The glass may be half empty or half full, but odds are high it's being held tightly.  A recent study found that one third of the U.S. population reports living with extreme stress, and 74% of respondents identify work as the primary source of stress.  Employers looking for healing therapies that respond to these concerns, may be well served to trend toward integrative medicine. 

Stress is a widely documented health issue with multiple associated risks that cost billions in health expenses every year.  In addition to the intangibles of stress exacerbating other conditions, stress affiliated illnesses have indirect costs for employers, too.  In fact, a $300 billion price tag has been attached to workplace stress for issues such as absenteeism, presenteeism, employee turnover, diminished productivity, and a host of related costs.  

Stress may well be the most massively problematic health problem in the U.S. today, in part because it has so many complex and dangerous effects. Stress has been associated with elevated risks for a number of devastating and debilitating diseases like:

• type 2 diabetes
• heart disease
• high blood pressure  

Treated allopathically through standard medicine, stress is often unlikely to be resolved since this approach may create a lifetime of illness treatment: yielding permanent patients with unresolved, aggravated conditions in a constant, unsustainable cycle of sickness.  Turning to integrative alternative medicine, conscious consumers may find successful options to prevent and manage this nebulous problem.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) solutions to stress may include a variety of treatments including nutrition, acupuncture, massage therapy, improved rest strategies, or other wellness based approaches to relaxation.  Lifestyle interventions like these are proven methods in helping patients make lasting changes.