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• January 9, 2010 10:10 a.m.

  These days in difficult times leave many people overworked and stressed out. And we can all say we feel that way whether in school or at work. Notice this note that can help us cope with our work effort in our daily life. Found in the bible at Ecclesiastes 4:6 it reads, “Better is a handful of rest than double a handful of work and striving after the wind.” Meaning there are ways of balancing work, family, and relaxation.

  - Jay

• January 8, 2010 8:42 p.m.

  This is to "no name given." I too was at the end of my rope healthwise. I wasn't sleeping well, sometimes having totally sleepless nights. One evening, after I had a sleepless night, my dear nutritionist friend from Chicago and asked me how I was doing. She then informed me about some tests I needed to take to address my sleep issuues. She then put me on a vitamin and mineral program which has cured my sleep issues by about 95% and has elevated my mood and eliminated depression. God id out there, "no name given". He is hearing your plea. Barbara A. C'ry Depression, Celebrate Recovery." coming out very soon.

  - Barbara a

• January 8, 2010 8:31 p.m.

  While listening to the radio a few months ago, I learned some interesting facts. Stress unit statistics are up due to increased use of technology. Can I ever relate to that! Just yesterday, both of my mainline phones crashed. Since I run an in home business, the phones are important to me. My computer served notice that I had one day left on my anti-virus protection. I didn't have time to address that and I worried about someone getting access to my bank information. In addition, while vacuuming, the vacuum cleaner sucked up all the wiring to one of the phones and it took me twenty minutes to get the phone out of the vacuum cleaner! I didn't see the wires on the floor. I was nearly in tears. Fortunately, I'm acquainted with mind centering techniques and was able to get back in focus. Barbara A "Cry Depression, Celebrate Recovery" coming, coming, coming out soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  - Barbara a

• November 26, 2009 12:07 a.m.

  On the 25th of September I was told that I was going to be a father. I was so excited because ever since i was a little kid I knew that I ve wanted to be a father. I mean I even practiced some token fatherly lines. And promised myself over and over again that i wouldnt do all of the things that my dad did..... Well, on September 26th I was told that my son was dead. And in the coldest way possible, I mean there was no feeling behind it. I have been going over and over in my head why such an innocent being was just taken from this earth and me. I for once felt that I actually did something right. He was my greatest accomplishment!!!! Im still really messed up over all of this Im surprised that i even got this far

  - adam

• November 23, 2009 8:05 a.m.

  One of the great stressors in our country is the death of a loved one by suicide. I have written about survivors of family suicides since 1987 (SILENT GRIEF: Living in the Wake of Suicide.) I continue to do so today (BLUE GENES, my memoir, came out last year); I feel for the 8,000,000 or so survivors alive in America today. But I am always startled to see that there is STILL shame and guilt about suicide; that we don't see how much the SURVIVOR deserves to be attended to -- not simply because he or she may also die by suicide, but because 8,000,000 angry, guilty, ashamed survivors, many with physical and emotional problems, are a burden on themselves, their children, their co-workers, and the country. The suicide of a loved one can lead to PTSD in survivors. 32,000 suicides a year is bad enough. 8,000,000 survivors is horrendous. More attention needs to be given to the survivors.

  - Christopher

• November 12, 2009 7:42 p.m.

  Keep holding on Doug. I love you brother. You are not alone. When it gets really hard hold on tighter.

  - Marie for Doug

• November 12, 2009 7:38 p.m.

  I have seen 55 years worth of life. Lately I find it hard to help those in need. A friend who lost her only sibling to sucide. One sibling whose husband of 17 yeasr is doing 20 years for child porn. The lady who got her face and hands torne off by a chimp and cant see or feel or raise her beautiful teen daughter. Deep Deep in our soul we must know that God is in charge. He never promised to show us his plan, he just promised us He has one. Holding on tighter...

  - Marie

• October 7, 2009 12:35 a.m.

  A couple of years ago I faced a personal situation that left me with physical and emotional stress that I couldn't identify and cope with. It took me some time and a couple of visits to the doctor without any relief for me to realize that it was all in my mind - a kind of anticipated anxiety disorder. Even the slightest of pain or discomfort would make me imagine that something was drastically wrong with me. I became more assertive at work when I faced situations where I felt that people were pushing me too far. I learnt to say "NO". I learnt to make fewer realistic goals and set targets for myself that I knew I could reach. I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses and avoided situations that could affect my physical and mental wellbeing. Along with all these I evolved a simple fitness programme that was easy to follow. I developed newer hobbies like playing word games, sudoku to keep the mind active. I love music and reading and the outdoors so that too helped a lot. Today I can recognize or deal with a situation before it gets out of hand. Sometimes we stand in the present and fail to realize or see the good about us. The mind gets tuned to see only the negative which is very bad. There is innate good in everything and if you learn to cultivate good emotions and good habits you will surround yourself with a peaceful, calm environment. You should be in control of your life and never let anyone or anything take away that control.

  - Priyadarshini

• July 10, 2009 8:59 a.m.

