Book-length Review

I found this book, The Stress Cure , in the public library while looking for one to read for the book-length assignment. The author, Vern S. Cherewatenko, M.D., is a family physician who has founded and started many organizations and programs that help patients with a variety of health issuess. Cherewatenko says that he has "introduced hundreds of women to The Stress Cure and helped them balance their lives"(7) and that "Within days of starting The Stress Cure, they felt as though a mysterious veil of gloom had been lifted" (7). This book starts by discussing the term of stress, and the effects stress can have on your body in the first four chapters. As it gives you the facts, such as women have more stress than men, it also gives little statements Cherewatenko's patients have described to him over his career that all relate. One example is, "I find myself lashing out at things, people and situations that I shouldn't even be upset about" (14). The seven steps then start with chapter 5, going through the end of the book at chapter 10. The steps consist of: 1.Dehydroepiandrosterone, 2. Supplemental Nutrition, 3. Taming the Tiger, 4. Rekindling Relationships, 5. Effective Exercising, 6. Sensible Eating, and 7. Sound Sleep. It was a lot of information, but I have to say that I have learned so much about stress in this book than i did all the other posts put together.
The Stress Cure was really informative when it came to stress in general! Not only did it explain stress in great detail, but it gave a lot of case studies and examples that really illustrated what exactly he was trying to say. It wasn't exactly blunt and boring either. He put in every day personal stories that he has heard from real patients, and that made it easy to relate to and easy to comprehend. I also learned many new facts such as the comment that women are more easily stressed than men; "University of Michigan found that estrogen may increase cortisol secretion and decrease the ablity of cortisol to shut down its own secretion" (33).
I really liked the self assessments in chapter 4 that Cherewatenko added that he calls his "inventory". When I finished the book, I got a piece of paper and went back to the chapter and went through each of his assessments and added up my total and have realized how stressed my body is. After reading the effects stress can have on your body, I am so glad that I also read the steps he knows can de-stress someone so I can put step 1 into play for myself. You don't always realize how much stress you have on your body, so it may be best to be going ahead and having the physical activity or just a break time to just relax and do another one of the de-stressors Cherewatenko has suggested so stress doesn't have any affect on your body at all. If you feel that you are under stress and need a break, I GREATLY recommend this book. It has really opened up my eyes and has taught me a lot about stress.


Cherewatenko, Vern S. The Stress Cure A simple 7-step plan to balance mood, improve memory, and restore energy. 1st ed. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2003. Print.

Personal Experiences With Stress

I was going through youtube trying to find any form of information on stress therapy and came across a video showing the effects that stress can have on your body. This happens to be the third video of a set of six, but I thought I would choose this as my first multimedia post to show the severity of what stress can do to your body, and the importance of stress management.

This video goes into great detail of which parts of the body stress can affect and what it can do to the body. The woman in the video was the perfect touch to the video, it being a recap of a personal experience for her that was being shared with whoever views this footage. True stories of real experiences are what help people most in my opinion. They are real events that some may never notice could be signs of being overly stressed or that some may just find interesting if they are wanting to know more about the subject.

Music Therapy

I found a website on an example of therapy that is used to help many different issues that may be going on with the body called Music Therapy. Elizabeth Scott informs us that "hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to help ward of depression, to promote movement, to calm patients, to ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits that music or music therapy can bring". The music that musical therapists use are developed in a range; from nature sounds, to classical music sounds, to the daily life. It is said to be used if you are getting "into the zone" and is used during an activity that will be healthy for your body and get your mind off of whatever is causing the stress.

I did a little test with this music therapy to see if it really works and it did for me. I have had a lot going on in my life lately to where I have been hardly been able to sleep and last night I found a website with sample music that could be used in music therapy and slept all the way through the night until my alarm went off. It was nice! I definitely plan on using this method more often. I recommend anyone who is suffering from sleep deprivation caused by stress to use this method. Music can get your mind off of whatever is going on and promises a good nights sleep.

Scott, E. (2009, November 22). Music and your body: how music affects us and why music therapy promotes health. Retrieved from http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm.

Stress Management

I was searching for any stress therapedic related websites when I came across a website called Stress Management From Mind Tools. This is a website that has anything you could think of to help with stress, from a variety of situations! It has sections such as Stress At Work, Overload, Problem Jobs, Problem People, etc. It gives you little "excerscises" that you can do at home to relieve the stress and just relax or helps you get in touch with any professional for more serious help. It is supposed to be a site to help people to "Calm, clear thoughts and quiet confidence"(Stress Management).

This source, I believe, can do anyone suffering from stress a whole lot of good. Not only does it give you the little things to do to help relieve the stress, but it helps you understand what stress is and what could be the cause of it. It gives categories of defenses down the left side of the page telling how to deal or get rid of the stress. It has every bit of information that you need for these certain stressful situations. I'm not really sure if it could be better or what I would change if I had the opportunity. It seems to have everything needed for anyone who needs help getting out of a stressful situation.

"Coping With Work Overload." Stress Management From Mind Tools. Mind Tools Ltd, n.d.Web.31 Mar 2010. .