FIRST STEP: TRANSFORMING STRESS
How are you coping? This is a four part series on stress and it’s impact.
Stress is a normal part of our everyday lives. Most of us experience some sort of stress on a daily bases. Stress is not necessarily bad because we can learn from it, but uncontrollable stress reactions can have affects on our health.
If stress gets out of hand, it can aggravate many conditions relating to various organ systems. Aggravations can include allergies, arthritis, atherosclerosis, asthma, cancer, colitis, diabetes, emphysema, gastritis, hypertension, low back syndrome, neurosis, neuromuscular syndromes, speech problems and ulcers.
The most frequent undesirable reaction to stress is anxiety. The reaction to stress is much more related to an individual’s coping mechanism than the degree of stress. Some people are able to cope with stress in their daily life more than others.
Stress related anxiety can vary greatly regarding the symptoms that occur. Common symptoms are the feeling of butterflies in the stomach, constriction in the throat, an increased sense of panic, insomnia, decrease in attention at work, and chest palpitations. Anxiety symptoms are the effect of stress, not the cause of it.
How are you coping with stress? Frank Caprio, M.D., has designed the following quiz that may help you determine how you are dealing with the stress in your life.
Answer Yes or No to each of the following questions:
Yes No Do you have a feeling of continuous anxiety and sometimes of panic?
Yes No Do you feel tired all the time and find that you complain more and more often that you are not getting enough sleep?
Yes No Are you always worrying about your health? Do you feel your work is suffering on account of it?
Yes No Do you often feel depressed for no good reason?
Yes No Are you tense and restless and unable to relax?
Yes No Do you get “the shakes” all of a sudden?
Yes No Are you afraid of being alone?
Yes No Do you ever want to end it all?
Yes No Do you sometimes wonder if you are losing your mind?
Yes No Do you take other people’s criticisms as personal threats or rejections?
Yes No Do you lose your temper more often and find it harder to get along with people?
Yes No Do you find it hard to concentrate these days?
Yes No Do you feel remote from people who were close to you and things you used to like- your family, friends, sports, books?
Yes No Have you started to let your appearance run down- are you careless about cleanliness, your hair, your clothes?
Yes No Are you worrying a great deal, taking life more seriously, enjoying it less?
Yes No Are you dependent on tranquilizers or antidepressants to carry you through a day?
Yes No Is it becoming harder for you to make small decisions, such as what to wear, what to have for dinner, what to do next?
Yes No Do you dread ordinary everyday situations-caring for your children or playing with them, going to parties, or even to the store?
Yes No Has your attitude toward food changed–do you find it tasteless, hard to swallow, so that you don’t care if you eat or not?
Yes No Do you find yourself living more and more in the past?
If you answered yes to three or four questions, you may not be coping as well as you could be. If you answered yes to six or more questions, it would be wise to check with your physician, minister, psychiatrist, other healthcare provider or trusted friend to gain new insight and support.
You deserve it!
Call me, Dr. Keri Brown 970-889-3541 for help or email me for an appointment.
