INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
It seems like you hear it all the time from nearly every
one you know – “I’m SO stressed out!” Pressures abound in
this world today. Those pressures cause stress and anxiety,
and often we are ill-equipped to deal with those stressors
that trigger anxiety and other feelings that can make us
sick. Literally, sick.
The statistics are staggering. One in every eight
Americans age 18-54 suffers from an anxiety disorder. This
totals over 19 million people! Research conducted by the
National Institute of Mental Health has shown that anxiety
disorders are the number one mental health problem among
American women and are second only to alcohol and drug
abuse by men.
Women suffer from anxiety and stress almost twice as
much as men. Anxiety disorders are the most common
mental illness in America, surpassing even depression in
numbers. Anxiety is the most common mental health issue
facing adults over 65 years of age. Anxiety disorders cost
the U.S. $46.6 billion annually. Anxiety sufferers see an
average of five doctors before being successfully diagnosed.
Unfortunately, stress and anxiety go hand in hand. In
fact, one of the major symptoms of stress is anxiety. And
stress accounts for 80 percent of all illnesses either directly
or indirectly.

In fact, stress is more dangerous than we thought.

In fact, stress is more dangerous than we thought.
You've probably heard that it can raise your blood pressure,
increasing the likelihood of a stroke in the distant future, but
recently a health insurance brochure claimed that 90
percent of visits to a primary care physician were
stress-related disorders.
Health Psychology magazine reports that chronic stress
can interfere with the normal function of the body's immune
system. And studies have proven that stressed individuals
have an increased vulnerability to catching an illness and
are more susceptible to allergic, autoimmune, or
cardiovascular diseases.
Doctors agree that during chronic stress, the functions
of the body that are nonessential to survival, such as the
digestive and immune systems, shut down. "This is why
people get sick," he says. "There are also many occurrences
of psychosomatic illness, an illness with an emotional or
psychological side to it."
Furthermore, stress often prompts people to respond
in unhealthy ways such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating
poorly, or becoming physically inactive. This damages the
body in addition to the wear and tear of the stress itself.
Stress is a part of daily life. It’s how we react to it that
makes all the difference in maintaining our health and
well-being. Pressures occur throughout life and those
pressures cause stress. You need to realize that you will
never completely get rid of stress in your life, but you can
learn coping techniques to turn that stress into a healthier
situation.
When I first got the assignment to write this book, I
immediately thought, “Sure, you can eliminate stress and
anxiety by locking yourself into a room and never talking to