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Physical Signs Of StressFor most people, it is not until the physical signs of stress begin to intrude on your life does it become important to take a look at the stress in your life.Ouch! Why do I hurt so much? Why am I so tired? Why am I sick so often? Those are common questions that will be asked when the toll of stress begins to manifest in the body. How does stress take its toll?The stress response is the “fight or flight” response.For most in our culture, stress is so commonplace that it becomes incredibly easy to overlook the physical signs of stress as it takes its toll on your body. The stress response is an automatic alert system that is part of our brain and its main function is to help us survive. The stress response is a response, or a reaction to a stressor. It takes the body out-of-balance as it responds to the stressor.
The stress response is the body’s way of adapting to something that has happened...a way to adapt to life’s stressors. The irony is that stress is a very normal part of life. The body is supposed to react, respond, and then relax, or come back into balance. Stress becomes problematic when the body continually responds to stressors without much of a break, or a chance to rest. That is when normal stress becomes chronic stress, and when, physically, its impact becomes pronounced. Reactions to stress within the bodyWhen acute stress becomes chronic, is when these realities begin to impact your body:UP with pulse rate UP with blood pressure UP with the number of respirations UP with fatigue UP with muscle tension DOWN with oxygen intake DOWN with release of toxins DOWN with health functioning What’s fair and not fair about stressOne thing that has never seemed quite fair about chronic stress is that it can take years before the body begins to wear out from stress. What a bittersweet reality.If you were to visualize yourself standing with your feet shoulder width apart with your arms outstretched to the sides of your body. This is an image of balance, or when you are not stressed.
Now visualize only standing on one leg while your arms are outstretched to the sides of your body. Over time, you would begin to feel how difficult it is to maintain your balance and you would start to wobble or fall over. This is similar to what happens to the body when we are constantly stressed out, and don’t give your body enough opportunities to rest throughout the day. It is at that point, where stress begins to take a toll on you physically. What should you be watching out for?Here are some physical symptoms that you should be on the lookout for if you are concerned about the toll stress is taking on your body:
The body is an amazing machineOver the years, I have continually been amazed at the amazing ability of the body to heal itself when given more opportunities to be in balance throughout each day.For as long as it can take for the body to wear down, it can rebound very quickly. Even with that, bringing healing to the body is an individual journey, and one that always has its own timing. For each person, the more stress relaxation techniques you can do each day to bring more balance to your body, the less you may notice the physical signs of stress in your life. Share Your Tips, and Ask Questions Too
Living with chronic stress can be very very challenging. If you would like to share tips fo how you are coping with chronic stress, please share them here. What Other Visitors Have SaidClick below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
Cumulative stress coping tips
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How to break through chronic stress?
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How to get rid of chronic stress?
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Any suggestion for chronic stress?
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chronic stress for months
Not rated yet For more information, please see: Return From Physical Signs Of Stress To Chronic Stress Return From Physical Signs Of Stress To Coping With Stress Home Pay it forward!There a lot of people who have become overwhelmed by stress and how to get rid of it. I can understand this feeling. But it does not mean that good information is NOT out there. It is.Please help a friend or loved one by sharing this information with them. Email this link to them or submit this page to your Tweet account, or Facebook or your favorite social bookmarking or networking site. Use the links below to pay it forward. |
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Control My Stress
stress management tools!
Abbie K. – Minneapolis
K., age 45, is a long term chronically PTSD disabled patient. She has had daily headaches for 20 years. Two weeks ago she reported that she had had 4 days of pain free time, and was having the exceedingly odd sensation of "smiling all the time". She and Cathi have made extraordinary fast progress together.
Dr. Cole
I referred C.L., age mid-forties, to see Cathi after a life of suffering the post traumatic stress disorder of parental sexual abuse over many years of her childhood, with major dysfunctions of alcohol and drug abuse, and with the disabling symptoms of migraine that have for more than twenty years become chronic.
She has lived with daily headaches that have not responded to any of the several drugs which have benefited many such suffering patients. She has needed chronic opiate treatment of her chronic pain syndrome.
In the few weeks that Cathi has worked with her, C.L. has begun to experience days without pain, periods of happiness, and a reduction in her opiate dosage requirements that represent a breakthrough in her stalled-out life as a single mom raising a teen-age daughter with only social security income resources.
Dr. Racer
“I first met Cathi Churchill eight years ago when she effectively helped my work unit through the stress of a hospital-wide layoff. I was impressed with her clear-minded approach and willingness to listen.”
Andy R.
N., age 60, is a hard driving attorney twenty year patient of mine who hit the wall with chronic fatigue four years ago, and began to realize she had to learn to rest. She recovered enough to return to her workaholic lifestyle when she was stopped by a herniated cervical disc and resumption of her chronic colitis.
Working with Cathi, she is discovering "the way she does life" and learning to make choices about it. She came in last week, having "danced until dawn". She is learning to dialogue with her body in effective ways.
Dr. Cole
“I stumbled upon Cathi after my recent heart attack that was brought on by stress. I was scared of having another one, and didn’t know what to do. I had lost hope. Working with her has changed my life. I’m so grateful."
Debbie – Canada
M.S., a woman in her late forties with progressively more and more disabling rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, whose most recent problems have arisen over the last two to three years as complications of immunosuppressive therapy for her disease. The complications have been associated with the severely disabling chronic pain of recurrent herpes neuralgia for more than three years, and for the past 15 months, recurrent osteomyelitis in her right lower mandible.
