The facts about stress are as boring as the news, to most people, that the Northwest’s rain wasn’t plentiful enough and caused another drought. Everyone knows stress can cause heart disease, create enough symptoms to give the family physician job security for years to come, and figuratively as well as literally kill. Yawn.

So the average Joe and Jane American go about their daily business, taking pain killers to get rid of headaches or muscle pain, stocking up on Tums for the heartburn, and maybe even on beer to “relieve” the tension. One day Joe or Jane may suddenly die of heart attack or weaken the immune system to the point it can’t fight other killers like cancer — but until then, Mr. and Mrs. American see their doctor occasionally to get band-aids for their assortment of discomforts and move on.

Fortunately, this is a story that can have a happy ending if we rewrite the script a little. All the Americans have to do is listen to their bodies and connect the dots. The headaches, the muscle tension, the heartburn, the sleeplessness and various other troubles could be the body’s way of saying — no, yelling — that Joe and Jane have stress. All they have to do is tune into the body’s early-warning system, and react accordingly.

“Each person has a characteristic pattern they should search out that lets them know their own stress symptoms,” says Olympic Mental Health’s Dr. Leyla Welkin, PhD, LMHC. “Don’t wait until you have all the symptoms, try to react early on.”

Muscle tension is common for many people and is easy to notice; other symptoms include jaw grinding, inability to fall asleep or waking up in the middle of the night and lying awake, and worried thoughts. During the holidays, high expectations, both positive and negative, can add to the pressure of an already frantic lifestyle.

Once a person is aware of the stress patterns and can detect trouble early, de-stressing activities can relieve some of the pressure, often time causing a chain reaction, Welkin says. For example, people may notice that eliminating chemicals out of their diet will take care of the heartburn while they start sleeping better. Or they may notice after a massage to help the muscle tension that they stop obsessively worrying about something and lose their headaches too.

“Stress is a package deal, both in symptoms and treating them,” Welkin says. That means everything is part of the same response system and eliminating at least one symptom will help the rest, so choosing at least one activity should help.

Although it should be accepted that stress is part of life — no one can get away from it — not dealing with it could cause serious problems. Even a fall or a cold will have a much bigger impact on the body if it’s already off balance due to stress.

“The more relaxed you are, the more your body is resilient,” Welkin says. “Your body can take care of itself as long as you don’t overload it.”

If the story of Jane and Joe required a moral, it would be this: Pay attention to your troubles, take notes, and get on with the program, whether it’s baking cookies, coercing a foot massage out of your better half, shopping, volunteering and making someone’s day, watching the birds, or getting a helping of Mozart under the candlelight. Find out which de-stressing remedy works best for you. Apply as needed. Relax.