stressMoodSleep
The 3 Phases of Stress
Each year, more than 19 million people are affected by stress and anxiety-related conditions in the United States. Less than one third of those 19 million people seek direct help for their stress. Addressing issues of stress when treating a patient can serve as an opportunity to greatly improve that patient’s health and happiness. When stress is not addressed properly it can become expensive to treat. An estimated 75-90% of doctor visits are stress-related. Disorders related to stress cost the U.S. more than $42 billion annually. The Property and Casualty Insurance Edition estimates that $150 billion in productivity in the workplace is lost due to issues related to stress. Habits such as absenteeism, poor decision making, mental illness and substance abuse are often side effects of an individual’s inability to cope with stress.
Stress response can be categorized into three distinct phases:
Phase 1: Acute, non-recurring and mild response
Acute, non-recurring stress is the mildest form of stress. In this phase, the patient suffers from stress for a short time, but is not incapacitated by it. The patient will need support, but they are able to function normally.
Phase 2: Acute, recurring and poor recovery
In the second phase of stress, patients have stress that is acute, recurring and they experience extended recovery time. Their sleep can become affected and they may be feeling anxious. If that is the case, it is advisable to perform lab tests to evaluate cortisol levels.
Phase 3: Chronic, prominent symptoms and poor recovery The third stage of stress causes the patient to suffer from chronic, prominent symptoms with poor recovery time. A four point cortisol test would clearly reveal adrenal fatigue in this patient. The patient may also exhibit unusual sleep patterns, sleep apnea and excessive fatigue. Short-term memory will also likely be affected.
The webinar and white paper below review various botanicals that are effective options for each of the 3 phases of stress response.
Webinar : Botanical Strategies to Address Three Phases of Stress Response
Download webinar Recorded April 17, 2012. Presented by Dr. Beverly Yates, ND
This webinar reviews botanical medicines that demonstrate effective support for restoring an altered stress response. Stress is an unavoidable part of modern life, and a person’s long term health can be harmed by a compromised response to stress. Patients whose health is impacted by stress can benefit from specific botanical support. In the webinar, the three phases of the stress response covered include: the acute stress phase, the chronic stress phase and the decompensation phase.
Quiz
After reviewing the material on Botanicals for the 3 Phases of Stress Response, take the quiz to test your knowledge! After successful completion of the quiz, you can print out a Certificate of Achievement for your records.