Stress is Distressing

Everyone knows what it feels like to experience stress. Stress and life in Johannesburg tend to go hand in hand. I think it’s safe to say that stress and life in South Africa tend to go hand in hand. Our beautiful country unfortunately still has a very high crime rate and citizens of South Africa need to be vigilant to this. Stress however is a worldwide phenomenon.
Did you know

Millions of Americans suffer from unhealthy levels of stress at work. It was estimated to be approximately 11 million but is now estimated to have tripled. Studies in Sweden, Canada, and other Westernized countries show similar trends.
Worker's compensation claims for "mental stress" in California went up by 200-700% in the 1980s (whereas all other causes remained stable or declined!)
Tranquilizers, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications account for one fourth of all prescriptions written in the U.S. each year.
Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors.

“To make matters worse we tend to cope with stress in all the wrong ways. Last November a advocacy group Mental Health America found that respondents frequently deal with chronic stress by watching TV, skipping exercise and foregoing healthy food.” Time Magazine February 12th 2007

Stress contributes to many illnesses including heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes, as well as a lowered immune system.

Dr Dewe say that stress can be defined as “what we feel when the limits of our endurance are being severely tested”

More than half of all deaths between the ages of one and 65 result from stressful lifestyles.- U.S. Center for Disease Control

Good Stress

However not all stress is bad. Stress can motivate us to achieve, to get off our buts and do something! Good stress, referred to as eustress, is the stress you feel when competing in a race, the excitement of walking down the aisle when getting married or riding a horse a full gallop on the beach.

Distress

Distress on the other hand is what we feel when we just can’t cope. Distress is the combination of physical reactions, negative thoughts and feelings and the consequent behaviours.

There are 3 stages of stress, the alarm phase, the resistance phase and exhaustion phase.

The Stages of Stress

The first stage, the alarm phase, is referred to as the fight-or-flight response. The body prepares to attack or to run from a threatening situation. There are many changes that happen instantly on a physical level. Stress hormones are released from the adrenal glands and the adrenal cortex. The body needs more blood supply to fight or flee so the brain goes into a run on minimum signal and closes down the parts of the brain that are not necessary for survival. This includes the part of the brain where we think logically and creatively, so all clear thinking literally goes out of the window! This extra blood that is now not being used in the brain goes to the body where heart rate and blood pressure increase, breathing becomes rapid, muscles tense for fight or flight, pupils dilate and sugar levels go up. We are now ready to fight or flee. This is an entirely appropriate response when faced with a “wooly mammoth” but may not be helpful when we are faced with an armed gang, our boss at work or a taxi that has just cut us off in our car!

In highly stressful times, your real age can be as much as 32 years older than your calendar age

In the second stage of stress the body tries to regain control. However cortisol levels may remain high with the accompanying negative effects on our organs and immunity. We are coping but only just! We are in for the long haul. Long again this may have been a time of famine when we needed to hang on until circumstances changed. Today it may be financial stress, relationship issues, overwork or just the stresses and strains of life in the 21st century. We may experiences, concentration problems and forgetfulness, indecision, negative thoughts and feel overwhelmed, irritable, tense, hostile and short tempered.

In the third stage of stress we go into exhaustion. The stress has become too much and our ability to sustain ourselves in the face of such stress is beyond our capacity. We admit defeat and suffer the consequences such as a decreased capacity to function. We feel hopeless and helpless.

Stress can lead to anxiety, depression, moodiness, post traumatic stress disorder and is hazardous to your physical health. Stress can lead to a variety of physical illnesses and related health problems. In fact, stress has a negative impact on virtually every organ system in the body. Stress can affect your heart, lungs, hormones, digestion, reproduction and stress lowers immunity making you more susceptible to cold, flu and more serious illness

Stress in other words can literally kill you!

Stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, including Recent research has increasingly confirmed the important role of stress in cardiovascular disease, cancer, gastrointestinal, skin, neurological and emotional disorders, and a host of disorders linked to immune system disturbances, ranging from the common cold and herpes, to arthritis, cancer, and AIDS. (http://www.stress.org/problem.htm)

Managing Stress

Managing your stress may be the most important thing that you do for your self, your family and your health.

This may be as simple as

Taking 5 minutes a day to breath deeply and consciously
Putting things into perspective – Ask yourself if you were to die tomorrow what would you regret? I bet that you didn’t wish that you had worked harder or longer. Rather it may have been spending time with your family, talking to friends, walking in nature. So do it now! Nothing is more important than your health, wellbeing, peace and serenity.
Listening to music
Exercising, preferably 20 minutes cardiovascular exercise 3 times a week but just mindful walking in your garden for a few minutes a day will lessen your stress.
Dealing with your stress, i.e. find solutions. If that is absolutely not possible and you do not have control over the circumstances in which you find yourself, you do have control over how you feel about it. �

Do you suffer from stress? Take a workshop!

The Kpower Stress Release Made Easy workshop is a one-day workshop that will give you more understanding on stress and how to deal with it so that you can have a more fulfilling life.
For Johannesburg workshop dates click here
For Cape Town workshop dates click here

"The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years." - Deepak Chopra

Sources:

Healthy People 2000, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"Prevention of Work-Related Psychological Disorders": A National Strategy Proposed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), American Psychologist, Vol. 45, No. 10, October 1990.

CBS Television News

The Health Resource Network, Inc.,

Stress Release Made Easy – DR Bruce Dewe and Joan Dewe