Of course, it was a long time before I actually sought out treatment. I was content to let it go, pretending it had never happened. I didn’t really know that the symptoms of anxiety attacks tend to recur. I thought that it was a one-time fluke incident, and that I would be able to forget it forever. Unfortunately, without treatment, I was bound to have another anxiety panic attack. This one happened when I was driving, and it almost killed me. The symptoms of anxiety attack include crippling terror, disorientation, and shaking – all dangerous things while you are on the road. Realizing how important it was to get some help, I finally went and saw a professional.

When I went into the psychiatrist’s office And described my symptoms, he knew exactly what I was facing. Any professional can spot the symptoms of an anxiety attack. The question is, how to treat it. I was fortunate, because I found a doctor who was willing to combine different anxiety treatments. He prescribed antianxiety medications, therapy, and participation in an anxiety support group. The Xanax that he prescribed was good for taking the edge off the anxiety while I was undergoing the early stages of treatment. The support group made me feel like I had a community of people to talk to. It took awhile, but soon the attacks abated.

The last time I had the symptoms of anxiety attack was about six years ago. I can’t say that I’m completely free of anxiety, but I have got it down to a manageable level through continual treatment. Treating anxiety disorders is a long and involved process, but fortunately it tends to stick. Once you learn how to cope with stress and anxiety, you don’t forget it.

Being under stress is fast becoming a way of life for most everyone. So much so, that the term, ’stressed out’ is part of our vernacular. No doubt, there’s plenty of reasons to be stressed out. The question then becomes how to deal with stress. It’s first necessary to identify the type and sources of stress that plague you. You also need to assess the frequency and severity of stress you regularly experience, as well as your personality type.

Let’s say you’re always worrying about your finances, put more on your daily plate than you can possibly manage, or are just the nervous type who finds potential disaster around every corner. Any of these situations creates stress and does take its toll on your health and general level of happiness in life. Dealing with stress  becomes manageable when you apply a methodology and a few techniques.

While one personality may be so laid back that it takes an earthquake to elicit a stressful response, another may be so sensitive to stress factors that all it takes is a broken hair dryer or searching for their car keys to get them in a tizzy – stressed out. The mellow personality seldom experiences stress to the degree that their life is seriously affected. The sensitive, nervous types are usually feeling stressed out on a regular basis. While it’s entirely possible to be too laid back, if you’re constantly stressed out, you might want to take a page from the guy or gal you have to wake up when there’s an earthquake. Effective methods of dealing with stress require that you learn to put events and situations in the proper perspective. So, how do you do this?

One technique of dealing with stress, that is both instructive and effective, is to keep a ’stress diary’. A small, pocket sized notebook is sufficient. Every time you feel that adrenalin getting out of hand, jot down a note. Are you late for work? Did you just receive an overdue bill notice? Have a fight with your sweetie? Keep track of each incident for at least a couple of weeks. You’ll soon see the pattern of events which trigger your stress. Perhaps you’ll find that being late is prominent. Maybe interactions at work get you going, or you’re a chronic worrier.

Whatever the case may be, go through your notebook and assess which triggers are due simply to how you prioritize your daily tasks. For example, if you always get up at the last minute and are thus frequently late for work, there’s a simple remedy. Either get up earlier, or make preparations the night before, such as laying out clothes or making lunch, that gets you out the door on time. The person who spends half an hour a day finding their keys needs to put them in a designated spot, every day. Your ’stress diary’ can be quite revealing on points like this. We often create our own stress purely out of habit. Dealing with stresses of this type  are easily remedied.

If you find that your stress is mainly due to worrying about finances, it’s time to make a strict budget. If your obligations exceed your income, a debt consolidation service might be an answer to your major stresses. If you’re fighting with your sweetie every other day, consider counseling, get a self help book on relationships or effective communication. Dealing with stress requires that you be proactive in identifying major sources of stress and then brainstorm possible solutions.

You’ll be amazed at how fruitful your ’stress diary’ proves and how much stress can be eliminated in a hurry.

