Stress harms your memory too

If you find yourself struggling to recall facts that you know you made a point to put into your head, you may be under stress.Being stressed makes one forgetful regardless of their age- this has been a well- known fact.however researches have now indicated that even short term stress can harm memory and make individuals forgetful.

In their study on laboratory rodents,researchers at the university of California found that instead of cortisol, corticotrophin releasing hormone seemed to play a vital role in blocking memory after short stressful periods.
Basically memory & learning occurs at synapses,which are junctions of brain cells called neurons.These synapses occur on dendritic spines, which are structures that are specialized protutions on neurons.In their study ,they found out that the corticotrophin releasing hormone played havoc on the dendritic spines when an animal was stressed.
''stress is constant in our lives.Our findings can play an important role in the current development of drugs that might prevent these undesirable effects and offer insights into why some people are forgetful or have difficulty retaining information during stressful situations."said lead researcher Dr.TZBaram.

Benefits of exercise for depression and stress

Exercise has many psychological and emotional benefits when you have depression or anxiety. These include:

• Confidence. Being physically active gives you a sense of accomplishment. Meeting goals or challenges, no matter how small, can boost self-confidence at times when you need it most. Exercise can also make you feel better about your appearance and your self-worth.
• Distraction. When you have depression or anxiety, it's easy to dwell on how badly you feel. But dwelling interferes with your ability to problem solve and cope in a healthy way. Dwelling can also make depression more severe and longer lasting. Exercise can shift the focus away from unpleasant thoughts to something more pleasant, such as your surroundings or the music you enjoy listening to while you exercise.
• Interactions. Depression and anxiety can lead to isolation. That, in turn, can worsen your condition. Exercise may give you the chance to meet or socialize with others, even if it's just exchanging a friendly smile or greeting as you walk around your neighborhood.
• Healthy coping. Doing something positive to manage depression or anxiety is a healthy coping strategy. Trying to feel better by drinking alcohol excessively, dwelling on how badly you feel, or hoping depression and anxiety will go away on their own aren't helpful coping strategies.

Chronic stress causes depression

The cause of depression is not entirely clear. However, it's believed that both genetic and environmental factors, such as stress, may play a role.

Some people are more vulnerable to stress because of their personality characteristics or temperament. Persistent or chronic stress has the potential to put vulnerable individuals at a substantially increased risk of depression, anxiety and many other emotional difficulties. Scientists have noted that changes in brain function — in the areas of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland — may play a key role in stress-induced emotional problems.

Many factors contribute to maintaining good mental health, including getting enough sleep, eating sensibly, exercising appropriately, avoiding use of harmful substances such as alcohol, and effectively managing stress. If you have chronic stress, consult a doctor or therapist to discuss ways to minimize stress and its negative impact on your physical and emotional health. He or she may recommend relaxation exercises, such as deep breathing or visualization, soothing activities, such as yoga or massage, or professional therapy.

Stress & Diabetes:

Get To Know Yourself A Little Better

Is there a relationship between stress and diabetes? Does stress affect a person with diabetes in a negative way that might contribute to further complications or symptoms?
Researchers have not yet determined if there is an exact connection between stress and the development of complications that arise from diabetes. However, with a little research and some common sense, it is pretty sensible to assume that the less stress that a person has then the healthier that person will be. And this is especially true if you have diabetes.
The good news is that you do not have to wait for scientists to tell you that answer. You can use your own self as a testing ground to determine how stress affects your diabetes. This is probably more important than any other group study that can be had because every individual has different ways of handling stress.
You can start by taking note of stressful situations or any distressing news that you experience. Write down your results and how you relate to these situations. Ask yourself the following questions in order to help determine just how stress is affecting your diabetes:

1. Is there any affect on your blood sugar levels after experiencing a stressful situation? If there is an affect, make note whether your blood sugar levels increased or decreased.

2. Did you notice any difference between shorter, more intense stressful situations, as opposed to longer, more drawn out stressful experiences? Did you experience a negative situation that lasted for days or even weeks? If so, then what difference did it make in your overall energy as well as your blood glucose levels?

