Stages of stress

Stress can be defined as the non-specific response of the body to any demands made upon it. is, in other words, how an individual's coping mechanisms interact with their surroundings. When we talk about stress, the first question that comes to mind is, "What causes stress?" Well, there are 2 factors that cause stress. At first, is a stressor, and second is what we call the stress-reactivity. A stressor is any stimulus which has the potential of trigging flight or fight response. Stressors are those, for which our body is evolutionary trained, when there was a threat to our safety, consider the example, the cavemen who saw a lion looking for its next meal, had to react quickly. Cavemen didn't have to worry about their next threat because they weren't fast enough or strong enough. They became the lion's meal, so it was necessary to flee or fight them, and doing so quickly was crucial to survival. Modern day men and women also react to stressors with the same response, for example, when you step off a curb, not noticing a car coming down the street, you hear the car’s horn, you quickly jump back on the curb. Your heart beats faster, breathing changes, you perspire. Your response to the stressor, which is the possibility of being struck by the car, is reflected in all of these manifestations. We encounter different types of stressors. There are environmental stressors like heat, cold, toxins. Some psychological stressors like threat to self-esteem, depression. And other sociological stressors like death of a loved one, unemployment and then there are other philosophical stressors like use of time and purpose of life. We encounter stressors everyday and in every walk of life. The flight or fight response to a stressor is termed as stress reactivity. It includes increase in muscle tension, heart rate, elevated blood pressure, less saliva in mouth, etc. these reactions prepare us for swift response. This stress response becomes unhealthy when we accumulate stress products and neglect to use them. A certain amount of stress is normal and necessary. It is inevitable and also desirable. At low level of stress arousal you are not motivated to try very hard so you don’t perform well. At another extreme, too high level of stress arousal disrupts your performance on all your tasks. Hans Selye (a researcher in stress) summarized stress reactivity as a three stage process termed as General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). Phase 1: alarm reaction- the body shows the changes characteristic of the first exposure to the stressor. You are given access to a surge of energy. Phase 2: stage of resistance- resistance ensues if continued exposure to the stressor is compatible with the adaptation. The bodily signs of alarm reaction have virtually disappeared, and resistance rises above normal. Phase 3: stage of exhaustion- following long continued exposure to the same stressor, the adaptation energy is exhausted. The similar symptoms of alarm reaction reappear, but now they are irreversible and this could be fatal. There are numerous health effects of stress. Hypertension, stroke, ulcers, migraine headaches, coronary heart disease, tension headaches, asthma, and hay fever, to name a few, could occur if proper care is not given. Have you ever noticed that some people are more likely than others to experience stress? Some people tend to have a strong physiological response that is bad for their health when they are under a lot of stress. We call these people as hot reactors if you notice people who get angry easily, are often anxious or depressed, urinate frequently, experience constipation or diarrhea more than usual, experience vomiting or nausea, there is a good chance they are hot reactors. People who are perfectionist, obsessive compulsive, etc. are more prone to stress. The management of the five aspects of stress as a means of stress reduction: 1) Changing stressors: Identify the regular or predictable stressors in your life. Commonly they are job, relationships, and unreasonable demands. You can change the stressor, quit it, improve it, or tolerate it. 2) Modifying your lifestyle, eating a healthy diet, relaxing, and exercising can alter your physiological responses. 3) Changing your behavior: Changing your behavior to replace old, self-defeating, stress-inducing behaviors with more successful ones is an important part of effective stress management. 4) Changing your perspective: When you view your circumstance as a threat, it causes you stress. Your expectation whether or not you will be able to cope with it influences your level of stress and your expectations of your not coping also influences your levels of stress. 5) Changing how you feel: Your feelings are influenced by your thoughts. Learn to handle your bad feelings. Denying your feelings and pretending they don’t exist will only make things worse. These are just a few suggestions understand and start working on the stressors you feel in your life. Rare is a person who doesn’t experience any stress. The first step is to be aware. Observe and reflect to identify your life's stressors. As a starting point think of all the stressors in your life and the level of stress they bring to you.

