Parenting Causes High Stress and Clinical Depression

While parenthood brings immense amounts of joy, pride, personal growth and other good things to those with children, it can also bring a lot of challenges, and researchers are finding that these challenges can take a toll. A parenting stress study by Florida State University professor Robin Simon and Vanderbilt University's Ranae Evenson found that parents have significantly higher levels of depression than adults who do not have children.

Here are some of the highlights of the study’s findings:

Higher Risk Factors

The study found that certain types of parents have higher levels of depression than other parents. Those who exhibited more symptoms of depression included:

• Parents of adult children living at home


• Parents of adult children not living at home


• Parents who do not have custody of their minor children

Lower Risk Factors

Those who exhibited the least depressive symptoms included:

• Parents living with minor biological children


• Parents living with minor adopted children


• Parents living with minor stepchildren.

(These findings were surprising, as it was assumed that these parents experience the greatest amounts of stress.)

The Marriage Buffer

Married parents also have fewer symptoms than those who were unmarried.

Both men and women were found to be equally effected by depression, a finding that actually shocked researchers, as it was inconsistent with previous studies and contradicts the historically held assumption that parenthood affects women more.

All Parents Are At Greater Risk

There is no category of parent, among all those listed above, who experienced lower levels of depression than non-parents, which researchers found surprising, especially because other adult roles, like being married and employed, are linked with greater levels of emotional well-being.

Lifelong Effects

Also surprising was the finding that these symptoms don’t go away when the kids grow up and move out of the house! Researchers believe that this is because parents still worry about their children and how they’re getting along in the world throughout their lives, from the time they’re colicky infants and tantrum-prone toddlers to the days when they’re worried about promotions at work and marital problems of their own.

What's Behind This?

The researchers believe that this is because parents have more to worry about than other people do. We worry about our children’s well-being all throughout their lives, from the time that they’re tiny and dealing with colic, teething and tantrums, to the time they’re dealing with finding jobs and partners and having kids of their own. It’s not that parents don’t enjoy their children or their roles, but the emotional toll of parenting can be high, partially because parents in the United States are often relatively socially isolated and don’t always have support from the community or even their extended family.

"It's how we do parenting in this society," Simon said. "We do it in a very isolated way and the onus is on us as individuals to get it right. Our successes are our own, but so are our failures. It's emotionally draining."

Something that may be additionally difficult for parents is that people don’t always talk about the difficulties of parenting or realize how much support is needed. This study can help parents see that they are taking on a role that’s challenging as well as rewarding, validate feelings that they might be having, and encourage them to seek social support and take care of themselves.

"Parents should know they are not alone; other people are feeling this way, too," she said. "This is a really difficult role, but we romanticize it in American culture. Parenthood is not the way it is in TV commercials."

New Parents at Risk

While the report, offered before, proposed that the parents with minor biological children are in relatively low risk of depression, the research, which tracked nearly 87,000 families in the United Kingdom between 1993 and 2007, found an opposite - the highest risk for depression occurred in the first years after a child’s birth.

Overall, 39 percent of mothers and 21 percent of fathers had experienced an episode of depression during the first 12 years of their child’s life. After the first year of parenting, a mother’s risk for depression dropped by half, while experienced fathers faced only about a quarter of the depression risk compared with new fathers. Although depression risk for both parents dropped considerably in the second year, it remained steady through a child’s 12th year.

Parents who had an earlier history of depression, who had children at a relatively young age or who had lower incomes were at highest risk for a depressive episode during their parenting years, according to the study, published online in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Parenting as Pure Joy?

Michael Lewis, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry and director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., says that the idea of parenthood as pure joy "was always a bit of a wonderful myth."

Over the last 150 years, he said, children have moved from being an economic advantage to an economic burden in the United States. We used to be able to send children to work in the fields; older kids tended to the babies. When not pressed into service, they mostly stayed out of the way.

With the advent of Dr. Spock, the parenting industry, obligatory music and soccer lessons and a colossal marketplace that propels kids to desire and parents to guilt, children have become the center of the household.

Meredith Small, a Cornell University anthropologist and author of "Kids: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Raise Our Children," sees cultural forces conspiring to make life lousy for parents.

