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Stress: what’s a person to do about it all? |
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Monday, 30 March 2009 |
Stress! Stress! Stress! It is America’s number one health problem.
Numerous surveys confirm that adult Americans perceive they are under much more stress than a decade or two ago.
How does one cope with stress? What is stress and how do you describe it?
Is it being overworked and underpaid? Job Stress has been defined as far and away the leading source of stress for adults but stress levels have also escalated in children, teenagers, college students and the elderly for other reasons, including: increased crime, violence and other threats to personal safety.
Is it not having enough time to do what you need to do, or even want to do? Is it dealing with an emotional or a physical problem? Is it your children, your parents or any family member that may be a part of your stress?
Stress is hard to define, and to deal with. Some people that may be involved do not understand stress, or at least the stress that you may be going through.
Am I in control of stress or is stress controlling me?
• When I feel agitated, do I know how to quickly calm and soothe myself?
• Can I easily let go of my anger?
• Can I turn to others at work to help me calm down and feel better?
• When I come home at night, do I walk in the door feeling alert and relaxed?
• Am I seldom distracted or moody?
• Am I able to recognize upsets that others seem to be experiencing?
• Do I easily turn to friends or family members for a calming influence?
• When my energy is low, do I know how to boost it?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions, you’re probably in control of stress.
Most of us are not, or only have slight control of our stress, and the situations that may be the cause of it.
The potential causes of stress are numerous and highly individual. What causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that’s stressful to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it.
For example, your morning commute may make you anxious and tense because you worry that traffic will make you late. Others, however, may find the trip relaxing because they allow more than enough time and enjoy listening to music while they drive.
The situations and pressures that cause stress are known as stressors. We usually think of stressors as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship.
However, anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful. This includes positive events such as getting married, buying a house, going to college, or receiving a promotion.
Not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated, such as major life changes, work, relationship difficulties, financial problems, being too busy and children and family.
But not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated, such as the inability to accept uncertainty, pessimism, negative self-talk and unrealistic expectations, perfectionism.
It’s important to learn how to recognize when your stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you.
You get used to it and it starts to feels familiar – even normal. You don’t even notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll on your life.
The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, and everyone experiences stress differently.
What I experience as stress and what you may experience as stress can be completely different.
Your idea of stress may be defined as a financial situation, or it may pertain to an emotional situation, or maybe even a physical situation, that others may not know of, or even understand, no matter how you try to explain it to them.
We all experience stress in some form or fashion in some area of our lives.
Everybody responds to stress in ways that affect them as well as their environment.
The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats.
When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation.
If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.
In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you’re confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body’s ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include your nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get. For some of us, that may be very little rest or sleep.
Contemporary stress tends to be more pervasive, persistent and insidious because it stems primarily from psychological than physical threats. It is associated with ingrained and immediate reactions over which we have no control that were originally designed to be beneficial in which the heart rate and blood pressure soar to increase the flow of blood to the brain to improve decision making, the blood sugar rises to furnish more fuel for energy as the result of the breakdown of glycogen, fat and protein stores, the blood is shunted away from the gut, where it is not immediately needed for purposes of digestion, to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide more strength in combat, or greater speed in getting away from a scene of potential peril, and the clotting occurs more quickly to prevent blood loss from lacerations or internal hemorrhage.
These and myriad other immediate and automatic responses have been exquisitely honed over the lengthy course of human evolution as life saving measures to facilitate primitive man’s ability to deal with physical challenges. However, the nature of stress for modern man is not an occasional confrontation with a saber-toothed tiger or a hostile warrior but rather a host of emotional threats like getting stuck in traffic and fights with customers, co-workers, or family members, that often occur several times a day. Unfortunately, our bodies still react with these same, archaic fight or flight responses that are now not only not useful but potentially damaging and deadly. Repeatedly invoked, it is not hard to see how they can contribute to hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, ulcers, neck or low back pain and other “Diseases of Civilization”.
So what is so bad about stress?
Hans Selye, an early scientist who studied stress, actually introduced the term stress from physics and engineering and defined it as “mutual actions of forces that take place across any section of the body, physical or psychological.”
What are the signs and symptoms of poorly managed stress?
