{"id":133,"date":"2019-02-27T03:35:47","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hannonchiropractic.com\/blog\/?p=133"},"modified":"2019-02-27T03:35:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:35:48","slug":"stress-and-what-to-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hannonchiropractic.com\/blog\/stress-and-what-to-do-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress and what to do about it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Much like other topics, stress is a very large topic and this blog can barely scratch the surface.\u00a0 If you have further interests, seek a healthcare professional and know that there are people out there willing to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is stress?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were to look up stress in dictionaries, encyclopedias, or the internet, it is likely you will find multiple definitions.\u00a0 My favorite definition comes from the American Chiropractic Association: \u201cStress is a physical and mental response to the difference between our expectations and our personal experience\u201d (ACA News July 2009 pg 22).\u00a0 When we encounter a stressful situation, our body will respond by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system; or \u201cfight or flight response\u201d.\u00a0 The body then goes through a few changes in preparation for this \u201cfight or flight\u201d.\u00a0 Our body releases hormones (mainly cortisol) and other chemical stimulators, accelerating your heart rate, increasing blood pressure, increasing breathing, decreasing digestion, dilating your pupils, weakening your immune system, and the list goes on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the signs\nand symptoms of stress?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effects of stress can be generally broken down to three\nbroad categories: physical symptoms, mental symptoms, and behavior\nsymptoms.  Stress often presents itself\nas neck pain and stiffness, muscle tension, headaches, stroke like symptoms,\nheart palpitations, heart attack like symptoms, bell\u2019s palsy, shingles,\ndigestive issues, feeling cranky, worrying, being jumpy, feeling tired,\nfrustration, loosing your temper, feeling overwhelmed, grinding your teeth, etc.  Stress can lead to over eating, increased\nblood sugar, isolationism, lack of exercises, depression, insomnia, fatigue,\nanxiety, etc. Studies have shown that people who are under chronic stress are\nmore likely to have elevated levels of inflammation, which in turn increases\nyour risk for other diseases and slower healing times.  Studies have also shown that stressed people\nare 54% more likely to have heart attacks and strokes, and chronic stress can also\ndouble the chances of men developing diabetes. \nIt has been estimated that 80% of all disease has some stress factors\ninvolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some common\nstressors?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polls have shown insecurity to be ranked one of the top stressors.\u00a0 You may be thinking insecurity? What about money? Or loosing a job?\u00a0 The stress behind a lot of issues is the insecurity.\u00a0 Insecure thoughts about money, job security, joint bank accounts or sharing money and the different views on money within relationships.\u00a0 Hair loss is ranked high behind money which in turn creates a negative self image and sense of unattractiveness or aging.\u00a0 Another big reported stressor is dealing with others, relationship issues, peer pressure, crime, violence, mean and inconsiderate people, road rage, etc. Every day driving around town can be stressful for some.\u00a0 Even otherwise happy events such as weddings, a new job or promotion, or a vacation can be stressful.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do about\nstress?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First off realize it is impossible to avoid stress.\u00a0 Stress is something that is going to happen everyday of your life, so you need to learn to work through these situations.\u00a0 A key to working through a stressful situation is to identify the stressor and break it down into one of these categories: not my problem, my problem and urgent, or my problem and not urgent.\u00a0 This simply will help you prioritize your problems, and eliminate things that others may want to make into your problem.\u00a0 Another key to living and dealing with stress is having a positive attitude.\u00a0 A positive attitude, or optimist, type person will have that sunny outlook about the future and typically cope with life\u2019s stresses better than those who are pessimistic; researchers believe this may be due to the strong social network that optimists will have and how this helps them deal with stress.\u00a0 Optimistic people typically report that they know people who will help them get through these situations; simply put they have hope.\u00a0 Another very important aspect to dealing with stress is being pro active, or having good habits, in your ways to reduce stress.\u00a0 Here is a short list of ideas to be pro active:<\/p>\n\n\n\n