"Western culture is the worst place to be if you want to be a parent," she says. "If you look at any other culture, people would think that this is nutty."

She said parents have never been as alone as they are in the United States today. In places like India, lots of people sleep in one big house. When the baby wakes up at 2 a.m., six people are available to help. Higher birth rates mean there are older children to take care of the younger ones. Worldwide, she says, 90 percent of child care is done by other children.

Even in many European countries, things are better; working mothers -- and sometimes fathers -- are paid a portion of their salaries to stay home during the first year or more with their young children. Parents get six weeks of vacation and extra time off to take care of sick kids. Good child care is subsidized by the government. College and graduate schools are paid for by the government.

Here, Small said, nuclear families aren't large enough. "Parents are tired, they are overworked, they are extended, they are irritated and they've got nobody to help them."

How to Manage Parenting Stress?

So short of sending the kids back into the fields, having more babies, inviting the neighbors to live with us or charging the kids rent, what's an overwhelmed parent to do?

Family therapist Neil Bernstein, who has offices in the District and Virginia, offers this simple advice: "Get a life."

For the record, he doesn't necessarily accept the study's conclusion that people with children are more depressed. Still, "What parents need to know and should take away from this is that it's important to look after your own mental health, not to live vicariously through your child," he said.

People should have their own interests and look after their relationships the same way they look after their children. And if it all seems too overwhelming, it's worth seeking help from a professional.

"Being a good parent does not mean being totally absorbed in your children," he said.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://stress.about.com/od/parentsunderstress/a/depressionrents.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/02/AR2006010201513.html

http://www.parents-in-a-pickle.com/parenting-and-depression.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/new-parents-at-risk-for-depression/

How does Chronic Stress Lead to Depression?

Introduction

A threat to your life or safety triggers a primal physical response from the body, leaving you breathless, heart pounding, and mind racing. From deep within your brain, a chemical signal speeds stress hormones through the bloodstream, priming your body to be alert and ready to escape danger. Concentration becomes more focused, reaction time faster, and strength and agility increase. When the stressful situation ends, hormonal signals switch off the stress response and the body returns to normal.

So, the stress is good for humans.  It keeps us alert, motivated and primed to respond to danger.  As anyone who has faced a work deadline or competed in a sport knows, you can understand that stress mobilizes the body to respond, improving performance. 

However, at the stressful conditions of the modern society, too much stress, or chronic stress may lead to major depression in susceptible people. Many of us now harbor anxiety and worry about daily events and relationships. Stress hormones continue to wash through the system in high levels, never leaving the blood and tissues. And so, the stress response that once gave ancient people the speed and endurance to escape life-threatening dangers runs constantly in many modern people and never shuts down.

Research now shows that such long-term activation of the stress system can have a hazardous, even lethal effect on the body, increasing risk of obesity, heart disease, depression, and a variety of other illnesses.

How it works?

The HPA axis is a feedback loop by which signals from the brain trigger the release of hormones needed to respond to stress. Because of its function, the HPA axis is also sometimes called the “stress circuit.”

Briefly, in response to a stress, the brain region known as the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). In turn, CRH acts on the pituitary gland, just beneath the brain, triggering the release of another hormone, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) into the bloodstream. Next, ACTH signals the adrenal glands, which sit atop the kidneys, to release a number of hormonal compounds.

These compounds include epinephrine (formerly known as adrenaline), Norepinephrine (formerly known as noradrenaline) and cortisol. All three hormones enable the body to respond to a threat. Epinephrine increases blood pressure and heart rate, diverts blood to the muscles, and speeds reaction time. Cortisol, also known as glucocorticoid, releases sugar (in the form of glucose) from the body reserves so that this essential fuel can be used to power the muscles and the brain.

Normally, cortisol also exerts a feedback effect to shut down the stress response after the threat has passed, acting upon the hypothalamus and causing it to stop producing CRH.

This stress circuit affects systems throughout the body. The hormones of the HPA axis exert their effect on the autonomic nervous system, which controls such vital functions as heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion.

