How stress affects heart health
Mansi Kohli, Health Me Up | Aug 14, 2011, 11.57AM IST
What exactly is the relationship between stress, heart diseases and sudden death? If I am stressed out, how does it increase my risk of heart disease? Does stress affect different people differently?
How will I know if I am suffering from stress? If you are someone who often wonders about all these questions, then you have come to the right place. Today we have Dr. Praveer Agarwal, Interventional Cardiologist and Associate Director, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, put all the dilemmas linked to heart disease and stress at rest. Read on...
How does stress increase the risk for heart disease?
Stress, either physical or mental, can actually take your heart rate to high levels, can increase the blood pressure and the demand of oxygen for your heart may go beyond the supply and may precipitate heart attack. On long term basis, chronic stress may cause persistent high blood pressure, disturbed cholesterol level and disturbances in blood clotting profile which may prove dangerous to heart.
How does your body react to acute stress?
Acute stress can lead to increase in heart rate, blood pressure, panic episode (attack) and rapid breathing. These conditions can precipitate heart attack or nervous break down.
Can stress be both good and bad?
Stress, up to a certain level or limit, will push you to complete your job and excel in life. But if beyond a limit and persistent, stress is extremely bad for health.
What are the warning signs of stress?
Warning signs of stress can be constant worries, inability to concentrate anger, anxiety, crying, depression, inability to take decision, not willing to take part in any activity. Negative thinking, compulsive and over eating, drug abuses, smoking, social withdrawal, headache, body ache, weight loss or gain, indigestion, palpitation are other signs of high levels of stress.
How can I cope with stress and be positive? Certain techniques can definitely help:
Healthy eating habits: Avoid smoking, drinking alcohol and other addictions.
Regular physical activities: Breathing exercises like Pranayam help reduce stress. Even taking deep breaths during acute stress helps.
Sufficient physical rest: Good sleep and relaxation techniques help. Keep expectation to minimum, plan your activities or important work in advance, set realistic goals and very importantly learn to accept defeats and learn to say NO to others when you feel that necessary.
Read more Personal Health, Diet & Fitness stories on www.healthmeup.com
MY THOUGHTS
No doubt about it, stress can do a lot of harm. Take heed. Although stress is part of our everyday lives, there are ways of managing stress. Don't let stress control you.
Showing posts with label burnout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label burnout. Show all posts
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
WHAT'S CAUSING YOUR STRESS?
WHAT'S CAUSING YOUR STRESS
8 Energy Zappers—and How to Avoid Them
By Annie Gottlieb
O, The Oprah Magazine | January 15, 2003
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Solving-the-Emotional-Energy-Crisis
Call it a personal energy crisis. On the surface, your life seems full enough—maybe even too full—yet you're running on empty. You feel stretched thin, stressed-out, drained.
Sound familiar? It's an epidemic, as described in Boston-based psychotherapist Mira Kirshenbaum's revelatory new book, The Emotional Energy Factor. The most common complaints Americans bring to our doctors, she says, are: "I feel tired all the time," and "Why do I feel so blah?" Once possible physical causes of fatigue have been ruled out (a crucial first step), many doctors diagnose mild depression and reach for the prescription pad. But is this really depression—or just depletion? And why do some people always have energy?
As a refugee child growing up poor in New York, Kirshenbaum marveled at her uncle who had fled Europe before the Holocaust yet was always singing, hoping, and dreaming. You probably know someone who has more to cope with than you do but warms and cheers everyone around her. You might also know someone who regularly turns ideas into realities not purely through talent or self-confidence but simply because her energy is stronger than any discouragement she encounters.
So where's the pump for this kind of fuel? Not in the gym or the health food store, Kirshenbaum says. It's a misconception that the energy we require is primarily physical. Yes, you need to get enough sleep, water, nutrients, and exercise. However, her survey of endocrinologists, nutritionists, and sports medicine specialists turned up an astonishing consensus: Fully 70 percent of our total energy is emotional—the kind that manifests as hope, resilience, passion, fun, and enthusiasm.
