What is stress?
Stress; difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; force or outside influence that produces or causes strain;
There are many definitions of stress. Some of them deal with the syllable of a word that is accented; some of them deal with the amount of force applied to a physical structure. It doesn't matter which definition of stress we refer to stress either tests the physical or mental capacity of the subject. Today I want to deal with the stress that we feel in our everyday lives. The fast pace that American's live with causes undue pressure and stress. Stress comes from issues in our lives like; schedules that are too busy, overdue bills, work related issues, bad relationships. Stress can even come from other family members who have some out of control issues going on in their life. Anything that causes worry creates stress. Stress can cause fatigue, behavioral changes, relationship issues and even bouts of depression. Some Stress is Inevitable Even Healthy
There is no such thing as a stress free life. Sometimes we look at someone else's life and see it as stress free. You should know that, that is simply is not true. Everyone has some stress in their life. Just because someone you know doesn't have the same stresses as yours does NOT mean that they do not have stress in their life that is equal to yours. Trying to remove stress from your life completely is impossible. A certain amount of stress actually helps in maximizing performance in specific situations. During times of stress, the human body reacts by releasing hormones and enzymes to reduce digestive secretions, increase heart beat and contract blood vessels. This state is called by various names like hyper-arousal, or the fight or flight response. It is necessary that these changes in physiology are temporary in nature. They are designed to help you to handle the stressful situation that you are in. After the situation is calmed down your body then needs to calm down to a relaxed state as well. It is the constant stress caused by certain life circumstances that will eventually wear you down and be damaging to your health and well being. The human body is not designed to be in a constant physiologically stressed state. Being overly stressed for long periods of time can have a significant negative impact on your overall health. Symptoms of Stress
Most of us don't realize there is a problem until relationships begin to suffer or performance at work slips. At this point, many turn to either alcohol or prescription drugs as a way to escape from the stress. Alternatives to dealing with this stress and anxiety in a productive way are often difficult to consider in the midst of such crisis. Unfortunately, self-medicating often makes the problem worse and may become addictive.
Modern life brings in its wake a fair number of situations that create stress and anxiety. The pace of life is more demanding and the requirements of modern day are far higher than they used to be. Sometimes the physiological and psychological stress can get too difficult to manage. Therefore, the need to be aware of the various ways in which stress can be managed and controlled is imperative.
Like I mentioned before in small doses stress is a good thing. It gives you the push that you need and keeps you alert. It is stress that drives you to stop being a couch potato and prepare for the upcoming events like tests or competitions and keeps you fully focused. The emphasis, however, is on stress in "small doses". Constant stress has a negative effect on your overall health.
To be able to manage stress efficiently and adequately, you need to first be aware of the various manners in which stress can be manifested. This is essentially to avoid a situation where you are suffering from stress related symptoms while being unaware of the real cause of the condition. Stress can affect your mind, your body and your behavior. The manifestation of these symptoms differs among individuals.
Generally, stress symptoms can be classified as under:
Cognitive symptoms
Emotional symptoms
Physical Symptoms
Behavioral Symptoms
While the manifestations of stress may vary, the root cause of all symptoms are the physiological changes triggered by the fight or flight response. When you face threat to your physical safety or emotional equilibrium, the body triggers various automatic processes that are part of the body's natural defense mechanism.
Normally, when you are serene, in a relaxed and un-stimulated state, the nerve impulses from neurons are minimal. Any perception of danger or even an environmental stressor like elevated sound levels or excessive illumination relays a new stimulus from the sensory cortex of the brain through the hypothalamus to the brain stem. This leads to a flurry of nerve impulses that are meant to prepare the body to meet the new perceived or real situation. There is a sudden increase in heart beat, the muscles tense up and all the senses are on high alert. In fact, all body systems except those that are necessary to sustain life are kept on hold for as long as the threat is perceived.
If the body does not return to its normal relaxed state in due course of time, it can seriously damage your overall health. This is mainly because various other systems like the digestive system are kept functioning at a basic minimum level. This interferes with the normal metabolic process and disrupts processing of nutrients. With a relatively higher heart rate, the heart is prone to get exhausted and the possibilities of a heart failure increase.
The bottom line, however, is that the symptoms of stress are triggered off only due to the manner in which you perceive situations, events and circumstances. Stress is a personal experience and stress symptoms depend largely on your vulnerability. Life situations cannot be expected to be always favorable. What you can do is to manage and avoid stress as much as you can by becoming more aware.
Additional Information on Symptoms of Stress
* Physical Symptoms of Stress
Besides psychological symptoms, chronic stress can lead to a number of physical symptoms, some of which have a long lasting effect.
* Emotional Stress Symptoms
Stress, both chronic and severe, can result in emotional symptoms that may sometimes be misunderstood as behavioral changes.
