Stress the biggest culprit in modern times. No other time in history has been this stressful. Our over-connected society, along with the need to have everything instantly, and the constant changes in technology has added an incredible amount of stress to our lives. Even though we have more knowledge and greater ability, our medical system no longer tries to find out what is wrong with you and fix it, they just give you a label and a prescription. They don’t cure anything anymore, they treat it or put it in a holding pattern and hope it stays there. The medicine causes serious side effects, even death, not just for the individual but for society also as well as our families and loved ones who are trying to cope.
Stress causes 85% of all illnesses, that includes mental disorders and physical illness. From a headache to cancer. It is our biggest threat to health and happiness and yet we do the least about it. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Thyroid, Headaches and time lost at work. There is nothing that stress either does not cause or make worse. It causes fights, accidents (small and large), bad tempers, abuse, addictions, neglect, divorce, road rage, loss of job and income. The list goes on and yet we spend little time dealing with it or eliminating it from our lives. The more instant our society becomes the more stressed we are. It costs us an enormous amount each year for lost days at work, medication and broken homes that could all be avoided if we just got help with handling stress. Sometimes we have trouble focusing, getting a job done, or making decisions and don’t know why these are also signs of stress and depression.
We are very connected, body, mind and spirit. So when our mind is upset, so is our body and when our body is ill, so is our mind. The very essence of our soul becomes darker when we are not feeling our best. We need to make sure we are not our own worst enemy. We have a choice we are our own worst enemy or our own best friend which do you want to be?
If you are having problems with headaches, pains for no reason that can be found by the doctors, losing or gaining weight, crying, anger, feeling lost, frustrated or just plain miserable it could be just too much stress. Stress has many causes and can be from physical illness to emotional situations and trauma. Remember we are not all made the same way and therefore we don’t all react the same way nor do we process things the same way. So what can be easy for one person may be a nightmare for another?
Not all stress is bad, some is even good. Many things like the birth of a child or getting married can be very stressful, but just the same they are also happy events.
Deadlines can also be a good thing as it keeps us productive and we can move ahead and feel good about our accomplishments.
But good stress only last for a certain period of time and when the event is over, the stress is gone.
Stress brings on panic attacks and makes small problems large, as we blow them out of proportion stressing over them. We literally can’t think straight when stressed.
Stress can turn into anxiety making it hard to function day-to-day. It can hold us hostage, as we try to avoid it or medicate it out of our lives. But since stress starts in the mind, doesn’t it make sense that it should be treated there also? You don’t give a short person tall clothes and expect them to be tall, so why do we think medication (prescribed or self-administered) or ignoring it will make it go away. We are still thinking the same way. Handling things the same way and likely making more mistakes and making things worse but not addressing the problem. If you don’t take care of yourself who is supposed to?
Think how long we could live if we just didn’t have stress in our lives.