I don’t have stress. Have you ever come across a single individual off late who is lucky enough to make this statement? There is hardly any. Troubles at the work place, marital problems and chronic illness often lead to stress. Pre-marital tension or post pregnancy stress is also common. Your body strongly reacts in stressful situation like traffic jams, argument with a friend or jam packed schedule. So, the key question is that how do you find out that you are undergoing stress?

Do your family members, colleagues or friends often complaint that you have become short tempered and impatient? Then you are surely suffering from stress syndrome. Stress can disturb your physical health as well as your mental health. Stress affects the body, mind and behavior, an individual under stress tends to react differently in a normal situation. Common symptoms of stress are:
• Backache
• Chest pain
• Headache, high blood pressure
• Stomach upset and indigestion
• Insomnia
• Nausea, Dizziness
• Decreased immunity
These symptoms of stress are easily visible and your physical and psychological health gets affected by it. Other emotional symptoms of stress are:
• Restlessness, worrying, and depression,
• Lack of focus
• Burnout, irritability
• Loneliness
• Anxiety, anger
• Forgetfulness
Often you start with unusual habits of crying spells, smoking, alcohol or drug abuse, social withdrawal, angry outbursts and relationship conflicts when you are in stress. You also undergo nervous habits like nail biting and pacing. People even start grinding their teeth which is also a sign of stress. Consult a good doctor or psychologist and get yourself treated.

Relationship matters – may be the most. We all look forward to a face who can guide us, a shoulder where we can rest our head and bid adieu to our worries. The renowned philosopher Aristotle perhaps best described the condition of an individual in a society, when he said: A man is a social animal. And he who lives outside a society is either god or beast. A tensed relationship can make you fall prey to bad physical and mental conditions. Increased tensions with your spouse or with your children can lead to hypertension, breathing disorders, loss of concentration and even nausea.

The other day my best pal Jenny was also complaining of the same. Poor relations is taking a toll on her health, on her life, made her suffer miserably with low heart rate and low blood pressure. Jenny with a sincere effort made a try to recognize and reconcile the troublesome differences. She sort the last resort – counseling. Counseling no matter short or long can work wonders. The trick clicked. A single visit to Family & Marriage Counselors Michigan changed her life. Their professional counselor with a magical wand changed her view of life and her attitude towards her family members! It worked like “MAGIC” for her!

The bad weather looming over the financial market this year has resulted in a shocking job loss of about 84,000 professionals every month in the US alone! The colossal unemployment, the stumbling markets and the tumbling stocks have all converged in sounding the death knoll for the mental and physical health of the people worldwide. And the focal point of concern is the mental health – a problem that perpetuates in every strata of the family.

The crisis

Millions are already suffering from depression and other bi-polar disorders, with the average number of attempted suicides reaching an all time high. Even if the financial meltdown heals with time (the prospects of which looks bleak anyway!), the mental agony and consequent suffering will not be brought to task as easily as is being generally thought.

WHO brings the truth to the surface. Not more than a meager 2% of the national health budget is spent on the arena of mental health in treating these troubled souls. This is prevalent in most countries, with most patients skipping health checks or treatment programs arranged concerning their mental well-being. They quote social stigma and job security as the two major reasons for such behavior.

Self Help

In this scenario, why not pick up the jewels from the drab. Here is a small checklist you may pursue to keep your mental health issues at bay.

Ø Keep physically fit

Off late, have you been noticing your child lacking attention, or being impulsive to the point of hyperactivity? Has it been noticed by anyone else too, say the teacher at school or the home tutor? If yes, your child is one more in the increasing list of children suffering from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

What Is an Attention Deficit Disorder?

Attention Deficit Disorder, commonly known as ADD/ADHD, is a psychological term characterized by behavioral and learning disorders.hyperactivity, impulsion, and/or inattention.

A child suffering from ADD faces a number of problems, both in the social scenario as well as from the perspective of health. Usually the symptoms of ADD include:

* Difficulty in sustaining the attention while doing a particular task or while being spoken to.
* Forgetfulness, not being able to organize the workload and getting easily distracted from the subject being attended to.
* Indulgence in activities such as running or climbing; fidgets while sitting still.
* Interrupting others – it is difficult for him/her to wait for his/her turn.
* Excessive talking or fumbling while trying to speak too much too fast

A Stitch in Time

Having Attention Deficit Disorder means your child needs treatment. If you suspect that your child is suffering from ADD, seek advice from your child specialist or Pediatrician. ADD, demands dual treatments – Medical and/or Non-Medical. While the medical treatment is taken care of by the medical expert, the non-medical part falls on your part as a parent. Recovery will be easier and faster as your child will be more comfortable taking guidance and advice from you than a complete stranger (in this case the medical practitioner). Try out the simple steps:

* Behavioral modifications (pay attention and try and change the worst streams of behavior, as you cannot change all of the child’s traits)
* Help the child to make and keep a good circle of friends
* Structure and organize your child’s routine, including a step-by-step process of even simple activities such as homework, games etc.

Try avoiding instant cures, especially the ones advised by medically inept people while treating the child’s ADD. Forcing or beating the child is a complete no-no. Otherwise you may end up doing more damage to your kid than what the disorder could have done.

Do you feel butterfly in your stomach before your exam? Do you feel dizzy before any significant project or some business presentation? Be sure, you are suffering from “anxiety”. Anxiety though being a small word rules our modern life style. It is a mental condition relatively permanent state of worry and nervousness. Anxiety is usually accompanied by compulsive behavior or attacks of panic leading to variety of mental disorders.

Do not put your weapons down before anxiety. Discover the tricks to combat the life style disorders of modern times like anxiety. Here are some tips which will really prove helpful:

Breathing exercises: Calm down and compose yourself when you start feeling the symptoms of anxiety. Breathe in and breathe out and you will feel relaxed.

Take a bath: When you are at home, you can take a relaxing bath which will help you in removing your anxiety. Taking a warm water bath will immediately soothe you. You can even add some nice fragrance aromatherapy oils and soap bubbles.

Live in the present world: Thinking about the past memories and future will put you in immense anxiety. Live in the present day, think about positive things and you will automatically fight your anxiety.

Physical exercises: It is very important to do some amount of physical exercise which will relax your mind and body. Going for a 15 minutes walk can do wonders and will help you to feel calm.

We all pass through the phase of anxiety in our lives Follow these effective tips and say bye to anxiety. Proper guidance can prove to be a right trick for you.