Stress!! – Just reading the word evokes emotions, memories and possibly a physical reaction. As human beings we’ve always had stress and we always will. Stressors just change over time.
Stress in our culture has become something that needs to be avoided at all cost. The reality is that though a challenge, stress confronts us to learn about our inner resources. The more one avoids stress, the more one isn’t likely to confront those stressors impacting them day-to-day or have the ability to address new ones in the future.
Picture: Dr Niraj Singh
Stress is defined as ‘a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances’. To a degree it is important for us to function optimally in our day-to-day lives. Stress can help us marshal our inner resources to achieve things. Each person has his or her own individual threshold and if that threshold is breached that’s when our ability to function gets impaired.
Acute stress is related to a short-term stressor such as a car accident or having a personal item snatched. Chronic stress happens due to a stressor or multiple stressors occurring over time. There are a significant number of stressors in our society today including financial, work, relational, discrimination and environmental amongst others. Exposure to toxic social media content over a period of time can be highly stressful.
Chronic stress is associated with increased risk of mental illness such as depression and anxiety as well as insomnia. People struggling with chronic stress also have higher risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The risk of infection increases as the immune system is compromised. Mental and physical health conditions can in turn also worsen stress causing a vicious cycle.
The fact is there is no ‘one-size fits all’ prescription for managing stress. The key word is ‘manage’ and therefore it is about how we respond using our resources to influence the situation as best possible. Many things which we think are in our control actually aren’t. When we understand this, it has the potential to relieve some pressure on ourselves.
So how can we respond to and manage stress?
Acute stress – take for example, the issue of a stolen item. The immediate reaction could be one of anxiety and upset. The fight and flight mechanism could kick in causing faster heart rate, breathlessness and sweatiness. During this time, our breathing could be fast and shallow using the upper part of the chest. How do we respond to this?
One way is to slow down our breathing, taking deep breaths using the muscle under the ribs called the diaphragm (called surprisingly ‘diaphragmatic breathing’). This calms down
the central nervous system. Other breathing techniques are available.
Strategies for reducing chronic stress:
1. Evaluate, reduce and/or eliminate the stressors.
2. Optimise sleep
3. Good nutrition. Reduce alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.
4. Exercise
5. Meditation and mindfulness.
6. Keep your surrounding environment tidy and clutter free as best possible.
7. Social support
8. Get out in nature
9. Do things that lift your spirits.
10. *Seek help from professionals if you’re really struggling.
Remember the above aren’t just reactive strategies but proactive ones too. Building up our internal capacity to respond to stress needs to be taught to everyone from a young age. Reframing is also important – the ability to see things from a different perspective which could reduce the stress burden.
Stay healthy.
