Adrenalin and Stress [Paperback]

Although Mr. Hart is a Christian, it isn't until the last chapter that he writes about Christianity's effect on reducing stress. This is intentionally and effectively done. Nonetheless, I found this book incredibly informative with lots of practical advice well explained. I immediately realized why it took me the first four days of a vacation to settle down and why I tend to have a stress headache on most saturdays. I have intentionally tried a few of his suggestions and they work. I recommend this book to anyone, especially those who have been accused of being type A. I am not type A and I am a Christian. I found this book very enjoyable.

When I began experiencing bizarre physical symptoms several years ago, I began getting very frightened. Cancer? MS? Lupus? Brain tumor?

Test after medical test showed me to be quite healthy, with no discernable problems. When doctors suggested "stress," I dismissed it as a junk diagnosis, thinking "why don't you just say you don't know instead of blaming stress for everything." Turns out, though, that they were right.

Stress is much, much worse for us than previously imagined. It does not just affect us primarily mentally or with the occassional headache or indigestion...it can profoundly alter our body to the point of near disability. I know -- because it has happened to me.

This book came as a godsend in helping me understand what was happening to my body, and why. It was the book that opened my eyes to the connection between stress and the adrenal glands, and the profound affect that prolonged exposure to stress can have on our hormonal system. Many physicians poo-poo the idea that the adrenals can eventually become exhausted because they reason that adrenaline goes up (not down) when the body is under stress. Hart shows that while such reasoning is correct, it is only half correct. Eventually, the body can no longer sustain the continual demand for over-production of adrenaline and the body will crash. When that happens, the physical results are profoundly severe.

Although Hart spends less time in the book dealing with the most serious stage of stress exhaustion - adrenal depletion - he was the first author that alerted me to this very real condition, and hence helped me on my journey to finding out what was wrong and how to get much-needed help for recovery from a debilitating condition.

Most have been conditioned to believe that stress will only manifest itself as eventual coronary problems. While this is true for some people - the heart attack out of the blue - there are a host of other physical symptoms that while perhaps not life-threatening, can render a person's quality of life completely destroyed. There is a significant body of evidence, for example, to show that chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are simply the body's response to prolonged, chronic, unresolved stress.

I believe that anyone who deals with stress - from mild to severe - will benefit from this book. Knowing the dangers and warning signals of too much stress are vitally important in today's ultra-demanding pace of life.

My only critique is that I wished he would have discussed the concept of adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion in more detail. However, that topic is adequately addressed in other books - particularly "Chronic Fatigue Unmasked" by Gerald Poesnecker.

Well informed, somewhat technical read. Teaches what stress really is and the impact on our whole life: physical, emotional, personal, professional. Helps one to learn to calm down and handle difficulties with more finesse by being more aware of our blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety level, etc. The result? When practiced properly: happiness has room to grow as well as peace of mind and deeper confidence/competence in meeting deadlines and many of the endless demands upon us.

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