STRESS. "Also, the S word." Stress is the ‘wear and tear’ our bodies experience as we adjust to our constantly changing environment. Stress has both physical and emotional effects on us and can it can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new consciousness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, insomnia, ulcers and other health problems. As you can see, as we adjust to different situations, stress can either help or hinder us depending on how we react to it. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you shouldn’t let things concern you but what I do what to say is that you can slowly begin to reduce the stress in your life. As women, we wear many hats and as moms, our hat racks are overflowing. Be sure to recognize stressful situations and take a notice of how you deal with them both mentally and physically. You remember that saying? If mama’ ain’t happy, nobody is happy? Well, I tend to agree with it so I am very conscience of the stressful situations that I am confronted with and I am sure to time off when I can to replenish my mind, body, and spirit. Sit back, relax, and see if you can apply some or all of the action steps below into your life and begin on the road to less stress. Write it down. Write down goals, errands, chores, due dates etc and instead of creating just a “To Do” list, keep a “Have Done” list too. Move things from your To Do list to the Have Done list after having completed them. At the end of the day, review how productive you were. Express yourself. Unloading your worries and concerns is a terrific way to clear your mind and reduce stress. It’s very important not to keep everything inside so try finding a friend or a professional whom you can talk to. You can also write your feelings down in a journal. Putting your thoughts on paper instead of in your head can help you get rid of a lot of your internal turmoil. Don’t avoid. If there’s something in your life that’s causing you to worry; seek out things that will help you feel in control. For instance, if you’re suffering from financial problems, try read some books on gaining control of your financial life or seek the help of a financial planner. Drink some orange juice. Scientists have discovered that vitamin C can reduce the production of stress hormones. Try taking a vitamin C supplement, eating an orange, or drinking juice. Here are a few foods that are rich in vitamin C: broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, strawberries, grapefruit and cantaloupe. Exercise. During stressful times, short 10-minute walks have been shown to increase brain oxygen levels, allowing you to think more clearly and ultimately assisting you in making better decisions. Give yourself a license to be imperfect. No one is perfect. Give yourself a break. Make an effort to strike a healthy balance between what absolutely needs to be done right away and what can wait. Also give yourself permission to ask others for help when you need it. Adjustments. Let’s face it — there comes a time when we have to make adjustments. Try to identify your stressors and adjust yourself so that you react differently to them.

Have you ever said the words, “This job/my life is so stressful!” Or something else along those lines? Most people believe that stress is something that happens in their lives. They believe it is the result of outside circumstances beyond their control. We are stressed if our work is too difficult. We get stressed when people in our lives arent doing what we want them to do. When we haven't been on vacation for too long, we get stressed out. We get stress over deaths, weddings, major purchases and a host of other things. We talk as if stress is something outside ourselves—a condition of things in our external environment. It’s not. Health professionals will tell us that stress is a contributing factor in many physical ailments—heart attacks, asthma, high blood pressure, stroke and many others. There are several diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, the diagnostic tool of therapists and psychiatrists that describe many stress-related disorders. Stress is a killer. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to handle stress better than others do? One individual may have all the life circumstances purported to cause stress in ones life but seem to be just breezing through his or her day, seemingly without a care, while another person gets a flat tire on the way to work and has a total melt down. What can be said about this? I want to approach stress from a different angle—one based on choice theory. According to Choice Theory, all behavior is purposeful. This means that no matter what we do it is a purposeful attempt to get something we want. We are never simply responding to outside stimuli. You may ask, What about when I flinch when I hear a loud noise? Your proactive approach to ensuring your safety rather than a response to the noise is what causes you to flinch. This may seem like Im splitting hairs, but it is an important distinction to understand in this discussion of stress. Let me give you another example. You may think you get mad at your child for not cleaning his or her room after you asked several times. It sure feels as if the anger is in direct response to your childs behavior. However, your rage is actually your best attempt to coerce your child into acting in your favor. By displaying angry behavior, it is your belief that your child will go ahead and clean up his or her room. Any behavior or emotion we employ is a proactive, sometimes conscious sometimes not, attempt to get something we want, not a response to external stimuli. Stress is a similar matter. We are choosing stress as a proactive attempt to get something we want. This choice is almost never conscious, but I want it to become conscious for you. Once it is conscious, then you have the power to choose to do it differently if you so desire. Since all behavior is purposeful, it helps to understand what possible benefits or purposes one could achieve by stressing. Who would ever choose that behavior for any benefit? Stress can be a motivator, according to me. Many of us perform at our peak level when we have that adrenalin rush moving through our veins. I'm talking about someone who has ever waited until the last minute to study for a test or finish a project. Stressing can also be a way of telling others they better back off. I know that when I was stressed, my unconscious goal was to tell my boss that she should not ask me to do anything else or I might lose my job! I would send out signals of overwhelm—lots of sighing, threatening looks, irritability, loss of humor. I have to admit that even though I didn't do it very often, it worked quite well. Whenever I was stressed, my boss generally left me alone to do my work. Stressing can also get us the help we need. When the message is out there, others may rally around us to support us. People may actually offer to do some things for us so we can reduce the overwhelm. Another possible benefit is that stressing can provide us with recognition. People may say, “Wow, look at _____________. I don’t know how he/she gets all that done. It’s amazing!” There are some who appreciate this positive recognition. One final thought on stressing benefits. . . Physical signs and symptoms may result from prolonged stress. In Choice Theory, Dr. Glasser tells us that are behavior is total, meaning it is comprised of four inseparable component—the action, our thoughts, our feelings and the physiology of our body or whatever our body is doing at that moment. When we dont take care of managing our stress levels, our physiology takes over and creates physical symptoms for us. Now remember, I said all behavior is purposeful and physiology is a part of the total behavior. Do you understand the purpose of the physical symptoms that accompany prolonged stress? Of course, it is our bodys way of telling us we have to stop or slow down. It produces the physical symptoms that are hard to ignore. When we attend to them, we get the rest we need and therefore reduce the stress. Can you see how all behavior is purposeful? I am not suggesting that you are to blame if stress is having an impact on your life. I'm implying that up until this point, you have been stressing out to get something you want, whether you were conscious of it or not. You have done everything you could to get it. If you can pinpoint what the benefit(s) of stress is/are to you, then you can look at ways to get what you need without having to stress.

