When was the last time you were overcome and cried; "I cannot handle it!" "It is all this stress!" "If I just had less stress, I would be able to survive!" Or when was the last time a well-meaning, but an uncaring friend told you, “if it doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger?” But what about those times when it felt like the stress might kill you?

Stress can and will hurt you in many ways. It can hurt you physically. Stress can lead to increased rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Stress can hurt you emotionally. Stress can cause chronic anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or a nervous breakdown. Stress can hurt you socially. Stress can destroy relationships, be the cause of family conflict, be a significant factor in a divorce, and lead to cultural clashes and war.

Stress can hurt you financially. It is tempting to try to spend your way out of a stressful situation or gamble away what you have in an attempt to lessen financial stress. Stress can lead to addictions or obsessions that eventually only create more stress. You can not improve your ability to deal with stress through food, drugs, alcohol, excessive work, gambling, gaming, or increased screen time. Uncontrolled stress is a monster!

Would you like to be less controlled by destructive stress? Would you like to get stronger even in stressful times?

Yes, stress is a potent force, and if given a chance, it will kill you. Stress is also uncontrollable and unpredictable. We would love to have the superpower ability to eliminate the destructive stress coming our way, but that will never happen. No matter how wise and strong you are, you will never be able to hide from stress. Stress is universal; you will face some form of it today. You will never know how significant or what variety, but you will encounter stress today. Be prepared! You cannot alter your environment to eliminate stress, but if you know what to look for, you can be ready to deal with it effectively.

To get a handle on stress, we must understand what it is and then what strategies are adequate to deal with it. Practical approaches to control stress differ based on the cause of the stress. In this book, I explore what I have observed in the lives of thousands of patients to be the five primary sources of stress and some valuable stress management strategies.