Excess stress can manifest itself in a variety of emotional, behavioral, and even physical symptoms, and the symptoms of stress vary enormously among different individuals. Common physical symptoms often reported by those experiencing excess stress include sleep disturbances, muscle tension, headache, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. Emotional and behavioral symptoms that can accompany excess stress include nervousness, anxiety, changes in eating habits including overeating, loss of enthusiasm or energy, and mood changes. Of course, none of these signs or symptoms means for certain that there is an elevated stress level since all of these symptoms can be caused by other medical and/or psychological conditions.
It is also known that people under stress have a greater tendency to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as excessive use or abuse of alcohol and drugs, cigarette smoking, and making poor nutritional choices, than their less-stressed counterparts. These unhealthy behaviors can further increase the severity of symptoms related to stress, often leading to a “vicious cycle” of symptoms and unhealthy behaviors.
The experience of stress is highly individualized. What constitutes overwhelming stress for one person may not be perceived as stress by another. Likewise, the symptoms and signs of poorly managed stress will be different for each person.
Who is most vulnerable to stress?
Stress comes in many forms and affects people of all ages and all walks of life. No external standards can be applied to predict stress levels in individuals—one need not have a traditionally stressful job to experience workplace stress, just as a parent of one child may experience more parental stress than a parent of several children. The degree of stress in our lives is highly dependent upon individual factors such as our physical health, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, the number of commitments and responsibilities we carry, the degree of others’ dependence upon us, expectations of us, the amount of support we receive from others, and the number of changes or traumatic events that have recently occurred in our lives.
Some generalizations, however, can be made. People with adequate social support networks report less stress and overall improved mental health in comparison to those without adequate social contacts. People who are poorly nourished, who get inadequate sleep, or who are physically unwell also have a reduced capacity to handle pressures and stresses of everyday life and may report higher stress levels.
A key aspect of a healthy adaptational response to stress is the time course. Responses must be initiated rapidly, maintained for a proper amount of time, and then turned off to ensure an optimal result. An over-response to stress or the failure to shut off a stress response can have negative biological consequences for an individual. Healthy human responses to stress involve three components:
• The brain handles the immediate response. This response signals the adrenal medulla to release adrinalin and noradrenaline.
• The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland trigger the slower maintenance response by signaling the adrenal cortex to release cortisol and other hormones.
• Many nerves are involved in the behavioral response. This response increases alertness, focuses attention, inhibits feeding and reproductive behavior, reduces pain perception, and redirects behavior.
The combined results of these three components of the stress response maintain the internal balance, increase energy production and utilization, and alter electrolyte and fluid balance in the body. They also gear up the system for a quick reaction through the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system operates by increasing the heart rate, increasing blood pressure, redirecting blood flow to the heart, muscles, and brain and away from the gastrointestinal tract, and releasing glucose and fatty acids to help fight or flee the danger.
There is now evidence that points to abnormal stress responses as causing various diseases or conditions.
It has been estimated that 75 - 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems.
Certain types of chronic and more insidious stress due to loneliness, poverty, bereavement, depression and frustration due to discrimination are associated with impaired immune system resistance to viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and cancer. Some other types of these include anxiety disorders, depression, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease, certain gastrointestinal diseases, and even the process of aging itself. Stress also seems to increase the frequency and severity of migraine headaches, episodes of asthma, and fluctuations of blood sugar in diabetics.
Stress can have effects on other hormones, brain neurotransmitters, additional small chemical messengers elsewhere in the body and metabolic activities that are still unknown.
It is shown that people experiencing psychological stress are more prone to develop colds and other infections than their less-stressed peers. Overwhelming psychological stress can cause both temporary and long-lasting symptoms of a serious psychiatric illness called post traumatic stress disorder.
Uncontrollable, unpredictable, and constant stress has far-reaching consequences on our physical and mental health. Stress can begin in the womb and recur throughout life. One of the abnormal consequences of stress is a learned helplessness that leads to the hopelessness and helplessness of clinical depression, but in addition, many illnesses, such as chronic anxiety states, high blood pressure, heart disease, and addictive disorders, to name a few, also seem to be influenced by chronic or overwhelming stress.
Nature, however, has provided us with wonderful processes to cope with stressors. Furthermore, research has shown us the biological processes that explain what we all intuitively know is true—which is, that too much stress, particularly when we cannot predict it or control its recurrence, is harmful to our health.