Your efforts in dealing with stress can be greatly enhanced by making time to chill out, doing something you enjoy. Rigorous physical exercise burns off energy and stress. Take a break. Don’t drive yourself too hard. Use imaging techniques – daydream on that island paradise, with you in the beach chair with an ice cold drink. Take a yoga class. Meditate. Dealing with stress means you need to learn how to relax. Do whatever it takes to master relaxation. That’s the key.

The symptoms of severe anxiety disorder can be and probably are going to be different for each person. However, there are some symptoms that most have. One of the biggest would be panic attacks. These are something that can come on at any time. Though those with severe anxiety disorder sometimes know things that are going to trigger a panic attack, there are times when people have no idea when one is going to come or what would be a common trigger for which they should be aware. It can be hard to deal with these.

Panic attacks in those with generalized anxiety are common, but are not as severe and numerous as with those that have severe anxiety disorder. Some confuse those two conditions, but one is worse than the other, as you may be able to tell from the names. The symptoms are the same, but they are going to come harder, faster, and more often for those with severe anxiety disorder. It is also going to be more obvious to loved ones when the disorder of anxiety is practically or totally depilating to the sufferer.

Those with severe anxiety disorder can spend a lot of time going through an array of different physical symptoms when faced with many of their phobias. These anxieties are almost always the result of some type of phobia that has developed. It could be a fear heights, elevators, driving, snakes, dying, leaving the house, social situations, and some that are a bit more off the wall. These physical symptoms usually tell someone that a panic attack is coming, and there is often nothing they can do about it. In fact, the thought of having a panic attack can bring on one. You can understand why this condition is so hard to manage every single day.

If you wonder if you have severe anxiety disorder, you should think about your day and some of the symptoms that you are experiencing. If you find that you have trouble breathing, a racing heartbeat, you hyperventilate, you avoid people and certain situations, and you startle very easy by things that others don’t seem to mind, you may have something going on that you want to have taken care of. There are great professionals out there, and also some reading materials that can help you understand what severe anxiety disorder is all about and what can be done to treat it.

Unfortunately, all of this can bring a sense of dread to many people. Here are some suggestions on how to give you a little Christmas stress relief.

Stop all of the Comparisons

Many people try their hardest to recreate the holidays using movies, books or childhood memories as blueprints. This is the biggest cause of Christmas stress. Relief is simple – stop trying to compete! You do not have to be perfect, in fact nobody is; just do the best you can with what you have, everyone around you will appreciate that more. Having a happy, comfortable time is more important than decorations, gifts or the perfect gift wrap pattern with perfect bows and bangles!

Never Give Pets as Presents

This will give a lot of Christmas stress relief to you and your animal companions. Christmas can be a loud, unpredictable and messy time. Part of the fun is that you do things you don’t do everyday and this lack of routine can frighten an animal. Also, picking a pet is like picking the person you wish to marry – do you really want someone else making that decision for you? If the puppy or kitten at Christmas doesn’t get along with the intended new owner, that animal will most likely have to be given to a shelter by Easter, then how are you going to feel? You nor the animals need the stress of sad memories and believe me there will be sad memories.

Change the Date

There is no law that says you and your family HAVE to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Day. If you have family members who work in retail stores, food service or in the airline industry, they will be too tired to celebrate at the end of a long busy shift. If you feel you and your family are too pressed for time, you can choose to have Christmas on another day. Seriously think about having it in January if the majority of family members have to work overtime during the Christmas break. Stress relief is worth breaking the rules of tradition.

Do you have to Shop at Stores?

If shopping is your biggest cause of Christmas stress, relief comes in the form of mail-order catalogs and online shopping, this is becoming more and more popular and reliable. Sometimes, for a small fee, you can even get the presents gift wrapped, you can even get a choice of wrapping paper. There is the slight chance that the package won’t arrive in time, but that chance is a lot smaller than fighting traffic, squeezing between irritated strangers to find the shop is out of stock. Some people love being given a wrapped catalog under the tree with a note attached saying “One item on me!”

When you realize that the holidays aren’t about how to celebrate them, but that you celebrate them at all, Christmas stress relief just comes natural. Merry Christmas stress relief, everyone! and a Happy New Year!

When you get to work, does it seem like you are overwhelmed? Not feeling confident about your abilities at work? Finding your work less rewarding? Is it taking longer to complete tasks or are tasks not being completed at all? Are you irritable with your fellow co-workers or your boss? If you answered yes to any of these then you may be suffering from workplace stress.

