Stress Is The Top Health Problem In Many Western Countries Today
Author: Donald Saunders
Category: Self Improvement
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Stress has been in the news as a health epidemic since the early eighties and this situation is continuing to get worse as a growing number of workers say that they are increasingly suffering stress at work. Indeed the workplace now constitutes the leading environment for the development of stress among adult Americans. But stress levels have also been rising for children and teenagers in the past few years and a lot of people believe that this is linked to a loss of religious and family values, too little social support and corporate greed.
Stress these days is much more of a danger than it was a decade ago and looks to be more prevalent and more insidious than before with much more stress arising out of psychological rather than physical threats.
Stress produces a raised heart rate and greater flow of blood in turn producing higher blood pressure. Levels of blood sugar also rise to give the body the added fuel that it requires to combat stress and the body is programmed to push blood away from the stomach when we are stressed in order to provide additional strength for our legs and arms as part of what is normally referred to as our "fight or flight" response.
Stress contributes to chronic depression and anxiety as well as to gastrointestinal and skin problems and interferes with the work of a number of our main organs. It can also cause impairment of the immune system that in unable to fight viral conditions from the common and not especially serious cold to very serious conditions like AIDS and cancer.
Work related stress directly influences such things as productivity and employee absenteeism and the business climate gets progressively worse with competition today at an all-time high. The pressure which is placed upon workers to produce and the continual concern about job security can result in several conditions including back pain, neck pain, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, ulcers and heart attacks.
Lots of things can lead to stress including just sitting in front of a computer screen for seven hours a day or more, meeting deadlines or having someone constantly checking up on you. In these situations the results are frequently seen as depression and a number of physical ailments which result in lost working hours.
Taking the steps needed to manage the stress you have in your life could well be the nicest gift you can give yourself and your family and a few quite simple changes to your lifestyle can make a huge difference to how you handle stress. For example, taking a mere 20 minutes each day to walk will reduce your level of stress as will talking to friends, meditation and prayer and following a healthy diet. Take the time to learn a few relaxation techniques because breathing and relaxation exercises can go a long way towards reducing your level of stress.
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Keywords: stress, anxiety, stress relief, lowering stress, stress reduction, stress management
View Count: 487
Date Submitted: 1/22/2009
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