David Guy
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Joined: 04 July 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 57
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| Posted: 30 January 2007 at 5:34pm | IP Logged
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General Stress
Stress has become one of those buzzwords typical of the modern
times we live in. It is typically seen as being a negative conjuring
up images of difficulty, chaos etc. Stress in actual fact is the
body’s response to any situation that necessitates change of one
form or another, both negative and positive. It is the trigger or
motivator to move forward, act or react to a given set of
circumstances. Without stress our lives would stagnate.
So if we need stress in order to progress in life, why the focus on
the negative impact of stress on our lives?
When in a situation requiring change, our body prepares itself for
what is known as a fight or flight response. A common example
used in stress management is that of facing a lion. If one were to
see a lion in the jungle, your immediate reaction would be of
impending danger necessitating a decision to stay and fight or to
run for your life. The same is true for any situation requiring
change, you need to decide how to continue or respond to the
given facts presenting themselves to you.
The body reads each new situation as impending danger and thus
sets up a hormonal response to ensure that your body will be in a
state ready to react quickly, to be alert and obtain the result
necessary to keep you out of danger. This includes an outpouring
of adrenaline, a stimulant hormone, into the blood stream. This
begins a chain reaction within your body, together with certain
other stress hormones, which are intended to be protective. The
changes include an increase in heart rate and blood pressure (to
get more blood to the muscles, brain and heart), faster breathing
(to take in more oxygen needed by the brain and muscles for
quick reactions), tensing of muscles (preparation for action),
increased mental alertness and sensitivity of sense organs (to
assess the situation and act quickly), increased blood flow to the
brain, heart and muscles (the organs that are most important in
dealing with danger) and less blood to the skin, digestive tract,
kidneys and liver (where it is least needed in times of crisis). In
addition, there is an increase in blood sugar, fats and cholesterol
(for extra energy) and a rise in platelets and blood clotting factors
(to prevent haemorrhage in case of injury).
Utilizing these changes within your system at the correct time for
the desired response is positive. For example fleeing from
impending danger. More positive examples include giving a lecture,
a presentation, getting married, moving etc.
When looking at the physiological changes that occur in the body in
response to the body’s concept of danger or stress, it makes
sense why repeated stress will lead to physical changes which if
occurring over an extended period of time results in illness.
The physical changes or symptoms resulting from stress include
but are not limited to: increased heart rate; pounding heart;
elevated blood pressure; sweaty palms; tightness of the chest,
neck, jaw and back muscles; headache; diarrhoea; constipation;
urinary hesitancy; trembling, twitching; stuttering and other
speech difficulties; nausea; vomiting; sleep disturbances; fatigue;
shallow breathing; dryness of the mouth or throat; susceptibility to
minor illness, cold hands, itching; being easily startled; chronic
pain and dysponesis.
Emotional signs and symptoms of stress, including but not limited
to: irritability, angry outbursts, hostility, depression, jealously,
restlessness, withdrawal, anxiousness, diminished initiative,
feelings of unreality or over alertness, reduction of personal
involvement with others, lack of interest, tendency to cry, being
critical of others, self-deprecation, nightmares, impatience,
decreased perception of positive experience opportunities,
narrowed focus, obsessive rumination, reduced self-esteem,
insomnia, changes in eating habits and weakened positive
emotional response reflexes.
Cognitive/perceptual signs and symptoms of stress, including but
not limited to: forgetfulness, preoccupation, blocking, blurred
vision, errors in judging distance, diminished or exaggerated
fantasy life, reduced creativity, lack of concentration, diminished
productivity, lack of attention to detail, orientation to the past,
decreased psychomotor reactivity and coordination, attention
deficit, disorganization of thought, negative self-esteem,
diminished sense of meaning in life, lack of control/need for too
much control, negative self-statements and negative evaluation of
experiences.
Behavioral signs and symptoms of stress, including but not limited
to: increased smoking, aggressive behaviors (such as driving),
increased alcohol or drug use, carelessness, under-eating, over-
eating, withdrawal, listlessness, hostility, accident-proneness,
nervous laughter, compulsive behavior and impatience.
From the above lists doctors have now found a link between
continued stress or stress symptoms and illness or diseases e.g.
heart disease, diabetes, asthma, mental problems, lack of sleep,
loss of resistance to illness, and even allergies, amongst others.
For this reason it is important to learn to manage our stress and to
reduce our stress symptoms.
Some of the methods or reducing stress and the effects it has on
our health include: relaxation, exercise, diet, forming a healthy
sleep pattern, developing good communication and inter-personal
relationships, balanced lifestyle, amongst others.
The bath salts and mud packs offer wonderful relief of the
symptoms by increasing circulation and detoxification necessary to
remove the by-products from the stress cycle thereby freeing your
cells from these toxins. They also moisturize the skin and enhance
relaxation of the body, which in turn enables one to obtain
adequate sleep, necessary for regeneration of the body.
Edited by David Guy on 05 June 2007 at 1:11pm
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