I do not want to give you a very short reply because short cuts lead to more stress !! So please find below my note on How to beat Stress. Hope it will be of some use.
How to reduce your stress levels
1. MAKE YOUR LIFE REGULAR
If you suffer from OVERSTRESS, you have disrupted the function of your Body Clock. Re-setting your Body Clock is vital if you are to feel well, sleep soundly, and awake refreshed. Give yourself a definite wake up and sleep time. This sets a frame of reference for your Body Clock. It will take two or three weeks to synchronize your Body Clock to your schedule. So, stick to your schedule!
But what if I try to go to sleep at 10 p.m. and I can't fall asleep? Or what if I fall asleep but keep waking up during the night?
Sleep difficulty is the hallmark of OVERSTRESS. When your Body Clock stops working, you may have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Or conversely, you may feel sleepy all the time. Either symptom may be produced when the Body Clock stops working. It all depends on which "position" the Clock was in when it stops: wakefulness, or sleepiness.
So, do not expect to have your sleep problems go away until your Body Clock is working again. Go ahead and set yourself a reasonable wake up time and bed time. Do the best you can to stick to these times. As you lower your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin to work. It will then match its cycle of wakefulness and sleep to the times that you have set for it. Remember, this process will take at least three weeks, so stick firmly to your time schedule.
But what if I put myself to bed at my bed time, and I just lie there without falling asleep?
If, after 45 minutes, you have not fallen asleep, get up and read a book or do something around the house. Sooner or later, you will feel sleepy and fall asleep. Keep putting yourself to bed at your bed time every night. As you reduce your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin working. Your Body Clock will gradually match your chosen sleep schedule. In the meantime, be patient and work to reduce your stress levels as much as possible.
If You Must do "Shift Work":
Your Body Clock will always try and synchronize itself with your daily schedule. If your job requires you to work varying shifts, however, you may have difficulty in getting your Body Clock to match your shift. When properly synchronized, your Body Clock tells you to be awake for your work, and tells you to go to sleep after your work. If you do evening work, your Body Clock will shift itself so that you will be awake for your evening work, and be able to sleep during the day. But this change requires two or three weeks to occur. If your employer rotates your shift more often than every two or three weeks, your Body Clock will always be mis-matched with your work requirements. You will be trying to work when your body wants to sleep, and trying to sleep when your body wants to work. This will make it practically impossible to restore the proper functioning of your Body Clock.
If you are OVERSTRESSED, you should avoid "shift work". If you MUST do "shift work", try and work at least three weeks at each shift before rotating to a new one. And always make sure the direction of shift rotation to is "morning to evening to night to morning again".
Do you remember that the untrained cycle of your body clock is 25 hours? Because of this, it is always easier to stay up later, than to try and force yourself to go to bed early. So never try to rotate shifts from "night to evening to morning". Your Body Clock will blow a fuse.
2. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK TODAY
You must give your body adequate time to repair itself, and to regenerate Happy Messengers. If you are having symptoms of OVERSTRESS:
• Fatigue
• Aches and pains
• Anxiety
• Problems sleeping
• Lack of enjoyment of life
• Depression
Give your body a chance to heal itself.
Every morning make a list of things that you want to get done...
THEN, CUT OFF THE BOTTOM HALF OF THIS LIST!
3. LIGHTEN UP YOUR LOAD OF SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
Let someone else do the holiday dinner for the family, or make it a pot luck on paper plates. Only go out once this week. Tell your visitors from out of town (who always expect to stay at your house) to call you "just as soon as they get settled in a hotel room".
SAY "NO" A LOT MORE OFTEN TO REQUESTS FROM OTHERS OF YOUR TIME.
4. POSTPONE MAKING ANY CHANGES IN YOUR LIVING ENVIRONMENT
Remember, CHANGE IS STRESS. So relax, postpone any big moves or changes for awhile.
• Postpone remodeling your home or apartment.
• Postpone moving to a new house or apartment.
Making a change in your living environment, even if it is a change that you are excited about, is a major stress. It will add a minimum of 25 stress points to your life; and, if it is a financial strain, may add as much as 65 stress points!
When you consider that you would like to reduce your stress level to 150 or below, you will see why postponing a change in your living environment will be very helpful in obtaining that goal.