We in the developed world mostly take very good care of our bodies, but we often take lousy care of our souls. And that, says Kirshenbaum, points to the secret of high-voltage people. They don't all have lucky genes or a happy childhood—but they invariably make it a priority to protect and replenish their emotional energy. The good news is that anyone can develop this skill. Kirshenbaum's approach is refreshingly down-to-earth. First, you plug the leaks: Learn to recognize what drains your energy—life situations, toxic people, or habits of mind like worry, guilt, indecision, and envy—and take steps to avoid or minimize it. Second, you identify what fills your tank—pleasure, prayer, novelty, anticipation, fun—and give yourself more.
Since we're all different, Kirshenbaum provides a menu of strategies to choose from (see "Eight Energy Drains and How to Fix Them," at left). A few of her suggestions are novel, like resolving chronic, exhausting guilt by putting yourself on trial. If you're feeling bad about something you've done, Kirshenbaum says, ask yourself whether you were under duress or doing the best you could for your age and background. If so, give yourself a break. Not guilty. Case closed. However, if you decide you knowingly did wrong, move to what she calls the penalty phase: Do something real and specific to compensate the person you hurt or repay your debt to society. Other strategies might seem familiar—dump the bad boyfriend, set limits with your mother—but the fresh context of treasuring your emotional energy above all else may finally give you the impetus to act.
If claiming what you need sets off that "Selfish!" siren in your head ("It's one of the two ultimate ways of controlling a woman," a female patient once told Kirshenbaum: "Just tell her she's fat or she's selfish"), remember that all good things, including true, unforced giving, flow from a full heart. "Emotional energy is the precondition for everything we care about," Kirshenbaum says. "Everything worth doing that's difficult gets lost without it. Marriages fail when we run out of the emotional energy to reach one more time across the divide of anger and silence. Dreams die when we lack the emotional energy to hang in there in the face of all the obstacles. How can you be the best possible mother without emotional energy? It's never selfish for a good person to put fuel in her tank."
Once you learn how to tap this fuel, you'll discover that it's a renewable resource. "Unlike physical energy, which runs down as we get older, emotional energy can increase the more you learn what works best for you," says Kirshenbaum. "Imagine getting more and more energy every year of your life. There's always something you can do to get more."
Here are 8 common energy drains—and how to fix them:
1. Energy drain: Other people's expectations
Are you living someone else's dream for you? You're putting out energy but starving emotionally. The other person gets all the satisfaction.
Energy move: Declare independence
You bought in; you can set yourself free. No confrontation needed, just "I don't have to expect that of myself." Worst-case scenario: Someone who's not you will be disappointed. You will feel wonderful.
2. Energy drain: Loss of self
As kids, we had to play by the rules; our unique energy got caged.
Energy move: Personalize your life
Ask yourself, If it were up to me, what would I...hang on my wall? Wear to work? Do for fun? Find the pockets of freedom where you can be more yourself.
3. Energy drain: Deprivation
Duties and responsibilities fill your days. You gain weight trying to get emotional energy from food.
Energy move: Add pleasure, beauty, fun
Satisfying experiences, large and small, are the real nourishment you crave. Plan a big treat to look forward to—and a little one every day.
4. Energy drain: Envy
We often don't feel envy directly—but we might find someone else's good fortune depressing.
Energy move: Count your blessings
Comparison is a loser's game. Look at what you have, and actively feel grateful. (P.S. That person you envy—you don't know how messy her life really is. Chances are you wouldn't want it if you had it.)
5. Energy drain: Worry
When you worry, you think you're dealing with things, but you're just suffering. Worry never comes up with good ideas. It torments and exhausts us.
Energy move: Get going
Action is the cure for worry. Do one thing that brings you a step closer to coping. If it's the middle of the night, get up and write a to-do list.
6. Energy drain: Unfinished business
Unmade decisions and postponed projects drain you.
