TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF...
PUT YOUR OXYGEN MASK
ON FIRST!
gail oliver © 2009

I rarely get real personal here on my blog, at least not the details. As much as I really covet my privacy,
I had to share my most recent and very personal experience, in part for healing and in part for the benefits of a good catharsis.

After months of bizziness, feeling like Superwoman: caring for and managing a parent with dementia, an officer of the Board of Directors of a foundation and on the board of a higher education facility, juggling 5 graphic design clients, teaching yoga just to name a few... Anywho, I awoke last week with total numbness and severe nerve pain on one side of my body, slurred speech and a left facial droop (as they put it). I was needless to say rushed to the emergency room in a full blown panic.

They thought I had had a stroke... not good! As it turned out, after a CT scan, Ekg, Full Blood work up, IV stint, 2 MRI’s, and hours of waiting in a cold arse room, it was concluded I did not have a stroke... Instead, I have the full blown effects of an over stressed life... an overly FULL PLATE. I was lectured and prescribed some things if needed (I don't do pharmaceuticals, but that's a different story), and put on complete rest with no stress what-so-ever for a few weeks. Whew! ... But STILL...

How ironic this is since I had just started Taking Time For Myself.... remember last months blog? I had just pulled back from most of my duties and obligations, hired help for my mother, finished half of my design jobs, turned phones off at 10pm, started walking again, started doing my creative stuff just for pleasure... Hell, I even ran into some friends at the park and went fishing last week. I was making a concerted effort to have a life.... I meditate and journal, I practice deep breathing, do yoga, eat right...Who’d a thunk?

Imagine where I’d be if I didn’t do these things? ..............on second thought, lets not.

Well the body is a funny thing (and I know this). While you are in the throws of the hustle and bustle, you deal with it, you perform, you handle your business. The minute you sit back to take a breath, your body nuts up and rebels from the lack of balance in our daily lives... As it tries to right itself, it shuts down. Sometimes briefly and sometimes permanently. If you are lucky, maybe you just end up with an auto-immune dis-ease like Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes Type 1, Narcolepsy, Myasthenia gravis, Hashimoto's disease, Psoriasis, Graves' disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, Vitiligo, Scleroderma, Primary biliary cirrhosis, Endometriosis, Autoimmune hepatitis, Alopecia areata, Crohns Disease...... ewwww!

Stress accounts for about 75%- 80% of all diagnosed illnesses... So I have attached some information on stress for you to explore....

The top 3 common dis-eases that are due to Stress are:

1. Heart Disease
2. Strokes
3. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Live Long, Prosper... and CHILL, it ain’t worth it!

Stress Reduction
By Jake Lawson | 07.19.09

What are sources of stress?

Change of any kind can induce stress due to the following reasons:
Fear of the new, the unknown * Feelings of personal insecurity * Feelings of vulnerability * Fear of rejection * Need for approval * Lack of tolerance for ambiguity * Fear of conflict * Fear of taking a risk * Fear of developing trust * Fear of inability to cope with changed circumstances

Individual personality characteristics that can induce stress include:
Low self-esteem * Feelings of over-responsibility * Fear of loss of control * Fear of failure, error, mistakes * Fear of being judged * Lack of belief in being good enough * Chronic striving to be perfect * Chronic guilt * Unresolved grief over a loss or a series of losses * Chronic anger, hostility or depression

Interpersonal issues that can induce stress include:
A lack of adequate support within the relationship * A lack of healthy communication within the relationship * A sense of competitiveness between the parties involved * Threats of rejection or disapproval between people * An inability to be appropriately assertive * Struggle for power and control in the relationship * Poor intimacy or sexuality within the relationship * Chronic conflict and disagreement with no healthy resolution * Over-dependency of one party on another * A troubled person who refuses to recognize the need for help

System (family, job, school, club or organization) issues that can induce stress include:
Lack of leadership * Lack of sense of direction * Uncooperative atmosphere * Competitive atmosphere * Autocratic leadership * Unclear expectations * A chronic sense of impending doom * A lack of teamwork * Confused communications * Developmental disability or chronic ill health of one or more members.

Is all stress bad?
Not all stress is distress: a certain amount of stress or pressure is necessary and shows a positive adaptation being made by a person. This is called eustress.

Bad or negative stress is called distress: the negative physiological and emotional response when stress is intense and unresolved.

