Reverse Autoimmunity with Stress Management + Stress Quiz
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol, caused by physical and mental stress, elevate cortisol levels, causing a decrease in your immune system’s ability to fight infections.
Take this quiz to see what areas of your life are causing you the most stress:
Exercise One:
Rate these problems on a scale of 0-10 (with 10 being the highest and 0 being the lowest level of stress).
Personal problems
1. Your health, especially chronic illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases.
2. Emotional problems, such as unexpressed anger, depression, grief, guilt, or low self-esteem .
3. Your relationships, such as having problems with your relationships or feeling a lack of friendships or support in your life.
4. Major life changes, such as dealing with the death of a parent or spouse, losing your job, getting married, or moving to a new city.
5. Stress in your family, such as having a child, teen, or other family member who is under stress, or being a caregiver to a family member who is elderly or who has health problems
6. Conflicts with your beliefs and values. For example, you may value family life, but you may not be able to spend as much time with your family as you want.
Social and job issues
1. Your surroundings. Living or working in an area where overcrowding, crime, pollution, or noise is a problem.
2. Your social situation. Not having enough money to cover your expenses, feeling lonely, or facing discrimination based on your race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
3. Your job. Being unhappy with your work or finding your job too demanding can lead to chronic stress.
4. Unemployment. Losing your job or not being able to find work can also add to your stress level.
Exercise Two:
Take the Stress Inventory below:
Check the symptoms of stress exhaustion you’ve noticed lately in yourself.
Physical
- appetite change
- headaches
- tension
- fatigue
- insomnia
- weight change
- colds
- muscle aches
- digestive upsets
- pounding heart
- accident prone
- teeth grinding
- rash
- restlessness
- foot-tapping
- finger drumming
- increased drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Emotional
- anxiety
- frustration
- the “blues”
- mood swings
- bad temper
- nightmares
- crying spells
- irritability
- “no one cares”
- depression
- nervous laughter
- worrying
- easily discouraged
- little joy
Spiritual
- emptiness
- loss of meaning
- doubt
- unforgiving
- martyrdom
- looking for magic
- loss of direction
- apathy
- needing to “prove” self
Mental
- forgetfulness
- dull senses
- low productivity
- negative attitude
- confusion
- lethargy
- whirling mind
- no new ideas
- boredom
- spacing out
- negative self-talk
- poor concentration
Relational
- isolation
- intolerance
- resentment
- loneliness
- lashing out
- hiding
- clamming up
- lowered sex drive
- nagging
- distrust
- lack of intimacy
- using people
- fewer contacts with friends
(Adapted from Whole Person Press)
To successfully cope with stress, first, look at your resource list. What do you have available to you (tangible things like support, money, time, power, status, influence, or more internal things like faith in God, confidence, patience and prayer)?
Stop and consider how you can use these resources to help the situation.
In Your Journal:
- Identify your current coping skills.
How do you currently cope with stress? Write down all the tools you use to cope with stress.
- One Minute Stress Manager
- Close your eyes and connect with your breath for 2-3 breaths.
- Think of a challenging situation that is causing you problems at this moment, or one that is coming up.
- See yourself acting confidently and reassured.
- See the outcome you desire and hold it.
- Practice this until the desired outcome is achieved, or another solution appears.
75% of all doctors visits are stress-related. You cannot have chronic stress without developing some kind of chronic health problem or illness. Take time to assess you stress triggers and find ways to relax. Relaxation leads to health and happiness. What’s more important than those two treasures?
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