3. If you undergo a moment of anger or being upset at somebody, test your blood glucose levels. It's important to also record your blood glucose levels once you have the experience of letting that anger go. Did your levels go back to normal or did they increase? In other words, by resolving a stressful situation with another person, did this cause any improvement in your levels?

4. Does your progress and treatment become sidetracked as a result of the way you try to cope with stress? In other words, do you resort to self gratification in order to make yourself feel better, such as drinking, smoking, or eating too much? And if so, than how did this behavior sidetrack your treatments, if at all?

Fight Stress With Healthy Eating

Whenever we get too busy or stressed, we all tend to make poor food choices that will actually increase stress and cause other problems. To get the most of your healthy eating and avoid stress, follow these simple tips.

Always eat breakfast - Even though you may think you aren't hungry, you need to eat something. Skipping breakfast makes it harder to maintain the proper blood and sugar levels during the day, so you should always eat something.

Carry a snack - Keeping some protein rich snacks in your car, office, or pocket book will help you avoid blood sugar level dips, the accompanying mood swings, and the fatigue. Trail mix, granola bars, and energy bars all have the nutrients you need.

Healthy munchies - If you like to munch when you're stressed out, you can replace chips or other non healthy foods with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or even sunflower seeds.

Bring your lunch - Although a lot of people prefer to eat fast food for lunch, you can save a lot of money and actually eat healthier if you take a few minutes and pack a lunch at home. Even if you only do this a few times a week, you'll see a much better improvement over eating out.

Stock your home - As important as it is to get the bad food out of your house, it's even more important to get the good food in! The best way to do this is to plan a menu of healthy meals at snacks at the beginning of the week, list the ingedients you need, then go shop for it. This way, you'll know what you want when you need it and you won't have to stress over what to eat.

Rolfing Therapy:

Modern type of Stress Relief

Rolfing therapy is a physical technique that involves the manipulation of a body's soft tissues. Another term for this technique is structural integration. Rolfing organizes the relationships of soft tissues to each other in order to bring about a harmonious body structure and freer movement patterns. This is said to enhance s person's well being. It is currently being used in many circles of alternative medicine and is thought to be an excellent process for helping a person relieve stress and move more freely.

Ida Pauline Rolf is the woman responsible for creating this technique, which has been rightly named after her. In the 1950's Rolf used her knowledge in biochemistry to develop a method which involves a body's structural realignment in relation to gravity. She called this process Structural Integration of the Human Body. Ever since the 1970's, Rolfing therapy has been used as a technique to realign the body and create a more harmonious state of well-being.

The process of Rolfing involves touching the skin of a person in order to find any imbalances in the tissue structure of a body and to separate what Ida Rolf called fascial layers that adhere and muscles that have been pulled out of position due to strain or energy. Rolfing therapy is a massage-like technique that works to alleviate these tissues of any stress that may have caused them harm. Also, according to Rolfing, all parts of the body aligned, including ankles, pelvis, hips, knees, shoulders, etc. It is only in this way that the body will be balanced with gravity and thus in a state of deep relaxation and happiness. When a body is aligned, gravity is supposed to enhance a person's personal energy and bring about happiness and health.

Learning these techniques is hard to do, and a certified Rolfing therapist spends a few years studying the technique, which costs about $10,000. There is only one school, in Colorado, which teaches this technique, although there a couple other schools that teach similar techniques called structural integration rather than Rolfing. Although they are different in name, the techniques are generally the same.

There is some skepticism given to Rolfing, though therapists using the technique have found it to be successful and many clients have said to be relaxed and happy when they leave a Rolfing session. Using tissue therapy and the natural force of gravity, Rolfing therapy is continuing to grow and is becoming a more commonly used technique throughout the world.

Yoga: Feel Good, Look Good

Yoga is a philosophy and spiritual practice derived from Hindu theism, its aim is to suppress all activities of the mind and body, and separate them from one another to achieve liberation. In simpler terms, Yoga makes people feel better while loosing weight. It improves the posture, breathing, etc. Other than its physical effect, Yoga has proven to be a powerful tool in managing or controlling anxiety, back pain, blood pressure, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, headache, stress, and heart disease. Needless to say, it’s worth trying.

