Stress In Fish - Problem | Stress In Fish - Solution | Stress In People - Problem | Stress In People - Solution |
| Sudden changes in pH | Keep the pH as stable as possible. | Sudden changes in important things such as job, health, people, locations, moving house etc. | Concentrating on things that stay the same and that are a familiar constant in your life to keep your center and your balance in the face of upheaval. |
| Poor water quality | Check the water quality regularly and make sure the water is fresh and well oxygenated. | Stale environments, being in the same environments too long, not getting out enough and "breathing fresh air" in every sense. | Don't put up with dismal environments, either at home or at work. Find ways to "bring a breath of fresh air" into your life, and that includes getting out into nature every so often and actually really breathing the fresh air and smelling the roses! |
| Poor Diet | Make sure you know what the right food is for your kind of fish and that you don't over or underfeed. | Both eating too much and eating too little causes stress on the entire body. Leaving it too long between meals. Eating low quality "filler" foods and snacks with no life in them. Getting dehydrated by drinking not enough fresh water. | Pay attention to your diet. Eating regularly and smaller portions of fresh, vibrant, healthy food keeps blood sugar levels up and stress down. Make sure you drink plenty of water. |
| Toxic Substances In The Water | Tap water is often unsuitable for fish and causes them to experience health stress. Also watch out for fertilisers and pesticides getting into the water. | There are toxins in the air, in the water, in skin care creams, anti-deodorants, perfumes, make up, and in just about everything we use, including cleaning materials around the house and many other sources. These all cause extra stress as the body has to fight against them. | Think twice before you plaster anything else onto your skin and take sensible precautions to not expose yourself unnecessarily to all manner of toxins in the environment to reduce stress on the body. |
| Being Constantly Afraid | Fish can get very stressed if they have no-where to hide, or they are being forced to live with other types of fish they are afraid of. Make sure there are places for fish to hide, and seek advice which species you can combine safely. | Feeling afraid or insecure for prolonged periods of time is EXTREMELY stressful and very dangerous to mental AND physical health. | Work out ways how to protect yourself from real dangers, and learn how to control your mind so you don't stress yourself out from imaginary dangers. Avoid dangerous people in your immediate environment. |
| Overcrowding | Give your fish room to move, to swim and breathe! | Being forced into too close proximity with other humans for too long with no means of escape, constantly having one's personal space violated. | Become aware of your own personal zone of safety and find ways and means of creating enough room around you so you can breathe freely and in peace. |
| Shocks | Be gentle! Don't let kids tap on an aquarium, don't touch the fish if it isn't absolutely necessary, don't change the environment too rapidly and don't throw balls and Frisbees into the pond! | Bad news, bad bills, bad phonecalls, items on the news that shock or appal you, shocks of pain, being beaten or attacked (verbally as well as physically). | "Shit happens" - we must learn to re-set ourselves back to a calm state as soon as possible after a shock was experienced by learning anti-stress techniques. Also work on self protection! |
| Illness & Poor Health | Keep an eye on the health of your fish and start any treatment as soon as possible. | Many people don't realise how stressed they are until they start getting stress illnesses such as skin rashes, migraines, stomach ulcers and psychological problems. Also, being ill to start with causes further massive stress on the body. | LEARN TO DE-STRESS! There are MANY simple, easy anti-stress techniques that anyone can learn to reduce their stress - and so give the body a fighting chance to repair itself both from stress damage as well as from physical illness. |
