The Stress Support Center

Stress is a fact of life: Every person on the planet experiences stress at some point or another, but how you respond to the stress and tension in your life can either be healthy or unhealthy. The truth is, sometimes stress can become unmanageable and in turn raise your risk for health problems.

TSC has scoured the Web to gather together links to the very best stress resources: articles, blogs, forums, and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional, and other challenges that you may be facing now.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this stress guide even more helpful to survivors like you.    

JUST FOUND OUT 

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Stress

• MedicineNet: What are the signs and symptoms of poorly managed stress?
• MedlinePlus: Stress
• The American Institute of Stress

The Big Picture

Stress can be very hard to define because it varies so much from person to person. Once you can identify what is causing you stress, you can begin to find ways to cope and manage it. Stress has a strong mind-body connection, which means that it can affect the physical body as well as your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

What are the common signs of stress? These sites can help you recognize them:

The American Institute of Stress: Topics of Interest

WebMD.com: Stress Management - Evaluating Stress

Your Stress

To better understand your experience of stress in your life, check out this overview:

WebMD.com: Manage Your Stress, Measure Your Stress, and Reduce Your Stress

Not all stress is damaging:

American Psychological Association: Stress - The Different Kinds of Stress

Your World

Not sure if your stress is out of control? This tool may help:

WebMD.com: Interactive Tool: What Is Your Stress Level?

Stress Myths

• "Stress is always bad for you."
• "If you don't have any symptoms, you don't have a problem with stress."
• "There is nothing that can really be done about stress."

These stress myths are debunked at the American Psychological Association Help Center: Six Myths About Stress.

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• American Heart Association: How Can I Manage Stress? (PDF)
• Mayoclinic.com: Relaxation Techniques - Learn Ways to to Calm Your Stress
• Yahoo! Health/Healthwise: Stress Management

Types of Treatment

Coping Strategies

Meditation, stress-reduction and relaxation techniques, yoga, and biofeedback can all give you new tools to cope with stress:

WebMD.com: Stress Management - Relieving Stress

MedlinePlus: Managing Stress

Mindfulness Meditation Practice CDs and Tapes

Yoga Alliance: Yoga and Stress Reduction (PDF)

Mayoclinic.com: Relaxation Techniques - Learn Ways to to Calm Your Stress

About.com: Stress Management - Biofeedback and Stress Relief

Psychotherapy

Many people find it helpful to talk to a psychotherapist (counselor) to  help them talk through the sources of their chronic stress and to come up with ways to cope with it and/or resolve what's causing the stress. It may also be that your stress is leading to health problems for which you'll need to seek medical help.

WebMD: Stress Management - Professional Help

American Psychological Association: Stress - How Does Stress Affect the Body?

Possible Treatment Side Effects

Your physician may suggest a prescription drug to help ease anxiety and/or depression. All drugs, including antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicines, come with a risk of side effects:

iVillage.com/Your Total Health: Anti Anxiety Medications - Potential Side Effects

WebMD.com: Managing the side effects of antidepressants

New Therapies

Treatment for stress is constantly evolving, and because it's so personal -- what causes stress, and what eases it -- you should feel encouraged to try new techniques if chronic tension and anxiety continues to be a problem. To stay updated about the latest in stress news and research go here:

The American Institute of Stress: Health and Stress -- The Monthly Newsletter of The American Institute of Stress

Holistic Treatments

Eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and fitting in adequate sleep every night will go a long way toward reducing your stress.

Sex

Among other things, regular sex releases calming hormones; learn more about this stress relief technique here:

Stress Management: Sex is the Way to Manage Stress

Creating a Support Circle

• Set up your TSC survivor profile.
• Join support groups of other survivors or set up your own.
• Interact and provide updates on your TSC profile or in the TSC forums.

Insurance & Work Matters

Insurance Matters

Not all health insurance plans cover stress treatment, but stress has been linked to serious heath problems like heart disease, so it's important to start managing chronic tension as soon as you know you have a problem. (Being treated for a serious health condition is likely to raise your insurance rates and may even endanger your coverage.) Check with your insurance provider about any treatments you might be covered for, such as visits with a mental health professional or exercise and weight loss programs.

