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Prescriptions For Stress |
| Prescriptions Stress Home | Welcome to Prescriptions for Stress! I'm Cori Chong.
The goal of this website is to empower you with resources and information useful in recovering your life from the negative effects of Chronic Stress. We are setting out to do that by providing you with the latest (and oldest) techniques and information for combating stress and overcoming the nations leading cause of illness. Whether you are dealing with a life change due to death or divorce, a stressful job situation, or a you are a soldier returning from battle, the effects of stress can be keeping you from living the life you were meant to live. I'm not a doctor, but I have walked the road of recovery myself from debilitating stress. Through my personal experience I can make suggestions and provide enlightening information and the rest is up to you. Ten years ago I knew nothing about adaptogens like Korean Red Ginseng and Ashwagandha. I learned that Vitamin B replenishment was essential to the body and many many other things. And I also became enlightened about meditation and biofeedback, and I renewed my own faith. All of these things are extremely helpful, but I didn't find out about them through the doctors office. I was left to find the solutions on my own. So through the information in these pages I am offering you prescriptions for stress, but it will be up to you to pursue them and to care enough about yourself to apply them. Knowing things is not enough, you have to take action on them! You have to find the things that work for you, and some things will be trial and error. But remember, recovery from stress doesn't usually come overnight. Sometimes it can take years and it requires a life style change, because no matter what "prescriptions" you take, without a change of lifestyle...you will end up in the same spot again in a short time. I speak from my own painful experience. Prescriptions come in many forms. Some are chemical and are filled by a pharmacist, some are spiritual and come from above and within. Some are rituals that allow the body and spirit to heal over time. For some it will take all of these to heal your body and mind from the effects of chronic stress. We wish you well on your journey to recovery and a quality of life that you and your family deserve! Let the learning begin! Good News for soldiers returning from battle- Dod News Thursday, May 15, 2008 Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008 8:32 AM CDT Jacqueline M. Hames | Army News Service WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the Army's recent fight to reduce the stigma of seeking and receiving treatment for combat stress, the latest weapon is telepsychiatry. A leading Army doctor talked about the psychological effects of war to psychiatrists from around the world at the Washington Convention Center. The lecture was part of the 161st American Psychiatric Association annual meeting May 6. Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general and director of the Proponency for Behavioral Health, discussed the importance of caring for Soldiers throughout their deployment cycle. "Another thing that we are doing a lot of is telemedicine - telepyschiatry - that can be very effective in certain circumstances," Ritchie said. Telepsychiatry puts the therapist and patient into a secure, one-on-one, Web-based videoconference. It can also be conducted over the phone with no video feed, but with phone connections sometimes unreliable in theater, Ritchie said face-to-face consultations are preferred. However, telemedicine projects psychological health services into remote locations, Ritchie said, enabling more Soldiers to have access to quality care. Ritchie's lecture, titled the "Psychological Effects of War: From the Battlefront to the Home Front and Back Again," emphasized the need to reduce the stigma of behavioral health. "Yes, it does exist," Ritchie said, noting the prevalence of stigma throughout the Army and civilian worlds. One of the simplest ways of reducing stigma is to change the way psychological health is talked about. "We've gone away from the term 'mental health' to either behavioral health or psychological health, trying to reduce the stigma," Ritchie said. Awareness and support of both the Soldier and his or her family includes psychological preparation before and during deployment as well as easy access to quality treatment before, during and after deployment, Ritchie explained. Helping family, friends and fellow Soldiers better understand the needs individuals have with behavioral health issues all help to reduce stigma, she said. The Army is managing to reduce stigma through educational products, Ritchie said. Products for children and families, including educational DVDs, help them understand what a Soldier is going through and how to cope with any problems that may occur when the Soldier returns. Ritchie emphasized access to quality psychological care throughout the deployment cycle is important. Caring for the Soldier's needs includes treatment from medical professionals as well as the support of other Soldiers and leadership in the field, she explained. "I cannot endorse enough what (Ritchie) said about stigma," said Patrick White, a psychiatrist from Alberta, Canada, "I think stigma is one of the big barriers for Soldiers getting treatment. In Canada, we see a lot of it and we find that stigma socially isolates the troops." The Army trains leadership to recognize symptoms of behavioral health problems so they can provide the Soldier with help as quickly as possible. "Buddy aid," or a Soldier's understanding and awareness of symptoms in their fellow troops, also helps reduce the frequency of suicide and depression by easing the strain on relationships an individual may have, Ritchie said. Click Here to get help now!
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