What is Stress? Stress is a state of heightened neurological arousal activated by a stimulus that sets into motion a cascade of biological processes designed to rapidly prepare the body for an optimal response to that stimulus. Any stimulus that produces a stress response is referred to as a stressor. It may originate from either an internal or an external source. For example, an internal stressor might be chronic back pain, a fever from a bacterial infection or the accumulated nervous energy associated with unresolved emotional issues which have been festering within the mind and body for years. An external stressor, on the other hand, might involve relationship tensions, financial worries or those traffic jams commuting to work each day. Stress in itself is not a bad thing. It is only a problem if taken to excess over a period of time. The body’s responses to stress is fight or flight, but our modem way of living does not usually allow us to do either, so the body is left in a tense and alert state. Positive stress prepares you for action and provides motivation to cope with everyday life. It creates a sense of well being and anticipation. Over the last few hundred years ever-increasing technological changes has caused large shifts in patterns of social and work organisation leading to a faster pace of life. Combined with a general lack of awareness within society, of how to cope with increased levels of stress, the effects of stress go untreated over time, often resulting in illness. Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that excess stress can not only be the major, underlying factor in a wide variety of illnesses, it can also exert an invasive, destructive influence on the onset, progression, management and recovery process of almost every kind of “dis-ease” imaginable. Excessive stress is very harmful, leading to heart, respiratory and digestive disorders, muscle tension, allergies, accidents and mental disorders. Stress that carries on for a long period of time can cause long-term mental illness. Often the health of a person does not improve even though they have had diagnostic tests and are prescribed good medications and treatments because underlying stress has not been identified as the real problem. Harmful Nedative Stress is often caused by problems in one or more of the following areas: Bereavement Relationships Family Health – Personal Injury or Illness or with Somebody Close Housing Money Work Personal Issues Social Issues Communication Barriers The following is a list of symptoms and conditions that are known to be either caused by or significantly make worse by stress that published scientific and clinical research studies have shown can be either significantly improved or completely eliminated through relaxation with the support of self-care and mind-body intervention: Complementary Therapies can successfully treat stress by helping to eliminating stress from the nervous system through an emotional release process. Quote from the Media “The cost of stress today is increasing. Stress is extremely debilitating and prevents people from functioning to their full potential. In critical situations you become nervous and embarrassed, which can in turn be the cause of wrong decisions, poor workplace relations, loss of productivity, lapses of concentration and low creativity. Prolonged stress weakens the immune system and can lead the development of physical illness” Scotsman Publications