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Stress in Your Life |
Becoming Aware of Stress in Your Life
Stress Management Basics 
Despite the fact that stress is one of the most common human experiences, it is surprisingly difficult to define. Scientists say that stress is a force or event that impairs normal stability, balance or functioning, and Everyone experiences it at some point in life. People do not need to study the biology of stress to gain a practical understanding of how it affects them. If people start with the understanding that stress is an event or a force that upsets a balance, they can begin to see some of the ways that they might be affected by stress. Seeing clearly where undesirable stress occurs in one's life is the first step in managing it. One can then examine how stress affects his or her body, emotions and thoughts.
Ways Stress Affects Individuals
The long-term effects of stress on one's health are quite significant. The American Academy of Family Physicians has said that two-thirds of office visits to family doctors are prompted by stress-related symptoms. Stress is more than just a nuisance or something that occasionally makes people feel nervous or anxious. Very stressful events have been associated with a dramatically increased risk of a heart attack. For instance, in the days following an earthquake the incidence of heart attacks increases significantly, presumably because of the stress of the earthquake. Chronic, ongoing stress, even when it is not so dramatic, can affect one's health in very significant ways. One common example of this is the effect of a very stressful job. Several large studies have demonstrated that a stressful job more than doubles one's risk of a heart attack. A stressful job might lead to cigarette smoking, obesity and lack of exercise, all of which increase one's risk for a heart attack. It is also the stress itself that directly leads to an increased risk. Stress has been associated with the risk of many other diseases, ranging from the common cold to chronic pain to some types of cancer.
Stress, however, is not always bad.
Some stress is inevitable and actually beneficial - such as when you put test yourself, so you can perform better under stressful conditions. Stress helps people when they need to grow, attain difficult goals and perform their best. Some degree of stress enhances performance even when individuals are not in immediate danger. An athlete in a race may perform better because of the stress of the big event.
Stress can increase performance, but only to a point. When one's stress exceeds a certain limit, additional stress will detract from performance. Stress or nervousness before a big presentation sometimes helps one to perform better and/or think with more clarity and precision. However, if that person becomes excessively stressed and anxious, he or she will have difficulty remembering what to say.
The physical stress of swimming in very cold water helps individuals to swim harder, but only for a short time. The colder the water and harder that one swims, the more quickly he or she becomes exhausted. This is physical stress. Everyone's tolerance for stress is different, and individuals handle various types of stress differently.
It is important to recognize and respect one's limits.
People do not learn to handle stress by letting it overwhelm them and rob them of their strength.
Ideally, people would be able to adjust the amount of stress that they face so that they receive neither too much nor too little. This, of course, is not always possible. When one cannot eliminate excessive stress, the best way to manage it is to learn to maintain a balance even during a stressful event.
If people learn to recognize the warning signs of increasing stress before they reach their limit, they can cope intelligently with their stresses before their resources are all spent.
THE STRESS TEST
The following exercise will assist you to identify symptoms that could be stress-related in five areas of human Experience: physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.
Mark the items that you experience regularly.
If you are surprised by the number of symptoms you identify, then take immediate action to improve your overall constitution against stress:
Physical or External Stress
Physical or external stress - stress which affects the body, is the most straightforward and easy to identify. When people work too hard, stay up too late, or eat and drink too much, they feel the direct physical results of these actions. They are more likely to sleep poorly and feel tired and ill. Some external stresses seem beyond one's control. The stress of a job that is boring, unrewarding or excessively demanding can make one miserable and more prone to illness. However, it is more difficult to correct this kind of problem than it is to eat a healthy diet or get more sleep.
When one has a medical illness, even if it is relatively minor such as a cold or the flu, it becomes increasingly obvious how this physical stress affects his or her sense of well-being and quality of life. Clearly, a major or life-threatening illness creates stress in many different dimensions of one's life. Some physicians think that the stress that accompanies sickness is one of the major obstacles to becoming well.
PHYSICAL Symptoms:
Psychological or Emotional Stress
Psychological or emotional stress may seem less concrete, but it has an equally definite effect on an individual's health and well-being. Being able to identify areas of psychological stress is challenging, but important since they may have an even greater impact on one's happiness than physical or external stress. When people are lonely, depressed or unhappy, they are more likely to become sick and less likely to enjoy the things that should give them pleasure. When people have any type of stress that exceeds what they can comfortably manage, they are much more likely to become depressed and anxious. It can be difficult to identify an internal or psychological stress. Although these inner stresses often make people feel uncomfortable, it is easier to blame something external for the discomfort. It takes a considerable amount of psychic strength to be able to consciously handle this kind of stress instead of being swept along with it. Often, the first step it is to look clearly at one's own feelings and honestly ask oneself what it is that causes inner difficulty or pain.