Most people try Yoga to improve their muscle tone, stamina, flexibility, and strength; but some do it to reduce stress and tension, improve circulation, and lower fat. Whatever the reason, it leads to one ultimate goal and that is to improve their appearance.

Yoga is defined as “union” in the classical Indian language. Based on the principles of the original yogis; practicing Yoga helps a person to achieve true happiness, enlightenment, and liberation. It was designed to take away the negative factors that make people unhappy or grouchy in their every day lives. In effect, people are placed in a position to better manage their reactions, emotions, and responses when dealing with everyday stress and problems.

The Following Are Basic Yoga Practices That Must Be Done On A Daily Basis:

1. Sun Salutations.

People who are too busy to exercise can spend only a few minutes performing this ritual. It stimulates the muscles and joints. It is a series of 12 non-stop poses that go together with proper breathing. This may be done twice a day or more.

2. Breath Control.

This is the most popular part of Yoga. It is done by sitting erect in the place chosen by the person for Yoga meditation alone. It is usually a place that is free from noise and preferably close to nature.

3. Meditation.

Refers to mentally repeating ‘So” and “Ham” with every inhale and exhale respectively. It is one of the simplest practices in Yoga and works for everyone.

4. Sun Salutation, Breath Control, And Meditation Combined.

Combining these simple practices is great for beginners. This can be done for at least 3 minutes every morning or late afternoon. Doing this regularly can naturally expand the Yoga practices.

Perhaps losing weight and attaining inner peace is the most sensible goal a person can achieve. It not only guarantees a positive aura and great appearance, it also offers psychological benefits that cause people to feel good about themselves

Meditation As A Stress Relief Tool

Do you remember seeing comedy shows or skits when you were young where someone is practicing meditation. There was usually one person closing their eyes and "ohm"ing while the other person tried to imitate them or simply made snide remarks. While we used to look upon meditation as being funny, ridiculous, or just plain odd; we now know about all the benefits it has to offer. Originally, meditation was used to focus and gain religious knowledge. Now, it is commonly used to reduce stress and live longer, happier, healthier lives.

So why is mediation so helpful for relieving stress? First of all, it helps focus the mind on something that is deeply and spiritually rooted. By focusing on one thing, you're forced to forget the world around you and all the stressors that come with it. By closing your eyes and sitting in a quiet room, you also filter out the sights and sounds that may stress you. Meditation also helps repair the physical and mental damage caused by stress. The chemicals present in your body actually change during meditation making you more relaxed and peaceful.

The relaxing benefits from above are only the short term benefits Those factors are only successful in filtering out stress that you've already experienced and making you relaxed during and after your meditating. The real benefit of meditation is its longer term effects.

If practiced on a daily basis, meditation can actually balance the levels of hormones and other stress related chemicals on a day-to-day basis; even when you're not meditating. This means that meditation will not only help you unwind at the end of a stressful day, it can also leave you more peaceful and less stressed during your long day at work.

The best part about meditation is, unlike yoga, it requires no special physical skills. While good meditation requires mental skills, you can start small and build your way up as you get more practice. Here's how to get started.

* Find a quiet room and sit in a comfortable position. There is no specific "better" position, just one where you feel comfortable and can relax.

* Close your eyes and relax your muscles. Do this by focusing on each individual muscle, starting at the feet and working your way up. Focus on the stress leaving each muscle as it relaxes.

* Begin to breathe slowly while you repeat your mantra. This can be anything from the traditional "ohm" to something you find personally important. If you are religious or spiritual, you can chant something related to your beliefs.

* If you find your mind wandering, don't beat yourself up about it; simply remain calm and return to your focus word.

* After 15 to 20 minutes, you can stop meditating and sit quietly for a few minutes before you return to your regular life.

By doing this regularly, you will train your mind and body to be more relaxed, peaceful and focused. You will find this not only affects your stress levels, but also your physical and mental functioning.

Stress Treatment

Self-Care at Home

When you find yourself feeling the bad effects of stress, you need to take action immediately. The sooner you begin the process of treatment, the easier it will be and the quicker you will be back to your normal state.