Energy move: Do it or dump it
Forget the perfect decision—just trust yourself and make a choice. Put projects in an appointment book. If you can't find any good time, that's a signal you don't want to do it. So don't.
7. Energy drain: Overcommitment
You're always saying "yes"—to your boss, mother, kids, friends; to requests, favors, meetings.
Energy move: Say "yes" to yourself
Tell someone else "no" every once in a while, just to feel your own power. You'll gain a whole new sense of your ability to take care of yourself.
8. Energy drain: Holding on to loss
Fresh loss is an emergency. But old losses you can't let go of are dead weight.
Energy move: Cry all your tears
Indulge in big-time mourning. Take off from work, stay in bed, and do nothing but cry till you're dry—and bored. Then go out and embrace life.
NEXT: 23 get-you-through-the-day energy boosters
MY THOUGHTS
What a way to start my Sunday! I'm just about to attend the live streaming of a Sunday service and this article has brought into my attention certain prayer concerns. Love it!
8 Energy Zappers—and How to Avoid Them
By Annie Gottlieb
O, The Oprah Magazine | January 15, 2003
http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Solving-the-Emotional-Energy-Crisis
Call it a personal energy crisis. On the surface, your life seems full enough—maybe even too full—yet you're running on empty. You feel stretched thin, stressed-out, drained.
Sound familiar? It's an epidemic, as described in Boston-based psychotherapist Mira Kirshenbaum's revelatory new book, The Emotional Energy Factor. The most common complaints Americans bring to our doctors, she says, are: "I feel tired all the time," and "Why do I feel so blah?" Once possible physical causes of fatigue have been ruled out (a crucial first step), many doctors diagnose mild depression and reach for the prescription pad. But is this really depression—or just depletion? And why do some people always have energy?
As a refugee child growing up poor in New York, Kirshenbaum marveled at her uncle who had fled Europe before the Holocaust yet was always singing, hoping, and dreaming. You probably know someone who has more to cope with than you do but warms and cheers everyone around her. You might also know someone who regularly turns ideas into realities not purely through talent or self-confidence but simply because her energy is stronger than any discouragement she encounters.
So where's the pump for this kind of fuel? Not in the gym or the health food store, Kirshenbaum says. It's a misconception that the energy we require is primarily physical. Yes, you need to get enough sleep, water, nutrients, and exercise. However, her survey of endocrinologists, nutritionists, and sports medicine specialists turned up an astonishing consensus: Fully 70 percent of our total energy is emotional—the kind that manifests as hope, resilience, passion, fun, and enthusiasm.
We in the developed world mostly take very good care of our bodies, but we often take lousy care of our souls. And that, says Kirshenbaum, points to the secret of high-voltage people. They don't all have lucky genes or a happy childhood—but they invariably make it a priority to protect and replenish their emotional energy. The good news is that anyone can develop this skill. Kirshenbaum's approach is refreshingly down-to-earth. First, you plug the leaks: Learn to recognize what drains your energy—life situations, toxic people, or habits of mind like worry, guilt, indecision, and envy—and take steps to avoid or minimize it. Second, you identify what fills your tank—pleasure, prayer, novelty, anticipation, fun—and give yourself more.
Since we're all different, Kirshenbaum provides a menu of strategies to choose from (see "Eight Energy Drains and How to Fix Them," at left). A few of her suggestions are novel, like resolving chronic, exhausting guilt by putting yourself on trial. If you're feeling bad about something you've done, Kirshenbaum says, ask yourself whether you were under duress or doing the best you could for your age and background. If so, give yourself a break. Not guilty. Case closed. However, if you decide you knowingly did wrong, move to what she calls the penalty phase: Do something real and specific to compensate the person you hurt or repay your debt to society. Other strategies might seem familiar—dump the bad boyfriend, set limits with your mother—but the fresh context of treasuring your emotional energy above all else may finally give you the impetus to act.
