Stress - Do you suffer from stress?

Stress - Do you suffer from stress? Do you know what causes it?

Stress- Definition

'Mental or physical tension that results from physical, emotional, or chemical causes.'

Stress is the condition that results from life and/or work pressures. It's all too easy for some people to say that they suffer from stress but what most actually mean is that they feel inappropriate amounts of pressure at certain times. Stress can come on slowly or suddenly and presents usually as a combination of symptoms.

Symptoms of Stress

Stress normally manifests itself as a range of quite distinct symptoms such as insomnia, headaches or migraine, muscle aches, mood swings, digestive problems, anxiety, morbid thoughts, panic attacks or depressive thoughts for example.

It is common for stress sufferers to experience panic attacks, anxiety and phobias. Having developed these conditions, the stress sufferer can experience a wide range of both physical and psychological thoughts and sensations, often misdiagnosed by medical practitioners in isolation.

Many stress sufferers experience a small group of symptoms which can be misdiagnosed by doctors who, regrettably, do not take a look at the larger picture surrounding the development of the stress symptoms by the sufferer. In isolation, these stress symptoms are often mistreated by practitioners.

Addressed quickly, stress symptoms, anxiety and panic attacks can be eradicated quickly and permanently given the correct treatment methodology.

Types of Stress

Stress can be caused by a wide range of stressors or catalysts. Stress often occurs during periods of work pressure, after bereavement, divorce, moving house or other stress inducing life situations.

Some stressors are easier to eliminate than others. Work practice stress can be eliminated by adjusting your work practice but life issues such as abuse, divorce or other personal problems can give rise to situations which are not so simple to overcome.

Stress and Anxiety

The Link between stress and anxiety is strong; in fact the majority of stress sufferers who visit their doctor are diagnosed with anxiety. Stress and anxiety account for more days off work than any other condition.

Causes of Stress

Stress is caused by perception, not fact. If you perceive your task at hand or situation as threatening or overwhelming, your reaction to it will also be negative.

If the stressful situation is perceived as a welcome challenge or something for which you are prepared, the pressure of the task at hand will not manifest itself negatively and you will not develop any of the symptoms of stress. This explains why some people thrive on stress and others suffer at its mercy.

Stress Treatment / Cures

Drugs / Medication

There are no medicinal cures for stress. Stress, as mentioned earlier, is caused by an inappropriate perception of the task at hand; no drug exists which can alleviate the problem. Once stress conditions are formed, some doctors will try to remove them using drugs, but this is untargeted and inappropriate treatment.

Stress conditions can only be successfully treated using behavioral techniques, administered by professional, qualified and experienced support specialists.

 

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy can assist in undermining stress related conditions, but is sporadic, inaccessible and takes a lot of valuable time to administer. Psychotherapy is used mostly to identify and discuss the source of mental illnesses. Stress is not a mental illness.

 

Alternative Therapies

Alternative therapies can offer stress sufferers some respite during their condition, but are far from curative. Coupled with other mechanisms, alternative therapies can be very useful, especially when used alongside massage, yoga or meditation for example.

 

Panic Attack Treatment or Cures

Panic Attack Medication / Drugs

There is no medication which can address the root cause of a panic disorder in order to eliminate it successfully. Some medication can alleviate some of the symptoms, however, this affect is superficial and temporary, not a curative panic attack treatment.

All drugs can do is sedate the mind in order to temporarily suppress some anxiety symptoms, they do not ever represent a curative solution.

Drug therapy can help to 'knock the edge off' the acute anxiety or panic attacks experienced but if you rely solely on these drugs to cure your panic disorder or to remove the underlying anxiety, you are making a big mistake.

As a panic attack treatment, drug therapy can not now, or ever reach the area of the brain responsible for the formation of panic attacks and successfully identify which neural pathways to 'prune' in order to prevent panic attacks... it's just not possible.

How are panic attack symptoms caused ?

Panic attack symptoms are caused by a number of biological changes that occur during times of stress and anxiety.

The human body is very resilient, even in times of anxiety we are strong, although we may not feel it. Some people might be scared that their heart will stop, or give up, through the constant racing, thumping or chest pain, this is simply not true; again these are very common symptoms of panic attacks.

No one has ever come to any harm as a result of anxiety or panic attacks!

Consider how hard athletes have to work in order to give their hearts the kind of workout your heart receives through anxiety; athletes hearts do not give up, do they?

The heart is a muscle, raising the heart rate exercises it, making it fitter. You wouldn't worry if your heart raced after running for the bus, so why worry about it when it happens during anxiety. Panic attacks symptoms are harmless.

Physical tiredness

The downside of these panic attack symptoms is that your body will feel tired and shaky after they subside. You may feel as if you have run a marathon. Feeling tired or achy is a necessary side effect, if you are aware that it may happen, when it does, you will know what it is and it won't scare you as much!

Most anxious people complain of aching muscles and general fatigue, these are very common symptoms of panic attacks and anxiety. Muscle tension can cause pain or sensations of tightness anywhere in the body; most common in anxiety are pains in the chest, neck and shoulders. Tension in these places can be distressing; the tension in your chest may cause shortness of breath or rib pain, and it may make your chest or breasts tender or numb.

What are the most common panic attack symptoms?

Panic Attack Symptoms Explained - Please read and understand fully 

First of all, the word 'symptom' is used by doctors to describe the effects of illness... ANXIETY IS NOT AN ILLNESS... it's a behavioral condition. However, anxiety does 

produce some pretty scary SENSATIONS.

Yes, I said SENSATIONS because all of the feelings and thoughts you experience 

are just that! They are the physical manifestations of high anxiety

and NOTHING MORE!

STOP - THIS IS IMPORTANT

True FEAR can only be present when there is something PRESENT to be scared of.

If you have panic attack symptoms when there is nothing present to be scared of... you are experiencing INAPPROPRIATE ANXIETY... the sensations of FEAR, BUT, NOT true fear!

Even any weird or anxious thoughts you experience are ALL the product of the anxiety response which creates 'what if' thoughts... thoughts designed to make you make sensible decisions quickly when REAL fear is present.

But when no REAL fear is present, the thoughts work on presenting you with 'worst case scenarios' and some can be pretty weird and disturbing; these might include aggressive thoughts or sexual thoughts... thoughts about things you KNOW you'd never actually carry out. Disturbing but harmless thoughts and a recognized and common panic attacks symptom.

Panic Attacks

What are the causes of panic attacks and how can they be eliminated completely ?

Panic attacks or anxiety attacks, are the result of reaching a level of inappropriate anxiety at which Adrenalin, the hormone responsible for the anxiety reaction, is not used up by either fighting or fleeing.

When too much adrenalin is present and your body hasn't 'used it up' appropriately, the subconscious mind activates a 'panic attack'. This panic attacks 'mops up' all the excess adrenalin.

Panic attacks sufferers often visit their physician to be told they have 'stress' or 'depression' and then receive prescriptions for antidepressants or sedative which have next to zero therapeutic affect – how wrong is that?

Panic attacks (anxiety attacks) can happen just once, or can become regular when, what is known as, a panic disorder develops.

Panic attacks can cause a disturbing group of symptoms which cause the sufferer to fear the next attack and UNFORTUNATELY, it is this fear of having another attack that causes another to happen.

Panic Attacks & Panic Disorder - The truth

Panic attacks (anxiety attacks) sufferers can be subjected to a large group of both physical and psychological symptoms during high anxiety and panic attacks.

Sufferers may also experience what are called 'limited symptom panic attacks' during which, maybe as few as three or four symptoms are experienced.

Most panic attacks produce, what seem like, overwhelming symptoms and thoughts that make the sufferer believe that they are ill, about to pass out or even die!