MENTAL
(Note: Do any of these symptoms describe your child? Do you love your child? If so, you must seek drastic change for the better for the good of your child - OR YOUR CHILD WILL END UP SEEKING THAT DRASTIC CHANGE FOR HIM/HER SELF; ALL PSYCHOLOGICAL CASE HISTORIES PROVE THAT YOUNG PEOPLE MAKE TRAGIC MISTAKES BECAUSE OF STRESS IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.)
EMOTIONAL
Stress and Distortions in Thinking
Stress also affects what people think. When individuals are very stressed, particularly if they become anxious or depressed, their ability to think clearly and objectively may be affected. People can easily feel less capable or weaker than they truly are, and think that their situation is much worse than it really is. These kinds of subtle distortions in thinking can be difficult to identify. When one has a thought such as "I just cannot do anything right" or "this is hopeless," he or she may take it for granted that the thought is true. This is not necessarily so because people's thoughts can be completely untrue. An exaggerated inaccurate thought such as "I'm totally worthless," may be believed because the feeling behind it is true ("As a Man thinketh in his Heart, so He Is" [Proverbs 27:19]); it reflects a true feeling of despair or hopelessness. It is too easy to accept distorted thinking that goes along with an emotion and act as if it is true. People sometimes deny that their thinking is affected by their feelings. Believing distorted or negative thoughts makes it more difficult to work effectively to address one's problems. If individuals really believe that everything is hopeless and that they will never do anything right, they are less capable of critically assessing their situation in order to improve it. If one is depressed and feels hopeless enough, sometimes it seems easier to throw up his/her hands in despair than to deal with the real problems. The only way to know if a thought is accurate is to look directly at the thought as it occurs and examine it.
SOCIAL
SPIRITUAL
Just slow down:
Take the best of what's given you, Everything will come in time, Why deny yourself? Don't just let life pass you by, like "Winter in July."{Listening to Sarah Brightman ~ La Luna, as I wrote this}
Lewis Carroll put the feeling of spinning chaos that comes from "go-go-going" too fast in a nutshell when he wrote of "life becoming a spasm and history a whiz." Sometimes you spend days just rushing from one meeting or task to the next, but no matter how hard you push yourself, you still end up feeling as if you haven't accomplished anything. As an experiment, see if you can make a conscious effort to slow down - both your thinking and your actions. If you do this, you'll be pleasantly surprised to discover that, despite your slower speed, you will become far more effective, as well as more relaxed. Try these tips when things get out of control:
MANAGING STRESS
Learning to successfully manage stress begins with our willingness to take an honest look at ourselves. Although people and situations do contribute to stress, the events that affect people from the outside are beyond their control. It is too easy to blame stress on other people or situations that the individuals cannot control. It is more productive to take personal responsibility for the stress that an individual experiences and to look for things that he or she can change. One can reduce stress, briefly, by taking a sub-vacation (mini-vacations are accomplished through meditation) or just by pulling the covers over your in the morning. However, the vacation will not last forever, and eventually one will need to return to face all of the things that he or she wanted to escape. Instead of hoping that the stress will disappear, one can remember that stress will always be a part of life. Success and happiness will depend on how well one can cope with, or manage, the stress.
Commitment to Change
Once people have identified the stress in their lives, they need to commit themselves to creating change. It takes time and energy to make change happen. For many people, the most difficult part of learning to manage stress is finding the time. It may seem that time-pressure is one of the main causes of stress; there is just not enough time to accomplish what "life" demands. (Objectively, when you suffer from stress you are a willing part of a stress-based culture.) When people feel overwhelmed, it is difficult to begin. How can they find the additional time necessary to learn to manage stress? This attitude misses the point. Many people spend more time, energy and money on their cars than they do on themselves. They are more likely to take the time to change the oil in the car than to take a few minutes to stop and give themselves a break. But just like a car, if people do not take care of themselves, they will not function as well and will eventually breakdown. Taking the time to manage stress is good preventative maintenance for life. The time that it takes is more than repaid in increased efficiency and happiness.
Stress Management Techniques
Many techniques can help to manage stress. No one technique is best for everybody. Each person must decide what will work best for him/her. It is not helpful to recommend exercise for someone who hates physical activity, and it is difficult for someone to meditate if they hate to sit still. All stress management techniques are simply tools. These tools can help someone learn to work more skilfully with stress and to have new and more effective ways to deal with difficult situations.
