Just Breathe

Just recently a friend of mine rushed herself to the emergency room because she felt she was experiencing symptoms closely related to those of a heart attack. The typical chest pressure, discomfort in the stomach, lightheadedness and slight nausea arose almost simultaneously. After spending numerous hours at the hospital, she called me with the somewhat humorous diagnosis: Anxiety Attack. Stress was the culprit of her overwhelming sense of an impending doom. Throughout the course of trying to juggle work, school, single-parenthood, and life, what appeared to be steadfast and balanced was apparently unstable.

This event lead me to begin thinking about the many hats we wear and balls we juggle to maintain our complex lives and standards of living. Women have myriad demands put upon them to be mothers, spouses and elder care providers, while striving to gain parity with their male counterparts.

By the way, did I mention that my friend who experienced the stress-induced anxiety attack is in her early thirties? Not the average age for someone to be experiencing heart problems, but well in the range for someone to be experiencing mind-blowing stress. Statistics show that 4 out of 10 Americans are stressed and those under 50 experience it most. Secondly, 40% of women are stressed compared to 35% of men.

Stress participation is definitely one area where we do not want to achieve nor exceed the levels of men. But in the event a situation becomes overwhelming, consider these helpful tips to pull you through.

B- Be aware of physical symptoms that may be signs of stress.
R- Relax and allow yourself to mentally escape from the challenging situation.
E- Exhale. Let go of any tension you may be harboring.
A- Ask yourself if you are looking at the situation realistically or making it unnecessarily larger than life.
T- Talk it out. Share what you’re going through with close friends.
H- Help. Seek help from a healthcare professional if things are too hard for you to handle.
E- Expect that whatever the situation is, you will get through it successfully.

A little retail therapy doesn’t hurt either. But seriously ladies, to learn more about stress and how to cope, visit WebMD at http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/20070201/stress-squeezes-4-10-americans.

Inhale, exhale, then inhale and exhale again. In short Just BREATHE and don’t forget…stay connected!