The HPA axis also communicates with several regions of the brain, including the limbic system, which controls motivation and mood, with the amygdala, which generates fear in response to danger, and with the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory formation as well as in mood and motivation. In addition, the HPA axis is also connected with brain regions that control body temperature, suppress appetite, and control pain.

Similarly, the HPA axis also interacts with various other glandular systems, among them those producing reproductive hormones, growth hormones, and thyroid hormones. Once activated, the stress response switches off the hormonal systems regulating growth, reproduction, metabolism, and immunity. Short term, the response is helpful, allowing us to divert biochemical resources to dealing with the threat.

The Stress-Depression Connection

Chronic s tress, such as taking care of a terminally ill family member at home, or sharp and severe, such as losing a job or the death of a loved one -- can lead to major depression in susceptible people.  Both types of stress lead to over-activity of the body's stress-response mechanism.  

Sustained or chronic stress, in particular, leads to elevated hormones such as cortisol, the "stress hormone," and reduced serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, which has been linked to depression.  When these chemical systems are working normally, they regulate biological processes like sleep, appetite, energy, and sex drive, and permit expression of normal moods and emotions. When the stress response fails to shut off and reset after a difficult situation has passed, it can lead to depression.

This theoretical assumption has been confirmed by the several clinical studies. One of the recent researches, conducted on mice, corroborated the theoretical assumption that a long-term exposure to cortisol may actually contribute to depression development. The mice were exposed to acute (24 hours) and chronic (17 to 18 days) doses of the rodent stress hormone corticosterone, putting it into their drinking water.



The mice with chronic exposure, in comparison to those with acute one, took longer to go out of small dark compartments into a brightly lit open field, a common test for anxiety in animals. Those with chronic exposure were more fearful and less willing to explore their new environment, also not showing normal reactions when being startled, another indication that their nervous system was overwhelmed.



Researchers noted that people with Cushing's disease, when too much cortisol is released, suffer depression and anxiety and those receiving corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory conditions also have mood problems.

Learned Helplessness and Clinical Depression

In studying how stressful events may lead to depression, researchers have developed a theory called, "learned helplessness." This theory states that when people experience chronic or repeated stressful events, they learn to feel helpless. This feeling of helplessness is strengthened when a person believes he or she has no control over the stressful situation. Although the research to support this theory was initially done with animals, the effects of learned helplessness may be seen in depressed humans.

People who are depressed very often have negative beliefs about their ability to manage aspects of their lives based on perceived failures in the past. For example, imagine an adolescent girl living in a home with verbally abusive parents who tell her that she is stupid and cannot do anything right. Over time the young girl may believe her parents and come to doubt her abilities and self-worth. She may begin to feel helpless and believe that most things are beyond her control. This feeling of helplessness may make her vulnerable to developing clinical depression at some point in her life.

How to deal with chronic stress?

There are multiple suggestions for relieving from stress negative consequence you can find online. There is no point to remove stress from your life completely, since you cannot regulate the external conditions and life events. But you can adapt your body to handle these stressful life conditions without losing the grounds, being able to manage successfully inside the reasonable response to the external life. One size does not fit all, and you need to find your own mental relaxers and guards.

There are few popular suggestions:

1.       Adopt a pet. Interaction with pets is relaxing and may therefore aid in stress management. Pet therapy is acknowledged approach to reduce stress. But be careful to chose this method, as adoption a pet requires taking responsibility for this creature life and well-being. Are you ready for that?

2.       Apply Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is one way to deal with stress. We all talk to ourselves; sometimes we talk out loud but usually we keep self-talk in our heads. Self-talk can be positive ("I can do this" or "Things will work out") or negative ("I'll never get well" or "I'm so stupid"). Negative self-talk increases stress. Positive self-talk helps you calm down and control stress. With practice, you can learn to turn negative thoughts into positive ones.

3.       Use Emergency Stress Stoppers. There are many stressful situations — at work, at home, on the road and in public places. We may feel stress because of poor communication, too much work and everyday hassles like standing in line. Emergency stress stoppers help you deal with stress on the spot. Try these emergency stress stoppers. You may need different stress stoppers for different situations and sometimes it helps to combine them.

·         Count to 10 before you speak.

·         Take three to five deep breaths.