They must, however, be actively applied. Even though someone has learned to use a hammer, he or she still needs to get the hammer out of the toolbox every time he or she needs to drive a nail. Likewise, just because someone has learned stress management techniques, he or she still needs to take them out of the stress management toolbox and put them to work.
No technique will make all stress go away. It is best when people use their own judgment and intuition to decide which techniques to use. People should not be afraid to try different things before deciding what is best for them.
Once they have found some strategies that work, they need to commit to practising them.
Exercise
Exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Aerobic exercise, exercise that makes the heart and lungs work harder, actually helps the body to use up excess stress-induced hormones. Regular exercise helps the body to react less dramatically to stress. Some research suggests that exercise also helps to lift one's spirits and decrease depression. This demonstrates that emotional stress of any kind is best sublimated through physical exercise. (See article on oxygen and the brain)
In beginning an exercise program, it is important to start slowly. It is not so helpful to start an exercise program with a lot of enthusiasm and then stop exercising in a week or two because it is too stressful. Of course, it is recommended that people check with their regular physicians before beginning any exercise program; however, almost no one is too old or too out-of-shape to begin to exercise.Meditation
Meditation is a very effective stress management technique. Meditation sounds exotic, but it is really just a way to learn to relax and settle the mind. A relaxed, settled mind is less anxious and copes better with stress. One type of widely-used meditation is called "mindfulness meditation." It teaches the meditator to rest his or her mind steadily in the present moment even during stressful experiences. This creates a deep sense of relaxation and mental clarity. University studies of Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) practitioners show that they their bodily functions such as blood pressure are better able to maintain healthy levels; that is because it is a form of moving meditation where most of the focus is on the constant energy flow within the body. Anxious fears about the past or the future become less troubling with meditation, so it is best applied to mental and spiritual stress.
A recent report to the National Institute of Health concluded that, "More than 30 years of research, as well as the experiences of a large and growing number of individuals and healthcare providers, suggest that meditation and similar forms of relaxation can lead to better health, higher quality of life and lowered healthcare costs." The report went on to say, "Most important, meditation techniques offer the potential of learning how to live in an increasingly complex and stressful society while helping to preserve health in the process." (Learn more about meditation.)
RELAXATON TOOLS ARE WITHIN YOUR REACH !!!
Other Stress Management Tools
Yoga is another popular stress-management tool. It combines aspects of both exercise and meditation; it can help people to slow down their minds and create relaxation in their body. Psychotherapy can also be very effective in reducing stress. Aspects of one form of psychotherapy, called cognitive therapy, have been incorporated into many stress-management programs. Other effective and widely-used stress-management techniques include progressive muscle relaxation, massage, light and sound and biofeedback. It is also important to remember that when severe stress begins to cause depression, or affects someone's ability to function at home or at work, medication prescribed by a doctor may be very helpful since depression changes the body's chemistry; it helps to restore biochemical balance on the road to recovery. A homeopathic remedy would be better since it is natural without side effects.
ACTION SECTION
Using mind Technology for relaxation, stress reduction and boosting immune function. Among the ways mind technology can be effective in boosting immune function is by: (1) producing deep and lasting relaxation to reduce stress and the damaging effects it can have on the body and immune system, and permit the body's homeostatic, self-regulating powers to maintain the immune system at optimal strength; (2) altering brain body chemistry to produce optimal levels of the various components of the immune system and to produce feelings of well-being and to increase self-confidence; and (3) helping change stressful or immune impairing behavior patterns and attitudes through eliminating negative scripts and attitudes and using positive suggestions, visualizations, and rescripting, during deeply relaxed or trancelike states. What follows are some suggestions for ways you can use mind tools for these purposes.
MIND TOOLS
Some brain tools can be extremely helpful when used during a medical treatment session - for enhancing guided imagery; producing states of heightened receptivity to healing suggestions and affirmation; opening up the unconscious to permit the emergence of beliefs, traumas, or attitudes that may be harming your health or immune function. Hundreds of medical professionals and therapists around the world are using mind tools as an integral part of their treatment of various types of illness or immune dysfunction.
