Foreword

Stressaholic is the human owner's manual we have all been waiting for. As she did in her last book, The SHARP Solution: A Brain-Based Approach for Optimal Performance, Dr. Heidi Hanna has made it easy for us to understand and implement simple changes to our daily routine that will result in profound changes to our lives. We can all be so much healthier and happier if we take her advice.

There's no denying it: We are all stressed. We naturally crave novel information—but when is enough, enough? Most of us are inundated with more information in one day than someone would have been exposed to throughout their lifetime just a few centuries ago. We must work to evolve into being able to handle all the pressing needs that we face in modern times.

As a result, we tend to easily fall into lifestyle routines in which we experience the same symptoms as in any other addiction. We can avoid drugs, but overindulgence in food is an addiction that requires daily management. Likewise, stress is unavoidable in modern life. We don't all suffer from it; some of us handle it better than others, and some thrive on it. But as Dr. Hanna points out, unless we balance it with rest and repair breaks, we eventually succumb to symptoms and diseases caused by running on the energy we derive from our addiction to stress.

To recharge your phone, you need to plug it in. But to recharge your brain, you need to unplug it. Although this is not the first book to explain how to do so, it may provide the easiest path yet to a more rewarding and energetic life.

You might feel that Dr. Hanna is talking directly to you when reading Stressaholic. She identifies the reasons we are as stressed and exhausted as we are. Yet she does not let those reasons become excuses for not taking the time to balance our brain with rest periods.

Dr. Hanna explains how all our biological processes, both body and mind, undergo natural oscillation. She discusses how some of us are stepping on our body's gas and brake pedals at the same time and what we can do about that. She warns us that we have to expend energy to create energy.

This book can save your life. It provides gentle reminders to make the right choices at mealtime; to start today, not tomorrow; and to exercise a little throughout the day. It explains why you are living off the wrong stimulants, both external and internal, and how you can recharge your energy in a positive and productive way.

Dr. Hanna does not let you get away with procrastination. She is compelling and knowledgeable about stress. Throughout the book, she offers pearls of wisdom culled from scientific studies and reliable facts derived from many sources. Her wisdom and advice are easy to understand and incorporate. Undertaking new life rituals can seem daunting, but Dr. Hanna makes them seem easy—because she explains why you need to change these things before she guides you on how to do just that. Her own fears and symptoms have taken her on a quest to learn more. How lucky for us she found the answers and is now, through Stressaholic, sharing them enthusiastically yet firmly with us so that we too can make the adjustments to create the life we desire and deserve.

All of us can benefit from this book. In addition to those who are addicted to the stress that is a regular part of work or home life, the five steps detailed herein can be a lifesaver for military service members and veterans—and should be required reading for all who wear this nation's uniforms. Our prolonged wars and the economic uncertainty that affects us all have made posttraumatic stress ubiquitous in America these days. You cannot be too stressed to benefit from this book. In fact, the more stressed you are, the more you need to make Stressaholic your personal owner's manual.

Take a deep breath now, turn the page, and begin your step-by-step guided journey to a new, more relaxed, and resilient you.

—Dr. Daniel L. Kirsch

President, The American Institute of Stress