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Stress

© Mari Brodersen

CAUSES

Just about anything can create stress in our lives. Hans Selye, who pioneered stress research, felt that we have two kinds of stress in our lives. Most of us recognize distress, one of the two types. Sleep deprivation, divorce, financial worries, health problems, and losing a job are all familiar types of distress.

The second kind of stress, eustress, is one that we may not recognize so readily. It accompanies peak moments in our lives: weddings, births, graduations, and accomplishing something for which we have worked hard.

Our bodies respond in the exact same way to both types of stress. When we meet with stressors, our bodies go into "fight or flight" mode. Our sympathetic nervous systems go into action to pump more blood into our muscles and increase our heart rates. This is okay in the short run. Without the sympathetic nervous system's response, we wouldn't be able to react to danger or respond to emergencies.

When the sympathetic nervous system is chronically running on high alert, however, physical illnesses, depression, and anxiety can develop in some people.

Why is it that some people seem to thrive on stressful situations, while others become sick or depressed? A lot of the difference has to do with genetics. If you were born with a predisposition to depression (i.e. a family history of depression), you will probably be more susceptible to the effects of stress.

In addition, how we perceive life events can play a role in whether we get stressed out over a situation.

If we tend to have a pessimistic outlook and to see the negative side of things, we're more likely to get stressed out than those people who have positive outlooks. If we're rigid in our outlook on life, stress is more likely to result over things that wouldn't stress out a more flexible person. People who are rather tense by nature and unable to relax, as well as those who are very driven and perfectionistic, are more likely to suffer from stress-related problems. Angry, confrontational people are also more likely to have problems with stress.

TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES

We can't change our genetics, but we can change our perceptions and to some extent our physical responses by using some or all of the following methods:

Pay attention to diet and nutrition. We've all heard this before, but it's also important to not skip meals. Skipping a meal can cause low blood sugar, which in turn triggers the sympathetic nervous system.

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