Heartsavers - Stress
You can reduce your risk of a heart attack
if you can reduce or manage stressful situations you'll probably be much happier too.
Prevention of coronary heart disease.
Stress Management
There's really no way to avoid stress, things will happen to you beyond your control which cause stress and you have to cope with it.
As previously mentioned stress which calls for immediate action (acute stress) is relatively easy to cope with and seldom causes a long term build up of tension. From this we can see that you will reduce your stress levels if you don't let problems build up, simply deal with problems as they emerge before they can turn into a long term ongoing problem (chronic stress). A good example of this is if someone has debt problems, don't wait and hope the problem will go away, negotiate with your creditors and reach agreement. Better still plan your finances in advance and then you won't overspend in the first place.
The more control you have over your life and your environment, the less likely it is for stress to build up and injure your health. So try to plan your time. A good way of doing this is to keep a diary to set time aside for things you want to do, schedule your meetings and appointments so you'll never be late - rushing around and getting stressed in the process. A good idea is to use a diary to make lists of your tasks for the day and tick them off as they are achieved.
Loneliness
More people live on there own these days than ever before in our history.
The breakdown of marriages has had a catastrophic effect on the social fabric of our society and so too, for different reasons has technological innovation which means we can communicate at long range with no social contact.
Studies have shown that people who live alone have a higher incidence of heart disease and premature mortality than those who live with someone. It seems that humans evolved to live in social groups and not alone. (Even having a pet will help).
Also, being able to talk over your problems with a close friend or relative will help reduce stress, even if you can't find a solution to the problem you will feel better for having "got it off your chest".
To combat loneliness try to socialise in a non competitive way, join a club, go to church, do charity work for example.
It's not just those living alone who would benefit from a better social life of course, it's surprising how many people fail to interact with those around them, which brings us another point: it's the quality of your social life that counts not the number of people involved.
Relaxation Techniques
One key element in stress management is to be able to relax after a stressful situation to get your body responses back to normal. The following relaxation technique takes only around ten minutes and can be done anywhere: it works - try it.
1. Sit in a chair with your feet on the floor.
2. Rest your fingers on your stomach and close your eyes.
3. Slowly breathe in and out so your stomach gently rises and falls.
4. Relax all your muscles.
5. Visualise relaxation and keep saying relax to yourself.
6. Repeat the sequence.
If you find it difficult to relax your muscles try tensing up each group of muscles in turn and then relaxing them. You may find it easier at first by lying down rather than sitting in a chair.
Exercise
An excellent way of relieving stress and it will also help those who suffer from depression. Aerobic exercise in particular will reduce the levels of stress hormones in the bloodstream and help you relax. In this we see yet another example of how the various lifestyle changes work in harmony with one another, further proof if it was needed, of how much better it is to make comprehensive lifestyle changes rather than just one or two.