April 2009 is Stress Awareness Month, sponsored by The Health Resource Network (HRN), to inform people about the dangers of stress, successful coping strategies and misconceptions about stress prevalent in our society.

What is stress?

Stress is a fact of nature. With the overabundance of stress in our lives, stress is thought to be a negative, but biologically, stress can be a neutral, negative or positive experience. Is stress a non-specific response of the body to a demand placed on it? Or, are we having problems or conflicts--emotional, physical, financial, etc., that are painful or troubling.

Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When stressed, the body responds as if it were in danger, making hormones that speed up the heart, make you breathe faster and provides a burst of energy, in other words the “fight-or-flight” stress response.

Stress can be an external or internal factor. External factors include: the environment, your job, relationships, situations at home, challenges, difficulties and daily situations you are confronted with.

Internal factors include: the body's ability to respond to or deal with external stress factors. Internal factors include: nutritional, health and fitness levels, emotional well-being and the amount of sleep you get.

Research indicates that stress plays a role in many cardiovascular disorders. It also contributes to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other cardiac risk factors (e.g. smoking, overweight, etc.).

Are you showing the signs of stress?
Excess stress can manifest into emotional, behavioral, and even physical symptoms. Common physical symptoms are:

• sleep disturbances
• muscle tension
• headache
• gastrointestinal disturbances
• fatigue
• nervousness
• anxiety
• changes in eating habits
• loss of energy
• mood changes

Common symptoms of stress which effect the body:

• Rapid heartbeat
• Headache
• Stiff neck, tightness in shoulders
• Back pain
• Rapid breathing
• Sweating
• Nausea or diarrhea

Over time, stress can affect your immune system. Constant stress makes you more prone to get sick more often. With chronic illnesses such as AIDS, added stress makes symptoms worse. Stress is also linked to high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeats, blood clots and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). It's also linked to coronary artery disease, heart attack and heart failure.

The top stressors for Americans: money (81%), the economy (80%), work (67%), and health problems affecting the family (67%), according to surveys by the American Psychological Association (APA).

You can learn to manage and control stress by:

• Finding out what is causing the stress in your life.
• Reducing the amount of stress in your life.
• Learning healthy ways to relieve stress and it's harmful effects.

Simple stress relaxation techniques:

• Meditation
• Deep breathing exercises
• Self message
• Take a personal time out
• Music


For more information, the following helpful websites:
Interactive stress measurement tool

The effects of stress on the body

Stress and Cardiovascular Disease

What exactly is Stress?

Stress and the Economy

Submitted by d'Lisa Davies
Los Angeles Fire Department