October 2008

Have you experience aches and pains while you work, or feel tired all of a sudden even before you start with one? Well, this is practically the effect of stress in your body. Most medicals experts agree that stress can be a profound influence in the decline of your normal body functions – tight muscles, migraine, drowsiness, and so on.

Most medical experts agree that a healthy bout of physical exercise can improve your health despite everyday bout of stress due to career, personal or social problems. It’s advisable that you should take some time off from work, or an early good night sleep and wake up early in the morning to engage in some physical exercise.

Physical exercise for stress management

Physical exercise can improve your body’s adaptability to stress. This involves routine movements that will improve your cardiovascular functions and strengthen your heart. This in turn improves the circulation of your blood and other bio-chemicals which your body needs to maintain a good health.

When your muscles are well supplied with oxygen, this will improve muscle integrity which will improve endurance, stamina and flexibility. Also when engaging in physical exercise, you can find an outlet for your mental stress – release your depression, anxiety, anger, fear, and so on by focusing on your workout and sweat it out.

Exercise tips

You must follow certain physical regime for your exercise to have the desired result, simply jogging around the block or lifting some weight will not provide the overall effect of a complete workout. Here are some tips that will start you of in releasing stress through physical exercise:

1. Time. Before indulging your body to some serious sweating, you must set some time so that you can have an uninterrupted workout. Early morning is the best time for an exercise since the fresh air will help your body get the clean oxygen that it needs to recover from those accumulated stress.

2. Warm-up exercise. It is very important to engage in light exercise to warm your body up before engaging in heavy-duty workout. By doing some light maneuvers from your feet to head will avoid cramps that will plague you for days.
Start off with some minor stretching. Start of with your ankles, legs, hips, arms and neck. Make sure you do it slow and with set time intervals so your body won’t react negatively. The purpose of the warm-up is to let your body adapt to the work-out that will follow afterwards.

3. Tools of the trade. If you plan to forgo going to the gym and do your exercise at home, then it is necessary to be prepared for it. Try to purchase some health books that features exercise routines for different parts of your body. If you want to make a habit out of this then you might need to purchase support equipments that will improve your body’s performance.

4. Proper Diet. Practically the most important facet of the physical exercise regime is your food intake. Make sure that you eat enough so that you’re body won’t get tired from the physical exercise, but not too much to give you those unwanted cholesterols and calories. Stay away from fast food goodies and junk food and stick with healthy fruits and veggies that start you off.

Aside from improving your muscles, you also need to make sure that your organs are in full working order for a perfect stress management.

Some people think that it’s almost impossible to find an outlet while under stress. Most stressed individuals think that doing fun activities will not reduce the effect of problems that they tackle under career, social or personal pressure – which is a very poor way to get cope or rid them of it.

Therapist around the world agree that certain activities like games, sports and art can great affect a stressed persons physical and behavioral problems. Some of them are even employed in stress management clinics and is part of the routine treatment in helping individuals cope with their stress issue.

Mind games

Since stress will first affect the mental functions of an individual, it is very important to teach the person focus his mind on positive thoughts rather than dwelling on negative ones. Mind games offer an alternative which will allow a stress person to divert this thought patterns to something more productive. These clinics encourage their patients to tackle crossword puzzles and sudoku to help them cope with stress.

Logical functions are put to the test by introducing the Rubik’s Cube, Scrabble, and Bridge, into their curriculum. If you have no plans of visiting these centers to deal with stress, you can easily incorporate these games into your daily routine to give your mind some diversion from problems.

Sports

Engaging in sports is a great way to relieve stress. The physical exercise that your body needs to balance biological and muscular functions can rejuvenate those muscles that are tight due to the effects of stress. Playing sports can also provide an outlet for emotional problems like anxiety, depression, irritation, anger, and so on.

There are two kinds of sports a person can engage on his or her own free time. They can opt for team sports like basketball, soccer or volleyball which provides socializing functions and exercise. Individual sports like badminton, golf and tennis can also be a great help in focusing your mind to win the game rather than feeling useless under all the extra problems.

