - Milk is very nutritious and high in antioxidants. It is also rich in vitamins B1, B12, calcium and protein that can make you feel relaxed. You can have a bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast to battle the stress ahead of you. Drinking a warm glass of milk also help induce sleep.

4. Cottage Cheese and Fruit - Cottage cheese is a stress relief food that is rich in both protein and calcium. Mixing cottage cheese and fruits high on vitamin C like oranges is a good combination to help fight stress. Vitamin C contains antioxidants that fight free radicals that are released when you are stressed. Furthermore, these free radicals are known to cause cancer.

5. Blueberries - Blueberries are high-fiber, low-calorie fruits that contains vitamin C antioxidants good for combating stress. You can mix blueberries with cottage cheese or you can also eat them alone for a healthy snack.

6. Tuna - Tuna is also a great stress relief food option because of its stress-fighting vitamins. Tunas are rich in vitamins B6 and B12 and it is also a good source of protein. If you love mayonnaise, it is advisable to use a low-fat mayonnaise for a healthy meal.
To know more about other kinds of stress relief food, it is best that you consult a

Stress Relief Food to Help Lower Stress Levels

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Stress Management in Law Enforcement

Recently, especially after the 9-11 tragedy, people have begun to look at police officers and law enforcement specialists as strong individuals, rightfully earning the lofty "Finest" title. They are tough, rough, and always ready to protect and serve. Law-abiding civilians feel safer when there are police officers on regular patrol in their neighborhoods and communities, and citizens living in safe localities often carry out useful, happy, stress-free lives.

Yet, in keeping their pillar-of-strength perceptions, police officers tend to keep to themselves when it comes to their own personal trials and tribulations. They regularly deal with the worst of what society has to offer, and they make special sacrifices to maintain the peace. In the process, doing their duty slowly eats away at their own health and satisfaction in life.

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To make matters worse, police officers operate on a less social manner than other public safety and emergency service workers. Paramedics and firefighters are trained to work as a group, but they do not pound the streets as police officers do. This results in police officers being spread too thinly to cover their areas of jurisdiction, often having to work alone or with one partner.

Stress Management in Law Enforcement

A police officer's career is marked by frequent encounters with violence and recklessness. The very ills of society that distress civilians so much also have negative effects on a police officer's psyche. As the stress of police duty builds up, the police officer may soon experience bouts of anger, depression, or disillusion. Over time, these psychological indispositions may cause strained relationships with co-workers, friends, and family, and ultimately lead to resignation, early retirement, or - worst of all - suicide. Yes, it has happened before.

Recent studies about the psychological health of police officers have taken note of these occurrences. Most often these are signs of the progression of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD usually starts with the police officer encountering a particularly disturbing incident during police duty that he can't possibly deal with all at once. PTSD is a severe illness that grows worse with each passing year it is left untreated.

As it goes without saying that police officers have perhaps the most stressful jobs in the civilian world, they also need a measure of stress management to help them cope with the rigors of police duty. Over the years, special stress management programs have been made for police officers and other workers in law enforcement. To varying degrees, these stress management programs differ from those offered for civilians and the wage-earning population.

Stress management in law enforcement includes regular psychological therapy. Police officers may be made to undergo sessions with a therapist. These can coax the police officer to identify any woes he might have with his career and ultimately arrive at beneficial solutions. Therapy sessions aim to educate the police officer in interpreting his/her own reactions to stimuli, resulting in smarter reactions to stress.

Stress management in law enforcement also includes anger management. In anger management, police officers are taught to identify the triggers that causes aggression in them, as well as methods to contain and defuse those triggers. Anger management also teaches police officers how to detect and prevent hostile situations from ever occurring, which in turn can be applied in settling civilian disputes. Perhaps most importantly, anger management develops the police officer's emotional intelligence, allowing them to prevent and manage their stress by themselves, either on or off the clock.

Police officers who have recently gone through a particularly traumatic experience on the job, such as the death of a partner or a horribly gruesome crime scene, can be made to undergo psychotherapy. This allows them to cope with the debilitating stress that these encounters saturate them with.

Today, police precincts make it a point to have a number of full-time counselors as part of the roster. With the help of chaplains and other support workers, the presence of these counselors keeps the tension down in the work environment, allowing police officers and other workers in law enforcement to work as smoothly and normally as possible.

Being aware of the stresses that police officers and other law enforcement specialists undergo on a regular basis really puts things in perspective for the rest of us, doesn't it? Too often, being so caught up in our own petty stresses can make us forget that there are brave men and women out there who make our safety and happiness their concern. The mere knowledge of the sacrifices they make for us should be enough to let us sit back, laugh at ourselves, and be grateful for having stresses as trivial as they can possibly be.

Stress Management in Law Enforcement

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