There are two kinds of stress in the workplace, good and bad. The good kind of stress comes from pressure of deadlines. If you enjoy your job, then often you will have the good kind of stress that energizes and motivates you – some people even feed off of this. The bad kind of stress is a destructive type that causes disability, staff turnover, low productivity and absenteeism. In our current economic times, more and more employers are seeing the bad kind of workplace stress within their employees.

Work, whether paid or voluntary contributes to our sense of community connection and it is a source of needed routine and structure. Even though work offers these needed benefits, it can also be a big source of anxietry for many people. Studies in the United Kingdom have shown that many people attribute their cause of their health problems to their job. During the last recession, almost 25% of workers stated that their bigges fear and cause of workplace stress was the loss of their job. Employees roles in the organization were a major factor in the amount of workplace stress they felt. Manager and professionals reported the highest amount of workplace stress compared to workers in other industries. The amount of workplace stress also differs between men and women.

Women are stressed about working long hours or having too many demands on them, while men were stressed about workplace injury.

Top Ten sources of workplace stress are as follows:

1. Too much to do in too little time, getting nothing accomplished
2. Too many interruptions
3. Uncertainty – not sure of their employment security
4. Mistrust. Vicious office politics disrupt positive behaviour
5. Random company directions and policies
6. Ambiguity. Things are happening without the employee knowing why
7. Inconsistent perferomance reviews. Employees get raises but no reviews or get positive evaluation, but laid off
8. Employee feeling unappreciated
9. Lack of communication in the management chain
10. Too much or too little to do. The feeling of not contributing and having a lack of control

Workplace stress is a harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities of the employee. Now more than ever, employers need to be on the look out for workplace stress and try to help employees cope with it. Those that make the effort to deal with it rather than ignore it will be rewarded with a better functioning company, which should in turn translate in a more profitable company. With the downturn in the economy, workplace stress can have a very negative effect on a companies bottom line.

A lot of the time people are far too busy to bother with natural stress and anxiety stress relief and try to find a quick fix in a bottle.  But stress and anxiety can greatly impair your health and your way of thinking, which in turn affects not only you but your family and anyone else who depends on you.  Being healthy can cost less in the long run and give you more energy to get done the things you want to do as well as the things you need to do.  Some investment in time and energy now to learn natural stress and anxiety relief methods can pay dividends in the long run.

Know When to Call the Doctor

Why pay a doctor’s bill and then be told something he or she didn’t already know.  So here is how you can tell if you need to go to see a doctor about your stress and anxiety levels:

Always call your physician if you are you having trouble eating and/or sleeping, if you feel overwhelmed or constantlt tired, if your worries are running  constantly through your mind that you can’t relax and if you think that if you stop worrying, it’s somehow wrong, that is the guilty feeling often associated with stress. Evaluate these symptoms honestly.  If you suffer from any or all of these symptoms, make an appointment with your health care professional today.  Follow his or her advice closely and try to squeeze in these natural stress and anxiety relief exercises as well, you will feel the benefit for sure.

More Oxygen, Please

Pay attention to yourself or ask someone you trust to tell you how you breathe under stress, are you normal in that respect.  If you pant or hyperventilate, or breathe a lot faster than usual, this cuts the oxygen supply in your body, and your body puts out distress signals for you to get more oxygen that might contribute to your anxiety, it certainly won’t help it anyways.  When you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath, slow down, calm down.  Take many deep breaths for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This minute or so of taking time out to breathe deeply will give your body a time-out and help calm panic.  It will also lower your heart rate and blood pressure during one of these stressful times.

Some people find it difficult to breathe deeply for natural stress and anxiety relief.  This is normal and nothing to worry about.  If you have this problem, keep a small dark glass bottle of essential oils nearby.  Sniffing the essential oil will make your body instinctively take deeper breaths.  Some recommended oils that encourage deep breathing are lavender, frankincense and tea tree.

Bergamot works for some, but not for others.  Scent is a very personal thing; take some time to sniff essential oils sold in a health, fitness, occult supply store or your local pharmacies.  Some large chain supermarkets carry essential oils in their organic departments these are also a good source of advice too.  They are made from natural plant and fruit extracts and oils, making them truly organic and natural solutions for stress and anxiety relief.