Michael Dullnig, M.D., of Sacramento, California, for example, has used various dual-induction and binaural-beat audio tapes in conjunction with his counseling of HIV-positive patients. In a 1990 study he noted that all patients in the study showed improvement in psychological target symptoms, and some showed significant increases in T4 cell counts, important components of the immune system. William Harris, M.D., director of the Penwell Foundation, an organization for the investigation, research, and application of different modalities for the treatment of those with AIDS/HIV, has used light/sound (LS) devices with HIV-positive patients and found them extremely effective. He speculates that the devices may boost immune function by producing states of deep relaxation, by enhancing the patients' receptivity to suggestions for healing, by improving their ability to visualize and the clarity of their visualizations. Says Harris, "I think that this type of machine may actually be stimulating…. The body to produce its own chemical substances," and that these natural substances may enhance immune function and healing.
These Mind tools should be effective for people to use in conjunction with treatment, for people who feel that they are not as healthy as they would like to be, and for those who feel healthy enough but would like to protect themselves from the possibly damaging effects of stress and environmental toxins and attain a state of peak or optimal health and well-being.
Relax, Review, Release, Rescript
The human body has an inherent "wisdom" or tendency to move toward balance, equilibrium, and stability. The optimal state, in which all parts and systems are functioning and interacting properly, is called homeostasis. Evidence suggests that our bodies' homeostatic or self healing mechanisms work most effectively when we are relaxed. Stress disrupts homeostasis.
One way stress does this is by disrupting our natural chemistry. For example, when Type A men (hard-driving, with high levels of hostility) are under stress, they secrete forty times as much cortisol and three times as much adrenaline as Type B (less hostile and aggressive men. Cortisol suppresses immune function. These chemicals also are a key to the fight or flight response - they rev up the body, leading to increased blood pressure, faster heart rate, and other stressful symptoms. That's why Type A men under great stress have high rates of hypertension (high blood pressure), heart attacks, suppressed immune function, and other problems.
Relaxation reduces levels of cortisol and adrenaline and allows them to return to normal. For Example, in comparisons of cortisol levels in subjects relaxing in a reclining chair in a dimly lit room with subjects using a floatation tank, the floaters had drops of over 20 percent, while the control group showed no change. Repeated periods of deep relaxation using mind tools have been shown to have a threshold effect, so that after several weeks individuals undergo lasting personality transformations. Several studies suggest that Type A personalities using brain technology may not only experience reduced blood pressure and boosted immune function, but may be changed in a more essential way, becoming less hostile and more satisfied.
Research has indicated that subjects with a high level of perceived stress to certain life events experienced a greatly decreased level of immune response - they had only a third of the level of "natural killer cell activity" of those who experienced the same life events but perceived them as less stressful, for example, they had steep reductions in salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA). IgA speeds healing, reduces the danger of infection, and controls heart rate; reduced Iga is linked with lowered resistance to disease. It had long been known that deep relaxation can boost natural killer cell activity and IgA. Now there is evidence that mind technology can accelerate this effect. In one study at the Medical College of Ohio, both "wet" and "dry" floatation produced major increases in IgA; there were no changes in a control group, which just sat quietly for twenty five minutes.
Regular deep relaxation seems to reset our homeostatic mechanism so that we have a higher stress tolerance - what was once perceived as highly stressful is now perceived as less stressful. This improves immune function.
Also, deep relaxation makes us feel good. In part, this happens because were released from the stresses of life. In part, it's a result of the release of the body's natural endorphins ("happiness" molecules.)
Simply relaxing for a short period every day can reduce stress, strengthen immune function, and produce long - lasting reductions in levels of harmful biochemicals and increases in levels of healing biochemicals.
Stimulating Neurochemicals
Research by Dr. C Norman Shealy and others shows that light stimulation alone (with the Lumatron and simple red LED goggles) and Light and sound machine devices can increase levels of a variety of neurochemicals and hormones, including endorphines and growth hormones. This may explain many of the benefits noted by users, ranging from alleviation of stress, anxiety, depression and pain, to increased mental alertness and memory.
Deep Relaxation
Dr. Norman Thomas and his associate David Siever, at the University or Alberta, gave a group of experimental subjects Light and sound (LS) stimulation at an alpha frequency for fifteen minutes, while they were being monitored for muscle tension, using an electromyograph (EMG), and for finger temperature. A control group, similarly monitored, was asked simply to relax, without any LS devices, for the same fifteen minutes. Significantly, both the experimental group and the control group were what the researchers called "resistant" or "non-hypnotisable" subjects.