5. REDUCE THE NUMBER OF HOURS YOU SPEND AT WORK OR SCHOOL
If you are a "workaholic", or a "school-a-holic", you need to reduce the energy drain you are placing on your body. Work or school more than 40 hours per week adds 40 stress points to your life.
TAKE SOME TIME OFF
6. THE OVERSTRESS DIET
Keep Your Blood Sugar Steady
People who are OVERSTRESSED almost always begin to use sugar as a Pick-Me-Up. Their blood sugar goes up and down wildly. Thus, the most important dietary consideration is to keep your blood sugar from swinging high, or swinging low. In order to feel well, you must level out your blood sugar, avoiding the"sugar highs", and "sugar lows". Take your sugar in the form of complex carbohydrates, such as cereals, rice, pasta, bread and potatoes. These foods, comprised of tightly interlinked sugars, are broken down slowly by the body, releasing their sugar over a long period of time. Eating frequent small meals, instead of a few large ones, also helps keep your blood sugar stable.
Eat More Vegetables
Your brain's production of one of the Happy Messengers, Serotonin, is sensitive to your diet. Eating more vegetables, can increase your brain's Serotonin production. This increase is due to improved absorption of the amino acid L-Tryptophan. (Vegetables contain the natural, safe, form of L Tryptophan. Meats contain natural L-Tryptophan also, but when you eat meat, the L-Tryptophan has to compete with so many other amino acids for absorption that the L-Tryptophan loses out. The net result is that you get better absorption of L-Tryptophan when you eat vegetables.In other words -- eat a salad for lunch.
You should also take a good multi-vitamin and mineral preparation.
7. REDUCE YOUR USE OF PICK-ME-UP'S
Beware of Cue Reactions
To cut down on your intake of Pick-Me-Up's, remove them from the house, and any other place that is within easy reach. Do not forget to clear your desk drawer at work, and the glove compartment of the car. Even though you want to reduce your sugar, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol consumption, just the sight of a cookie can lead you to eat it; just the sight of a beer might lead you to drink it -- before you even have a chance to stop yourself.
8. AVOID ALLERGIES
Allergy is a major source of stress for some of us. If there are certain things that trigger YOUR allergies, you should avoid them.
9. START AN ENJOYABLE EXERCISE - REST YOUR MIND
Begin an exercise that you enjoy, Preferably, do something that brings you into contact with other people. The value of such exercise, three times a week for 20 minutes to two hours, can not be over emphasized. Enjoyable exercise, in moderation, boosts your HAPPY MESSENGERS in a smooth sustained fashion. It will make you feel better right away!
Exercise has another beneficial effect. Most people, when exercising, do not worry. They are actually resting the nerve cells in the brain that worry, giving those cells time to renew their stores of HAPPY MESSENGERS, so they can function normally the next time they are needed.
There are other ways of "resting your mind". Dancing, listening to music, reading, working on a craft, playing a musical instrument, meditation, self relaxation, and biofeedback also relieve stress. Any activity which concentrates your attention on a subject other than life's problems will help rest your mind. This rests the "Problem Solving" part of your brain, allowing it to regenerate HAPPY MESSENGERS and renew itself.
10. STOP YOUR PUT-ME-DOWN'S
Tranquilizers and calmatives will prevent your body from restoring its Happy Messengers. Unlike Pick-Me-Up's, which can usually be taken in modest amounts without harm, Put-Me-Down's should be avoided altogether.
By reducing your stress load, stabilizing your blood sugar, improving your diet, avoiding allergies, and getting some exercise, you will find you will not want tranquilizers and calmatives.
Before stopping any prescription medicine, however, always, check with your doctor. We do not want you to accidentally stop a heart medicine or anti-epilepsy medication. Also, many of the Put-Me-Down's must be tapered down slowly, rather than stopped abruptly. Ask your doctor before you make any change in medication.
(If someone has given you Put-Me-Down's to help you sleep, particularly the ones in the Valium family, you may have a real problem stopping them. They are best tapered off very slowly, and under medical supervision. Even then, the withdrawal symptoms from these drugs are very unpleasant. The chief withdrawal symptoms is inability to sleep, and vivid disturbing dreams. If you try to stop them on your own, you may experience sleeplessness that is worse than ever! Then you may erroneously conclude that you need more, not less of the Put-Me-Down! It is very easy to be trapped by Put-Me-Down's.)
