Article

STRESS !!!

What is stress?

Stress is the brain and body’s response to any sort of demand.  Stress is a common process that occurs daily in people’s lives.  Many situations trigger a stress response.  Certainly change of any kind can precipitate stress; divorce, illness, vacations, the holidays.  Recurrent activities can be included as stress inducing; commuting to work or school and driving are examples of recurrent situations in people’s lives.  The change can be mild and harmless or extreme and violent. 

Self-Esteem, Self-Worth, and Core Beliefs

What is Self-Esteem?

Self-esteem is the value we place on ourselves or parts of ourselves.  Value is often culturally determined.  That is, in some cultures it is valuable to have a college education, and in others it is valuable to be an active member of the social structure of the town or village.  How we physically look, perform at work or school, or our financial net worth are a few of the parts of ourselves we and others judge. 

Dale Kay Lillak, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

This article was first printed in the September-October 1997 issue of New Times Magazine, a Forum for Addiction Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Related Issues in San Jose.

Not long ago I spoke to a woman on the phone about the recent violence in her life. She and her husband had both been sober for a couple of years, and now he had begun to drink again.