If we think about the causes of stress, the nature of the stress response, and the negative effects of some types of stress, several healthy management strategies become clear. The first step in stress management is exercise. You see, since the stress response prepares us for the fight or flight mode, our bodies are primed for action. Unfortunately, however, we usually handle our stresses while sitting at our desk, standing at the water cooler, or behind the wheel stuck in traffic. Exercise on a regular basis helps to turn down the production of stress hormones. Thus, exercise can help avoid the damage to our health that prolonged stress can cause. In fact, studies have found that exercise is a potent antidepressant, it helps combat anxiety, and is a sleeping aid for many people.
Elimination of drug use and no more than moderate alcohol use are important for the successful management of stress. We know that people, when stressed, seek these outlets, but we also know that many of these substances sensitize the stress response. As a result, small problems produce big surges of stress chemicals. What’s more, these attempts with drugs and alcohol to mask stress often prevent the person from facing the problem directly. Consequently, they are not able to develop effective ways to cope with or eliminate the stress.
In fact, even prescription drugs for anxiety, such as Valium, Ativan, or Xanax, can be counterproductive in the same way. Therefore, these medications should only be used cautiously under the strict guidance of a physician. If, however, stress produces a full-blown psychiatric problem, like post traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression, or anxiety disorders, then medications, particularly Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac, are extremely useful.
Because of the widespread damage stress can cause, it’s important to know your own limit. But just how much stress is “too much” differs from person to person. Some people roll with the punches, while others crumble at the slightest obstacle or frustration. Some people even seem to thrive on the excitement and challenge of a high-stress lifestyle.
We know that chronic or uninterrupted stress is very harmful. It is important, therefore, to take breaks and decompress. Take a lunch break and don’t talk about work. Take a walk instead of a coffee break. Use weekends to relax, and don’t schedule so many events that Monday morning will seem like a relief. Learn your stress signals. Take regular vacations or even long weekends or mental-health days at intervals that you have learned are right for you.
Create predictability in your work and home life as much as possible. Structure and routine in your life can’t prevent the unexpected from happening. However, they can provide a comfortable framework from which to respond to the unexpected. Think ahead and try to anticipate the varieties of possibilities, good and bad, that may become realities at work or home. Generate scenarios and response plans. You may find that the “unexpected” really doesn’t always come out of the blue. With this kind of preparation, you can turn stress into a positive force to work for your growth and change.
Stress is a normal part of life that can either help us learn and grow or can cause us significant problems. Stress releases powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us for action. If we don’t take action, the stress response can create or worsen health problems. Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and unmanageable stresses are the most damaging types of stress. Stress can be managed by regular exercise, meditation or other relaxation techniques, structured time-outs, and learning new coping strategies to create predictability in our lives. Many behaviors that increase in times of stress and maladaptive ways of coping with stress—drugs, pain medicines, alcohol, smoking, and eating—actually worsen the stress and can make us more sensitive to further stress. While there are promising treatments for stress, the management of stress is mostly dependent on the willingness of a person to make the changes necessary for a healthy lifestyle.
Just as stress is different for each of us there is no stress reduction strategy that is a panacea. Jogging and other aerobic exercises, different types of meditation, prayer, yoga and tai chi are great for many people but when arbitrarily imposed on others, prove dull, boring and stressful. There is certainly no shortage of stress relievers and in addition to the above, various progressive muscular relaxation exercises, autogenic training, deep breathing, massage therapies, visual imagery and self hypnosis practices are popular. There are also acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, Alexander, Reiki, Feldenkrais and other bodywork and postural techniques. Some people find that listening to music, hobbies, volunteer work, keeping a daily journal of events and how they feel, laughter, playing with pets, taking short breaks or shopping help them to relax. There are also prescription tranquilizers, sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants and beta-blockers for specific complaints. In addition, a variety of cranioelectromagnetic stimulation devices have been found to be effective and safe for anxiety, insomnia and drug resistant depression. Strong emotional support from group therapy, family or friends is a powerful stress buster.
Most of the above are designed to reduce the annoying somatic and emotional effects of stress. The focus in recent years has been on preventing such problems, which makes more sense. This involves identifying the sources of stress in your life and finding ways to avoid them or reduce their impact. We sometimes create our own stress because of habits and traits that can have harmful effects that can be reduced using cognitive restructuring techniques such as behavioral modification, assertiveness training, time management and stress inoculation. Others turn to smoking, alcohol or drugs to relieve their stress but these short-term solutions eventually cause even more stress. Long-term use of prescription medications can result in dependency or adverse side effects and some supplements can have similar problems or interact with other drugs. St. John’s wort has been shown to interfere with numerous medications.
