Stressed For Success To listen to our friends and colleagues, we may easily surmise that stress, the emotional variety, is a fairly recent development. Of course the media has been quick to seize upon this perception, barraging us with stories dealing with epidemics of stress related illness, stressful situations, and avant gard coping mechanisms. How bad can it get? Whats a mother to do? Several years ago the owner of a local gym was having problems with his night manager. At the time she was hired, she held a degree in fitness technology from the local Voc-tech college, was a certified personal trainer, and according to her resume a font of fitness and nutrition knowledge. She herself did not exercise. The problems started after only a couple of months on the job. According to what the gym owner told me, his manager began to barricade herself into the office where she would send out for pizzas, Chinese food, ice cream, and chocolates. Then she and her girlfriend would inhale it until they were ready to pop. She all too quickly developed a rather Rubenesque figure, not the best image to which the fitness neophyte can aspire. Meanwhile the gym floor was a scene of complete chaos. Eventually the owner had to let her go, but before he did he asked her what the problem was. She very vocally complained that the members had stressed her out so badly that she had become too stressed out to do her job. How distressing, especially for the gym owner. Most of what we know about stress today is based upon the work of Canadian researcher Dr. Hans Selye. In his book, THE STRESS OF LIFE, Dr. Selye defines stress as the general rate of wear and tear on the body. He then goes on to elucidate a mechanism which he terms The General Adaptation Syndrome. It is comprised of the following stages: Stage one is the Alarm Reaction in which the body responds to the stress by mobilizing its defensive forces by increasing heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure, as well as flooding the blood stream with hormones known as catecholamines, including cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine...all part of the so-called flight or fight response, hard wired into our nervous system to enable us to survive. Stage two is the Resistance Phase where the body will struggle to maintain homeostasis and adapt to the stress. Stage three is Exhaustion, which occurs if the stress is too great or too prolonged to allow adaptation to occur. Dr. Selye has classified stress into two general categories. Bad stress, known as distress, the kind of stress one might undergo when, for example, youre at work at your job for the postal service and that quiet guy in your department who never liked you shows up for work drunk, armed with an AK47, and hes running up and down the hallway loudly shouting your name. Very stressful indeed. Selye calls good stress eustress. Best example would be winning the Megalottery or coming home one night to find the Playboy Playmate Of The Year lounging on your sofa. For some reason eustress only happens to the other guy, not us. So whats the story with all the people too stressed out to function? Why all the mood altering chemicals being prescribed? Perhaps I lack empathy, but I cant see how any of us today have too much stress. Getting sent into ground combat in war or losing your job during The Great Depression is stress, not the Mickey Mouse stuff with which most of us have to contend on a daily basis. Perhaps whatever level of stress we have is perceived as a major stressor because we have no major, serious stressors with which to compare. I believe autonomic stereotyping is the term for this. In this instance the body will still go through the Alarm Reaction in which the bodys defensive forces are mobilized for survival. Problem is that when we stay in a constantly aroused state, the Alarm Reaction can produce some rather serious physiological consequences. Its not the same as chasing down and killing your supper, where our vital signs return to baseline when the hunt is over. Rather, with emotional stress we are constantly in that flight of fight mode, all revved up with no place to go. Exercise has been successfully utilized as a means of coping with stress. Many of my clients have told me that they will start their workout feeling particularly tense, but once the workout has been successfully completed that, It doesnt really matter any more. Other strategies for promoting deep relaxation are outlined in the book, THE RELAXATION RESPONSE by Herbert Benson, M.D. This book tells us that unlike the flight or fight response which is innate, the relaxation response has to be learned. Numerous breathing and meditative techniques are discussed therein. For most of us however, the simplest solution is regular exercise in conjunction with a balanced diet and adequate rest. Not only is such a strategy fun, but think of the money youll save on Prozac, Zanax, and Paxil.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 18:48:16 +0000
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