Workout

A visit to the gym may prove to be beneficial to your emotional, mental and physical health when under the influence of stress. The routine exercise your gym instructor will give you can help your mind focus on the tasks at hand. The strenuous activities can develop your muscles which improves your body’s coping mechanism to stress, and allows the body to release chemicals and hormones that is beneficial to your physiological well-being.

Cardiovascular workout can improve your heart and strengthen it to avoid stress related problems like strokes, high-blood pressure, chest pains and rapid heart beat. Due to the steady circulation in your system will benefit your muscles because of the fresh oxygen supply provided by these hearty fluids.

Note however that working out at the gym needs proper diet as well since your physical attributes will be worked to the limit to help fight off stress. Fresh fruits and vegetables are necessary improves digestion and supplies the body with the required nutrients it needs. Red meat devoid of fat can give your muscles proteins that will strengthen muscle tissues for added flexibility.

A healthy dose of mental activities, physical exercise coupled with a balance diet can help a person avoid the signs and symptom of stress and will be on the road to recovery to a stress free life.

As we go through this information, I want you to understand that this section is of importance to those trying to help another person who is experiencing, or dealing with, Anxiety on a daily basis. How you provide support to them may help them to control their Anxiety to some degree.

First thing is first. NEVER belittle or try to downplay someone’s Anxiety Disorder. This is a REAL disorder and should be respected as such. Don’t just dismiss their episode as a one time event, or try and ’solve’ their problem through rationalization.

You have to understand that when a person is actually going through an Anxiety attack rationality is not something they are concentrating on. Or listening to. This is an extremely frightening experience and no matter how much you’d want to, you CANNOT MAKE THIS EXPERIENCE GO AWAY. Only the individual who is HAVING the attack has the power to do this. Not YOU.

The absolute WORST thing you can do is to act as if they are LYING or ACTING to get attention. This is simply not the case. While you may BELIEVE this to be true because you have never yourself experienced the unrelenting terror of an Anxiety attack, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening to someone you care about.

Imagine for a second that you had witnessed a “physical” accident that your loved one or dear friend was a part of. Something you could SEE the outcome from. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to help them?

What if they were trapped inside a car that was on fire? What if they were trapped underwater and were drowning? You would want to aid them, wouldn’t you? What if they had stopped breathing? Would you just stand around watching them pass away? Or would you do everything you could to administer CPR to them, even if you weren’t sure you were doing it correctly?

While the above examples are extreme, sometimes, to an Anxiety sufferer, it absolutely feels like the end of their world. As if they are drowning in a sea of chaos and disparity,unable to pull themselves out.

Also, by attempting to in effect ignore the Anxiety attack, you are probably contributing to another disorder that goes hand in hand with Anxiety. . .Depression.

Instead of holding them down ‘under water’, try throwing them a life preserver the next time they have an attack.

How can you do that? Just BE there for them. Let them know that while you may not understand what they are going through, you are there for them and will stay until they feel better.
Do NOT try and force someone out of an Anxiety attack. It could make the attack that much worse for them. Just let the attack happen naturally, and in most, if not all, cases, their bodies will help them come out of the ‘hot’ zone all on it’s own. And if it doesn’t, get them to the nearest emergency room as soon as you can. Or call an emergency squad to take them.

Also, NEVER try and give someone suffering from an Anxiety attack any type of prescription drugs that have not been prescribed by their family physician. Seems like common sense, but when you see a loved one going through such a painful event, you really want to help them. Believe me, THIS WILL NOT HELP THEM. Getting them to a professional source, such as an emergency room or their own family physician, for help WILL.

Anxiety/Panic Disorder
This is the form of the disorder that brings on sudden attacks that paralyze you with fear for no apparent reason. Of course there are absolutely underlying factors that cause these attacks, however, the sufferer rarely knows what those are, unless they seek professional help from a family physician or a clinical specialist who are equip to deal with this type of disorder.

