STRESSED OUT: Stress has become a part...

STRESSED OUT: Stress has become a part of the Orange County lifestyle, but sufferers want more than just medicine. They want letters to excuse them from their jobs. . . . “There’s a real need for validation for taking personal health time,” says physician Barbara Best North of Laguna Niguel. “People are under so much pressure to be continually productive that they don’t follow their instincts. For a person to actually take care of themselves early in an illness these days is very, very rare.”