Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Stress and your health
Talking about Stress!
- Stress is a combination of pressure fear and frustration that occurs when the demands in you life exceed your ability to cope with them.
Stress affects our health in the following ways:
- Hostility, depression and anxiety are related to increase risk coronary artery disease and cardiovascular death.
- A sense of hopelessness is strongly correlated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
- Time urgency and impatience although not consistently related to the risk of coronary artery disease, they do increase the risk of developing hypertension and digestive problems.
The good news is this is a highly modifiable risk—meaning you can change it! It is not easy, nor is it instant (patience!) but you can do the some of these things to minimize stress in your life:
- Have a sense of humor
- Be optimistic
- Have or create a good social support network, (friends and family)
- Exercise regularly
- Practice altruism
- Have faith
- Own a pet
You can also do stress reduction training, such as Yoga, Tai chi, relaxation breathing, meditation, massage, hypnosis, biofeedback and positive thinking.