While the control subjects stated that they believed they were very relaxed, the EMG and finger temperature monitors showed that they were actually experiencing increased amounts of muscle tension and decreases in finger temperature (associated with tension or stress). On the other hand, the LS group showed dramatic increases in relaxation, reaching profound relaxation states that continued for long periods after the fifteen minutes of LS. The researchers wrote: "It appears that audio-visual stimulation offers a simple hypnotic device in otherwise resistant subjects."
Relaxation for Sedation
In 1988 anesthesiologist Robert Cosgrove Jr., Ph.D., M.D., undertook preliminary studies of LS. In his initial evaluations, Cosgrove, an authority in pharmaceutics and biomedical engineering, notes that LS was "clearly very powerful in its ability to cause deep relaxation in most subjects. Its effectiveness has been so great that we are very enthusiastic about the prospect of evaluating the (device) for its sedative properties in patients prior to, during, and immediately following surgery. We are also undertaking studies to prove (its) utility in chronic stress."
Deciding on a Stress Management Technique
No single strategy is right for everyone. Each person must take an honest look at him/herself and decide what makes the most sense. The most important factor in determining the success of a stress management program is not the type of technique that is used, but rather the commitment that each person makes to change. It is difficult for people to change long-standing habits even when those habits create discomfort, unhappiness and stress. Change is possible, however, and the most difficult changes often provide the greatest benefit. Working to reduce stress can enhance happiness and health for many years. It does make a difference!
MANY ILLNESSES
Many illnesses can be caused or affected by stress: Ulcers, colitis, heart problems--even colds. It has been said that eight or nine out of every ten hospital beds are filled with people who have some kind of stress related problem. Even if you don't get sick from stress, it feels uncomfortable, decreases your energy, disturbs your sleep, increases irritability, and may cause problems at home, at work, and everywhere else (increasing the stress--a vicious cycle). 
Seventy to eighty percent of all visits to the doctor are for stress-related and stress-induced illnesses:
IDENTIFY SYMPTOMS
The following exercise may assist you to identify symptoms that could be stress-related in five areas of human Experience: from frequent physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual. Mark the items that you experience REGULARLY. If you are surprised by the number of symptoms you identify, then take immediate action to improve your overall constitution against stress:
| Suffer headaches or migraines | Often feel fatigued or worn out |
| Experience digestive upsets | Unexplained rashes or itches of the skin |
| Recurrent and persistent stomach ulcers | Exercise infrequently |
| Increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco | You are severely overweight or underweight |
| Occasionally suffer from pounding heart | Suffer from chest pains |
| Drink more than 4 cups of tea or coffee | High Blood Pressure |
| Smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day | Often aware of body tension |
| Regularly experience tension in back of neck or head | Often take sleeping pills or tranquilizers |
| Frequently catch colds or flu |
| Mental attitudes are generally negative | You easily get confused |
| Suffer from mental lethargy | Find it difficult to concentrate |
| Make negative statements about yourself | Worry over exams |
| Mind is often in a whirl | Frequently suffer from forgetfulness |
| Often feel anxious | Suffer from the "blues" |
| Worry a lot | Become easily discouraged |
| Suffer from nightmares | EASILY BECOME IRRITATED |
| Seldom pass compliments | Lack a sense of humour |
| Have a nervous laugh | Exhibit bad temper |
| You often find fault with yourself | Feel frustrated |
| Feel "no one cares | Over-excitability |
| Rarely if never give and receive affection |
| Experience a sense of isolation | Harbour resentments |
| Experience lowered sex drive | Frequently nag others |
| Reduced contact with friends | Lack of intimacy |
| Feel uncomfortable in interactions with others | Often distrusting |
| Have poor relations with work associates | One of your favourite saysings is "I'm a victim" |
| Tend to use people for personal gain | Lash out at others |
| Clam up in group discussion | Think drinking and driving is acceptable |
| Conversations often begin with "Put the gun down, and then we can talk" | "Family meetings" are often mediated by law enforcement officials. |
| Experience a sense of inner emptiness | Life has no meaning |
| The future looks bleak | Feel your life has been wasted |
| See very few positive things in life | Often a martyr |
| Have self-doubts about your work | Frequently cynical |
| Constantly need to prove yourself | Feel apathetic |
| Look for "magic" solutions to problems | You are unforgiving |
| Doubt your ability to succeed | Have a morbid fear of death |
Of secondary autonomic nervous functions such as neuroses and psychoses:
"An autonomic function can be objectified through practice and, in the end, be made subject to conscious control",
Dr. Wilhelm Reich.
Go to Stress Management Basics with Positive Thinking, part 2
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