Monday, January 14, 2013

WW Resource: The Stress War



For most of us, stress is just another part of our everyday make-up. We experience and encounter stress in many different forms throughout our daily lives; stress from work, stress from parenting, stress from financial burdens- stress for the most part is the only constant in many of our lives. Although some stressors may not be harmful, continued or prolonged stress without management can be extremely dangerous and detrimental to your overall health. For a warrior wife, the day-to-day stressors of life become overwhelming when added with the stress of coping and living with someone with PTSD and/or TBI (among other wounds- both physical and mental-of war). Stress, simply put, becomes insurmountable and because of that fact, life becomes even more cumbersome and harder to balance than ever. Often the level of stress that a warrior wife will or can experience on a daily basis, renders that warrior wife susceptible to medical ailments like: anxiety, depression, over-eating, exhaustion, mal-nutrition, chronic headaches, excessive weight gain or loss, hormone imbalances sometimes leading to infertility, heart-disease, mental illness, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, and skin conditions. This isn’t just my opinion, here is a passage from an article I found on Web MD:

The human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert and ready to avoid danger. Stress becomes negative when a person faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes overworked and stress-related tension builds.
Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress -- a negative stress reaction. Distress can lead to physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases.
Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to try and relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause more problems. Consider the following:
·        Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
·        Seventy-five percent to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
·        Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.
·        The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.
·        The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.

Passage found from: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/effects-of-stress-on-your-body

Experts have noted, that people with current medical conditions that experience continued stress with no relief, can actually worsen the medical conditions and cause more health related problems going forward, and rising cases of worsening medical conditions due to stress in women are fertility issues.

Stress and Infertility
Basically, stress that is not managed and/or relieved is often much more harmful than any of us ever realize. Stress plays a huge role in many fertility cases such as Endometriosis, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Although studies have not conclusively discerned how either medical conditions start, many believe prolonged exposure to severe and unmanaged stress caused their initial symptoms and worsened them thereafter. Studies note that high levels of prolonged stress do worsen the symptoms of both diseases, leaving the sufferers of these diseases caught in a vicious cycle of continued or worsening pain and discomfort. In many cases for both diseases, worsening symptoms have led to diabetes, heart disease, infertility, and more.

So, what is stress?
The definition of stress varies from person to person, however, many define stress itself as a feeling; whenever life begins to feel out of control or overwhelming, but for others, stress is much too broad to just be classified or identified as an emotional manifestation of things going wrong around us. I found this passage from an article written for Medical News Today, that I absolutely thought fit my definition of stress:

Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Some stresses get you going and they are good for you - without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health they are bad.


What works to reduce stress?
For me, relieving my daily stress revolves around my ability to assert my creativity. I love to draw, paint, write, work on crafts or do-it-yourself projects round my home, and spending time watching old movies, or of course my indies! I’ve done all of these things my entire life to relax me and because I truly enjoy them, and I have to say that for me, they work every time to reduce my levels of stress. In case arts and crafts aren’t your thing, here is what the Mayo Clinic suggests to relieve stress:

1.      Get active
Virtually any form of exercise and physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if you're not an athlete or you're out of shape, exercise is still a good stress reliever. Physical activity pumps up your feel-good endorphins and refocuses your mind on your body's movements, improving your mood and helping the day's irritations fade away. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, house cleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active.

2. Meditate
During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation instills a sense of calm, peace and balance that benefits both your emotional well-being and your overall health. Guided meditation, guided imagery, visualization and other forms of meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time, whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus to work or waiting at the doctor's office.

3. Laugh
A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but it can help you feel better, even if you have to force a fake laugh through your grumpiness. When you start to laugh, it lightens your mental load and actually causes positive physical changes in your body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response and increases your heart rate and blood pressure, producing a good, relaxed feeling. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends.

4. Connect
When you're stressed and irritable, your instinct may be to wrap yourself in a cocoon. Instead, reach out to family and friends and make social connections. Social contact is a good stress reliever because it can distract you, provide support, help you weather life's up and downs, and make you feel good by doing good. So take a coffee break with a friend, email a relative, volunteer for a charitable group, or visit your place of worship.