If claiming what you need sets off that "Selfish!" siren in your head ("It's one of the two ultimate ways of controlling a woman," a female patient once told Kirshenbaum: "Just tell her she's fat or she's selfish"), remember that all good things, including true, unforced giving, flow from a full heart. "Emotional energy is the precondition for everything we care about," Kirshenbaum says. "Everything worth doing that's difficult gets lost without it. Marriages fail when we run out of the emotional energy to reach one more time across the divide of anger and silence. Dreams die when we lack the emotional energy to hang in there in the face of all the obstacles. How can you be the best possible mother without emotional energy? It's never selfish for a good person to put fuel in her tank."
Once you learn how to tap this fuel, you'll discover that it's a renewable resource. "Unlike physical energy, which runs down as we get older, emotional energy can increase the more you learn what works best for you," says Kirshenbaum. "Imagine getting more and more energy every year of your life. There's always something you can do to get more."
Here are 8 common energy drains—and how to fix them:
1. Energy drain: Other people's expectations
Are you living someone else's dream for you? You're putting out energy but starving emotionally. The other person gets all the satisfaction.
Energy move: Declare independence
You bought in; you can set yourself free. No confrontation needed, just "I don't have to expect that of myself." Worst-case scenario: Someone who's not you will be disappointed. You will feel wonderful.
2. Energy drain: Loss of self
As kids, we had to play by the rules; our unique energy got caged.
Energy move: Personalize your life
Ask yourself, If it were up to me, what would I...hang on my wall? Wear to work? Do for fun? Find the pockets of freedom where you can be more yourself.
3. Energy drain: Deprivation
Duties and responsibilities fill your days. You gain weight trying to get emotional energy from food.
Energy move: Add pleasure, beauty, fun
Satisfying experiences, large and small, are the real nourishment you crave. Plan a big treat to look forward to—and a little one every day.
4. Energy drain: Envy
We often don't feel envy directly—but we might find someone else's good fortune depressing.
Energy move: Count your blessings
Comparison is a loser's game. Look at what you have, and actively feel grateful. (P.S. That person you envy—you don't know how messy her life really is. Chances are you wouldn't want it if you had it.)
5. Energy drain: Worry
When you worry, you think you're dealing with things, but you're just suffering. Worry never comes up with good ideas. It torments and exhausts us.
Energy move: Get going
Action is the cure for worry. Do one thing that brings you a step closer to coping. If it's the middle of the night, get up and write a to-do list.
6. Energy drain: Unfinished business
Unmade decisions and postponed projects drain you.
Energy move: Do it or dump it
Forget the perfect decision—just trust yourself and make a choice. Put projects in an appointment book. If you can't find any good time, that's a signal you don't want to do it. So don't.
7. Energy drain: Overcommitment
You're always saying "yes"—to your boss, mother, kids, friends; to requests, favors, meetings.
Energy move: Say "yes" to yourself
Tell someone else "no" every once in a while, just to feel your own power. You'll gain a whole new sense of your ability to take care of yourself.
8. Energy drain: Holding on to loss
Fresh loss is an emergency. But old losses you can't let go of are dead weight.
Energy move: Cry all your tears
Indulge in big-time mourning. Take off from work, stay in bed, and do nothing but cry till you're dry—and bored. Then go out and embrace life.
NEXT: 23 get-you-through-the-day energy boosters
MY THOUGHTS
What a way to start my Sunday! I'm just about to attend the live streaming of a Sunday service and this article has brought into my attention certain prayer concerns. Love it!
Monday, January 3, 2011
How To Become Relaxed
How To Become Relaxed
Get Relaxed, Stay Relaxed!
By Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com Guide
Updated September 14, 2009
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board
,The skills of becoming relaxed when necessary and remaining relaxed whenever possible can be transformative, and can make a measurable difference in health. This is because living in a state of chronic stress--remaining physiologically stressed over long periods of time, without triggering your body's relaxation response--can impact your health in a variety of negative ways. Learning to become relaxed readily and easily can bring a healthier and more enjoyable life.
Fortunately, there are several simple ways to become relaxed quickly and easily. They each bring their own unique benefits, so it's good to know a variety of techniques that you can use to become relaxed in a pinch. Here are some of my top recommendations:
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are a terrific way to become relaxed quickly and easily--they can be done by just about anyone, anywhere and at any time. Slowing your breathing, breathing from your diaphragm, and even using breathing visualization are ways to use breathing exercises to relax your body and your mind. Here's a simple breathing exercise to get you started.
Meditation
Meditation is a very old, proven strategy for becoming and remaining more relaxed. Popular in the east for centuries, it's enjoyed a huge rise in popularity in the West in recent years as researchers have found proven benefits in scientific studies. (Read about the benefits of meditation here.) Meditation isn't difficult, but it does take practice. Fortunately, regular practice can help you to feel relaxed during and after each session and, over time, can actually help you to be less reactive to new stress you face. Here's a basic meditation to try.
PMR
Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, is one of my oft-used methods of getting relaxed quickly. The technique involves tensing and relaxing muscles systematically from head to toe (or from toe to head), thereby releasing tension and ushering in the relaxation response. With practice, this technique allows for total-body relaxation in a matter of seconds. And it's easy! Here's more information on Progressive Muscle Relaxation to better acquaint you with this lesser-known but very effective method of becoming quickly relaxed.
Visualizations
Because the body reacts physically to imagery created by the mind, visualizations are an effective form of getting relaxed, and are as simple and fun as daydreaming. There are many, many different visualizations you can try to get more relaxed and reverse your body's stress response. You can visualize yourself in a relaxing location, visualize a positive result from a stressing scenario, or, more simply, just visualize tension and stress leaving your body with each breath! Here's a nice breathing visualization to get you started.
Have A Good Laugh
Laughter is a wonderful, natural way to release tension in your body and get your mind in a better place so your stressors don't seem so...stressful. If you have the time, I heartily recommend seeing a nice, funny movie, or reading a funny book to get a little laughter into your day. But if you don't have the time in the schedule for that, simply maintaining a sense of humor throughout your regular day can help quite a bit in the way of keeping you relaxed. Read more about the benefits of laughter, and see these strategies for maintaining a sense of humor, and you'll have a great new tool for stress relief, if you don't use it already.
Change Your Perspective
Much of what stresses you comes not from your stressors themselves, but from your response to them. More specifically, your interpretation of your stressors, as well as your approach to dealing with them, can make the events themselves feel much more (or less) stressful. Happily, you can choose different thoughts, even if you can't choose different life circumstances. And there are a few 'tricks' for gaining a better perspective for remaining relaxed under trying conditions: first, you can adopt the thinking style of optimists by interpreting certain facets of a situation in a way that brings hope and eliminates self-doubt. You can also adopt the view that you may have more power in a situation than you realize (called having an internal locus of control, which is also known to eliminate feelings of stress), and then looking for new solutions. Finally, be sure that you're not already sabotaging yourself with overly negative thinking, and read over these common distorted thinking patterns, or cognitive distortions--do any sound familiar? If so, you can become aware of them and eliminate this type of thinking.
Whatever strategies you use, practice them and use them often, and you can maintain a much more relaxed lifestyle.
MY THOUGHTS
i've heard lots of people claim that you get more relaxed as you get older. i was beginning to think the same thing is happening to me. i seem to have less stress as the inevitable "old phase" gets closer and closer. but then i realized we don't get more relaxed because of our chronological age. some people die stressed!!! i am (now) more apt to believe that we become more relaxed as we learn to manage our stress. i've tried all the suggestions in this article. they all work. they've all been proven to be true. that's for sure. but i'm more inclined to believe that all of these relaxing strategies work for me because i have also learned to mature spiritually. when i became a Christian (hopefully getting better at it), i seemed to have gotten more in touch with my inner self, more understanding and more appreciate of the universe. as a Christian, i know, that although i have God-given talents to take control of my life, there's a higher, more supreme being that is in total and absolute control of my life. how can that fail to relax me?
Get Relaxed, Stay Relaxed!
By Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com Guide
Updated September 14, 2009
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board
,The skills of becoming relaxed when necessary and remaining relaxed whenever possible can be transformative, and can make a measurable difference in health. This is because living in a state of chronic stress--remaining physiologically stressed over long periods of time, without triggering your body's relaxation response--can impact your health in a variety of negative ways. Learning to become relaxed readily and easily can bring a healthier and more enjoyable life.
Fortunately, there are several simple ways to become relaxed quickly and easily. They each bring their own unique benefits, so it's good to know a variety of techniques that you can use to become relaxed in a pinch. Here are some of my top recommendations:
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are a terrific way to become relaxed quickly and easily--they can be done by just about anyone, anywhere and at any time. Slowing your breathing, breathing from your diaphragm, and even using breathing visualization are ways to use breathing exercises to relax your body and your mind. Here's a simple breathing exercise to get you started.
Meditation
Meditation is a very old, proven strategy for becoming and remaining more relaxed. Popular in the east for centuries, it's enjoyed a huge rise in popularity in the West in recent years as researchers have found proven benefits in scientific studies. (Read about the benefits of meditation here.) Meditation isn't difficult, but it does take practice. Fortunately, regular practice can help you to feel relaxed during and after each session and, over time, can actually help you to be less reactive to new stress you face. Here's a basic meditation to try.
PMR
Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, is one of my oft-used methods of getting relaxed quickly. The technique involves tensing and relaxing muscles systematically from head to toe (or from toe to head), thereby releasing tension and ushering in the relaxation response. With practice, this technique allows for total-body relaxation in a matter of seconds. And it's easy! Here's more information on Progressive Muscle Relaxation to better acquaint you with this lesser-known but very effective method of becoming quickly relaxed.
Visualizations
Because the body reacts physically to imagery created by the mind, visualizations are an effective form of getting relaxed, and are as simple and fun as daydreaming. There are many, many different visualizations you can try to get more relaxed and reverse your body's stress response. You can visualize yourself in a relaxing location, visualize a positive result from a stressing scenario, or, more simply, just visualize tension and stress leaving your body with each breath! Here's a nice breathing visualization to get you started.
Have A Good Laugh
Laughter is a wonderful, natural way to release tension in your body and get your mind in a better place so your stressors don't seem so...stressful. If you have the time, I heartily recommend seeing a nice, funny movie, or reading a funny book to get a little laughter into your day. But if you don't have the time in the schedule for that, simply maintaining a sense of humor throughout your regular day can help quite a bit in the way of keeping you relaxed. Read more about the benefits of laughter, and see these strategies for maintaining a sense of humor, and you'll have a great new tool for stress relief, if you don't use it already.
Change Your Perspective
Much of what stresses you comes not from your stressors themselves, but from your response to them. More specifically, your interpretation of your stressors, as well as your approach to dealing with them, can make the events themselves feel much more (or less) stressful. Happily, you can choose different thoughts, even if you can't choose different life circumstances. And there are a few 'tricks' for gaining a better perspective for remaining relaxed under trying conditions: first, you can adopt the thinking style of optimists by interpreting certain facets of a situation in a way that brings hope and eliminates self-doubt. You can also adopt the view that you may have more power in a situation than you realize (called having an internal locus of control, which is also known to eliminate feelings of stress), and then looking for new solutions. Finally, be sure that you're not already sabotaging yourself with overly negative thinking, and read over these common distorted thinking patterns, or cognitive distortions--do any sound familiar? If so, you can become aware of them and eliminate this type of thinking.
Whatever strategies you use, practice them and use them often, and you can maintain a much more relaxed lifestyle.
