Feeling stressed? Join the club. For a growing number of people across the globe, stress has become a way of life —so much so that people are starting to refer to it as an epidemic.
A global workplace poll found that 6 out of 10 workers worldwide have experienced a rise in stress levels at work over the past 2 years . 75% of Americans polled in an American Psychological Association survey reported experiencing significant levels of stress. In Australia, 91% of adults report feeling stressed, with nearly half saying they experience extreme stress in at least one area of life. And 74% of respondents to a British survey say they’ve been stressed beyond their ability to cope.
Do a quick Google search and you’ll find many, many more equally scary stress statistics. And, you’ll notice a couple of alarming patterns:
- Stress levels are rising year by year across the globe, and
- High levels of stress are literally making people sick.
That’s very interesting. Because global levels of autoimmune illness are also on the rise. Could there be a connection?
Stress and Autoimmune Disease
Dig even deeper into the research, and you’ll quickly see that the answer is a resounding YES. While many factors contribute to the development of autoimmune illness, studies consistently reveal a link between autoimmune disease and stress. Some researchers believe that stress may actually be the ultimate cause of autoimmune disease in many cases.
Check out these revealing facts:
- Up to 80% of autoimmune patients report unusual emotional stress before the onset of disease
- People with a stress-related disorder are 150% more likely to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease within a year, and more likely to develop multiple autoimmune illnesses
- Stress has been linked to a 36% greater chance of developing 41 types of autoimmune illness
Whether or not your autoimmune illness was initially triggered by stress, you’ve most likely noticed that stress will almost always make your symptoms worse. Some of the effects of stress on the body and mind include:
- Fatigue
- Muscle tension, leading to injury, pain, and/or headaches
- Impaired digestion
- Shallow or abnormal breathing, which starves the cells of oxygen and can contribute to asthma or panic attacks
- Increased heart rate and/or blood pressure, increasing risk of heart disease
- Hormonal imbalance, which can open the door to a whole slew of unpleasant symptoms
- Compromised immune system
- Low sex drive
- Menstrual difficulties
- And more
Having an autoimmune disease is stressful in itself. Pain is a very common autoimmune symptom, and a significant source of stress. Uncertainty, such as having an undiagnosed condition, not knowing whether a treatment will work or not, or being “doc blocked” can also create feelings of stress.
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Breaking the Autoimmune Stress Cycle
In our decades of clinical practice, we have found stress management to be one of the most critical things you can do to overcome autoimmune illness.
If you are familiar with The Hache Protocol for Pain Resolution™, you know that we’ve included stress management as one of the 5 key interactive elements necessary to break free of chronic pain forever. Whether or not you are experiencing pain, dealing with stress is absolutely essential if you want to get better from any autoimmune condition.
If you have an autoimmune disease, we urge you to take stress seriously—and find ways to reduce the stress load on your body and mind.
Stress Solutions for Autoimmune Illness
One approach that may help you as you learn to de-stress is to consider that stress can occur on many levels: emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical.
Breathing exercises are a great place to start reducing stress, because the breath touches upon all of these areas. Here is a very easy breathing exercise to melt away stress fast:
Easy 1 Minute Power De-Stress
- Sit or lie down in a quiet spot.
- Place one hand on your abdomen, and the other on your chest.
- Inhale deeply through your nose. Allow your belly to push your hand away. If your other hand doesn’t move, you’re doing it right.
- Exhale fully through pursed lips.
- Breathe slowly in and out 5-10 times.
- You can do this exercise virtually anywhere, and it’s simple enough even a child can learn to do it. But don’t underestimate how effective it can be at bringing your stress levels down fast!
In addition to breathing exercises, try finding stress management techniques you enjoy in each of the four areas. For example:
- Emotional stress management techniques can include things like time with pets, journaling, positive thinking, and practicing self-love.
- Some examples of mental stress management techniques are mindfulness training, time management and planning, and cognitive reframing techniques.
- Spiritually, many of our patients have found practices such as prayer and meditation deeply relaxing and rewarding, and highly effective against stress.
- Finally, there are stress management techniques that involve the body. For example, each of the other elements of the Hache Protocol (nutrition, fitness, sleep, and microcurrent) offer opportunities to reduce stress physically. (We’ll talk more about the importance of these in this month’s blogs, so stay tuned for more stress reduction suggestions!)
Try Our Stress Support Kit!
Just trying to figure out how to de-stress can be stressful in itself! Especially when it comes to nutritional support.
If you’d like to try an effective, natural, herbal autoimmune stress management protocol without spending hours researching stress supplements online, please check out our Sana Therapeutics Stress Relief Kit. We’ve hand-selected this exclusive supplement bundle specifically to help people with autoimmune and chronic pain.
It consists of our popular Stress Relief tea that not only will help you relax, but also tastes great! As well as a specially selected supplements formulated to help support your body’s adrenal foundation, which not only helps you cope with stress, but also works to help you build the foundation your body needs to heal from chronic pain and autoimmune conditions – the best part? Not only is it effective, but its extremely affordable.
Want More Free Tips for Autoimmune Healing?
If you’ve enjoyed this article, we’ve got good news: there’s more! Our latest free e-book, Autoimmune Solutions, is an expanded version of this article, including specific remedies and protocols to help you manage and even overcome autoimmune disease, no matter how long you’ve been struggling with it.
STRESS LEVELS ARE RISING WORLDWIDESTRESS FACTShttps://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-stress
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/autoimmune-disease-and-stress-is-there-a-link-2018071114230
https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body
