Welcome to Stress Relief with Dr Jeff
Stress Management and Stress Relief
Stress – the silent killer
Let us begin with the obvious question - are you stressed? Do you feel tired and irritable? Do you have trouble sleeping? The answer for most of us is – ‘Yes, from time to time this is how I feel.’ It is normal to be stressed.
Stress is a response to the challenges in our life. It would be abnormal if you weren't stressed some of the time. There are times when we deny our levels of stress but our family, friends, and workmates tell a different story. Stress symptoms are obvious to others – and not so obvious to us. What is important is that we develop good stress management techniques to deal with these challenges.
We live in a fast-paced, modern society where the demands and challenges seem to increase exponentially each year. We live complex lives, usually within a family structure, in a community, in a work place, and in a social network. In all of these places we are confronted daily with all sorts of expectations and potential stresses. We call an event or stimulus that provokes stress a stressor.
Wikipedia, that wonderful free internet encyclopedia, explains that the original definition of stressor was based on body chemistry. A stressor was regarded as something that speeds up reaction time. This idea works for human behavior as well because there are changes to our reaction time when we are stressed.
From a medical viewpoint, a stressor is something that creates physical, physiological or psychological reactions or responses that may or may not lead to a physical illness. We know that there are many physical illnesses that are caused by our feeling states. These are called psychosomatic responses.
From a psychological point of view, Wikipedia’s definition is very apt.
“A stressor is: an event or context that elevates adrenaline and triggers the stress response because it throws the body out of balance and forces it to respond.
For example, there are
environmental stressors (elevated sound levels, over-illumination, overcrowding)
daily stress events (e.g. traffic, lost keys)
life changes (e.g. divorce, bereavement)
workplace stressors (e.g. role confusion, lack of control)”.
A detailed physiological definition is not necessary here except to explain that two chemicals (adrenaline and cortisol) are activated under stress conditions to produce significant chances in our body chemistry. Traditionally, these neurophysiological surges were designed to help primitive organisms ‘fight or flee’. As well as a neurophysiological response to a stimulus, we also have a psychological or emotional response, for example, exhilaration, joy, fear, anxiety or depression, to name but a few.
The reality is that all of us experience stress from time to time. There is positive stress, that is, a chemical, physical and/or psychological or emotional tension that produces an urge to create, perform, complete tasks, react and respond. On the other hand, there is distress, a level of discomfort that interferes with our emotional well-being and mental health. This form of stress can either be acute, that is, episodic and short-lived, or chronic (lasts for a long time).
When stress is positive (this is called eustress) we are motivated and/or compelled to act. When we respond to a horror movie, when we are excited into action by new productivity or sales targets at work, when we think about a particularly exciting date, when we compete in a track or field event, and even when we get ready for a picnic we are experiencing positive stress. Our body is getting ‘pumped up’ and is responding psychologically, emotionally and physically to this new event so that we can perform at a high level. All of this is good; positive stress builds up our energy levels and our readiness to perform at a higher level and to respond to the stimulus event.
When stress is negative, we talk about being ‘stressed out’, ‘over-stressed’, even ‘burnt out’. In these instances, the stressor is far too great for us to respond in a positive and effective way. There are many types of stress symptoms under the headings physical stress symptoms and psychological stress symptoms.
The physical symptoms include some unpleasant reactions:
• an upset stomach
• a headache, even a migraine
• elevated heart rate
• elevated blood pressure
• tell-tale skin blotching and rashes, and, in chronic stress situations,
• ulcers, heart disease and even strokes or death.
From a psychological point of view, typical responses to chronic stress are:
• anxiety
• phobias
• diminished self-assurance
• dysthymia (mild depression)
• clinical depression
• anger
• obsessive thought disorders
• even thoughts of suicide.
In some ways stress is an enemy to our health and well-being and you know what they say: ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ Keeping stress, the enemy, closer requires us to know more about this disabling pressure. Knowing stress management and stress relief strategies is essential to good health.
This website provides a range of excellent resources on stress management techniques. As well, I have written a whole book on stress symptoms, stress tests, and stress management tips. Why not buy my book on stress management? I can assure you that there is a great deal of information that will help you deal with the ordinary (and extraordinary) stresses in your daily life. Or, review the products on a special stress site.
For further articles and blog information, visit www.drjeffbailey.com or http://blog.mightydigitaldownloads.com
Warm regards
Dr Jeff
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