There is a very popular comedy program in the UK called Smack The Pony, recently they had a skit set in a masseur’s office. The masseur tried a new essential oil said to be the world’s most relaxing. She poured it on her client’s back and began to massage and the back turned into squishy putty!  This is obviously an exaggeration, but shows that massage for stress relief can effectively relax your body, mind and soul.

The Healing Touch

Skin on skin contact is one of the most ancient of cure-alls.  A kiss on a boo-boo, sleeping in your parent’s bed after a nightmare, or petting your dog can lower your blood pressure, make you breathe steadily and help your body’s natural healing powers.  Massage for stress relief is not just for feeling good, but for overall body health.  Rock star Peter Gabriel insists on having a full body massage by a female masseuse before he can face going out on stage.  Even if you have never attended his pre-show massages, you may have seen him command a stage for over two hours of intense physical and emotional performances.

Yeah, But Peter Gabriel Can Afford It I hear you say

You don’t have to get a professional full body massage every time you’re stressed out.  What do you instinctively do if you bump your elbow?  You hold it and rub it. Just with personal explorations of what strokes soothe your body and what strokes don’t; you can give a quick massage for stress relief to yourself or to that of a loved one it’s much easier to massage yourself with warm hands lubricated with warm oil or lotion to prevent chafing.

However, be careful not to massage cuts, wounds, broken limbs or burns as you may do more harm than good, trust me I know.  Massaging for stress relief is to relax muscles, stimulate circulation, and generally calm you down.  If you have constant back problems, trying a professional masseuse can help alleviate the pain, if your doctor approves that is.

There are many “Massage 101” books, periodicals and websites to help you learn some of the massage techniques and these have helped many others.  Your community college or YMCA might even offer free to low cost massage classes and seminars.  Massage for stress relief is something you have to practice in order to remember it and in order to become good or effective at it, but even the mistakes can feel good sometimes.

Massage for stress relief can be found in many forms. There are massage machines available, from a one-battery operated finger-shaped vibrator to huge chairs that massage your whole body with a series of vibrations and movement.  These machines are recommended for people in too much physical pain to exercise regularly or for the infirm and for people who are house bound.

Stress can affect your body, your thoughts & feelings and also your behaviour. Often the effects of stress mimic other health problems. Below are just a few examples of the symptoms of stress.
- Changes in sleep patterns
- Negative thinking
- Restlessness
- Loss of interest in something you used to enjoy
- irritability
- weight change or appetite change
- Loss if concentration
- Memory problems
- Moodiness
- Aches and pains
- Procrastination

Stress can affect us in many ways and the symptoms of stress are often overlooked. Stress not only affects our mind, it affects us physically as well. It can cause a whole raft of physical symptoms that can be difficult to diagnose as they mimic other problems. People have come to live with the fact that stress is a part of modern life and as such many ignore the symptoms of stress, or choose not to deal with the underlying problems that cause the stress symptoms.

The reason that so many symptoms of stress are difficult to detect is because stress affects the body in many different ways. Of course each one of us different so we all react to stress with very different symptoms as well. Some symptoms of stress are easier to detect as they are obvious, others are not detectable until the problem becomes more severe. Add to this that many symptoms of stress resemble other health problems and it can be very difficult to determine if your are suffering from symptoms of stress or just have a headache.

There are many symptoms of stress that are shared by us all, these include many common ailments such as headaches, more susceptablility to flu & colds, sleep problems, anxiety, frustration, lowered libido, poor decisions, twitching, fatigue, dizziness and a generally agitated state.

The symptoms of stress can actually lead to other health problems! One example is sleep problems, if one suffers from this long enough, it can lead to depression, or even high blood pressure. Stress can also increase pre-existing problems such as migraines, ulcers, asthma and colitis.

The symptoms of stress can be broken down into four categories:
- Physical Symptoms
- Mental Symptoms
- Emotional Symptoms
- Behavioural Symptoms

Physical Symptoms
These symptoms can include lowered immune system, muscle tension, headaches, insomia, loss of appetite, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue

Mental Symptoms
These symptoms can include loss of concentration, loss of decisiveness, confusion or forgetfulness

Emotional Symptoms
These symptoms can include, depression, anxiety, irritability, apathy, indifference, loss of motivation, pessimism, worry, nervousness and general unhappiness.