• The first step in the process is to try to identify the cause of the stress. Sometimes this is a known source such as a deadline at work, a pile of unpaid bills, or a relationship that is not working out. It can at times be more difficult to find the source of your problem.
  
  
  • Often, many relatively mild stressors occurring at once can bring on the same stress as a larger problem or known source of anxiety or worry.
  
  
  
  • Some people experience stress from events that occurred in the past (post-traumatic stress disorder).

• If you can identify the source of your stress, remove yourself from it or address the situation. That may be all that is needed to resolve the situation and your anxiety. Even if you are only able to get away for a few seconds or minutes, the break is important and can help you on the way to a more permanent solution.
  
  
  • This break can be accomplished by physically removing yourself from the provoking situation (such as an argument) or mentally removing yourself from the stressor (such as financial worries) through a mental distraction, often called a time-out.
  
  
  
  • The point of these actions is to allow you a moment to relax and formulate a plan for dealing with the problem at hand. Just having a plan can be a great stress reliever. It gives you a set of positive steps that you can work on to get yourself back to your baseline and out of the stressful situation.
  
  
  
  • These steps should be broken down into tasks you can accomplish easily. Working toward a goal is rewarding. It prevents the hopelessness and lost feeling that can accompany stress and make it worse.
  
  
  

• If you are unable to determine the source of your stress, you need to seek outside help. Sometimes discussing your situation with family, friends, or a spiritual adviser can be helpful. If these routes are not successful, you should make an appointment with your doctor or a mental health counselor to help determine the source of the stress and rule out any potentially reversible medical causes of your stress.

Stress and Your Immune System

How Stress Affects Your Immune System

Have you ever noticed that you tend to get sick more often when you're stressed out? Scientists have noticed this connection for a long time, but until recently they couldn't explain it. While a big project at work or the loss of a loved one isn't going to give you the flu, it can decrease the functioning of your immune system and make you more susceptible to the flu and other infections.

It may surprise you, but short term stress actually boosts the immune system. Increased immune functioning is associated with the "fight or flight" response related to short term stress you know will end. This is because our body is still trying to adapt to beat the stress or instead of just letting the stress bear down. The problem with this is that a majority of our stress is continual over a long period of time.

Long term stress is what actually decreases our immune functioning. The worst kind of stress is not only long term, but stress we think we can't control or see an end to. For example, while meeting a deadline at work may cause a decrease in our immune functioning; it's probably not as bad as stress caused by a debilitating accident. When we think the stressor is beyond our control and may never stop, our body feels it can't cope with the stress and it begins to take its toll. This kind of stress causes a drop in almost all immune functioning.

For regular, long term stressors, the decrease in immune functioning becomes greater with time. This means even if you feel you are in a position of control, long term stress such as a high power job, can build up and gradually decrease your disease fighting abilities.

Another important factor to consider when looking at the immune system and stress is that the decrease in immune system functioning is greater for people who are elderly or already sick. This is likely why older people who are severely injured or have recently lost a loved one are much more likely to die within a year than those who haven't had these circumstances.

You may think, "Well, I'll drop my stress level and I'll be fine". However, studies have show that traumatic events can stick with us and affect our immune system long after the stressor is gone. If a person was in an accident, was attacked, or experienced a traumatic loss, they can show decreased immunities years later. The best way to increase immunities in this case is to undergo treatment for the trauma.

In addition to causing a decrease in immune system functioning, stress can also make you more susceptible to other long term diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. If you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle you should include activities and a proper diet that promote a less stressful lifestyle.

Effects of Stress

Stress is a part of daily life. Everyone has stress. Some people appear to have more stress than others. Stress is one way we react to specific events in our life. There are times when you might feel that too much is happening at once and feel overwhelmed. Other times, you feel the pressure of time or a deadline and realize you need to take care of something before it is too late. Having been in a similar situation before will create anxiety. How we perceive a situation will effect how we respond to it. There is good stress and bad stress.

