Stress has been featured prominently in the news as a major health epidemic for some years now and the situation is continuing to get worse as more and more workers report that they are suffering increasing stress in the workplace. Indeed work now provides the leading environment for stress among American adults. However stress levels have also been rising for children in recent years and many people believe that this is linked to a loss of religious and family values, a lack of social support and simple corporate greed.
These days, stress is much more of a danger than it was only ten years ago and appears to be more widespread and more insidious than ever with a greater degree of stress arising out of psychological rather than physical threats.
Stress leads to a raised heart rate and greater flow of blood leading to higher blood pressure. Levels of blood suger also rise to provide the body with the added fuel which it needs to combat stress and the body is designed to move blood away from the stomach when under stress in order to provide extra strength in the arms and legs as part of what is typically referred to as our “flight or fight” response.
Stress can also contribute to chronic depression and anxiety together with gastrointestinal and skin problems and disrupts the work of several of our main organs. It can also create an impairment of the body’s immune system that cannot shake off viral conditions from the not particularly serious cold to serious conditions like cancer and AIDS.
Stress related to a work environment directly influences things like productivity and absenteeism and the business climate gets progressively worse with competition these days at an all-time high. The pressure placed on workers to produce and the constant worry about job security can result in a host of conditions including neck pain, back pain, hypertension, stroke, ulcers, diabetes and heart attacks.
Lots of things can lead to stress including just sitting at a computer monitor for seven hours each day or more, meeting deadlines or having someone continually watching you. Here the results are often seen as depression and a host of physical ailments which result in lost work time.
Taking the steps needed to manage the stress you have in your life may be the nicest gift that you can give yourself and your family and a few fairly simple alterations to your lifestyle can make a big difference to the way in which you handle stress. For example, taking a mere 20 minutes each day to walk will lower your stress level as will talking to friends and colleagues, meditation and eating a healthy diet. Take the time needed to learn some relaxation techniques because deep breathing and relaxation exercises can do a great deal to reduce your level of stress.
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