You may be one of those people who would not think a day was normal if you were not stressed out and tense. Around 20% of Americans suffer from stress disorder and it in the number #1 disorder in the US, followed closely by depression. Many modern day illnesses are triggered by stress and the effects on you can be deadly. Holidays really bring out the stress sled which is why people hit the liquor stores and load up on booze and pills to help them make it through these ‘happy moments’. Here’s the truth. Stress hurts.
Toxic stress is poisonous and can shut you down if it becomes a dragon breathing down your neck. You feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you cannot relax, have chest pains, have bowel problems, sleep problems, relationship problems, and eat too much or can’t eat much at all. Your body screams out for relief.
There are so many things that cause stress in our lives and we usually think of these as negative situations. Pressure at work, troubled relationships, loneliness, developing an illness, moving, and financial distress cause stress at at one time or another. Each of us have these. Sometimes we forget that even positive things which happen to us also cause stress. That’s because we have to deal with a change in our lives, like getting married, having children, getting a promotion, even winning a jackpot. These cause us to cope in different ways and this is stressful. Anything we need to adapt to which we consider major cause dramatic stress.
If you are suffering from a stress build up, you are angered by the dog next door barking, the person who cuts you off in traffic, the one who pushes in front of you in line, and that person at work who irritates the devil out of you. Your family is stressing you and not providing you what you need. You feel you are putting out and getting little back. Then you or someone in your family gets sick and your insurance coverage either doesn’t exist or isn’t that great.
You are doing your best at work but it’s common knowledge that it’s not what you know but who you know and who you brown nose. You know there are layoffs coming and the government keeps shipping jobs overseas or bringing in workers who will work at half your salary. Even if you are dissatisfied with your job, you know you need it and have to take the crap. No matter how unfair things are workwise, you have to swallow it and act like you are a team member.
Money is tight. Everything costs too much and your pay is not going higher. You know you should not run up bills on those credit cards but all you get is pressure that it’s your job to provide more. You are the hero when you are flashing the cash and making things possible. You are evil and mean when you set limits.
Ask yourself if you now have a stress addiction.
1.Is your marriage or job a source of chronic stress for you?
2. Are you living from paycheck to paycheck and dread a financial crash?
3. Do you seem to have to face one crisis after another?
4. Are you wondering why you take the stress because no good comes from it?
5.Has a physical illness made you more worried about getting through?
6.Are you losing confidence you can deal with this stress?
7.Do you feel alone with stress and unable to be comforted by anyone?
8. If you could, would you run away and never come back?
9. Has your tolerance for stress evaporated and left you shaky?
10. Are you having symptoms like chest pains, poor sleep, bowel problems?
11. Are you shaky and cannot conceal it?
12. Has your doctor told you you need tranquilizers?
13. Have you realized you just cannot cope anymore?
14. Are you using alcohol to take the edge off?
15. Is your driving erratic and sometimes intimidating?
If you answered yes to at least 10 of the above, you are probably stress addicted and it will take a toll on your health, mental and physical. You simply must find ways to make your life simpler and less demanding. This includes letting others know you are not a doormat and will not put up with special, demanding expectations placed upon you.
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