5. Assert yourself
You might want to do it all, but you probably can't, at least not without paying a price. Learn to say no to some tasks or to delegate them. Saying yes may seem like an easy way to keep the peace, prevent conflicts and get the job done right. But it may actually cause you internal conflict because your needs and those of your family come second, which can lead to stress, anger, resentment and even the desire to exact revenge. And that's not very calm and peaceful.

6. Do yoga
With its series of postures and controlled-breathing exercises, yoga is a popular stress reliever. Yoga brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety. Try yoga on your own or find a class — you can find classes in most communities. Hatha yoga, in particular, is a good stress reliever because of its slower pace and easier movements.

7. Sleep
Stress often gives sleep the heave-ho. You have too much to do — and too much to think about — and your sleep suffers. But sleep is the time when your brain and body recharge. And the quality and amount of sleep you get affects your mood, energy level, concentration and overall functioning. If you have sleep troubles, make sure that you have a quiet, relaxing bedtime routine, listen to soothing music, put clocks away, and stick to a consistent schedule.

8. Journal
Writing out thoughts and feelings can be a good release for otherwise pent-up emotions. Don't think about what to write — just let it happen. Write whatever comes to mind. No one else needs to read it, so don't strive for perfection in grammar or spelling. Just let your thoughts flow on paper — or computer screen. Once you're done, you can toss out what you wrote or save it to reflect on later.

9. Get musical
Listening to or playing music is a good stress reliever because it provides a mental distraction, reduces muscle tension and decreases stress hormones. Crank up the volume and let your mind be absorbed by the music. If music isn't your thing, though, turn your attention to another hobby you enjoy, such as gardening, sewing, sketching — anything that requires you to focus on what you're doing rather than what you think you should be doing.

10. Seek counsel
If new stressors are challenging your ability to cope or if self-care stress relievers just aren't relieving your stress, you may need to look for reinforcements in the form of professional therapy or counseling. Therapy may be a good idea if stress leaves you feeling overwhelmed or trapped, if you worry excessively, or if you have trouble carrying out daily routines or meeting responsibilities at work, home or school. Professional counselors or therapists can help you identify sources of your stress and learn new coping tools.


Here is what I know
The most important thing to remember as a warrior wife is to do things for yourself, and take the time out that you need to breathe, re-boot, and rejuvenate in order to deal with whatever is currently on your plate.

When my hubby came back from Iraq in 2006 carrying with him the wounds of war in the form of severe PTSD and TBI, I honestly felt my entire world had shifted off its axis. It was the scariest, and most stressful thing I think I have ever (and still continue to) experienced in my life. Not only was there the stress from trying to just understand what was going on with him and what had changed, there was also the added stress of trying to figure out if he would be released from the Navy due to his injury, how we would manage financially if (or when) he were, where we would live, and how our marriage would survive it all. It was hell, and more so, it was hell on my body. I gained weight, and developed PCOS, and for the first time in my life, my health was at stake. I knew by 2010, after 4 years of battling with my deteriorating health and devoting all my time and energy into my hubby’s issues and work, that something needed to change fast, and it was that realization that helped me turn both my health and my life with my hubby back in the right direction. I decided to look into adapting to a vegan diet (a little extreme for some, but for me was perfect since I already wasn’t big on dairy or meat, and had been vegan in the past) and was determined to remind myself to take time out to do the things that make me happy. I was lucky because none of my health issues were advanced enough to cause further damage to my body, but some of you out there may be in an entirely different boat, and therefore taking action against prolonged stress is even more imperative and compulsory to your overall health and well-being.

What I know about stress is this: you have to take charge and make the decision to not allow your stress to drown you- and trust me it can and will try. You have to know that regardless of your circumstances, if you don’t take care of yourself, you will be no good to anyone else, especially your wounded warrior. Taking care of yourself may be hard considering all that you have going on, but it’s worth it. Read, get off your feet and watch some T.V (even if it’s only for an hour or two) take a weekend to yourself, start a journal, go on a long walk once a day, just do something for yourself. I know that I plan to make 2013 my year of doing things for myself on a weekly basis (maybe even writing about the places I go or the things I do here!). It’s not selfish, it’s vital to your health, your family, and your ability to let your body heal naturally. And trust me, your future self will thank you.


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