* Symptoms of Chronic Stress
It is important to be aware of the symptoms of chronic stress since chronic stress needs medical attention immediately. While short term stress is unavoidable and not something to worry about chronic stress can take an excessive toll on your system and needs attention.
* Symptoms of Severe Stress
Irrespective of the nature of the reaction to stress, the one kind of stress that needs immediate attention is severe stress. Acute or severe stress is mainly stress that is acute in nature and results in severe symptoms.
* Work Related Stress Symptoms
Stress at workplace is a relatively new phenomenon but has already received worldwide attention. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has termed it as a global epidemic.
* Causes and Symptoms of Stress in Children
While the physiological, psychological and emotional symptoms of stress in children are similar to those of adults, there are various other symptoms that you can observe like exhibition of extreme reactions and emotions, attention grabbing behavior...
* Causes and Symptoms of Stress in Women
While symptoms of stress among adult men and women are similar, there are some specific symptoms that are likely to surface more frequently among women. The causes of female stress, on the other hand, tend to be fairly different from the causes of stress in men.
How to Cope With Stress
The first thing that you need to understand is that stress is manageable. First you need to understand that stress is an individual experience. This basically means that the situations that cause stress are different for different people. While some people may not get worried about a work related issue, others may get extremely stressed in that situation, while the opposite may be the case if the stressful situation were at home. The circumstances that cause stress are based on individual perception and orientation. It is thus incumbent upon you and you alone to manage your stress in your way.
Since the stress that you are feeling is so individualistic, the first step that you need to take towards managing it is to identify the cause of the stress. This needs a fair amount of introspection so that you can objectively and correctly identify the cause. Please do not pretend that something that makes you uncomfortable will be resolved all by itself. This is commonly referred to as denial. Denial of a situation is something that needs to be avoided. Fooling yourself into believing that you are not worried about something, while in fact you are, will only make matter worse. Once you have identified the cause, it is also important to understand the various manifestations of the stress. Do you come home and abuse a family member or the dog because something at work has you a little irritated? This would be one of those identifiers that you need to pay attention to. Then it is important to find the real cause of your irritation. Below is a short list of "TO-DO'S" if you find yourself lashing out at friends or family members unnecessarily.
There are many techniques that you can use for managing stress. If you know that a certain event stresses you out, you can de-stress by indulging in fun activities or by taking up a hobby, going on a walk, run or bike ride or listening to some soothing music. Some people may need other methods of stress management. Practicing yoga, learning breathing techniques, meditating, laughter therapy and the like can be helpful in such cases.
www.GrandmasHerbs.com
Stress; difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; force or outside influence that produces or causes strain;
There are many definitions of stress. Some of them deal with the syllable of a word that is accented; some of them deal with the amount of force applied to a physical structure. It doesn't matter which definition of stress we refer to stress either tests the physical or mental capacity of the subject. Today I want to deal with the stress that we feel in our everyday lives. The fast pace that American's live with causes undue pressure and stress. Stress comes from issues in our lives like; schedules that are too busy, overdue bills, work related issues, bad relationships. Stress can even come from other family members who have some out of control issues going on in their life. Anything that causes worry creates stress. Stress can cause fatigue, behavioral changes, relationship issues and even bouts of depression. Some Stress is Inevitable Even Healthy
There is no such thing as a stress free life. Sometimes we look at someone else's life and see it as stress free. You should know that, that is simply is not true. Everyone has some stress in their life. Just because someone you know doesn't have the same stresses as yours does NOT mean that they do not have stress in their life that is equal to yours. Trying to remove stress from your life completely is impossible. A certain amount of stress actually helps in maximizing performance in specific situations. During times of stress, the human body reacts by releasing hormones and enzymes to reduce digestive secretions, increase heart beat and contract blood vessels. This state is called by various names like hyper-arousal, or the fight or flight response. It is necessary that these changes in physiology are temporary in nature. They are designed to help you to handle the stressful situation that you are in. After the situation is calmed down your body then needs to calm down to a relaxed state as well. It is the constant stress caused by certain life circumstances that will eventually wear you down and be damaging to your health and well being. The human body is not designed to be in a constant physiologically stressed state. Being overly stressed for long periods of time can have a significant negative impact on your overall health. Symptoms of Stress
Most of us don't realize there is a problem until relationships begin to suffer or performance at work slips. At this point, many turn to either alcohol or prescription drugs as a way to escape from the stress. Alternatives to dealing with this stress and anxiety in a productive way are often difficult to consider in the midst of such crisis. Unfortunately, self-medicating often makes the problem worse and may become addictive.
Modern life brings in its wake a fair number of situations that create stress and anxiety. The pace of life is more demanding and the requirements of modern day are far higher than they used to be. Sometimes the physiological and psychological stress can get too difficult to manage. Therefore, the need to be aware of the various ways in which stress can be managed and controlled is imperative.
