Alzheimer’s Caregiver Becomes Afflicted by Osmosis – Launches Website to Reduce Stress

Nov. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- The chronic stress endured during ten years of caring for her Alzheimer-afflicted father, caused a 40-something woman to manifest some of the classic symptoms of his disease like concentration and vocabulary-retrieval difficulties and depression. Since medical theory asserts a significant causal link between stress and Alzheimer’s, and since her ailments were diagnosed as just stress-induced which subsided upon her father’s passing, she has now launched a website dedicated to stress reduction.

The site, http://www.StressLessOrBust.com, targets women 35+, who are disproportionately taxed with caregiver responsibilities in addition to being employed in many cases. It’s slogan of “Transport Yourself ” underlies the mission to provide a respite detour from stressors as well as a destination for solutions. Via a blog-based format, four segments within the site are geared toward women’s most joyful diversions like Style Therapy; Decor Therapy; Vent Therapy and Pet Therapy. Advisory mood fixes are featured, like how to adjust lighting for optimal health, as well as perk-me-up merchandise. The fifth Caregiver Therapy category, specifically addresses coping skills for dealing with ill family members, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease. The site as a whole strikes a balance between powerful insight– as with the site’s eBook offering, The Top 6 Things You Should Ask Yourself to Stress Less (http://www.stresslessorbust.com/reality-check/)– and levity. Online feedback surveys are planned for the benefit of all.

Site founder, Gina Molitor, said, “I designed the content to help women find their true north when stress has their heads spinning. I try to balance informational and self-awareness posts with soul-nourishing items that can be just plain fun or to help blow off some steam.”

Gina’s catalyst for starting the website was her memoir, Solid~Wax (http://www.stresslessorbust.com/solid-wax-memoir/), which chronicles her father’s Alzheimer’s disease process and Gina’s caregiver journey from meltdown to illumination. She said, “With my journalist background, I found that writing and creative diversions helped me to de-stress, so the site is ongoing elixir for me while helping others in this highly angst-filled life we live. And because Alzheimer’s is at epidemic proportions, I want to help future caregivers.”

The American Psychological Association labels our current lifestyle The Age of Anxiety and says there’s been a 1200% increase of us suffering from anxiety disorders since 1980.

Estimates of the number of Americans afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease range from 5.1 million to 5.4 million, and someone develops the disease every 68 seconds, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Absent a cure, that figure is expected to climb as high as 16 million by 2050 as baby boomers age.