Real Estate Triggering Mental Breakdowns!

The real estate meltdown is doing more than causing people to lose their homes or their money - in some cases they're losing their mental stability and even their families. Divorce is becoming a side-effect of the housing crisis.

New reports are showing that this new, widespread stress is causing a condition that is not unlike post traumatic stress disorder, called PTSD.

Typically, PTSD is believed to be caused from witnessing a life-threatening event. Many veterans suffer from this due to events they witnessed in war time. But it turns out that it can also be brought on by what I refer to as the "What if" syndrome.

People who fear becoming homeless can experience depression and anxiety that is just as debilitating as if the event actually happened. Some psychologists call this "catastrophizing." Sufferers magnify the negative possibilities until they become as traumatized as if the events actually happened.

Of course homeowners aren't the only ones affected. Real estate sales people whose income depends upon selling homes are also suffering today. This is so common that the National Association of Realtors now has a "Field Guide to Stress Management" page on their web site.

What can you do? Do your best to focus on the good things happening in your life, and not on imagining the worst. As Mark Twain said: "Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it."

Work at reducing your stress so you can see things in a realistic light. Along with exercise, meditation, deep breathing, and other activities that let that negative energy go, keep a bottle of Feel5ive handy to settle you down if you start getting tense and upset.

Since each of the Bach Flower Essences addresses a different emotional upset, you may also want to study the Bach Flower Essences guide. Problems which may have been minor before the crisis can become major with this added stress.

Once you've made your choices, come back to FeelBach! for your custom blend.

Is the Economy Making You Sick?

Tonight I read a report that said a Stanford University study found that 95% of all illness was caused by stress.

Not by germs floating in the air or some hereditary predisposition, but by stress.

Thus, worry over the economy - even if you're secure in your own employment or other source of income - could be making you sick.

Normally, I'd think that a generalized stress should be treated with Feel5ive, because it has helped me through so many difficult situations. But this ongoing climate of stress could trigger an intensification of other energy imbalances. These should be treated before they lead to illness.

For instance, a person in the negative Aspen state already deals with uneasiness and fears that take no concrete shape. The uncertainty in today's economy could serve to intensify these fears.

The negative Beech state, in which a person disapproves of and blames everything and everyone around him, has a tendency to cause digestive illness. Now, at a time when even formerly tolerant individuals are pointing fingers at everyone from politicians to corporate executives, this kind of illness could become common.

To ward off stress-induced illness during these unsettling times, I think we should all either take the FeelBach! questionnaire, or study the qualities of each of the 38 Bach Flower Essences. Then we should take steps to keep ourselves healthy and stress-free.

After all, we can't individually "fix" the economy - but we can individually care for ourselves and do all in our power to remain healthy.

When stress CAUSES disease!

Stress and worry over falling revenues is everywhere in this economy - except in the medical practices of those who treat stress-related disease.

Dermatologists, for instance. While consumers are pulling back on non-essential services such as liposuction and botox injections, dermatologists are still seeing an increase in business.

Why? Adult acne, eczema, and warts are all becoming more and more common.

These conditions are all caused by glitches in the immune system, because the nervous system and hormone systems work together. Extreme stress causes a rise in cortisol, which in turn causes a breakout. Where once that was a rare occurrence, now many are suffering from those cortisol spikes every day - perhaps more than once.

These skin problems can, of course, be counteracted with prescription drugs and over the counter remedies containing salicylic acid, glycolic acid, cortisone, and benzoyl peroxide. A cortisone injection at a dermatologist's office can also help - when you need to look your best for a public appearance or an important interview.

Some doctors, recognizing that drugs are not the only solution, are recommending stress relieving measures such as yoga and meditation or strenuous physical activity like racquetball or weight lifting.

Personally, when I feel stress creeping up, I take a 2-pronged approach. I get outdoors - either to walk or work in the yard. Pulling weeds is definitely a de-stress exercise for me!

But first, when I know I'll be faced with a stressful situation or when everyday happenings start to wear on me, I take Feel5ive - the stress relief remedy from FeelBach!

For a known stress situation, I start the night before, take it again in the morning, and again just before whatever I know is going to try to "attack" me. This works well for me when I will be traveling on icy roads, visiting the dentist, or even going into a meeting whose outcome is important to me.

If something sneaks up on me - like a jolt of unsettling news that I wasn't expecting - I reach for the Feel5ive before I let myself react.

