Stressed?

There's another meeting scheduled and I have to be in Hamsterley for 2pm. I'm late setting off and what should be a 30 minute drive takes 40. Everything is conspiring against me now. Slow moving vans emerge from side roads. Lights turn red. I haven't time for this, I'm late.

The meeting with Hamsterley Mothers' Union goes well, though I'm conscious of the time. I leave late, but more relaxed than when I arrived. I'm back in the car and already thinking of what I have to do when I get back to the office. I'm hyper. My heart is racing. I'm sure my blood pressure is up and my head is starting to pound.

Traffic is even worse returning to Darlington because people are starting to go home. Finally, I park the car and run back to the office. I run up three flights of stairs and arrive at my desk puffing - and very late. I bark at my colleagues, one of whom replies: "Don't get stressed." It's too late.

Four twenty-five. I'm writing but still late. I've another 750 words to go and people waiting for my copy. It's a typical day.

It's a typical day, not just for me but for countless other people. The demands of modern-day life are fast and furious with work and play merging into one. Long hours, maximum commitment, big rewards. Those who are retired can't understand it and think it's a sad way to live. Those who go through life at a gallop may never reach the age to retire.

It's the industrial disease of the modern age and many workers will pay dearly for it in years to come.

National Stress Awareness Day today aims to highlight the dangers of living in the fast lane. In the old days stress kept us alive. When we were running around the woods trying to catch something for dinner, the body reacted in a certain way to keep us alive should dinner start to bite back.

Stress brought heightened senses, faster reactions, greater strength. Physiologically, it released adrenaline to get the heart pumping and the blood coursing; cholesterol to line the veins and arteries should hunter gatherer sustain an injury; sugar consumption to sharpen the brain and insulin production to counter-balance it.

The big problem today is that the body can't differentiate between the stress of the hunt and the toil of the office. So it reacts in exactly the same way even though, physically, the body requires no such assistance. The result is health-endangering by-products - increased blood pressure, muscle cramps as the body switches blood flow to service the major organs and eventually, if unchecked, brain stroke and heart failure.

It's a natural phenomenon and many experts believe sufferers can be born with it. Research has shown mothers who feel stressed during pregnancy produce a chemical which can be passed on to the foetus.

A glance around any office is sufficient to spot those prone to stress and those with a more laid-back approach. Many people create their own stress by pushing themselves too hard. The stressed-out can be the dynamic executive striving for career advancement or, closer to home, the carer struggling to look after a sick relative. Work, personal relationships, money, sickness - the possible sources of stress are almost enough to cause stress thinking about them.

Ultimately the body will call time. This can lead to heart attacks or strokes, or depression. Often help is needed to draw the person back from the brink.

"Counselling isn't to be reached for like an aspirin," says chartered psychologist Pam Robinson. "Friends and family are a strong source of support, but sometimes they can feel hurt when you are upset and confused. You may not want to burden them or may feel somehow ashamed or guilty and cannot talk to the people closest to you."

Stress is associated with city life and many people head to the country seeking to recharge their batteries. But Pam has discovered stress exists everywhere. She runs a private practice at Hawes in Wensleydale and works for the marriage counselling service Relate in Leyburn.

She has come across the full range of problems which cause stress - work, marriage, children, money worries.

"It's not just about unloading their problems, but finding what they can do to change their lifestyles," says Pam, 50. "People have strengths and resources so they can develop their own confidence to help tackle the problems.

"Together we identify the problem, look at what it is. Then we look at the possible ways of solving it. I don't give direct advice. People have to develop their own direction."

My perceived problem was time but the reality was that I had plenty.

It's half past five, I've finished the feature, and now I'm calm. Stress? What's that?

l Pam can be contacted on (01969) 667804. Relate can be contacted on the central confidential helpline number 0800 9805 907

l Too busy to sleep - Page 11