Like I mentioned before in small doses stress is a good thing. It gives you the push that you need and keeps you alert. It is stress that drives you to stop being a couch potato and prepare for the upcoming events like tests or competitions and keeps you fully focused. The emphasis, however, is on stress in "small doses". Constant stress has a negative effect on your overall health.
To be able to manage stress efficiently and adequately, you need to first be aware of the various manners in which stress can be manifested. This is essentially to avoid a situation where you are suffering from stress related symptoms while being unaware of the real cause of the condition. Stress can affect your mind, your body and your behavior. The manifestation of these symptoms differs among individuals.
Generally, stress symptoms can be classified as under:
Cognitive symptoms
Emotional symptoms
Physical Symptoms
Behavioral Symptoms
While the manifestations of stress may vary, the root cause of all symptoms are the physiological changes triggered by the fight or flight response. When you face threat to your physical safety or emotional equilibrium, the body triggers various automatic processes that are part of the body's natural defense mechanism.
Normally, when you are serene, in a relaxed and un-stimulated state, the nerve impulses from neurons are minimal. Any perception of danger or even an environmental stressor like elevated sound levels or excessive illumination relays a new stimulus from the sensory cortex of the brain through the hypothalamus to the brain stem. This leads to a flurry of nerve impulses that are meant to prepare the body to meet the new perceived or real situation. There is a sudden increase in heart beat, the muscles tense up and all the senses are on high alert. In fact, all body systems except those that are necessary to sustain life are kept on hold for as long as the threat is perceived.
If the body does not return to its normal relaxed state in due course of time, it can seriously damage your overall health. This is mainly because various other systems like the digestive system are kept functioning at a basic minimum level. This interferes with the normal metabolic process and disrupts processing of nutrients. With a relatively higher heart rate, the heart is prone to get exhausted and the possibilities of a heart failure increase.
The bottom line, however, is that the symptoms of stress are triggered off only due to the manner in which you perceive situations, events and circumstances. Stress is a personal experience and stress symptoms depend largely on your vulnerability. Life situations cannot be expected to be always favorable. What you can do is to manage and avoid stress as much as you can by becoming more aware.
Additional Information on Symptoms of Stress
* Physical Symptoms of Stress
Besides psychological symptoms, chronic stress can lead to a number of physical symptoms, some of which have a long lasting effect.
* Emotional Stress Symptoms
Stress, both chronic and severe, can result in emotional symptoms that may sometimes be misunderstood as behavioral changes.
* Symptoms of Chronic Stress
It is important to be aware of the symptoms of chronic stress since chronic stress needs medical attention immediately. While short term stress is unavoidable and not something to worry about chronic stress can take an excessive toll on your system and needs attention.
* Symptoms of Severe Stress
Irrespective of the nature of the reaction to stress, the one kind of stress that needs immediate attention is severe stress. Acute or severe stress is mainly stress that is acute in nature and results in severe symptoms.
* Work Related Stress Symptoms
Stress at workplace is a relatively new phenomenon but has already received worldwide attention. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has termed it as a global epidemic.
* Causes and Symptoms of Stress in Children
While the physiological, psychological and emotional symptoms of stress in children are similar to those of adults, there are various other symptoms that you can observe like exhibition of extreme reactions and emotions, attention grabbing behavior...
* Causes and Symptoms of Stress in Women
While symptoms of stress among adult men and women are similar, there are some specific symptoms that are likely to surface more frequently among women. The causes of female stress, on the other hand, tend to be fairly different from the causes of stress in men.
How to Cope With Stress
The first thing that you need to understand is that stress is manageable. First you need to understand that stress is an individual experience. This basically means that the situations that cause stress are different for different people. While some people may not get worried about a work related issue, others may get extremely stressed in that situation, while the opposite may be the case if the stressful situation were at home. The circumstances that cause stress are based on individual perception and orientation. It is thus incumbent upon you and you alone to manage your stress in your way.
Since the stress that you are feeling is so individualistic, the first step that you need to take towards managing it is to identify the cause of the stress. This needs a fair amount of introspection so that you can objectively and correctly identify the cause. Please do not pretend that something that makes you uncomfortable will be resolved all by itself. This is commonly referred to as denial. Denial of a situation is something that needs to be avoided. Fooling yourself into believing that you are not worried about something, while in fact you are, will only make matter worse. Once you have identified the cause, it is also important to understand the various manifestations of the stress. Do you come home and abuse a family member or the dog because something at work has you a little irritated? This would be one of those identifiers that you need to pay attention to. Then it is important to find the real cause of your irritation. Below is a short list of "TO-DO'S" if you find yourself lashing out at friends or family members unnecessarily.
There are many techniques that you can use for managing stress. If you know that a certain event stresses you out, you can de-stress by indulging in fun activities or by taking up a hobby, going on a walk, run or bike ride or listening to some soothing music. Some people may need other methods of stress management. Practicing yoga, learning breathing techniques, meditating, laughter therapy and the like can be helpful in such cases.
www.GrandmasHerbs.com