MY THOUGHTS
i've heard lots of people claim that you get more relaxed as you get older. i was beginning to think the same thing is happening to me. i seem to have less stress as the inevitable "old phase" gets closer and closer. but then i realized we don't get more relaxed because of our chronological age. some people die stressed!!! i am (now) more apt to believe that we become more relaxed as we learn to manage our stress. i've tried all the suggestions in this article. they all work. they've all been proven to be true. that's for sure. but i'm more inclined to believe that all of these relaxing strategies work for me because i have also learned to mature spiritually. when i became a Christian (hopefully getting better at it), i seemed to have gotten more in touch with my inner self, more understanding and more appreciate of the universe. as a Christian, i know, that although i have God-given talents to take control of my life, there's a higher, more supreme being that is in total and absolute control of my life. how can that fail to relax me?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
what stress can do to us
Stress and Health: How Stress Affects Your Body, and How You Can Stay Healthier
How You Can Stay Healthier
By Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com
Updated: May 04, 2009
Types of Stress
Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain. However, not all types of stress are harmful or even negative. There are a few different types of stress that we encounter:
* Eustress, a type of stress that is fun and exciting, and keeps us vital (e.g. skiing down a slope or racing to meet a deadline)
* Acute Stress, a very short-term type of stress that can either be positive (eustress) or more distressing (what we normally think of when we think of ‘stress') ; this is the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day life (e.g. skiing down said slope or dealing with road rage)
* Episodic Acute Stress, where acute stress seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of relative chaos (e.g. the type of stress that coined the terms ‘drama queen’ and ‘absent-minded professor’)
* Chronic Stress, the type of stress that seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or an extremely taxing job (this type of stress can lead to burnout)
The Fight or Flight Response
Stress can trigger the body’s response to perceived threat or danger, the Fight-or-Flight response. During this reaction, certain hormones like adrenalin and cortisol are released, speeding the heart rate, slowing digestion, shunting blood flow to major muscle groups, and changing various other autonomic nervous functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength. Originally named for its ability to enable us to physically fight or run away when faced with danger, it’s now activated in situations where neither response is appropriate, like in traffic or during a stressful day at work. When the perceived threat is gone, systems are designed to return to normal function via the relaxation response, but in our times of chronic stress, this often doesn’t happen enough, causing damage to the body.
Stress and Health: Implications of Chronic Stress
When faced with chronic stress and an overactivated autonomic nervous system, people begin to see physical symptoms. The first symptoms are relatively mild, like chronic headaches and increased susceptibility to colds. With more exposure to chronic stress, however, more serious health problems may develop. These stress-influenced conditions include, but are not limited to:
* depression
* diabetes
* hair loss
* heart disease
* hyperthyroidism
* obesity
* obsessive-compulsive or anxiety disorder
* sexual dysfunction
* tooth and gum disease
* ulcers
* cancer (possibly)
In fact, most it’s been estimated that as many as 90% of doctor’s visits are for symptoms that are at least partially stress-related!
What You Can Do
To keep stress, especially chronic stress, from damaging your health, it’s important to be sure that your body does not experience excessive states of this physiological arousal. There are two important ways to do this:
* Learn Tension-Taming Techniques: Certain techniques can activate your body’s relaxation response, putting your body in a calm state. These techniques, including meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, journaling and positive imagery, can be learned easily and practiced when you’re under stress, helping you feel better relatively quickly.
* Prevent Excess Stress: Some acute stress is unavoidable, but much of the episodic acute stress and chronic stress--the stress that damages our health--that we experience can be avoided or minimized with the use of organization techniques, time management, relationship skills and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Seeking Professional Help
Sometimes stress becomes so great that people develop stress-related disorders or need the help of medications, herbal treatments or the aid of a professional. If you experience excessive anxiety or symptoms of depression, find yourself engaging in unhealthy or compulsive behaviors, or have a general feeling that you need help, talk to your doctor or a health care professional. There is help available, and you can be feeling better and more in control of your life soon.
Whatever your situation, stress need not damage your health. If you handle your stress now, you can quickly be on the road to a healthier, happier life.
MY THOUGHTS
Stress is ever present. It can be good (eustress) or it may need attention. The attention we give our stress depends on the level of our stress. It may be as easy as settling down, getting out of a situation for awhile, finding a diversion. Or we may have to go through the process of letting go or even seeking professional help. What's important to note is that stress can be avoided. And the first step is to find out where you are? Are you eating well, sleeping well? Are your relationships okay? Is your productivity well and good? Do you find yourself smiling all the time, thanking God even for the toughest times? Whatever the answer it pays to know more about stress, to find out where your stress level is and do something about it.