·         Walk away from the stressful situation, and say you'll handle it later.

·         Go for a walk.

·         Don't be afraid to say "I'm sorry" if you make a mistake.

·         Set your watch five to 10 minutes ahead to avoid the stress of being late.

·         Break down big problems into smaller parts. For example, answer one letter or phone call per day, instead of dealing with everything at once.

·         Drive in the slow lane or avoid busy roads to help you stay calm while driving.

·         Smell a rose, hug a loved one or smile at your neighbor.

4.       Find Pleasure. When stress makes you feel bad, do something that makes you feel good. Doing things you enjoy is a natural way to fight off stress. You don't have to do a lot to find pleasure. Even if you're ill or down, you can find pleasure in simple things such as going for a drive, chatting with a friend or reading a good book.

5.       Relax. Relaxation is more than sitting in your favorite chair watching TV. To relieve stress, relaxation should calm the tension in your mind and body. Deep breathing is a form of relaxation you can learn and practice at home using the following steps. It's a good skill to practice as you start or end your day. With daily practice, you will soon be able to use this skill whenever you feel stress.

·         Sit in a comfortable position with your feet on the floor and your hands in your lap or lie down. Close your eyes.

·         Picture yourself in a peaceful place. Perhaps you're lying on the beach, walking in the mountains or floating in the clouds. Hold this scene in your mind.

·         Inhale and exhale. Focus on breathing slowly and deeply.

·         Continue to breathe slowly for 10 minutes or more.

·         Try to take at least five to 10 minutes every day for deep breathing or another form of relaxation.

6.       Watch TV. It was proven that the simple watching of television can reduce the level of stress a person can carry at a moment, and it can lower the anxiety level. This is very helpful in the matter: how does stress lead to depression. Also, a very important thing to know is that watching television for a very long period of time, or watching low-quality programs, that our personality rejects sub-consciously, can lead to stress build up, and this is bad for our body and mind, even if it looks like we are enjoying the viewing.

7.       Get to Fitness. In general, physical exercises proved to be an efficient and easy-to-perform, approach for stress reduction. Some of such activities might be especially effective, such as meditation, yoga, dancing, or water related procedures.

8.       Get Massage. Another way to get rid of stress is to go get a massage, when one goes to massage therapy, one can effectively relax muscles, ease muscle spasms and pain, increase blood flow in the skin and muscles, relieve mental and emotional stress, and induce relaxation.

9.       Write about it. Many people claim that self-assessment in written form helps to put the stress factors in proportion and assists in dealing with them. Write self-evaluation, email to a close friend, or start a blog. While writing is not able to substitute the professional consultation, it does help to ventilate the feelings and develop an action plan on how to deal with stressors.

10.   Get enough sleep. Lack of rest just aggravates stress. Adequate sleep fuels your mind, as well as your body. Feeling tired will increase your stress because it may cause you to think irrationally.

11.   See a Doctor. If your stress management efforts aren't helpful enough, see your therapist. Do not wait the moment when depression will penetrate full speed in your mind and body.

How NOT to Deal with Chronic Stress

Some of the coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they may also cause more damage in the long run:

• Smoking tobacco.


• Drinking too much alcohol.


• Overeating or undereating.


• Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer.

• Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities.              


• Using pills or drugs to relax.      


• Sleeping too much.


• Procrastinating.


• Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems.


• Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence).

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2002/nichd-09.htm

http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/stress-depression

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Chronic-Stress-May-Lead-to-Depression-21680.shtml

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Four%20-Ways-to-Deal-with-%20Stress_UCM_307996_Article.jsp

http://www.allaboutdepression.com/gen_05.html

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm

Alexander Technique for Depression and Stress

Background

The Alexander technique is an educational program that aims to change habitual patterns of movement and posture that are thought to be harmful. Teachers of the Alexander technique guide clients ("students") through various movements using verbal directions and light touch. The goal of these sessions can be to improve coordination and balance, reduce tension, relieve pain, decrease fatigue, improve various medical conditions or promote well-being. Students are encouraged to use what they learn in everyday life. Actors, dancers and athletes use the Alexander technique to improve performance.