If the Ten Simple Steps are Not Enough
If you have done all of the preceding and still have significant symptoms of OVERSTRESS:
• Fatigue
• Aches and pains
• Anxiety
• Problems sleeping
• Lack of enjoyment of life
• Depression
THEN IT IS TIME YOU OBTAINED SOME ASSISTANCE...
VISIT YOUR DOCTOR
OVERSTRESS that you can not clear up yourself may be the earliest warning sign of some hidden illness.
• Thyroid disease
• Calcium imbalance (too much or too little)
• Anemia
• Diabetes
• Manic-depression (Bi-polar disorder)
• Liver disease
• Kidney malfunction
• Vitamin deficiency
• Hormone deficiency
These are examples of physical illnesses that you might not be aware of - but which cause enough stress on your body to create OVERSTRESS.
Your doctor should do a thorough history, and a complete physical examination, including tests on blood and urine. The automated blood testing machines can do a complete blood count, as well as measure your thyroid function, liver enzymes, kidney function, calcium and phosphorus, iron and blood sugar for a very reasonable price.
So, if your symptoms are not getting better with the TEN SIMPLE STEPS -- be sure to see your doctor.
ELIMINATE FOODS WHICH CAUSE BAD REACTIONS
If a certain food makes you wheeze, or gives you a stuffy nose, or diarrhea, or red itchy bumps on your skin, you should obviously avoid that food. Any allergic reaction of this type is a stress on your body which will contribute to your OVERSTRESS.
There is another type of food reaction you should avoid. ANY FOOD THAT YOU CRAVE OR BINGE is a brain active food. You are craving or binging it because it is directly affecting your brain. Most of the time these are foods which contain the Pick-Me-Up's, sugar or caffeine. But sometimes the substance in the food is corn, milk, or yeast protein. Many people have sensitivity reactions to corn, milk, or yeast containing products. The protein in these substances directly affect brain messenger function. If, by this point in the book, you are STILL not feeling well, try a corn-free, milk-free and/or yeast-free diet.
Checklist for Handling Overstress
REDUCE YOUR STRESS LOAD:
-----Reduce the pace of change in your life.
-----Reduce the social obligations.
-----Reduce work or school obligations.
-----Postpone changes in your living situation
-----Say "No" more often.
-----Eliminate possible food or environmental allergens.
-----Reduce environmental toxins.
GET OFF THE "ROLLER COASTER":
-----Diet: Take a multivitamin, mineral, trace element preparation; stabilize your blood sugar; eat more vegetables.
-----Exercise: Twenty minutes to two hours, three times a week.
-----Stop Your Pick-Me-Up's (consult your physician)
-----Stop Your Put-Me-Down's (consult your physician)
DO A "REST FOR YOUR MIND" ACTIVITY:
-----Exercise
-----Recreational reading, arts, crafts, music,
-----Dance
-----Meditation
-----Yoga
-----Biofeedback
-----Self-Hypnosis
-----Religious counseling
HELP YOUR BODY CLOCK RE-SET ITSELF:
-----Set regular sleep times
-----Avoid time zone shifts or rapid changes in your work shift
-----Use daylight spectrum fluorescent lights to set your body clock's "awake time".
VISIT A PHYSICIAN
-----Check for hidden illness
VISIT A COUNSELOR
-----Obtain help with self relaxation and general psychological counseling.
IF YOU JUST CAN NOT MAKE ENOUGH HAPPY MESSENGERS:
-----Have your doctor prescribe for you a brain chemical re-balancer
THREE RULES TO PERMANENTLY CONQUER OVERSTRESS
RULE ONE: LEARN TO READ YOUR BODY SIGNS
Learn to check your body frequently for signs of OVERSTRESS. Watch for the telltale disturbances in your sleep pattern, as this is usually the earliest sign of OVERSTRESS.
You must learn to read your body signs in much the same way as the diabetic learns the early warning signs of abnormal blood sugar. In order to cope successfully with diabetes, the diabetic has to learn to read his body's signals. If he has a constant thirst, fatigue and excessive urination.
Cheers
Prof.Lakshman