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Stress Management

© Stephanie Hembree

The “stress response” was described by in 1914 by a Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon. He used the term “fight-or-flight response and described it as a mechanism for survival. It is now referred to as the “stress reaction.” It was however, Hans Selye a noted physiologist who first used the word STRESS as applied to the human condition. He said, “I cannot and should not be cured of my stress, but merely taught to enjoy it.” Since then science has discovered that our emotions, thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors can and do affect our health. Eastern philosophies define stress as absence of inner peace. While, Western culture defines stress as a loss of control. It is the intention of this article to help you manage stress, not get rid of it.

I think most of us think in terms or getting rid of our stress, instead of managing it. We think okay, if only my boss were not such a jerk, or my house were more clean, if my partner or kids just did what I wanted, then I would have less stress. Of course we all know that this is not going to happen. What instead needs to happen is for us to find ways of dealing with stress. Stress in itself is not really bad, the problem stems from the fact we are dealing more with psychological than physical threats and more of them. The benefits of stress are:

1. Your heart rate and blood pressure increase so that your brain has more blood and your decision making becomes clearer.

2. Your blood sugar rises to give your body more energy to run.

3. Blood is shunted away from the gut and to the large muscles of the legs and arms so you can run faster.

4. Clotting occurs more quickly to prevent blood loss should you be speared.

The drawbacks are that in modern times repeated stress can contribute to hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, ulcers, depression, anxiety and neck and back pain. Many of the effects are due to the increased activity in the sympathetic nervous system. Which, pours out adrenaline, cortisol along with other stress-related hormones. For a graphic model of stress visit Stress Free Net.

The best way I have found to deal with stress is to invoke the “relaxation response”, which invokes the parasympathetic nervous system and has the opposite effect of the sympathetic nervous system on the body. The parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for energy conservation and relaxation. The benefits are: