Stress

Stress occurs when you are faced with situations or events that you do not feel you can manage. Another way of saying this is: You think what is required of you is beyond your means, and so you feel "stressed."

How Stress Affects Your Heart

In stressful situations, your body reacts by circulating adrenaline and other stress hormones. In response, your heart rate and blood pressure go up, your breathing becomes faster and more shallow, your skin starts to sweat, and in general, your entire body revs up into high gear.

In the short term, these reactions make you more alert and able to deal with the stressful situation. However, if you are under stress for prolonged periods of time, other changes occur:

• Fat cells that were released into the bloodstream for extra energy become converted into cholesterol.
• Platelets, the body's blood clotters, become more "sticky" and start building up inside your arteries.
• Your overall patterns of daily life begin to change in ways that make it more difficult to eat well, exercise regularly, and get enough rest.

Managing Your Stress

How we think about an event determines its impact on our health. Managing your stress starts with these basic guidelines:

• Attend a stress management workshop and learn how to:
  • Identify what causes you stress
  • Develop plans to manage those times
  • Learn stress management skills, like breathing and relaxation exercises
• Be physically active every day. This will play a role in reducing the effects of stress.
• Identify and hold on to your strong support networks and good family relationships.
• Get a "Coping with Stress" booklet from the Heart Health Education Centre library.
• Ask for help if stress becomes a concern.