The second, more alarming (even life-threatening) problem has caused months of diagnostic and therapy confusion among her many consultants, three successive resections of the bone over the last six to eight months, and the still ongoing threat of more relapses of the smoldering bone infection and chronic pain only made bearable by chronic, massive doses of opiates.
In the few months since M. began to work with Cathi with several modalities: stress management, therapeutic touch, guided imaging, and others, her life has become more livable, as she has become able to bear the pain and the discouragement of unresolved disease.
She has relied on many of the methods for maintaining hope and getting through overwhelming discouragement by using the inner resources she has learned with Cathi.
My hope as her primary physician, is that Cathi and M. will be able to continue to work together to maintain that inner strength and hope as she faces yet more months of pain, and further repeated surgery.
Thank you for the healing guidance you've been able to give her thus far.
Dr. Racer
“I sought out the help of Cathi during my divorce, and found her to be an insightful and compassionate coach. Her ability to see deep into the heart of an emotionally stressful problem is, I believe, unique and I would highly recommend her service to anyone.”
P.R. – Brooklyn Center
S., age 48, is a Laotian patient of mine with 15 years of chronic abdominal pain. She has had an extensive medical worked up, and nothing ever worked. Cathi saw her over several months.
S. has improved! Cathi established a trusting relationship with her, and helped her to effectively break through her wall of silence and grief about her son's mental illness, and taught her how to "change her thinking".
S. now comes in smiling, notes some unusual continued symptoms, but no longer has chronic abdominal disabling pain.
Dr. Cole
“Control My Stress is so amazing. I want to thank you, again, for such a valuable resource.”
Tony.
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Control My Stress
stress management tools!
Testimonials
“Ms. Churchill is the unique health care worker everyone hopes to encounter, but rarely does. She has an extraordinary gift that allows her to do much more than diagnose and treat.”Abbie K. – Minneapolis
K., age 45, is a long term chronically PTSD disabled patient. She has had daily headaches for 20 years. Two weeks ago she reported that she had had 4 days of pain free time, and was having the exceedingly odd sensation of "smiling all the time". She and Cathi have made extraordinary fast progress together.
Dr. Cole
I referred C.L., age mid-forties, to see Cathi after a life of suffering the post traumatic stress disorder of parental sexual abuse over many years of her childhood, with major dysfunctions of alcohol and drug abuse, and with the disabling symptoms of migraine that have for more than twenty years become chronic.
She has lived with daily headaches that have not responded to any of the several drugs which have benefited many such suffering patients. She has needed chronic opiate treatment of her chronic pain syndrome.
In the few weeks that Cathi has worked with her, C.L. has begun to experience days without pain, periods of happiness, and a reduction in her opiate dosage requirements that represent a breakthrough in her stalled-out life as a single mom raising a teen-age daughter with only social security income resources.
Dr. Racer
“I first met Cathi Churchill eight years ago when she effectively helped my work unit through the stress of a hospital-wide layoff. I was impressed with her clear-minded approach and willingness to listen.”
Andy R.
N., age 60, is a hard driving attorney twenty year patient of mine who hit the wall with chronic fatigue four years ago, and began to realize she had to learn to rest. She recovered enough to return to her workaholic lifestyle when she was stopped by a herniated cervical disc and resumption of her chronic colitis.
Working with Cathi, she is discovering "the way she does life" and learning to make choices about it. She came in last week, having "danced until dawn". She is learning to dialogue with her body in effective ways.
Dr. Cole
“I stumbled upon Cathi after my recent heart attack that was brought on by stress. I was scared of having another one, and didn’t know what to do. I had lost hope. Working with her has changed my life. I’m so grateful."
Debbie – Canada
M.S., a woman in her late forties with progressively more and more disabling rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, whose most recent problems have arisen over the last two to three years as complications of immunosuppressive therapy for her disease. The complications have been associated with the severely disabling chronic pain of recurrent herpes neuralgia for more than three years, and for the past 15 months, recurrent osteomyelitis in her right lower mandible.
The second, more alarming (even life-threatening) problem has caused months of diagnostic and therapy confusion among her many consultants, three successive resections of the bone over the last six to eight months, and the still ongoing threat of more relapses of the smoldering bone infection and chronic pain only made bearable by chronic, massive doses of opiates.
In the few months since M. began to work with Cathi with several modalities: stress management, therapeutic touch, guided imaging, and others, her life has become more livable, as she has become able to bear the pain and the discouragement of unresolved disease.
She has relied on many of the methods for maintaining hope and getting through overwhelming discouragement by using the inner resources she has learned with Cathi.
My hope as her primary physician, is that Cathi and M. will be able to continue to work together to maintain that inner strength and hope as she faces yet more months of pain, and further repeated surgery.
Thank you for the healing guidance you've been able to give her thus far.
Dr. Racer
“I sought out the help of Cathi during my divorce, and found her to be an insightful and compassionate coach. Her ability to see deep into the heart of an emotionally stressful problem is, I believe, unique and I would highly recommend her service to anyone.”
P.R. – Brooklyn Center
S., age 48, is a Laotian patient of mine with 15 years of chronic abdominal pain. She has had an extensive medical worked up, and nothing ever worked. Cathi saw her over several months.
S. has improved! Cathi established a trusting relationship with her, and helped her to effectively break through her wall of silence and grief about her son's mental illness, and taught her how to "change her thinking".
S. now comes in smiling, notes some unusual continued symptoms, but no longer has chronic abdominal disabling pain.
Dr. Cole
“Control My Stress is so amazing. I want to thank you, again, for such a valuable resource.”
Tony.