Stress!! Where would we be without it?
In modern societies every facet of life causes us and our bodies stress. The very food we eat poses the greatest health challenge to our body with the chemicals, food additives and low nutrient content due to the methods used to produce and market the food. Simple tasks such as shopping, going to work, socialising, bringing up children, are all causes of stress on every level of our being.
Stress is very necessary. We use it to keep our thoughts clear in trying circumstances, to work to a deadline, to keep our environment the way we want it etc. We need it in every facet of our every day living but how much is too much? How much stress can we cope with before it starts to challenge our health and lead to disease? What is stress anyway?
Stress is a chemical and hormonal response in our body. When our mind perceives a challenge or a danger a complex series of hormonal and chemical changes occurs called the 'Fight or Flight' response or the adrenalin response. It was first developed in man during our ancestor's 'cave man' days to help our ancestors cope with the dangers in their lives. The adrenalin released when they perceived a threat increased blood flow to the muscles (while decreasing blood flow to internal organs), increased heart rate, increased visual accuity, all this to have your body ready to either run away from the threat or to fight your way past the threat.
The stress response worked very well for our ancestors enabling them to survive in a dangerous environment and the actions of either running or fighting helped to resolve the adrenalin in their systems.
In modern day living people still regularly experience/perceive threats but fighting or running away from the threat is no longer an option so the adrenalin in our systems does not have a release and resolution and the amount and frequency of stress we perceive has increased with modern living. Unresolved stress over a long period of time results in health problems, both physically and mentally/emotionally.
Humans are not designed to live in crowded environments and as humans have become more 'civilised' the limitations placed on our behaviour has changed how we respond to stressful situations. For example, it is totally inapporpriate when in a traffic jam to get out of our car and hit another driver because of our frustration. Nor is it appropriate for us to start punching the person ahead of us in a queue, or to run away from every conflict or stressful situation we face. Let's face it, we're stuck with our stressful life styles and, given that we can't change every environment or situation to suit ourselves, we need to look at how we respond to our stress and how we let it affect our lives and health.
People who teach the human sciences believe that we choose how we respond to any given situation, that we choose the emotions that we feel, the behaviour that we exhibit as a result and the other actions we take. Unless you have 'done work' on yourself to examine yourself closely and learnt how you function then you will not be able to relate to this and will believe that you don't have a choice in your behaviour, feelings and reactions to events. Its this belief that allows stress to control you, to control how you react, how you feel and think and what the outcome will be. How would it be if you were more in control and instead made it a choice? How much more powerful would you be over your stress, your health and your life? This can be achieved!!! You can be in control of your life!!! You don't have to be a slave to your stress and the risks to your health that it poses.
There are a vast array of self-help books on the subject of self-development for you to choose from and amongst them will be a book that will 'speak' to you, that you will relate to and will find in its pages a release from being a victim.
There are a number of things you can do to help relieve your stress:
