Stress is a natural part of life. Stress can be hard to define because it means different things to different people; however, it is clear that most stress is a negative feeling rather than a positive feeling.
- 75 – 90 % of visits to physicians are stress related
- Job stress is a major health factor costing business an estimated 150 billion dollars annually
- Stress related disorders are a major cause of rapidly increasing health care costs
Symptoms may include:
- Minor problems and disappointments upset you excessively
- Small pleasures of life fail to satisfy you
- Inability to stop thinking about your worries
- Feel inadequate or suffer from self-doubt
- Experience flashes of anger over a minor problem
- Notice a change in sleep routine
- Suffer from chronic pain, headache, or back aches
Causes may include:
- A major life decision (ie. Career change, buying a big ticket item (house, car, etc.)
- Sitting in traffic, a normal drive of 30 minutes takes 2 to 3 times that long
- Chronic Illness or pain
- Relationship discord
- Family demands on you and your time
- Finances
- A heavy work load, deadlines
- Insomnia
- High blood pressure