Mar 12 2008

When did "Stress" become a disease?

Is it me or have we become a society of labels? We have a name for everything, every feeling every disorder, every would-be, possible, can-it-be ailment. My favorite is stress. If you're late for a deadline, blame it on stress, tired and fatigued, stress, lack of sexual desire, too much desire not enough sex, can't sleep or sleep too much, stress, stress, stress.

According to the American Institute of Stress (yes, such a place exist). "Stress is difficult for scientist to define because it is a subjective sensation associated with varied symptoms that differ for each of us." In human babble, that really means that we all handle situations differently. What may cause one person to be "stressed out" could be the very same thing that drives another person to achieve greatness.

Some say that the right amount of stress actually adds value to our lives if we learn how to use it to our advantage. That would be the million dollar question, how do we use stress in a positive non-destructive way? Well, the best that I can come up with from my non-doctor degree having background is to first figure out the source of the stress.

Let's take one of my few female friends. She is a single mother of a very active 8-year old. I'm sure I've talked about her before. It seems that as of late she's been stressed out about not having enough "me time", baby-daddy drama and all that comes with raising a child alone. On one hand the stress has propelled her to make some changes for the better. She went back to school to get her masters and changed careers. She knew she needed to make more money and have better opportunities. However, all that comes with another set of stresses. Now, she doesn't have any free time, much energy and still no man in the picture.

As many of you know, you hardly ever find a man or woman when you are really in need of one. The word desperation comes to mind. When you stop "stressing" about finding someone and allow yourself to be alone...that's when potential suitors come out of the woodwork. Then that leads to the stress of dating. Does it ever end?

Here's my way of dealing with stress. Tackle it head on. I use to ignore it but for some reason, just like creditors it didn't go away. So, I started to deal with the "I don't want to deal with this" issues right away. The things that I could change, I'd change. The ones that I couldn't do a thing about, I did nothing about them, including worry...why bother, it never changed anything.

Try it for one week. You will be amazed how dealing with and not ignoring stress changes your life. Then again if it doesn't work, you could always go to the doctor and get a pill for it.

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