  I have been reading your blog as I have been suffering with stress of late. While surfing the other blogs I can across a company dealing with stress management called Health wise global I feel that this site complements what is written on this blog so I highly recommended it if you are finding it hard dealing with stress, along with this blog. The site is extremely educational and their programs a very effective. i just want to tall all of those suffering with stress that it can be managed effectively. Keep up the good work

  - Lucy Green

• May 4, 2009 11:20 a.m.

  I moved to a new location two years ago,I hate my home, I miss all my friends and family. My awesome dog got ran over, then my mother died. Fortunately I had a beautiful son, but I am a stay at home dad with a one year old who can't stay out of anything, and constantly needs attention. On top of this my two older brothers have had heartattacks in the last four months, causing me worry. Then to top all of this off my best friend of 25 years died in an accident. Enough!

  - Doug

• April 16, 2009 11:14 a.m.

  Apparently this isn't a very active blog....hello, is anyone out there???!!???

  - Jill

• April 9, 2009 4:47 p.m.

  I've recently started to experience extreme stress due to a situation in my neighborhood involving individuals who are pursuing a right-of-way through our property. These people vandalize the property of others, and are genuinely toxic. I am personally unable to adequately handle the stress of being around the people, and have noticed the effect on my physical well-being (can't sleep, heart races, elevated blood pressure). The problem worsens now that spring and summer arrived, as these people are outdoors often, and running into them is inevitable. I'm looking for any advice/coping strategies anyone can offer. I know some people are able to just ignore unpleasant people and situations, but unfortunatley I'm not one of them. I'm hoping that I don't have to move out of the neighborhood to find relief. Any tips to cope with this situation would be appreciated.

  - Jill

• March 27, 2009 11:04 p.m.

  This blog is very helpful, thank you. I'm 16, and like right now I'm going through plenty of stress (college, grades, and all the teenage stuff). But lately I've been sleeping like a lot. I sleep the 8 hrs recommended, and I still fall asleep at school for 2 hrs and go home and sleep another 2 hrs, making a total of 12 hrs. Plus, I have these moments were I can't breathe, I feel dizzy, my arms feel numb, to the point of actually hurting. I can't move from where I am, and sometimes I might just be sitting at the computer, listening to music or reading. A doctor told me that it was stress related, and just to relax, but I find it very difficult. Is it weird to sleep that much and to go through those high anxiety moments like every 2-3 months? I don't know, just thought I through it out there, and see if anyone responds.

  - Julie

• February 21, 2009 9:10 a.m.

  Stress is such a gigantic factor in everything from ability to heal from illness to actually causing illness if left unchecked. We owe it to ourselves to de-stress and be self aware. So we can be the best we can be for ourselves, our families and our communities. Thanks for the article.

  - lisa

• January 25, 2009 6:53 p.m.

  Thank you for this blog. I have enjoyed reading it. I'm going through a divorce right now and feel as though I'm at the height of stress. I am trying to get very active again and use exercise to help de-stress. I tried yoga, but it made me very sad. I just spent all my time thinking about my breakup. One thing that has helped is a book that a friend of mine recently turned me on to. It's called "It Can Be Done!" by Lisa Buldo. She talks about, among other things, how to get a hold of stress, such as deep breathing. She also says that when you're stressed, you don't properly digest your food. I never knew this. But she gives tips to help you properly eat/digest. If you're interested, you can check it out at http://www.lisabuldo.com/. Thanks again for this helpful blog!

  - Emma Griffin

• January 24, 2009 1:49 a.m.

  Stress is one of the most misunderstood parts of our lives. A little is good-not only is it important for keeping us safe, but also for motivating us and helping us be more creative. But the unrelenting stress many of us deal with, especially in today's economic climate, can be devastating to our health. For some great, (and free) hassle-free and drug free stress reduction tips, including funny videos, relaxing positions, and stress information from Stanford researcher Robert Sapolsky, visit my website: http://www.squidoo.com/stressreductionsimplified

  - pjbrowne

• December 12, 2008 11:25 a.m.

  is anybody out there???? I had another experience yesterday where I experience a crisis and then spiral downward. In the past would've taken me 3 days to come out of it but thanks to Lexapro I can recover much more quickly. Anyone else have this experience? sandy

  - sandy b

• August 8, 2008 3:40 p.m.

  I could go on about this for a while, but here are two quick thoughts to consider. 1) When you're happy you're not stressed. The best ways to be happy are: A) self-expression: opportunities for you to be you. unchecked. uncensored. just you doing something that comes to you naturally. B) self-care: doing things that rejuvenate your physical, emotional, spiritual well-being. Could be better sleep, exercise, vacation, saying 'no'. 2) While there are many ways to reduce stress, not enough focus is placed at the root of it - our agitation that our situation isn't the way we want it to be.

  - Zohar

• July 23, 2008 5:44 p.m.