F.M. Alexander, an Australian-English actor, developed the Alexander technique. He believed that poor head and neck posture was the cause of his recurrent voice loss. He suggested that people be trained to alter harmful movement patterns and positions.

In 1964, the American Center for the Alexander Technique was founded to provide teaching certification. The certification process generally involves 1,600 hours of training over three years in an approved program. The North American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique was established in 1987 to educate the public and to maintain standards for certification of teachers and training courses in the United States. The Alexander technique is taught at wellness centers, through health education programs and by individual teachers.

Theory

Basic beliefs underlying the Alexander technique are that musculoskeletal movements and relationships can directly affect other aspects of health or function and that beneficial movement patterns can be reinforced through repetition. The position of the head and spine is thought to be important in this approach. Many physiologists and behavioral scientists are advocates of musculoskeletal techniques similar to the Alexander technique, although there are few scientific studies of the Alexander technique specifically.

Method

The Alexander Technique is a way of becoming more aware of your balance and how you move. It's based on the premise that most people have bad postural habits that, over time, stop us using our bodies as easily and comfortably as we should be able to. Wrongly used muscles contract and pull down, giving rise to the classic sign of bad use: head tipped back at the start of any movement, especially sitting down or standing up. As well as the long-term damage to joints and cramped internal organs, poor posture causes a lot of tension, most commonly felt as chronic backache or stiff shoulders. It's also linked with respiratory ailments: people develop round shoulders from hunching protectively around their painful chests as they cough and wheeze, which in turn restricts their airways still further.

Frederick Matthias Alexander believed modern living gives rise to our bad postural habits: shoulders raised and stiffened by stress, neck poked forward over desk work, tired bodies slumped into saggy armchairs. Soon we've lost all sense of how we really are, so that what feels natural (because it's habitual) is wildly out of line. That's why it's very hard to correct our own posture without expert help.

The Alexander Technique aims to re-educate each body into moving more easily - relearning the natural grace all children have till they go to school and start slouching over desks.

It's based on what Alexander teachers call 'good use of the body' - allowing the spine to regain its natural curves, holding the head effortlessly in the easiest position and distributing weight evenly over your feet. The bonus is that you look taller and feel two stone lighter.

It's a hands-on teaching method, though you don't undress; after three years' full-time training Alexander teachers can 'read' people's muscles through layers of clothes with their fingertips. To start with, you and the teacher observe your stance and movements for some time, and the first shock is seeing how asymmetrical you are when you think you're standing up straight. Then you're gently moved into a healthier position when you're sitting, standing and lying down.

As part of the relearning process, you stop and think before plunging into a habitual move, then make the movement mindfully. It feels odd to practice getting up or walking with someone's hand lightly holding the back of your neck, and even odder for the first few days when you keep making conscious efforts to do it the way you've learnt. If you're used to standing with your pelvis jutting further forward than your toes, for example, you feel as though you're going to fall over backwards when you tuck your tailbone in and bring your weight nearer a point above your heels. But your legs, no longer struggling to hold you at a slant, now carry you effortlessly. You may be noticeably taller. Walking upstairs feels like levitating. The idea is that this soon becomes second nature.

The Technique's basic idea is that when the neck muscles do not overwork, the head balances lightly at the top of spine.  The relationship between the head and the spine is of utmost importance.  How we manage that relationship has ramifications throughout the rest of the body.  As the boss -- good or bad -- sets the tone for an organization, the head / spine relationship -- compressed or free -- determines the quality of the body's overall coordination.  Our neuromuscular system is designed to work in concert with gravity.  Delicate poise of the head sparks the body's anti-gravity response: a natural oppositional force in the torso that easily guides us upward and invites the spine to lengthen, rather than compress, as we move.  Instead of slouching or holding ourselves in a rigid posture, we can learn to mobilize this support system and use it wherever we go -- in the car, at the computer, in the gym.

And the homework couldn't be easier: for 20 minutes a day you lie on your back on the floor, with just enough books under your head to keep your neck parallel to the floor (so you can swallow comfortably), knees raised and hands on abdomen. Keep your mind on the Alexander mantra: 'Let the neck be free so the head can move forwards and upwards and the back can lengthen and widen.'

