Know Your feelings

Stress and its Causes ?

In current times, the word stress has been added to the terminology of modern medicine. Medicine has defined the cause of stress diseases in the following way. Stress diseases are caused when the battle mechanism of the body goes into action under some shock, the thyroid demanding a pointless increase in metabolic output, the pituitary sending ACTH flooding to the adrenal glands modifying blood pressure, blood sugar increasing and exhaustion following, often with a dangerous lowering of the body's normal resistance to infection" (quoted from the practitioner). Ours is a world of unpredictable change, a breeding ground for uncertainty, insecurity and tremendous stress. Stress is a psychological and physical response to the demands of daily life that exceed a person's ability to cope effectively. With the advancement of technology, we have given ourselves a modern condition called stress. Stress unfortunately is an inevitable part of modern life. Some common day-to-day factors that may cause stress include: problems at work, marital problems, overwork, lack of sleep, illnesses, financial problems and believe it or not to a lesser degree, traffic.

Stress related illnesses

Stress causes an excellent breeding ground for illnesses to develop; it can place your physical and psychological well-being in danger if not attended to. Researchers assess that stress contributes to as many as 50 to 70 percent of all major illnesses including cardiovascular illnesses, high blood pressure, cancer, endocrine and metabolic related diseases, skin disorders, infections and others.

Symptoms

When someone is under a lot of stress, it will carry with it a whole host of signs such as: fatigue, headaches, irritability, loss of appetite, forgetfulness, confusion, low self-esteem, detachment, nervous twitches, lowered sex drive, intestinal disorders and high blood pressure. Almost 70-80% of all visits to the doctor are stress related or caused by stress.

Mechanism

In the face of apparent problems we are always under stress, at that time we go through physiological changes where hormone and adrenalin levels increase and our body reacts to fight or flight response. The clearance of hormones by the adrenal glands causes acidosis in the body. That in turn will set off a whole cascade of health affecting problems. If left unchecked, it may cause physical or mental malfunctions. So, the increased production of adrenal hormones may be one of the factors responsible for most of the symptoms associated with stress. Stress can create vulnerability in the body's immune system prompting other disorder inducing factors to run riot. Long-term stress can throw your body's functions out of sync.

Types

Stress can be good or bad, good stress keeps you stimulated and healthy while bad stress hurts your health. Stress is not a dangerous condition itself, it is only when the level of stress exceeds our ability to cope with it that it becomes a problem and affects health. Chronic bad stress may lead to heart disease and other debilitating conditions. A state of continued stress eventually wears out the body. Physical and psychological stress in a healthy adult may produce acute deficiencies of trace minerals despite other sufficient dietary intake. Stress is a common precursor of psychological problems like anxiety and depression. Tolerance of stress levels fluctuate from person-to-person. Some can sustain stress easily while others give in readily.



Sequence of stress

The stress response is actually a part of a larger response known as the general adaptation syndrome. It is divided into three phases:

1)		alarm
2)		resistance
3)		exhaustion

The alarm reaction

Is referred to as the fight or flight response. It causes the adrenals to secrete adrenalin and other stress related hormones like cortisol. It is usually a short-lived phase.

The resistance phase

Is influenced by cortisol and other corticosteroids secreted by the adrenal cortex. It provides the necessary energy to cope with stress. Continued stress or prolongation of the resistance phase may increase the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems and cancer. If continued it may lead to the exhaustion phase.

The exhaustion phase

This phase may appear as a total collapse of body function or collapse of specific organs. Two of the major causes of exhaustion may be 1) potassium loss 2) reduction in the amount of the adrenal hormone cortisone. With prolonged stress, the body may become deficient in many useful nutrients and is unable to replace them to par level. Long-term stress is unsafe and may lead to more serious medical problems.

Management techniques to de-stress

The first step towards fighting stress is to accept that it exists as a result of our lifestyle or attitudes. Stress doesn't have to be so stressful once we learn to react in more positive ways to handle the stressful situation we see ourselves as up against". There is no escape from stress however there are mechanisms to fight it.

1) Identify the stressors to be fought

2) Identify negative coping pattern and replace it with positive coping pattern EX: you're stuck in traffic, well, instead of stressing try to use that time positively by using it as reflection or thinking time, could be anything from making a list of things to do the next day or reflection on an issue that you haven't had time to think about because you've been too busy. To diminish the negative impact of stress, do accept the fact that bad stress is unavoidable and try coping positively by learning to relax and by being optimistic. Studies show that individuals that have learned to relax, are optimistic and who laugh a little tend to live longer and healthier lives. Adapting flexibility in the face of challenges will reduce stress.

Adopt a good lifestyle

Try to be positive, kind and compassionate. Abstain from unnecessary anger and anxiety ex: getting red in the face because the checkout line at the market is too long (pointless anger leads to anxiety and stress), traffic light taking too long to turn green. Learning to calm the mind and body is very important in relieving stress. Learn to let go and try to develop a sense of humor, Type A personalities (hyperactive and always stressed) or controlling personalities suffer from more stress that any other group. Look at your lifestyle to establish if it's a cause for your stress.

It is also very important to have a positive attitude in life if you want to keep stress at bay. When you're stressed out listen to your favorite piece of music, music does wonders; it will soothe and relax your tense, stressful nerves and muscles. Stress releasing techniques like meditation, relaxation, yoga and aromatherapy also may help. Shrugging exercises will relax the tensed neck and shoulder muscles. Example - breathe deeply as you do this exercise. Raise your shoulders as close as possible to your ears then push them back and down in a counter-clockwise motion repeat this five to six times and you should feel much better.

Yoga is another technique of de-stressing. Yoga is inspired by the natural habits of certain animals like cats, the relaxation habits of which have been observed closely. One posture of yoga that briefly deserves attention for this topic is "savasana" or corpse poses i.e.: a posture of complete repose, complete relaxation. The effect of this posture is immediate; Lie down on your back, in a quiet place. Place the arms 8 inches away from the body, palms upturned. Keep heels 3 feet apart. Keep your eyes closed and breathe slowly and deeply, feel a sense of calm relaxation come over your whole body, concentrate on loosening all tension. You should feel relaxed after this.

Another technique to release stress is called "Pranayama" or breathing exercise. One purpose of this exercise is to get rid of the stress hormones in the blood thereby decreasing stress. 20 minutes of diaphragmatic deep breathing will get rid of stress.

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	Adultery		Dissatisfaction
	Anorexia Nervosa		Divorce / Separation
	Anxiety		Gambling Addiction
	Being worried		Loneliness
	Bulimia Nervosa		Phobias
	Chronic Pain		Rejection
	Conflict		Stress
	Death and Loss		Suicidal Thoughts
	Depression		Violence
	Despair
Warning: if you have moderate depression or suicidal tendencies please seek the advice of a doctor/ therapist or dial 9-1-1.