  Stress is also created by negative emotions - whether they be loneliness, anger, frustration, depression, etc. These negative thoughts and emotions have an effect on our heart rhythms and also trigger a cascade of 1400 physical & chemical reactions. It's important to note it's a different chain of events than when we engage in positive emotions. What do you do to take the stress out of a "heated" situation as it's happening? Lots of people rely on going for a walk, or watching t.v. or listening to music. In the meantime, until you can do what you need to do to unwind, your body is still going through that cascade that I mentioned earlier. The techniques I teach are do-able in the moment - you don't have to ask the surgeon to wait to perform surgery until you've gone for your walk to calm down! (I used these techniques and sailed through all 4 surgeries in 2006.) One to two minutes can make a huge difference in how you feel & respond emotionally, mentally and physically. In fact, people don't even have to know that you're doing the techniques!

  - Marianna Paulson

• July 19, 2008 12:54 p.m.

  Biologically, stress is fear. It takes fear to activate the stress response. Chronic stress means our brains are wired for fight of flight, aka stress, aka a fearful attitude. Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience has found that attitude is neuroplastic, meaning a shift in attitude rewires our brains. (Davidson, 2003; Segal, Mayberg, 2002, Schwartz 1987). We can transcend a life of stress, once and for all, by cultivating a dynamically peaceful attitude. It restores brain chemistry and function to its absolute best. So I work on making the psychological shift from fear to peace in the boot camp of every day life. I have a written a book on how to do it. It is called Mystic Cool, which Simon and Schuster will publish next spring. Don Joseph Goewey

  - Don Joseph Goewey

• July 19, 2008 12:53 p.m.

  Biologically, stress is fear. It takes fear to activate the stress response. Chronic stress means our brains are wired for fight of flight, aka stress, aka a fearful attitude. Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience has found that attitude is neuroplastic, meaning a shift in attitude rewires our brains. (Davidson, 2003; Segal, Mayberg, 2002, Schwartz 1987). We can transcend a life of stress, once and for all, by cultivating a dynamically peaceful attitude. It restores brain chemistry and function to its absolute best. So I work on making the psychological shift from fear to peace in the boot camp of every day life. I have a written a book on how to do it. It is called Mystic Cool, which Simon and Schuster will publish next spring. Don Joseph Goewey

  - No name given

• July 14, 2008 11:29 p.m.

  Having survived cancer treatment in 1990 when I was only 23 and going on to have two more miracle babies having had my treatment in america I am from UK i always wanted to come back to florida and be thankful for what america had donefor me. We had an affluent life in UK and have to give up a lot to come here but I thought it would be a better life for our family and our health and our future, little did I know what it would take to get a visa arrive in the worst recession possible and possibly lose everything we have worked for. The stress is untold in our situation, I thought I would cope better having had my life threatened but in fact it is worse for me than any other member of our family. I have had countless sessions of therapy when I was sick but what is happening now is not an illness although it feels like my cancer again because it is something I cannot control, its the feeling of being out of control is what we all struggle to deal with, I thought I had control again how little did I know. I have been married for 25 years and we are still learning to deal with difficult situations I just hope that our children don't become too selfish the way everyone seems to be these days thinking of themselves only I will continue to read the comments are inspirational.

  - Lynn Holloway

• June 16, 2008 4:02 p.m.

  Our way of dealing is of course, the deep breath. After my husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the Mayo Clinic in March 2008, we decided to live as normal as possible even though this was not something that we wanted to hear. My husband has a very good sense of humor and we continuously make jokes about our situation. We are an older couple that have seen some hardships but this is the most stressful. As the wife, I use self-talk a lot and find that is very helpful. Going to a very quiet place and taking a very long walk by myself helps with the thoughts from the day. Being on guard to watch for the signs: body aches, which normally don't appear can be eliminated if you just stop long enough to think about what is causing those aches. I can 99% of the time figure out with some thought what is causing the problem and take the necessary action. Don't let the stress of the day build up and carry to the next. A fresh start is so necessary for a good day. Giving to him is the thing that keeps me going.

  - Rachel Osborn

• May 17, 2008 9:31 p.m.

  One of the things that I've learned about stress is that it's insidious - it can creep up on our lives and before we know it we've developed all sorts of side effects thanks to the 1400 chemical and physical events that take place with each stressful event. I've learned and now coach people how to stop that stress response in the moment - some of those stress hormones stay in our bodies for up to 13 hours...and people wonder why they don't have a good sleep! I sell a laptop or portable device which shows very quickly how our thoughts and feelings affect our heart rhythms and subsequently our health and sense of well-being. We don't always have time to relax, go for a run, or do any of the other things that restore us, but what we can do is learn techniques to balance us in the moment. Suffice to say that by using the educational technology and the techniques I now teach to others, my life has changed!!! And, that's a wonderful thing! www.changeofheart.ca

  - Marianna Paulson

• May 7, 2008 2:17 p.m.

  Thank you for bringing more attention to the topic of daily stress. I've written an article on 16 stress management techniques. Feel free to read. http://lifejelly.org/2008/05/05/ultimate-stress-relief-guide/

  - Jerry G.