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Effects of Stress
- Subjective effects
- Anxiety, aggression, apathy, boredom, depression, fatigue, frustration, guilt, shame,
irritability, bad temper, moodiness, low self esteem, threat and tension, nervousness, loneliness.
- Behavioural effects
- Accident proneness, drug taking, emotional outburst, excessive eating, loss of appetite, excessive
drinking, smoking, excitability, impulsive behaviour, impaired speech, nervous laughter, restlessness,
trembling.
- Cognitive effects
- Inability to make decisions and concentrate, frequent forgetfulness, hypersensitivity to
criticism, mental blocks.
- Physiological effects
- Increased blood and urine catecholamines and costicosteroids, increased blood glucose levels,
increased heart rate and blood pressure, dryness of mouth, sweating, dilation of pupils, difficulty
breathing, hot and cold spells, numbness, tingling.
- Health effects
- Asthma, secondary amenorrhoea, chest and back pains, Chronic Heart Disease (CHD) diarrhoea,
faintness and dizziness, dyspepsia, frequent urination, headaches & migraine, neuroses, nightmares, insomnia,
psychoses, psychosomatic disorder, diabetes mellitus, skin rash, ulcers, loss of sexual drive.
- Organisation effects
- Absenteeism, poor industrial relations, poor productivity, high accident & employee turnover rates, poor
organisational climate, antagonism at work, job dissatisfaction.
Some 80% of people visiting a GP suffer from stress or from a stress-related illness or condition.
The cost to the UK economy in working days lost through stress and stress-related problems is enormous
and runs into billions each year. It affects industry, commerce, universities, schools and councils.
Bear in mind that stress management and hypnotherapy can and will help !
As a "first aid" measure to help you with stress try the following tips:
Write down all the demands made on you at work and/or at home.
Make an objective list of your resources.
Then assess where, when and why demands have exceeded your resources.
At this stage it is time to make some decisions such as:
Stop suffering quietly, open up and talk to a good friend, a partner, a colleague or to the boss.
Learn to say "No" when too many unreasonable demands are made on you.
Many tasks can be shared and/or delegated.
At work, ask for more training if you feel it will help.
Learn to prioritize tasks and manage your time.
Learn to relax and make time for yourself.
Learn not to rely on smoking, alcohol, drugs and excessive food to "cope" with stress.
The long term
effects will compound your stress not lighten it and will affect your physical and mental health.
Learn to manage your finances.
Learn to like who you are. You might not be perfect (Who is ?), you might have made mistakes (Who has not ?)
but remember that everyone of us is unique, valuable and important in his/her own right !
Finally focus on the present moment; the past is gone and its usefulness can only be on what it
has taught us while the long term future is an unknown quantity.
Short Term Stress Symptoms
ON EDGE, FLARED NOSTRILS, PALE FACE, WIDE EYES, HAIR ON END, DRY MOUTH, FASTER HEARTBEAT, FASTER BREATHING,
BUTTERFLIES, TENSE MUSCLES, FREQUENT URINATION, ADRENAL GLAND SECRETION, MORE SENSITIVE TO TOUCH,
SWEATY HANDS, LESS SENSITIVE TO PAIN, FEELING COLD.
Long Term Stress Illnesses
HAIR LOSS, HEADACHE/MIGRAINE, STROKES, IMPAIRED IMMUNE RESPONSE, NERVES, SLEEPING BADLY, NECK ACHE,
APPETITE LOSS, SHOULDER ACHE, ASTHMA, SKIN CONDITIONS, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, INDIGESTION, ULCERS, HEART DISEASE,
LOWER BACK ACHE, IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME, RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS, IMPOTENCE/MENSTRUAL DISORDERS,
LEG ACHES, POOR CIRCULATION.
Source: Peter Goodwin. (ASM)
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