Stress occurs when you have more demands than you can easily handle. Stress may be caused by either positive or negative experiences. Stress may be caused by relationships, work or other situations and responsibilities. When under stress, your body will react by releasing chemicals to provide extra energy and strength. This reaction is helpful if the stress is caused by physical danger. If this reaction occurs often over a long period of time however, this reaction can be harmful.

54 percent of Americans are concerned about the level of stress in their everyday lives. 62 percent of Americans say work has a significant impact on stress levels. 73 percent of Americans name money as the number one factor that affects their stress level. Increasing numbers of children, teenagers and college students report feeling under stress. 25 percent of workers have taken a day off from work to cope with stress. 66 percent of Americans say they are likely to seek help for stress. Highly stressed teenagers are twice as likely to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs.

Common types of stress include internal stress, environmental stress and the stress that occurs from fatigue and overwork. Internal stress is caused by worrying about things you have no control over. Environmental stress may be caused by situations that too much noise, or crowds or negative people. Stress from fatigue and overwork often builds over time. Working too much or too hard may be the cause although poor time management or lack of relaxation time may contribute.

Stress causes your body to prepare for danger. The physical and chemical changes include a rise in blood pressure, increased breathing and perspiration, increased heart rate, and dilated (enlarged) pupils. In other words, your body goes on high alert. This response is known as the “fight-or-flight” response. The fight reaction prepares you to fight an intruder. The flight reaction prepares you to run or hide. Your body will stay on high alert until the danger passes.

Problems occur when your body stays on high alert. Exhaustion is the result. Damage to the body’s organs is also possible. Health problems linked to stress include high blood pressure, heart problems, asthma, and muscle pain. Stress can also cause emotional problems, such as anxiety or depression and damage relationships with your friends, family, and coworkers.

Chronic stress can lead to numerous physical and mental problems such as increasing worry or anxiety, or even panic attacks. Appetite or sleep changes may also result. Nervous habits such as biting nails, grinding of teeth, twitching or pacing are often symptoms of stress as are difficulty thinking clearly, difficulty making decisions or mood changes. One of two of these problems does not indicate severe stress, but those having a number of these symptoms may be under more stress than they know.

Both long and short term solutions are required to manage stress effectively. To convince your body to relax a little, do something physical. If you can, walk away from the stressful situation even if it’s only briefly. Or breathe in and out deeply a few times. Take a quick walk outside, or splash some water in your face. Doing something physical can break up the stress briefly.

Managing stress on a long term basis may mean planning and organizing your life to avoid those situations that put you under maximum stress. Some stress however, like major life events is unavoidable. In these cases the only thing you can control is your reaction. To cope with long-term stress, make sure you stay strong and healthy. Stress is easier to prevent and cope with when you’ve done your part to have a healthy lifestyle. Other coping mechanisms, like those listed above are also very useful.

Anxiety and depression are two separate conditions. The exact relationship between the two is still under study.

Even though its very common to find them together, any direct relationship to each other has yet to be found. For the time being, the relationship between anxiety and depression is often referred to as comorbidity.

Meaning unrelated but co-existing. Their symptoms can overlap each other, which can make the initial diagnosis of either condition difficult. The symptoms can also be completely independent of each other.

A study by the National Comorbidity Survey reported that 58% of patients suffering major depression also exhibited lifetime anxiety. Agitated depression and akathitic depression are most often referred to when supporting these results.

Both of these depressed states exhibit anxiety with heightened restlessness, suicidal thoughts or tendencies and a general sense of dread. While agitated depression includes symptoms of nonclinical and nonspecific panic, akathitic depression doesnt.

Even mild anxiety symptoms are being found to have an impact on the course depression takes in individuals.

A study at the University of Pittsburg showed patients diagnosed with depression and also suffering lifetime panic symptoms experienced significant delays in the success of their treatments.

These patients also exhibited additional problems when facing the resumption of their normal activities.

There are theories regarding the possibility that depression acts similar to anxiety in attempting to encourage avoidance of potentially harmful situations. Anxiety tries to avoid and prepare for physical danger, while depression tries to avoid emotional or psychological danger.

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders people experience. The anxiety disorder is an umbrella term for several different types of abnormal, alleviating anxiety, fear, phobia and nervousness which can occur in an instant or progressively, within a course of several years and may hinder or avert the effective performance for normal day-to-day routines.

The chief characteristic of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is excessive and irrepressible concern regarding daily matters. This constant concern can cause a negative impact on daily functioning and result to physical symptoms. GAD is usually difficult to diagnose since it lacks some of the dramatic symptoms, like spontaneous panic attacks that happen along with other anxiety disorders. To clearly diagnose generalized anxiety disorder, the symptoms must occur often for a minimum of six months.

Some common generalized anxiety disorder symptoms are:

- Extreme anxiety and concern, often occurring within a course of six months on several events and activities. Those suffering from GAD can find it hard to control the anxiety and worry.

- The anxiety and worry are associated with symptoms such as restlessness or feeling tense or on the edge, easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating or mind going blank, irritability, muscle tension and muscle aches, difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep, difficulty swallowing, trembling, sweating, nausea, light-headedness, feeling out of breath

- The center of anxiety and worry does not occur, and not limited to, having panic attacks, public embarrassment, being contaminated, weight gain, having many physical ailments, or having a serious illness, and the anxiety and worry doesn’t happen mainly for post traumatic disorder.

- The person suffers clinically indicative distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other significant areas of daily activities due to the anxiety, worry and physical symptoms.

- Certain physiological causes like substance and drug abuse, along with medical conditions, are not the direct reason for the anxiety, and does not occur exclusively during a mood disorder, a psychotic disorder, or a prevalent developmental disorder.

For people with mild levels of generalized anxiety disorder, keeping a job and performing daily and routine tasks are possible. On the other hand, those with severe levels can find it difficult to perform even the simplest daily activity, although they don’t avoid certain situations because of their disorder.

Common treatments used against generalized anxiety disorder include prescribed medications and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Among the many prescription drugs used to treat anxiety disorders are benzodiazepines and antidepressants, and Quetiapine.