Nowadays especially in the 21st Century, it is predicted that stress related illnesses such as anxiety and depression will become the biggest killers to human being. Despite significant advances in housing, standards of living, quality of food, and medical science, the pressures all of us have to face in todays world are as demanding as any pressures experienced by our predecessors.

Why are these illnesses on the rise? And why do some people become so sick through these illnesses, they can find it hard to function?

Well they sure dont happen overnight! You dont suddenly wake up one morning and feel stressed or depressed. It is not like flicking on a light switch! And by the same rule, if youre suffering, you cant just wake up one morning, flick off the switch and say am I feel better now? Many people who dont suffer from these illnesses often say to sufferers.

If only it was so easy! Should anyone say this to you, please forgive them as its just a lack of understanding. Its very hard for people to understand how youre feeling if they havent been reach the same level. The fact that these illnesses dont suddenly happen means we can draw some parallels with illnesses such as heart diseases, some cancers and strokes.

Because these illnesses dont just suddenly happen either.

If we look at heart disease, its often the result of damaging behaviors practised over many years. Behaviors such as smoking, lack of exercise and a abnormal diet high in saturated fat. Strokes are a result of similar behaviors and cancers too, specially heavy smoking and drinking as you knew. So how do stressful illnesses such as stress, depression and anxiety compare to?

For many of us, feelings of distress remain constant companions: About 19 million Americans suffer from serious anxiety conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia, reports the National Institute of Mental Health, while virtually everyone else deals with less debilitating but still harmful levels of anxiety.

Stress is also the product of harmful mental habits and behaviors. These habits and behaviors are developed and practised over years since childhood in most of the cases.

Think of it like learning to drive a car. Initially, the skills required to control the vehicle needed conscious thought. It seemed really difficult didnt it? But once were performed them for sufficient periods, we drive as an auto-pilot. Were mastered the required skills by repetition.

Herere the key: if we eat healthy food, take regular exercise, cut out harmful behaviors such as smoking and drinking, we improve our health and drastically reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and strokes. We are repeating good habits, habits that will give our physical well being a huge boost.

Its exactly the same for stress. Whats important to understand is that not everyone becomes stressed or depressed even when tragic and traumatic circumstances happen to them. Just like people who lead a healthy lifestyle and avoid harmful habits and behaviors, people don't become stressed or depressed because they have learned effective habits and behaviors that prevent stress from arising.

This is very good news if you suffer from these illnesses. Because just as we can learn habits and behaviors which cause us to become highly-stressed, depressed or anxious, we can learn the habits and behaviors which stop these terrible illnesses in their tracks. And the more often we make use of them, were soon begin to perform them automatically and our mental health will benefit tremendously.

No more feeling stressed out. No more feeling unable to deal with somebody. No more anxiety and no more depression.

Im living proof of this. For more than 5 years, different kind of traumatic events sent me spiralling into an anxiety-induced depression nightmare. I came out of it by learning the natural skills that starve these illnesses. The more I used them, the less anxious I became. Theyre now as natural to me as driving a car, and I am completely eradicated anxiety and depression from my life.