First of all, let me say to Jude that I am really sorry to hear about Dave. My
prayers are with you.
Stress - what a difficult topic. As I mentioned in a previous e-mail, I have
gone through 3 different illnesses that I believe are all related (auto-immune
problems). All I can say is that stress has made all the symptoms/residuals
(whatever you want to call them) worse. Just when I think things are getting
better, a bunch of stresses hit and then everything seems to go to
hell-in-a-handbasket. So we all know that stress is a bad thing.
Some suggestions that I try to use for pain relief also seem to help with
stress. These include:
· Visual imagery and distraction: Imagery involves concentrating on
mental pictures of pleasant scenes or events or mentally repeating positive
words or phrases to reduce pain.
Distraction techniques focus your attention away from negative or painful
images to
positive mental thoughts. This may include activities as simple as watching
television or a favorite movie, reading a book or listening to a book on tape,
listening to music, or talking to a friend.
* Age progression/regression: Use your mind’s eye to project yourself
forward or backward in time to when you
are pain-free (or stress-free) or experiencing much less pain (or stress). Then
instruct yourself to act
"as if" this image were true.
I know that at first I thought this was a bit lame, the old mind over matter
silliness, but it can help some. As others have said, I also place a lot of
importance on faith and prayer. I beieve very strongly that God loves us, and
talking to Him helps a lot.
Just some thoughts - Roger in Kennewick, WA