There are three degrees of stress:

Low: This is distress leading to boredom, fatigue, frustration or dissatisfaction.
Optimum: This is eustress leading to creativity, problem solving, progress, change, learning and energetic satisfaction.
High: Involves irrational problem solving.

What is the definition of stress?
Stress is defined as a person's response to his environment. Stress is measured in terms of arousal or stimulation. As such, stress must be present for a person to function.

Each person has his own normal (homeostatic) level of arousal at which he functions best. If something unusual in the environment occurs, this level of arousal is affected.

There are three phases of arousal:
Phase 1. Alarm phase: When an unusual (or stressful) event occurs, the output of energy drops for a short period as the event is registered in the person's mind.
Phase 2. Adaptation phase: Next, the output of energy increases above the normal level; arousal is heightened as the person seeks to deal with the situation. Adaptation responses available to humans include physically running away, fighting, freezing (self immobilization), suppression emotion or learning.
Phase 3. Exhaustion phase: Finally the person's available energy is expended and his capacity to function effectively is reduced.

What is the stress/relaxation physical response cycle?
Signs of physical response include:
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, perspiration, pupil dilation and muscle tension. In the state of chronic stress, heart rate, blood pressure and respiration are chronically elevated.

The signs of relaxation response include:
Decreased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, pupil dilation and muscle tension.
A stress management strategy involves evoking the relaxation physical response on a regular, daily basis.

Personal Life Events Analysis
To learn the level of stress (distress) in your life, circle the value at the right of each of the following events if it has occurred within the past 12 months:
Event--Value

Death of spouse--100
Divorce--73
Marital separation--65
Jail term--63
Death of close family member--63
Personal injury or illness--53
Marriage--50
Fired from job--47
Marital reconciliation--45
Retirement--45
Change in family member's health--44
Pregnancy--40
Sexual difficulties--39
Addition to family--39
Business readjustment--39
Change in financial status--38
Death of close friend--37
Career change--36
Change in number of marital arguments--35
Mortgage or loan over $10,000--31
Foreclosure of mortgage or loan--30
Change in work responsibilities--29
Son or daughter leaving home--29
Trouble with in-laws--29
Outstanding personal achievement--28
Spouse begins or ceases working--26
Starting or finishing school--26
Change in living conditions--25
Revision of personal habits--24
Trouble with boss--23
Change in work hours or conditions--20
Change in residence--20
Change in schools--20
Change in recreational habits--19
Change in church activities--19
Change in social activities--18
Mortgage or loan under $10,000--17
Change in sleeping habits--16
Change in number of family gatherings--15
Change in eating habits--15
Vacation--13
Christmas season--12
Minor violation of the law--11

How to analyze your score:
Add the number values. If your total score is more than 150, find ways to reduce stress in your daily life so that your stress level doesn't increase. The higher the score, the harder one needs to work at staying physically well.

Suggested uses for personal Life Events analysis:
1. Become familiar with the different events and the amounts of stress they promote.
2. Put the list of events where your family can easily refer to it several times a day.
3. Practice recognizing the stress level when one of these events happens.
4. Think about the meaning of the event for you and identify your feelings.
5. Think about the different ways you can adjust to the event.
6. Take your time in arriving at decisions.
7. Anticipate life changes and plan for them well in advance whenever possible.
8. Pace yourself. It can be done even if you are in a hurry.
9. Look at the accomplishment of a task as a part of ongoing daily living; avoid looking at such an achievement as a stopping point. Congratulate yourself and push ahead.
10. Recognize that your internal mechanism of coping with stress is directly tied to how your health and well being will be influenced by it.

Note: This scale is derived from the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Scale. Holmes, T. & Rahe, R. (1967) "Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale," Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. II.

What is personal progressive relaxation?
Learning to relax:
You may have grown to accept a certain high level of stress and anxiety as "normal." You may be unfamiliar with what it feels like to be relaxed, calm and unstressed. With progressive relaxation you learn what it feels like to be relaxed, you learn to increase relaxation to a new level. By doing this you not only improve your physical well being by reducing hypertension, headaches and other physical complaints, but you improve your mental state by reducing stress, anxiety, irritability and depression.

About this Author

James J Messina, PhD, is a licensed psychologist with more than 35 years of experience counseling individuals and families. Messina, who specializes in adult and children psychotherapy, serves as Director of Psychological Services at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla. He has a private practice in Tampa and is also a member of the American Psychological Association.

For more info: http://www.livestrong.com/article/14656-stress-reduction/