Behavioural Symptoms
These symptoms can include, compulsiveness, nail biting, foot tapping, blaming, searing, crying, yelling, weepiness, teariness, pacing and general restlessness.

If you can learn to spot these symptoms of stress early on, you stand a chance of dealing with the symptoms long before they become serious. If you feel that you are suffering from any of these symptoms of stress, then you should consult your doctor immediately.

This article has been provided for informational purposes only on the symptoms of stress. It is expected that if you think you are suffering from any of these symptoms, that you seek proper medical advice and not try to diagnose them yourself.

You should never feel too ashamed to ask your doctor for help. If you find it difficult to relax and you are consumed by worries that you struggle to lead a normal life, you need to see your doctor right away. There is a stigma about seeking anxiety and stress relief. You may think you’re crazy or lazy; but you’re not.

If you broke your arm or you leg then you would go see the doctor in a flash, wouldn’t you? Anxiety and stress relief should be sought after in the same way. If anybody teases you about being a ‘mental case’, ignore them. They are just voicing their own fears about their own sanity. Your doctor will understand; he or she sees patients with you similar problems almost every day.

The doctor might prescribe medicines for your anxiety and stress relief. That doesn’t mean you’re €˜lacking’ in some way for needing to take pills for a mental or emotional problem. Extreme anxiety and never ending stress can often be the signs of a treatable physical problem.

Take Time Out for You

You deserve at least fifteen minutes of fun and luxury every day; after all look at all you have to put up with! If you can find fifteen minutes a day to treat yourself and be comfortable with it, you can find twenty minutes, and so on. By no means does this make you selfish; you are just learning how to feel good about yourself. By experiencing some happy times, you can remember what it feels like. With time and practice, you can tap into that calm and secure feeling whenever you need it, believe me, everybody needs this at some time or other.

Many people take a walk during this ‘me-time’. Some people read a non-fiction book to gain anxiety and stress relief. Some people take a bath; others write a poem or engage in light exercise or take yoga classes. See what works best for you; you want something that takes you out of your normal drudgery and transports you into that little island of calm. Listening to music or meditating can bring this island about for a lot of people. Anxiety and stress relief is within your reach €“ you only have to make a little effort to get it.

There are many drugs available that can be very helpful in controlling the symptoms of depression and if taken regularly and in a controlled way, the person won’t stay depressed for very long.  There are still people who believe that taking depression stress relief pills makes them weaker or less than the people around them taking these drugs is seen as something very strange or extreem.  It just isn’t true and the word needs to get out that depression stress relief pills are no different than a cast on a broken arm or leg or crutches to help people walk.  With that attitude, more people might come forward and get the help that they so desperately need.  There are many medicines available nowadays that can affect the brain by better regulating the chemical release of serotonin.  A person’s mood will change and get better and that allows the person to better control the many things that were originally becoming stress and depression.

Prozac

Many people have heard about the drug called Prozac but not everyone understands what it does.  Prozac is a pill that effectively controls depression; a continuing depression that interferes with normal daily functioning.  It also has a generic equal called Fluoxetine.  They are the same depression stress relief pills; just one cost less because it is a generic which means that it isn’t a branded name.

Wellbutrin

Another type of depression stress relief pills are called Wellbutrin.  Wellbutrin works by affecting the two chemicals in the brain that are believed to help moods; dopamine and norepinephrine. It usually comes in 150 mgs to 200mgs size.  This as with all prescription drugs should be monitored properly by your doctor.  If something doesn’t feel right make sure to call your physician and discuss the symptoms, they are after all a very powerful drug.

Zoloft

One more depression stress relief pill is Zoloft.  Zoloft is even more powerful than the others.  It is prescribed for people that suffer from extreme depression disorders.  People with major depression will be in a very low mood that stays that way everyday and all day.  People with major depression are more susceptible to having thoughts of suicide, these thoughts can be there all the time too.  Taking a depression stress relief pill can help a person to feel better and handle stress better, it gives them that help they need.