Stress Energy vs. Destructive Stress
In general, stress serves as a defensive and/or adaptive mechanism that allows you to deal physically and mentally with a negative situation. This concept is known as the fight-or-flight response and/ or adaptive response. For example, when you face a dangerous situation, your pulse quickens, you breathe faster, your muscles tense, and your brain uses more oxygen and increases all internal physiological activities geared to help you survive the situation. This type of energy-related stress can boost your immune system as well as your physical strength and, in the short-term, it is beneficial; once the perceived danger subsides, normal internal operations return. Renowned stress researcher Dr. Robert Sapolsky, PhD—professor of biological sciences, neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford University—states that your body basically turns off everything that’s not essential to survival, such as digestion, growth and reproduction, during this short adaptive phase of stress. In his 30 years of research, he has also found that in this phase you think more clearly, and certain aspects of learning and memory are enhanced. Dr. Sapolsky, however, reminds us that non life threatening, constant stressors trigger the release of adrenaline and other stress hormones, which can have devastating consequences to your health over time. For instance, if you turn on the stress response chronically for purely psychological reasons, you increase the risk of adult onset diabetes and high blood pressure; if you are chronically shutting down the digestive system, there’s a cluster of gastrointestinal disorders you’re more at risk of developing. Additionally, stress hormones can clog arteries, increase plaque, damage blood vessels and restrict blood flow, jeopardizing heart health.
Building a Model of Stress Reductiont
Some people cope with stress more effectively than others. It’s important to know your limits and to make adjustments to reduce stressful episodes and/or identify ways to better cope with stress to minimize the damage it elicits internally. For example, to combat some obvious life stressors—work, financial difficulties, death of a family member, a new birth and/or a serious illness—develop a regimen to include the following:
1. Reorganize your life, establish some goals, and avoid haphazardly approaching projects.
2. Learn how to say “no”; manage your time effectively.
3. Take a vacation; engage in a new hobby; exercise regularly; practice meditation; and stay sexually connected to your significant other.
4. Focus beyond the problem; break major occurring or reoccurring problems into smaller parts, solving each piece individually, until the whole problem is solved.
5. Respect your biological clock—get adequate rest and sleep.
6. Know your personality type; avoid unnecessary crisis management of life’s everyday highs and lows, essentially tempering your response to them.
7. Allocate some “me” time: Schedule a massage, do some gardening, learn a new skill, take a stroll, swim or engage in your favorite routine more often than not. Take a walk; enjoy a hot soak or bath; relax in the sauna; treat yourself to something; or plan an intimate interlude.
8. Do it now-do not procrastinate; follow it through to completion and measure success one day at a time.
9. Maintain a healthy lifestyle and a nutritionally well-balanced diet to sustain energy levels. Don’t eat on the run; remain adequately hydrated; reduce coffee and other stimulants; and consume four to six small meals daily versus one or two larger meals.
10. Discuss emotional concerns with immediate family members; stay connected to other family and friends; ask for help when needed; resolve past conflicts; and learn how to accept others’ shortcomings.
11. Don’t take yourself too seriously—be flexible; join a support group; live and let old grievances die. Learn anger management tips, and examine your own beliefs and expectations. Be considerate and respectful, curbing the notion that every minor detail has to be accounted for.
12. Plan for financial success; establish an emergency fund, but learn to forgive mistakes you and/or others may make along the way.
13. Make a career change if necessary. Dress to please. Seek crisis therapy in crisis-related situations and recognize your own shortcomings.
14. Identify and curtail your aggressive tendencies—make simple assertions instead of demanding ones. Focus on your partner’s strong points and their long-term commitment. Be decisive and thoughtful, speaking clearly without long, drawn out explanations.
You Will Become What You Are Stressed About
Researchers contend that many people correlate stress with the nervous tension caused by an outside force such as an emotional confrontation or argument. It is this belief, however, that causes individuals to also overlook, and therefore fail to adapt and make the necessary changes to, a long list of everyday stressors that permeate their daily lives. Some of those stressors may be alcohol abuse, chronic pain, depression, failure at work, illegal drugs, insomnia, lack of exercise, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and poor nutritional choices as well as sleep deprivation. Stress management researchers contend that at the cellular level you become those stressors that invade your mental and physical being, as a body under constant stress will eventually throttle down and lose its energy capacity or potential. This non-adaptation on your part to various everyday stressors in many cases begins to manifest in general character and overall perceptional attitude changes in your individual personality (anger and irritability), chronic states of depression, headaches and, in some cases, increased risky behavior.
Does Less Stress = More Energy?
We all want less stress and more energy. Fortunately, addressing one can have an impact on the other; during times of stress, the demand for energy increases exponentially. All else being equal, a reduction in stress should produce an increase in energy. Unfortunately, too many of the things we face on a daily basis—traffic, screaming kids, financial troubles, an argument with spouse, even the feeling that we must always stay busy—all register as threatening situations, leaving our bodies in a constant state of overdrive.
Mental, Emotional and Physical Impact
If the stressors don’t go away or our bodies are unable to adapt, the metabolic equivalent of “burnout” will occur. When this happens, our mental, emotional and physical health may suffer. The fact that up to 90% of healthcare practitioner visits in the U.S. are stress-related suggests that most of us could use a little assistance with adaptation The points mentioned above are important from an interpersonal standpoint according to Drs. Edward A. Charlesworth and Ronald G. Nathan, the authors of Stress Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Wellness (Ballantine Books, 2004). They cite some alarming numbers concerning the amount of prescriptions written in the U.S. related to stress (3 billion doses of amphetamines, 5 billion doses of barbiturates and 5 billion doses of tranquilizers) yearly. Comparably, in a recent IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics report, more than 253.6 million prescriptions were filled for antidepressants in a year, listing them as one of the fastest growing classes of prescribed drugs. However, a new related report appearing in the journal Health Affairs shows that prescriptions for antidepressants being prescribed with no clear psychiatric diagnoses has increased from 59.5 to 72.7%. Other top-ranking stress-related classes of drugs by number of prescriptions filled are anti-ulcerants, 147.1 million; antirheumatics, 95 million; hypnotics and sedatives, 66 million; and tranquilizers, 108.6 million.
Stress Needs to be Neutralized
From a pure physical health standpoint, chronic stress differs among individuals as well as between genders. However, we’re all at risk for developing stress-related illness if we don’t take steps to reduce it. An innovative study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University shows for the first time how psychological stress is associated with the body losing its ability to regulate the inflammatory response, resulting in an uncontrolled situation characterized by continued tissue destruction and the development of a wide range of age-related disorders.
Last Words
Renowned gymnastics trainer, Liang Chow, worked with U.S. Olympic gold medal winner Gabby Douglas to mentally get rid of the stress she was experiencing during practice. He helped her realize that the routine she was having trouble perfecting wasn’t something she was emulating based on the movements or skill of a previous routine or person. He simply said to her, Gabby you are not part of the skill to do this—you are the skill. Similarly, within all the parameters of your life, you don’t exist as a part of the skill to reduce the stress and/or the stressors in your life, you are the skill.
By Kavitha Selvi KJ
01.12.2022
References:
Visit www.afaa.com
Healthy Ways to Reduce Destructive Stress By George L. Redmon PhD, ND
Comments