"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.
" -Mahatma Gandhi When I was in private medical practice, I found that when I drilled down to the root cause why people came to see a physician, close to 80% of physical symptoms were related to emotional stress.
Stress affects our health both mentally and physically.
The human body has a network of chemicals that allow the cells to communicate with each other.
These chemicals are called hormones.
Cortisol is the major hormone released into the blood stream when the body reacts to response to stress.
In pre-historic times, the response to stress was important as a survival mechanism.
Or else mankind would not have survived to this day.
Think about it, if the primitive man walking across the desolate desert plains in Africa and came across a saber-tooted tiger, he had better develop enough of a stress reaction to make him flee to safety! The interesting fact is that the body reacts the same way when faced with emotional stress.
In other words just the thought of an emotionally stressful situation sets into motion the same cascade of chemicals filling our bloodstream as if we were running away from that saber-toothed tiger.
Stress in controlled and short durations can be beneficial.
For instance: Preparing for that important math test and studying all night and still being alert enough to take the exam.
Making a very important sales presentation that lands you a handsome contract! Completing a marathon Jumping over a high fence to escape an angry pit bull.
All of these are examples of causes of stress that are controlled and of short duration.
After the stressful event is over, cortisol levels go back to normal.
Inevitably life may just happen and at those times we get exposed to chronic stress.
For instance: A demanding work schedule An family situation A chronic illness such as diabetes.
Long commute times to work In order to support our overall wellbeing, it becomes important to learn how to effectively deal with stress.
There are many ways to reduce stress.
One way to deal with the long-term effects of stress is by building a support network.
As a physician, my focus has always been on prevention and encouraging my patients and clients to be proactive with their wellbeing.
Long before the effects of stress begin to show up, it is important to develop good stress management skills.
CREATE A PERSONAL SUPPORT SYSTEM Enlist the support of your family members.
It is invaluable if you are able to draw upon the wisdom of the elders of the family.
If you are blessed to have them still living draw close to them for support.
There are probably very little life experiences that they do not have insight into.
If nothing else just their unconditional love can be priceless.
I come from a place where the elders are revered for their wisdom and insights.
I have a particular soft spot for my older patients and spend a lot of time listening to them share their pearls of wisdom.
In times of stress, some people may withdraw from their family.
They may think that no one understands what they are going through.
Cutting the lines of communication at times like these may cause depression.
It is important to make a conscious choice to remain open to the support and love of those who really care about you.
By doing so, it allows you to be lifted up and not get consumed by a situation that makes you feel helpless.
Enlisting the support of close friends, clergy, or an employee assistance program at your place of work are all ways of creating a strong support system.
Another resource is to enlist the services of a life coach.
There are differences between coaching and counseling.
A life coach typically works with a client who has insight to their situation and is looking for ways to move forward.
In coaching, the underlying premise is that the client has the innate capacity to make their decisions.
By asking powerful questions these answers get drawn out from within.
It is empowering for a client when they realize that they had the answers inside of them all the time.
And that either because they were afraid of working through the answers in their head or just did not have the skill to ask the questions that would draw the answers forth.
No doubt there is a role for counseling in stress especially when depression sets in and there is a need to learn ways to cope with stress, such as stress reduction techniques, stress relaxation techniques etc.
BUILDING A SUPPORT NETWORK Another way to help with stress is to develop ways for building a stress support group.
Bringing together people facing the same issue causing them stress, can serve as a great resource.
They begin to learn that they are not alone.
It also empowers the members of the support network to learn from others, to think outside the box and also gain more insight allowing them to develop ways to cope with stress.
There are many ways how to build a network.
These days with the strong presence of social media such as Facebook makes creating an online 'stress forum' very easy to start.
Social networking has become one of the easiest ways that people who share similar interests are able to connect from the comfort of their homes and can offer great support.
It's more effective if these support networks are facilitated by say a coach or a counselor so that they do not become the feeding ground for negativity.
It is also important that all the participants do not have any underlying psychological illness such as depression, or any other psychiatric illnesses.
In conclusion it is not realistic to expect that we can live a 'stress free' life.
What we can do, is to learn as much information on how to reduce stress,as well as techniques to deal with stress.
Here are some areas to practice with for the week:

• List areas in your life that you experience stress
• Do you currently have a support system in place?
• If not, are there people whom you can enlist this week as part of that support system?
• Can you list five signs of stress that you experience?
• Can you come up with five ways to reduce stress in less than 10 minutes?

To your Health and Wellbeing.