Work Matters

To learn more about job stress and how to manage stress in the workplace, read on:

The American Institute of Stress: Job Stress
About.com: Chronic Job Stress is a Risk Factor for Heart Disease

Health-care Providers Who Can Help

Stress is probably most often directly treated by mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors), but you may decide to see other health-care specialists to help you lead a healthier life that will mitigate the stress you may feel. Nutritionists, massage therapists, yoga teachers, meditation instructors, and others can teach you coping techiques.

For a list of good resources, visit this WebMD.com page:

Stress Management - Other Places To Get Help

Resources to Find Health-care Providers

Finding a Massage Therapist

American Massage Therapy Association: AMTA's Find a Massage Therapist

How to Find a Doctor or Treatment Center

National Institute of Mental Health: Getting Help: Locate Services

The Emotional Rollercoaster

Dealing with stress that feels overwhelming is not easy, and some days you may feel that you can't cope. You may also be surprised to find that stress is causing other problems, like anxiety and depression, and that it's having physical symptoms as well. Talking to other who are or have when where you are can help:

dmoz.org Open Directory Project: Mental Health - Anxiety Support Groups

Dailystrength.org: Depression Support Group

Meetup.org: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Meetup Groups

Dailystrength.org: College Stress Support Group

Books Survivors Recommend

• The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) by Martha Davis
• 10 Simple Solutions to Stress: How to Tame Tension And Start Enjoying Your Life by Claire Michaels Wheeler
• Yoga for Stress Relief: A Simple and Unique Three-Month Program for De-Stressing and Stress Prevention by Swami Shivapremananda
  

Communicating with Your Health-care Providers

• Bring a friend or family member with you to your appointments, not only to provide support but to lend an extra ear; your advicate can help ensure you understand everything your health-care provider says and may add questions you hadn't thought of.
• Don't be afraid to ask any questions you feel you need the answer to.
• Write down your questions before your appointment and jot down the answers as your health-care provider walks you through them. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification on anything you're not clear on.

Dealing with Stress: Information for Co-Survivors      

How You Can Help

• Many people with chronic, overwhelming stress can get bogged down by everyday tasks; ask what you can do to help.
• Touch is an excellent way to relieve stress. Be sure to give lots of hugs or offer a massage to your favorite stress sufferer.

What to Say   

• "I know you're under a lot of stress now; do you want to talk about it?"
• "I'm here for you."
• "How can I help?"

What Not to Say

• "Don't worry, we'll find a way to make whatever's stressing you out go away."
• "Stress is just part of life - you can't do anything about it."
• "What's the big deal? Everyone has stress."

How to Build a Support Network

• Set up your TSC co-survivor profile.
• Create a support group for your friend or family member.
• Interact and provide updates on your loved one.

After you've gotten your stress under control you may want to assess and share with others how you feel emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Managing stress can be difficult, since some stress is a natural and useful part of life. By telling your story, you can not only put into perspective your thoughts and feelings but you can provide hope to others who are going through a similar journey themselves.

Remission / Recovery / Recurrence

Since stress is part of life, it's something we all need to remain vigilant about. Some sources of stress, like the death of a loved one, a job loss, or a divorce, will naturally take longer to deal with. These sources can help:

• The American Institute of Stress: Stress Reduction, Stress Relievers
• WrongDiagnosis.com: Risk Factors for Stress
• Griefnet.org: A Community of Persons Dealing with Grief, Death and Major Loss
• About.com: Divorce Support - Top 9 Tips for Dealing with Divorce Stress
• eHow.com: How to Survive Job Loss
  

For inspiring stories about stress visit:

StresslessCountry: Stress Stories, Stress Relief

Give Back

What helped you while you were dealing with out-of-control stress, finding new ways to manage tension, or realized you had successfully learned to deal with stress? Take a look back at your journey and share with others what helped you and what you wished you would have known or done during your stress experience. You can create a TSC profile, reach out to other survivors, join support circles, or share your story by following the links at The Survivors Club.

Stress itself doesn't cause death, but if it is chronic (long-term), severe, and you do not seek treatment to manage it, it may play a role in causing very serious health problems:

• National Cancer Institute: Psychological Stress and Cancer
• American Heart Association: Stress and Heart Disease
• LiveStrong.com: 5 Things You Need to Know About Stress and Strokes
• American Diabetes Association - Stress