The World Health Organization calls stress “the health epidemic of the 21st century.” Stress resulting in illness is the causative factor underlying more than 70% of all visits to the family doctor, medical doctors suggest. Stress, what is it? We all talk about it but what does ‘stress’ mean and how does it affect our bodies? Dr. Hans Selye, who first noted and described the concept of stress, defines stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand made upon it.” Stress is neither good nor bad. The effect of the stress is not determined by the stress itself, rather it is determined by how we handle the stress. Effects of Stress 1. "Emergency Response" When people believe they are in danger, their bodies change, and the emergency response mechanism kicks in. Pupils dilate, blood pressure increases, and the production of stress hormones increase. The body prepares within seconds to respond, which is known as the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome. The adrenal glands pour out adrenaline and the production of other hormones is increased by the quickly reacting pituitary-adrenal-cortical system of the brain. This is a healthy, adaptive response to immediate danger but if continually activated, this emergency response may cause a constantly higher-than-normal level of hormone production that can eventually cause physical wear-and-tear on the body. Health problems related to this constant high level of response include hypertension, headaches, ulcers, heart disease, and increased vulnerability to diabetes and colitis. 2. “General Adaptation Syndrome” In studies, Selye came to believe that diseases of adaptation such as hypertension could be produced by abnormal or excessive reaction to stress. The body would increase its supply of hormones in order to be ready for action to stress. Over a prolonged period of time, excessive stress leads to distress and the accompanying physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health problems. Contributing factors to distress include a) your attitude to life and b) your mood (optimistic or pessimistic). Both help to create the atmosphere that assists your defence system in repairing small wounds, bruises, and infections. This is also the system that tries to destroy strange cells such as those of cancer, including leukaemia. In mastering stress, you have to figure out what you are doing that contributes to your problem/challenge and change it. The four categories of change include: change your behaviour, change your thinking, change your lifestyle choices, and/or change the situations you are in. Symptoms of overstress include fatigue, aches and pains, anxiety, problems sleeping, depression, and lack of joy in your life Practical Steps to Stress Management and Creating Balance 1. Make your life regular like ‘clock work.’ Go to bed and get up at the same time each day. 2. Give yourself a break today. 3. Say ‘No’ more often when other people want your time. This includes social engagements, the family dinner on Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. 4. Postpone making any changes in your living environment if you have been coping with undue stress. Any kind of change is stressful, so putting it off for later is a good plan if you're under a lot of pressure. 5. Reduce the number of hours you spend at work or school. If you are a work-a-holic or school-a-holic you need to reduce the energy drain on your body. SCHEDULE A BREAK. 6. Nutritional eating habits and eating small meals helps to keep your blood sugar stabilised. Many people reach for something high in sugar content when feeling stressed which compounds the problem. Consume more vegetables. 7. Rest your mind, as mind activities alleviate stress. These mind activities include reading, working on a craft, listening to music, playing a musical instrument, meditation, self-relaxation, dancing, and biofeedback. 8. Have a worry time if you must worry. Set aside a time (I recommend 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights for my students) when you find yourself worrying about a problem and put off worrying until that time. Chances are you will not even remember what you were stressing yourself about. 9. Book time for yourself. In your daily or weekly schedule book time first for yourself and then the other activities you are involved in. Don’t let anything, except an emergency, usurp your commitment to yourself. 10. Have a massage or another form of self- care activity