How You Can Stay Healthier
By Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com
Updated: May 04, 2009
Types of Stress
Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain. However, not all types of stress are harmful or even negative. There are a few different types of stress that we encounter:
* Eustress, a type of stress that is fun and exciting, and keeps us vital (e.g. skiing down a slope or racing to meet a deadline)
* Acute Stress, a very short-term type of stress that can either be positive (eustress) or more distressing (what we normally think of when we think of ‘stress') ; this is the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day life (e.g. skiing down said slope or dealing with road rage)
* Episodic Acute Stress, where acute stress seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of relative chaos (e.g. the type of stress that coined the terms ‘drama queen’ and ‘absent-minded professor’)
* Chronic Stress, the type of stress that seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or an extremely taxing job (this type of stress can lead to burnout)
The Fight or Flight Response
Stress can trigger the body’s response to perceived threat or danger, the Fight-or-Flight response. During this reaction, certain hormones like adrenalin and cortisol are released, speeding the heart rate, slowing digestion, shunting blood flow to major muscle groups, and changing various other autonomic nervous functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength. Originally named for its ability to enable us to physically fight or run away when faced with danger, it’s now activated in situations where neither response is appropriate, like in traffic or during a stressful day at work. When the perceived threat is gone, systems are designed to return to normal function via the relaxation response, but in our times of chronic stress, this often doesn’t happen enough, causing damage to the body.
Stress and Health: Implications of Chronic Stress
When faced with chronic stress and an overactivated autonomic nervous system, people begin to see physical symptoms. The first symptoms are relatively mild, like chronic headaches and increased susceptibility to colds. With more exposure to chronic stress, however, more serious health problems may develop. These stress-influenced conditions include, but are not limited to:
* depression
* diabetes
* hair loss
* heart disease
* hyperthyroidism
* obesity
* obsessive-compulsive or anxiety disorder
* sexual dysfunction
* tooth and gum disease
* ulcers
* cancer (possibly)
In fact, most it’s been estimated that as many as 90% of doctor’s visits are for symptoms that are at least partially stress-related!
What You Can Do
To keep stress, especially chronic stress, from damaging your health, it’s important to be sure that your body does not experience excessive states of this physiological arousal. There are two important ways to do this:
* Learn Tension-Taming Techniques: Certain techniques can activate your body’s relaxation response, putting your body in a calm state. These techniques, including meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, journaling and positive imagery, can be learned easily and practiced when you’re under stress, helping you feel better relatively quickly.
* Prevent Excess Stress: Some acute stress is unavoidable, but much of the episodic acute stress and chronic stress--the stress that damages our health--that we experience can be avoided or minimized with the use of organization techniques, time management, relationship skills and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Seeking Professional Help
Sometimes stress becomes so great that people develop stress-related disorders or need the help of medications, herbal treatments or the aid of a professional. If you experience excessive anxiety or symptoms of depression, find yourself engaging in unhealthy or compulsive behaviors, or have a general feeling that you need help, talk to your doctor or a health care professional. There is help available, and you can be feeling better and more in control of your life soon.
Whatever your situation, stress need not damage your health. If you handle your stress now, you can quickly be on the road to a healthier, happier life.
MY THOUGHTS
Stress is ever present. It can be good (eustress) or it may need attention. The attention we give our stress depends on the level of our stress. It may be as easy as settling down, getting out of a situation for awhile, finding a diversion. Or we may have to go through the process of letting go or even seeking professional help. What's important to note is that stress can be avoided. And the first step is to find out where you are? Are you eating well, sleeping well? Are your relationships okay? Is your productivity well and good? Do you find yourself smiling all the time, thanking God even for the toughest times? Whatever the answer it pays to know more about stress, to find out where your stress level is and do something about it.
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