Stress Management
What is Stress ?
Human beings have an inbuilt stress response as part of our Autonomic Nervous System. Healthy stress makes us more alert, more focussed and able to concentrate, as well as physically being prepared to respond to a challenge or threat. Stress can become unhealthy when it persists or becomes intense and unresolved. Stress can occur when we experience change in our environment or our routines.
Healthy stress can result in motivation and a drive to reach a goal. It can also assist with intensifying focus and increasing mental alertness. Unhealthy stress occurs when the environment, goal or situation is perceived as frustrating, overwhelming, or out of control. In this instance stress levels can rise and result in us feeling anxious, tense, distressed or out of control.
When these symptoms are experienced it is difficult or even impossible for us to retain focus clearly on the task or situation at hand, as we find a deterioration in our mental and physical state of being, which can lead to overwhelm and anxiety.
Fight or Flight Response
When experiencing stress our body's reaction is called the 'fight or flight' response. Stress is an outcome of being in the Sympathetic state of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), and leads to the sufferer living from a "fight or flight" state of body-mind. The "fight or flight" state is designed to be resolved quickly, and not indefinitely sustained. This is the problem though for many people is they get into this state of being but their environment or their perception of their safety in their environment, keeps them unresolved and in a "fight or flight" mode, and so they start to firstly manifest Anxiety, and then for some they drop into Depression.
Once a person is in a sustained "fight or flight" state, the brain via its Amygdala, starts to affect the Hypothalamus/Pituitary Gland/ Adrenal gland (HPA Axis). This key set of glands and brain functions to release key mood hormones, proteins and chemicals into the body. Two key substances here are Adrenaline and Cortisol, both of which medical studies have shown to be very high in sufferers of both Anxiety and Trauma. The "fight or flight" state of being causes the HPA axis to produce these chemicals to keep the anxious person in their anxiety ridden Sympathetic Nervous System state. The HPA Axis in our body designed us to live in "fight or flight" mode for short periods of time, or in "burst" mode, not as a way of living. The HPA Axis glands produce key hormones such as Adrenaline and Cortisol in burst mode as required but when they are required to keep producing these hormones on a long term continuous basis it results in these glands suffering a form of burnout.
The medical conditions of Adrenal Exhaustion or Burnout, Under or Over-active Thyroid, Pituitary Gland Fatigue, and some forms of migraine headaches are examples of this demand on the HPA Axis. Long term stress sufferers often manifest these type of secondary illnesses as well as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Candida and Thrush issues, all due to this process,
Stressed people can become anxious people who are often sick a lot of the time, or the first to "catch" what's going around illness wise. The reason is that as part of being in the Sympathetic Nervous System state, the body-mind suppresses the immune system function in the body and you then develop a long term suppressed immune system. From this place the opportunistic funguses (e.g. Thrush, Candida, H. Pylori) are able to grow in the gut and other sites to critical mass levels, while colds, flus, infections are likewise from a viral and bacterial viewpoint also able to gain footholds and produce illness.
Conversely, while in "fight or flight" mode, the HPA Axis also suppresses some key hormones that we rely on for good body-mind health in this same way under these same conditions. The key mood chemicals such as Serotonin and Dopamine, plus some key feel-good endorphin chemicals are all suppressed when a person is in the "fight or flight" Sympathetic Nervous System mode. Long term suppression of each of these chemicals in the body has a causal link to Depression.
The resulting downside of living in "fight or flight" mode then is the impacted body which then negatively affects our moods, emotions, concentration, cognition or thinking processes, which all form part of what a person needs to be operating well in their life. The body and mind work together, not apart, and both show the effects of living from the "fight or flight" mode Sympathetic Nervous system state for too long.
Levels of stress fluctuate between individuals depending on our coping skills. Some people are more resilient to stress as they either possess coping skills and responses to stress which are more adapted and successful than others. Resilience to stress is also variable and linked to genetic factors and also environmental factors and influences.
Stress is also related to self perception of ourselves and our environment. Some people develop and live with negative thought patterns, and negative learned behaviours. Inherited and modelled personality characteristics can affect the frequency with which we experience stress and also the levels that are experienced. For instance if we have unrealistic expectations, or are self critical, we may experience high levels of stress. Continual worry or attempts to please another can also place us under stress.
Lifestyle choices can have a big impact on stress in our life. Overloaded schedules, worry about finances, insufficient sleep, and excess use of caffeine, tobacco, alcohol and drugs can create physical and psychological stress.
Major life events such as the death of a family member or friend, new baby, moving house, accident or major illness, or new job, can take their toll emotionally and physically and stretch our coping skills and resources to their limit.
Contact Us for assistance with stress management issues.