Stress…The 21st Century Epidemic?

[Janet Ledsham]

Earlier this month the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) published the results of their 2011 survey into workplace absences revealing that stress was now the primary cause of long term sickness.

Shocking? Yes.Surprising? No. I, like many practitioners in the field of health and wellness know that stress is one of the biggest underlying causes of poor health. It may severely affect quality of life and research clearly shows that left unchecked it leads to more serious illnesses such as heart disease, some cancers and depression.

We live our lives at an ever increasing pace that is putting far more demands on our bodies than they were ever designed to cope with. Dr James Wilson, describes stress as the 21^st century syndrome in his book ‘Adrenal Fatigue’ published back in 2001, he was not wrong but now I believe we can add that it is a 21^st century epidemic. Stress is a natural response of our bodies and not a problem in small doses; it’s when the body faces constant stress that the body may start to suffer. Stresses add up and an overload can lead to a painful set of physical, mental and emotional symptoms. At first you may feel ‘tired and wired’ then later constantly exhausted. The body will give you lots of early warning signs as it becomes out of balance but it is easy to mistake them for something else.

This month’s survey focussed on workplace stress whilst for many it is a very significant part of their stress load, especially in the current climate with fears over job security being a concern to so many it’s by no means the sole cause of the problem. There are so many more stressors that may affect us, some are obvious some less so. What is important to understand is that the effects of stress are cumulative. If for example worries at work were the only stressor the body would probably cope, but if the body has been experiencing other stresses such as poor food choices, lack of sleep, striving for perfection (yes these can all be stressors) then the outcome may be very different. Fatigue, anxiety, depression may follow and long term health consequences can really be quite severe. We are all unique so our body’s abilities to cope with modern day stresses vary widely

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Are you aware of the stressors in your life?

Is stress affecting your quality of life?

These are some of the many questions we address at EAT BREATHE LOVE workshops for women.

The Eat Breathe Love workshop is especially for women. We show you how  simple changes to the way you eat, breathe and live can help restore balance and re-energise your life. Stress need not be your health problem!

The next workshop is on  Saturday 12^th November in Woking, to find out more visit http://eatbreathelove.eventbrite.com or http://www.eatbreathelove.com