Most common symptoms, or the symptoms of the attacks would be dizziness, feeling faint, increased breathing, pounding heart, tingling or numbing sensations in the hands and feet, fear of impending doom, a disconnection with reality, or a total lack or loss of control.

People that suffer from this disorder may honestly feel as if they are dying, having a heart attack, or losing their minds. These attacks can occur at any time, and even while the sufferer is asleep.

Anxiety/Panic Disorder is often connected with other serious disorders such as depression. Due to the fact that the attacks associated with this disorder are such terrifying events, the sufferer may make several trips to the local emergency room not really knowing the true cause as it may be difficult to get a correct diagnosis at first.

This disorder can be very debilitating to the sufferer and can extremely hinder their daily activities. If a sufferer experiences an attack while driving, they will avoid driving to avoid having another attack. This can be true of any type of daily activity such as grocery shopping, doing dishes, watching television, etc.

However, this form of disorder is the most treatable of all the Anxiety Disorders, and so an individual experiencing, or believe they are experiencing symptoms of this disorder should seek help and effective treatment through their chosen health care professional.

Social Anxiety Disorder
This type of disorder more commonly strikes when a sufferer is placed within a social setting. It is also referred to as Social Phobia and can be a very traumatic and debilitating disorder making it near impossible for one afflicted with it to be comfortable at any social gathering. This includes everyday functions such as attending class, going out to dinner at a restaurant, or even going to work.

The person suffering from this disorder has strong self-conscious issues and may often times feel as if they are not welcome, or really a part of the social setting. They feel as if they are constantly being judged or watched by others for no apparent reason other than those things they themselves feel self-conscious about.

The social settings can be those that occur on a daily basis, or those that are rare occurrences, such as a party, public speaking events, etc. Often times, the sufferer will experience any of the following symptoms when placed in social gatherings: profuse sweating, trembling or shaking, feeling sick to their stomachs, inability to speak, or blushing.

A person suffering from this type of disorder can become so upset by an upcoming social event that it will plague them for weeks in advance working them into an anxious frenzy by the time the event finally comes around.

In an attempt to ’self-medicate’, a person experiencing this disorder will often times turn to alcohol or ’street’ drugs to cope which leads to more disorders springing up.

This disorder usually happens sometime during early childhood or adolescence and continues on throughout adulthood.

Treatment for this disorder can be accomplished through careful and consistent counseling and medication.

General Anxiety Disorder
This disorder is a heightened sense of anxiety or worry experienced on a daily basis. It is a chronic disorder that is continuous throughout the sufferers day. They experience difficulty concentrating or constant, excessive worry about every day concerns with an inability to control those overwhelming feelings of worry.

Symptoms can also include increased nervousness, irritability, fatigue or restlessness.

While not as extreme a condition such as Anxiety/Panic Disorder, it is still a serious illness that requires professional treatment from a qualified health care provider or counselor.

Imagine being stood in front of a high speed locomotive and you are frozen solid to the spot. Unable to move, knowing what is about to happen, and can do NOTHING to help yourself escape.

Now imagine being plunged into this scenario several times A DAY.

This is what it feels like for an Anxiety Disorder sufferer. Or as close as it can be described. The only difference is, there is no speeding train barreling towards you. It’s unseen. And comes from out of no where. Without warning. Crippling you in utter fear.

Sound intense?

It IS.

The ‘official’ ‘unofficial’ description of Anxiety is a disorder in which the individual afflicted feels an intense, irrational fear and an impending sense of doom or dread.

What this means is that, in ‘layman’s terms’, if you suffer from Anxiety Disorder, or any form of it, that you will be confronted with paralyzing fear for no apparent reason that will make you feel as if there is no possible way out of it. And you can experience this unprovoked fear at any time within the course of a day.

In addition to suffering from Anxiety Disorder, an individual may also have other common disorders that go hand-in-hand with it such as Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Agoraphobia, or any other number of Phobias that make it all the more important to seek treatment for.