Good stress can be a motivator. Knowing that you have an obligation to address and a timeframe. That type of stressor puts you into action in order to meet a deadline. Or you might be in an unexpected situation where you need to make a split second response in order to avoid danger. This could be slamming your foot on the brake to avoid an accident. Anticipation of a competition or performance will cause tension and nervousness prior to the event. This nervousness is due to an increased flow of adrenaline going through your body. Your body is preparing for the “fight or flight” syndrome. The release of adrenaline prepares your body to take the steps to deal with the situation, including improved focus, strength, stamina and heightened alertness.

People also have bad stress in their lives. Whether we perceive a situation as being stressful or not depends on previous experiences. One person might see being in a multi tasking job as very stressful, feeling overwhelmed and becoming anxious about their work. Another person might find multi tasking enjoyable because they continue to stay busy and time goes by faster. Your body is capable of dealing with stress for short periods of time. When the stress is ongoing i.e. dealing with a divorce or bankruptcy, this can wear a person down. Long term stress contributes to feeling tired, overwhelmed and contributes to lowered immunity.

The body’s reactions to stress

Once you view something as being stressful, whether positive or negative, your body reacts to that perception. The response is a survival technique and a defense mechanism. The reaction is referred to as the “fight or flight” response. Either you are going to fight the attacker or you will choose to flee from the threat. This includes increased heart rate and blood pressure, perspiration, hearing and vision become more acute and hands and feet might become colder since blood is being directed to larger muscles in preparation for a fight or to flee. Your body is being prepped to handle the situation. When the threat is over, your body will return to normal.

If your body has difficulty returning to normal, then you would experience stress overload. This is when you stress out too much or have ongoing stress in your life and never get a chance to relax. Pressure in your life might be too intense or go on for too long without a break. People that have experienced trauma are likely to have stress overload. If trauma is not resolved then you might become hypervigilant, a sense of being overly aware of possible danger. You might always be “on guard.” Stress overload has an emotional and physical effect on the body. This could include panic attacks, depression, sleep problems, physical pain i.e. headaches and allergies as well as abuse of alcohol or other drugs. Having unresolved trauma will effect your perception. Situations that might not have caused tension prior to the trauma can have the ability to create anxiety after the trauma. Becoming aware of how your perception has changed and seeking support to address the trauma issue can be helpful to reduce ongoing stressors and to reduce anxiety. Seeking counseling that focuses on cognitive perceptions will help to decrease hypervigilance and will help to reduce the likelihood of continuing to be retraumatized. In addition, your body has memory of the event as well. Being able to release that reaction to the memory of the event from your body will help to reduce stress overload and triggers.

Stress and anxiety

Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another.

Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear. The source of this uneasiness is not always known or recognized, which can add to the distress you feel.
Alternative Names
Anxiety; Feeling uptight; Stress; Tension; Jitters; Apprehension

Considerations

Stress is a normal part of life. In small quantities, stress is good -- it can motivate you and help you be more productive. However, too much stress, or a strong response to stress, is harmful. It can set you up for general poor health as well as specific physical or psychological illnesses like infection, heart disease, or depression. Persistent and unrelenting stress often leads to anxiety and unhealthy behaviors like overeating and abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Emotional states like grief or depression and health conditions like an overactive thyroid, low blood sugar, or heart attack can also cause stress.

Anxiety is often accompanied by physical symptoms, including:

• Twitching or trembling
• Muscle tension, headaches
• Sweating
• Dry mouth, difficulty swallowing
• Abdominal pain (may be the only symptom of stress, especially in a child)

Sometimes other symptoms accompany anxiety:

• Dizziness
• Rapid or irregular heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Diarrhea or frequent need to urinate
• Fatigue
• Irritability, including loss of your temper
• Sleeping difficulties and nightmares
• Decreased concentration
• Sexual problems

Anxiety disorders are a group of psychiatric conditions that involve excessive anxiety. They include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social phobia.

Common Causes

Certain drugs, both recreational and medicinal, can lead to symptoms of anxiety due to either side effects or withdrawal from the drug. Such drugs include caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, cold remedies, decongestants, bronchodilators for asthma, tricyclic antidepressants, cocaine, amphetamines, diet pills, ADHD medications, and thyroid medications.

A poor diet -- for example, low levels of vitamin B12 -- can also contribute to stress or anxiety