Stress has been featured prominently in the news as a major health epidemic for some years now and this situation continues to worsen as an increasing number of workers report they are increasingly suffering stress in the workplace. In fact work now constitutes the leading environment for the development of stress among adult Americans. But stress levels have also been rising for children and teenagers in recent years and a lot of people now link this to a loss of family and religious values, a lack of social support and simple corporate greed.

Stress these days is far more dangerous than it was just ten years ago and seems to be more prevalent and more invasive than before with much greater stress coming from psychological instead of physical threats.

Stress causes a rise in heart rate and greater blood flow leading to higher blood pressure. Levels of blood sugar also increase to give the body the extra fuel which it needs to fight stress and the body is designed to push blood away from the stomach when we are stressed in order to provide extra strength for the legs and arms as part of what is often called our "flight or fight" response.

Stress also leads to anxiety and chronic depression as well as to skin and gastrointestinal problems and disrupts the working of a number of our main organs. It also causes impairment of the body's immune system so that it in unable to fight off viral disorders from the not especially serious cold to very serious conditions like cancer and AIDS.

Work related stress directly influences things like productivity and employee absenteeism and the business climate increasingly worsens with competition today at an all-time high. The pressure placed on workers to produce and the continual worry about job security can result in a host of conditions including neck pain, back pain, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, ulcers and heart attacks.

Many different things can cause stress including simply sitting in front of a computer for six hours every day or more, meeting deadlines or having somebody continually watching you. Here the results are frequently seen as depression and a number of physical complaints which result in lost work time.

Taking the steps to manage the stress in your life may well be the nicest gift you can give yourself and just a few quite simple alterations to your lifestyle can make a big difference to how you handle stress. For instance, taking just 20 minutes out of your day to walk will lower your level of stress as will talking to other people, prayer and meditation and following a healthy diet. Take the time necessary to master a few relaxation techniques because deep breathing and relaxation exercises can do a great deal to reduce your level of stress.