How to Manage and Recover from Mental and Emotional Fatigue and Stress
By Dr. Rosalia Mariz
Today’s difficult economy, with all its consequent employment, financial, housing challenges and other stressors, can cause acute mental and emotional fatigue which can affect you down to the cellular level. Even though money is tight you need to take care of your health to enable you to survive and thrive during these trying times. The longer your mind feels stressed, the longer and more severe will the effects be on your physical and emotional health systems. This can lead to serious health issues and premature aging.
The old saying that stress "ages" a person faster than normal was recently verified in a study of women who had spent many years caring for severely ill and disabled children. Because their depleted bodies were no longer able to fully regenerate healthy blood cells, these women were found to be physically a decade older than their chronological age. Extended reactions to stress can alter the body’s immune system in ways that are associated with other "aging" conditions such as frailty, functional decline, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, inflammatory arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. Research also suggests that stress impairs the brain’s ability to block certain toxins and other large, potentially harmful molecules. This condition is also common to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Although sudden emotional stress has been linked to severe heart dysfunction in otherwise healthy people, scientists are uncertain whether chronic stress alone causes cardiovascular disease. What is clear is that excessive stress can worsen existing risk factors such as hypertension and high cholesterol levels. Studies also show that people who are quick to anger or who display frequent hostility—a behavior common to those under stress—have an increased risk of heart disease and crying fits.
Feelings of despair that accompany stress can easily worsen into chronic depression, a condition that can lead you to neglect good dietary and activity habits. This, in turn, can put you at a greater risk for heart disease, obesity, and kidney dysfunction. Stress can also complicate your ability to recover from a serious illness. A Swedish study found that women who have suffered heart attacks tend to have poorer chances of recovery if they are also experiencing marital stressors such as infidelity, alcohol abuse, and/or a spouse’s physical or psychiatric illness.
On the other hand, stress management training is a proven method for helping speed recovery following a heart attack. HealthWalk can help you in this area with MindSoul Brain Technology which analyzes and rebalances your brain waves so that you are able to regain mental acuity and recall, moderate mood swings, reduce depression and pain and restore normal sleep patterns.
With the consequences of poorly managed stress ranging from fatigue to heart disease and obesity, it is important to know how to recognize high stress levels and take action to handle it in healthy ways. Being able to control stress is a learned behavior, and stress can be effectively managed by taking small steps toward changing unhealthy behaviors.
- Understand how you experience stress, everyone experiences stress differently. How do you know when you are stressed? How are your thoughts or behaviors different from times when you do not feel stressed?
- Identify your sources of stress. What events or situations trigger stressful feelings? Are they related to your children, family, health, financial decisions, work, relationships or something else?
- Learn your own stress signals. People experience stress in different ways. You may have a hard time concentrating or making decisions, feel angry, irritable or out of control, or experience headaches, muscle tension or a lack of energy.
- Gauge your stress signals. Recognize how you deal with stress. Determine if you are using unhealthy behaviors (such as smoking, drinking alcohol and over/under eating) to cope. Is this a routine behavior, or is it specific to certain events or situations? Do you make unhealthy choices as a result of feeling rushed and overwhelmed?
- Find healthy ways to manage stress. Consider healthy, stress-reducing activities such as meditation, exercising or talking things out with friends or family. Keep in mind that unhealthy behaviors develop over time and can be difficult to change.
- Don't take on too much at once. Focus on changing only one behavior at a time.
- Take care of yourself. Eat right, get enough sleep, drink plenty of water and engage in regular physical activity. Ensure you have a healthy mind and body through activities like yoga, taking a short walk, going to the gym or playing sports that will enhance both your physical and mental health.
- Take regular vacations or other breaks from work. No matter how hectic life gets, make time for yourself — even if it's just simple things like reading a good book or listening to your favorite music.
- Hydrate and keep your body alkaline. Drink plenty of water; your cells need proper hydration, an alkaline environment and oxygen to function properly. A simple and convenient way to ensure that your body has an alkaline balance and hydration is to drink Hydromag™ treated water. HealthWalk’s Hydromag water treatment products (coasters, cup holders, pad and water cooler strap) realigns water molecules to their natural Ph neutral - alkaline state.
- Reach out for support. Accepting help from supportive friends and family can improve your ability to manage stress. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by stress come to Healthwalk so we can help you.
- Make an appointment for a Vital Hematology live blood analysis at HealthWalk to see just how the stress is affecting the integrity of your cells and the quality of your blood. Seeing is believing!!
When you see the condition of your cells and your blood you will be motivated to take action to regain health so that you can better manage in these tumultuous times. With a clear and simple healthcare plan to help you deal with the severe stress in your life, you will then gain the energy and ability to think strategically on how to improve your life. At Healthwalk we can suggest a regimen to regenerate, repair, revitalize your cells, tissues, organs and support your brain function, adrenals, balance your hormones to restore and enhance your health and wellbeing. Give your body what it needs to be able to manage your stress or the stress will manage you and your life to unpleasant consequences.