As indicated, the key to reducing stress is to prevent it. Getting enough sleep, a proper diet, avoiding excess caffeine and other stimulants and taking time out to relax may be helpful in this regard. Many stress relievers work because of the power of the placebo effect that comes from having faith in the procedure or the therapist. Other very different approaches can achieve the same results because they reduce feelings of helplessness and provide a sense of control over the problem.
Stress is an unavoidable consequence of life. There are some stresses like the loss of a loved one that you can’t hope to avoid and others that you can prevent or influence. The trick is in learning how to distinguish between the two so that you’re not constantly frustrated like Don Quixote tilting at windmill and devote your time and talent to areas where you can make a difference. Try to follow the serenity prayer, “God, Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. Stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. But when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price.
If you frequently find yourself feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, it’s time to take action to bring your nervous system back into balance. You can protect yourself by learning how to recognize the signs and symptoms of stress and taking steps to reduce its harmful effects.
The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.
Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms:
Emotional Symptoms include:
• Memory problems
• Inability to concentrate
• Poor judgment
• Seeing only the negative
• Anxious or racing thoughts
• Constant worrying
• Moodiness
• Irritability or short temper
• Agitation, inability to relax
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Sense of loneliness and isolation
• Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms include:
• Aches and pains
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Nausea, dizziness
• Chest pain, rapid heartbeat
• Loss of sex drive
• Frequent colds
• Eating more or less
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Isolating yourself from others
• Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
• Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
• Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms of stress can also be caused by other psychological and medical problems. If you’re experiencing any of the warning signs of stress, it’s important to see a doctor for a full evaluation. Your doctor can help you determine whether or not your symptoms are stress-related.
While unchecked stress is undeniably damaging, there are many things you can do to reduce its impact and cope with symptoms.
You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction when you can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation.
You can’t completely eliminate stress from your life, but you can control how much it affects you. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity. They also increase your ability to stay calm and collected under pressure.
Most people ignore their emotional health until there’s a problem. But just as it requires time and energy to build or maintain your physical health, so it is with your emotional well-being. The more you put in to it, the stronger it will be. People with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from stress and adversity. This ability is called resilience. They remain focused, flexible, and positive in bad times as well as good. The good news is that there are many steps you can take to build your resilience and your overall emotional health.
For those who may need help dealing with stress, stress-management counseling in the form of individual or group therapy is offered by various mental-health-care providers. Stress counseling and group discussion therapy have proven to reduce stress symptoms and improve overall health and attitude.
The prognosis for people suffering from the effects of stress is almost always outstanding. Most people recover completely once the stressor is identified and a plan is devised to remove or control it.
The key is to seek help early and be an active partner in your care and recovery. Just worrying about your problems will only make them worse. Call on your friends, family, clergy, and doctor to help you return to a full and productive lifestyle.
Stress is a fact of life for most people. You may not be able to get rid of stress, but you can look for ways to lower it.
You might try some of these ideas:
• Learn better ways to manage your time. You may get more done with less stress if you make a schedule.
• Think about which things are most important, and do those first.
• Find better ways to cope. Look at how you have been dealing with stress. Be honest about what works and what does not.
• Think about other things that might work better.
• Take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Eat well. Don’t smoke. Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• Try out new ways of thinking. When you find yourself starting to worry, try to stop the thoughts. Work on letting go of things you cannot change. Learn to say “no.”
• Speak up. Not being able to talk about your needs and concerns creates stress and can make negative feelings worse. Assertive communication can help you express how you feel in a thoughtful, tactful way.
• Ask for help. People who have a strong network of family and friends manage stress better.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The best ways to relieve stress are different for each person. Try some of these ideas to see which ones work for you:
• Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Walking is a great way to get started.
• Write. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you.
• Let your feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to with someone you trust.
• Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps others can be a great stress reliever.
• Learn ways to relax your body. This can include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing exercises like tai chi and qi gong.
• Focus on the present. Try meditation, imagery exercises, or self-hypnosis. Listen to relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life. Laughter really can be the best medicine.
When you get stressed out, just laugh..... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaa! hum!
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 April 2009 )
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