Young children have this natural poise. If you watch a toddler in action, you will see an erect spine, free joints and a large head balancing easily on a little neck.  A healthy child walks and plays with regal posture.  Barring birth defects, we all began that way.  But over the years, we often lose that spontaneity and ease.

Using the Alexander Technique, you can learn to strip away harmful habits, heighten your self-awareness, and use your thought process to restore your original poise.  In a way, you are learning something that, deep down, your body already knows.  With the Alexander Technique, you come to understand much more about how your body works, and how to make it work for you.  You can tap more of your internal resources, and begin on a path to enhancing your comfort and pleasure in all your activities. 

Self-Help

Begin observing yourself in a mirror. A full length one is best. Pay special attention to the relationship of your whole head (not just your face) to the rest of your body. Notice how this relationship changes as you perform simple activities like talking, walking or raising an arm or leg.

How does what you see in the mirror correspond to what you think you're doing, and what do you feel you're doing? Which do you think is more accurate? Take plenty of time to explore and compare your experiences with Alexander's.

Experiment with changing the relationship of your head to your body, perhaps tilting it a little forward or backward from the top of your neck and observe what difference these shifts make to your movements and to your breathing.

Alexander found that the most useful change he could make was to mentally direct his neck to be free so that his head, followed by his body, could release in an upward direction - delicately, without any stiffening or undue effort.

Try this. What do you notice? Does anything look or feel different?

Now, try doing the opposite. Stiffen your neck a little as you gently push your head down towards the rest of your body. What effect does this have on your ability to breathe, speak and perform simple activities?

What happens when you just leave yourself alone? Is there a relationship between your head and your body that you tend automatically to go back to? 'Exaggerate yourself' for just a moment. Notice what happens to your head/body relationship when you do this.

Feel free to experiment in other ways that occur to you. Pay close attention to the results of your experiments. Remember that you are both the experimenter and the object of the experiments. So you are always going to have to be careful that you are not deceiving yourself. Continue comparing what you see with what you're thinking about and what you feel.

After you've experimented in front of the mirror long enough to have made for yourself some of the same kinds of observations that Alexander wrote about, extend your self-study to your daily round of activities. Can you sense how your body reacts to stressful situations, for example? How about pleasant experiences? Does the presence of some people act as a stimulus to tighten your neck? Do others seem to encourage freedom and expansion in your body?

Notice the effects of sound on your physical mechanism. Experiment with scanning your auditory 'horizon' and noting the effects of actively listening to the highest pitched sounds available to you. These could be high musical notes, the chirping of birds, even the sound of wind blowing through the branches of a tree. Then, shift your conscious attention to the lowest-pitched sounds you can hear - drum beats, the sounds of heavy machinery, for example. What effect does this shift have on the way you're using your body?

Keep in mind that Alexander's purpose in performing his investigations was to improve the quality of his performance. So begin to observe other people--and animals and small children--with a view toward becoming a good judge of quality of movement. Keep a look out for particularly good examples of ease, balance and co-ordination. Look also for particularly bad examples. Can you make any generalizations about quality of movement and the nature of the head/body relationship?

Potential Dangers

Instruction or practice of the Alexander technique has not been associated with reports of severe complications. However, safety has not been studied systematically. Some practitioners believe that this technique may be less beneficial in people with mental illness or learning disabilities. Safety during pregnancy has not been established scientifically, although the Alexander technique has been used by pregnant women and during delivery without reports of complications.

Do not rely on the Alexander technique alone as an approach to treat medical conditions. Speak with your health care provider if you are considering using the Alexander technique.

Summary

The Alexander technique has been used to address several health issues, but there is still no overwhelming scientific evidence that it has been proven effective for any specific condition. Do not rely on the Alexander technique alone to treat a potentially severe medical condition. Speak with your health care provider if you are considering using the Alexander technique.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.healthyplace.com/alternative-mental-health/treatments/alexander-technique-for-depression-stress/menu-id-1017/

http://www.alexandertechnique.com/jwright.htm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/traineo/exercise/article3773825.ece

http://www.alexandertechnique.com/at/

http://www.ati-net.com/articles/dm-rrick.php