The result - people ask me how I can stay "so cool."

When Stress Intesnsifies Disease...

Stress seems to be the watchword of our times - triggered by everything from health issues to economic woes, to fear over the state of world politics.

And while some react predictably by becoming irritable, snappish, and ultimately suffering from high blood pressure, others react with physical symptoms not immediately attributed to stress.

Take, for instance, the gentleman who, after 2 years, didn't get over his bout with the flu. When the major symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea finally faded, he continued to experience headaches, fatigue, stomach cramps, nausea, bloating, gas, loss of appetite, serious weight loss and more. It didn't feel good to eat, so he quit - then eating irregularly caused more problems - the intestines just don't react well in that situation. So, the problem took on a life of its own.

Because this worried him, he began going to doctors and undergoing one test after another, becoming more and more stressed over the thought that he could have a serious illness. Finally the doctors diagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome. They did recognize that stress was contributing greatly to this man's ever escalating medical distress, so prescribed anti-anxiety medication. But he won't take it because he fears the side effects of prescription drugs even more than he fears his present condition.

I wish I could talk to this man. I'd suggest Bach Flower Essences, starting with the Feel5ive formula for stress. Had he been taking it two years ago when all this started, his original stomach virus would likely be a distant memory.

More Ways to Banish Holiday Stress

Stress really can be a joy-killer, so you owe it to yourself to do all you can to banish it.

One good way is meditation. You don't have to be formal about it, or follow any rules. You don't even have to sit cross-legged on the floor. Just settle down in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, and begin to relax.

To clear your mind of all distracting thoughts, concentrate on numbers. Visualize the number 3, then take a deep breath and as you slowly exhale, see the 3 and say "three" in your mind 3 times. Then do the same with 2 and 1.

Take a few more deep breaths while repeating the word "relax" a few times.

Now, while taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly, count down from 10 to 1.

Next, concentrate on feeling your body parts relax. Some people start with their toes and work their way to the top of their heads. I like to do it the opposite. As you concentrate on feeling, you automatically shift your attention away from whatever had gotten you wound up. Believe me, it feels wonderful!

Once you're completely relaxed, just sit there and feel how good it feels. When you're ready to stop, you can count back up from 1 to 5 while telling yourself that "At the count of 5 I will open my eyes and be wide awake and feeling better than I felt before."

The next two methods are so simple that many refuse to believe that they'll work. But they do.

When something is really eating at you, take it out on paper. Write down all your feelings - telling the absolute truth because no one but you will ever see this. Be angry, hurt, resentful - whatever is the truth. When you have it all out, crumple up the paper and burn it. This method, known as "write and burn," works incredibly well to release anger.

When you're in a social situation and can neither meditate nor write and burn, take a breath and let it out in a sigh while shifting your eyes toward the heavens. This releases pent-up negative energy.

Using these methods along with Feel5ive, or a custom blend created just for you, will help you to enjoy the entire holiday season - perhaps more than you've enjoyed it since childhood.

Using Bach Flowers for summer colds

Summer colds are always a puzzle - why now, when the weather is hot and we're no longer closed up in rooms with other people who are sneezing and blowing?

The answer could lie in our own mental and emotional states.

According to the book, Heal Your Body, by Louise Hay, colds are a result of mental confusion and disorder - too much going on at once and focusing on small hurts. Since summer is often a time of frantic activity, and asking ourselves to do more than anyone should try to accomplish in a day, that could explain summer colds.

Parents of school-age children are under tremendous pressure to make sure the kids enjoy the summer, stay productive, and stay out of trouble. And all of us want to try to find a little time for ourselves to enjoy warm weather activities. We may even feel some duty to host BBQ parties or go boating with out of town visitors. All that adds extra duties to an already full life.

The result - we can begin to feel inadequate, like we're the only ones who can't seem to manage it all smoothly and effortlessly. Of course that's nonsense, but we're always more critical of ourselves than of anyone else.

I think a good cure for summer colds would be to use the questionnaire at Feel Bach! and start working on those emotional weak spots that summer brings into full play. In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do - and then maybe my rotten summer cold will go away.

Now thatI figured that out, I wonder if there's a cure (other than mayhem) for a disobedient cat who insists on landing in the middle of my paperwork every few minutes. I've dumped her on the floor 3 times since I started this note to you.