Stress & Health

What is stress? Stress is a state of mental, emotional, or physical tension or strain. It is the body's reaction as you adjust and respond to the demands of your continually changing world. Stress is a normal part of life and can be caused by changes in your environment, your body, or your thoughts. Many events that happen to you and around you -- and many things that you do yourself – create stress.

Facts about Stress

Almost everyone experiences events that they find difficult to cope with. In a recent poll, 89 % of people said they had experienced serious stress in their lives.

• 43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
• According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, two-thirds of office visits to family doctors are for stress-related symptoms.
• Almost everyone experiences events that they find difficult to cope with. In a recent poll, 89 % of people said they had experienced serious stress in their lives.
• Stress can cause premature aging. Chronic stress has been found to accelerate the aging of body cells and is linked to cellular aging and DNA damage.
• Stress is linked to 6 of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide. Stress is also associated with binge eating, obesity, and diabetes.
• A recent study indicated that stress-management programs may reduce the risk of heart problems, including heart attack, by up to 75 % in people with heart disease. Another study found that individuals with diabetes who underwent stress management training had a 32 % improvement in glycemic control.
• Stress causes physiological changes that weaken our immune system by interfering with the immune system’s ability to respond to anti- inflammatory hormones. Inflammatory immune systems disorders, including psoriasis, eczema, allergies, asthma, fibromyalgia, and arthritis, have been linked to stress.

• Stress-related mental disorders have been called the fastest-growing occupational (work-related) disease in the U.S.
• The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50 %, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.
• Many addictions are linked to a stressful lifestyle, such as overeating, smoking, drinking, and drug abuse. These are used as an escape or a temporary way of "switching off" - but they do not address the underlying problem.

• According to the American Institute of Stress, American businesses lose $300 billion annually, that is $7500 per employee, due to absenteeism, reduced productivity, workers’ compensation benefits, turnover, and medical, legal, and insurance costs, related to unmanaged stress.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has declared stress a hazard of the workplace.
• Even when employees are at work, a poor mental outlook or mounting stress takes its toll. A study conducted by the Institute of Health & Productivity Management in 2003, found that ailments such as depression, backaches, headaches, fatigue, and stomach problems cost employers more than $180 billion annually in lost productivity.
• Depression affects 16.5 percent of the working population according to statistics in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
• Workers who report that they are stressed incur health care costs that are 46 % higher than other employees.

Many people in your life may have told you that you need to calm down, but no one actually taught you how to relax. In the Mother Nature Series, Dr. Rozantine teaches you a very effective stress management technique while taking you on a relaxing journey to the ocean, to a mountain stream, to a mountain cabin on a rainy day, or a mountain lodge. You will learn how to achieve a mental and physical state of tranquility and peace, which will help you manage stress and attain a health, satisfying, productive life. Giving yourself the opportunity to unwind improves your mental, emotional, and physical health and increases your sense of well-being. In this world of increasing stress and uncertainty, learning the skill of relaxation is essential to living a healthy life. Read what people are saying about Dr. Rozantine’s relaxation training.