Stress and depression are inextricably linked. Stress often leads to depression and depression certainly causes a person to be stressed out.

It's also easy to think of stress and depression being at different ends of the same stick.

Stress being the tightly wound up state, ready to snap under tension and pressure whereas depression is a kind of fallow state of non-acitivity and an inability to move, trapped under a heavy cloud, though in reality depression and stress are both at the opposite end of the spectrum of emotions to joy and happiness. That's where they lie, both together, unhealthy, unproductive, pretty miserable states.

This quick anti stress tip to lift your mood, change your mood and release stress is a very useful multi-level exercise that also teaches the basics of directing attention with purpose - very handy to steer the mind away from stressful thoughts or memories that bring you down, and towards positive, powerful, uplifting and de-stressing thoughts, ideas and memories instead.

Dr Silvia Hartmann writes: Wow that's a headline and a half!

But really, yes I do think I have the best anti-stress tip ever. And I got it from a vision!

What could be more de-stressing and relaxing than looking up at the stars on a soft summer's night and letting all your doubts, fears and uncertainties just simply disappear into the velvet darkness ... Here is a lovely short anti-stress astrology meditation by AstroEnergy astrologer Helle Gylling from Canada - The Wise Woman & The Stars.

Our ever vigilant StressFish people, on their travels around the world, came across this turtle of wisdom in Thailand.

As is well known, turtles are very wise, and they don't stress easily.

Meet the turtle of wisdom, get your own personal anti-stress message and enter into the caption competition to win a copy of Adventures In EFT, the most de-stressing book we know!

Update: Competition is now closed and here are the winners ...

This in an interesting and very effective anti-stress technique from the magic kingdom - burn your stress in a magic fire.

Write down what stresses you the most, then hit "BURN!" to make it clear to "the powers that be" that you want to get rid of that cause of stress from your life.

De-stress and relax deeply with this short relaxation video by StarFields that combines beautifully stimulating images of amber, which is a natural healing substance, and rhythmic energy dancing music to bring life back into tense muscles and tense minds.

Being very angry, feeling hurt, exasperated, deeply frustrated is definitely a form of high stress that needs to be relieved as soon as possible and before we do anything dramatically stupid from such a state that can gives us much grief in the days to come.

Here is a fast meditation against anger and stress that you might not have heard of before ...

Have you ever lain in the grass or on the beach, your hands behind your head, gave a big sigh of relief and just watched the clouds go by?

We would all find so much more stress relief and relaxation if we did that just once a day, every day, just for a time ...

Here are some lovely white clouds for you to de-stress, breathe deeply and let your stress and worries lift away, into the blue sky, to drift away on the winds ...

Here is a really soothing yoga breathing relaxation exercise which is helpful for overcoming anxiety, emotional upset and stress.

The Relaxing Breath is also helpful in relaxing into a restful sleep at the end of the day.

De-stress with this guided yoga meditation by Ananga Sivyer online right now.

Here is an excellent anti-stress meditation that can transport you INSTANTLY into calmer states, change your energy and make you happy - no matter how crazy your "real" environments may be.

Sounds good? Read on ... :-)

After a long, hard day's work, there is little as stress relieving as sitting down and watching the sun set over the sea.

Here is a beautiful gallery of stunning sunset images captured by Nicola Quinn on the beach over the English Channel.

Look at one sunset picture at a time, and remember to breathe in deeply the peace and tranquility of these images, and to breathe out stress and worry.

So this is a tad unusual as far as anti-stress techniques go - but the StressFish thinks it's funny and claims that this has helped him in the past to clear his mind of unwanted fears and stressful imaginings.

This stress release technique involves a tumbleweed, and a little song ...

Take a 4 minute holiday from stress and visit the Gel Dimension with this lovely relaxation video from the WonderWorlds collection.

Remember to breathe deeply - fresh air in, stress and problems OUT!

4 Minutes well spent, your mind, body and spirit will be grateful for the time out.

Here is an excellent, multi-level exercise for people who spent WAAAY too much time in front their computers and end up not only stressed and tired, but also cold, locked up, stiff as a board and generally feeling like a 90 year old who's just gotten out of bed.

Star Swimming takes only minutes, you don't need to buy any fancy exercise gear, and if you have the mental wherewithal, you can add another dimension and practice your goal setting whilst you're reducing your stress!

Here is a really quick and very helpful way to de-stress immediately from the Emotrance family of first aid techniques. This is also a technique you can do any time you start to feel a build up of stress and you can use it without anyone else noticing what you are doing.

Highly recommended!

This is the fast version of an EFT protocol, which works by stimulating important meridian points and improving energy flow.

This leads to stress relief and relaxation - try it out for yourself online right now, it only takes 2 minutes.

We are going to make a simple anti-stress anchor for a particular situation where you ALWAYS get really stressed out and where some thing that would bring you back down to Earth and calm you down would be not just very welcome, but also very useful so you make better decisions and feel more in control of yourself generally.