Dealing with Stress

Author : Simon Clarke
Stress is a term used to describe a pattern of physiological responses which are directed to specific events in our lives. It is also a term that has fallen into fashion in the latest years, particularly when referring stress to the context of work, productivity and health.Common perception affirms stress as an undesirable and unhealthy issue. However, this affirmation is quite imprecise. In fact, stress is a major evolutionary advantage of the human body, enabling individuals to quickly react to endangering situations – and most likely improve the ability to evaluate, assess and cope with the 'danger'.Primarily, the Hypothalamus (region of the brain responsible for controlling the Autonomic Nervous System) identifies a stressor (which could be any event – such as a noise) and automatically prepares the body to react to that stressor. This is done through sending signals to both the ANS and the Pituitary Gland (limbic system) – which in turn, activate a 'response mechanism' by stimulating body organs to change their regular activity. This response mechanism is identified by: increase of blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels and re-direction of blood flow to major organs. The body also improves respiration by dilating air passages, stopping digestion in order to direct focus (energy) to 'relevant' parts of the body and increasingly produces adrenaline (epinephrine).All this process occurs in a few seconds – and it was particularly 'designed' to increased survival chances either by challenging the situation, or by escaping from it. All these biological features are commonly expressed (or perceived) as emotions. For instance, you may experience fear or excitement in a 'biologically endangering' situation. You may also experience the stress positively or negatively. In positive instances, we comply with our biological reactions, using increased awareness and body conditions to our own advantage. In negative instances, stress is commonly associated with anxiety – and the outcome is having difficulty in dealing with the situation. A very common example is a student who, albeit having intensively studied for an examination, cannot perform during the exam.The role of perception is extremely important in determining the health issues associated with the incidence of stress. Primarily, although stress is a natural and desired response to particular situations – it is also supposed to be temporary. The human body is not capable of sustaining a stressful environment for a long time without damaging cells, organs and other components of the system. Therefore, recurring stressful situations are an actual threat to our body. Recurring stress can cause brain cells to be damaged or destroyed, and induce to problems related to blood pressure and heart rates. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) was identified as one of the major causes of stress-related death.The concept of cognitive appraisal comprises the two steps an individual usually undertakes when faced with a stressful situation: first, an evaluation of the threat and secondly, an assessment of the resources available to deal with that threat. The worse a threat is perceived, and the lowest the available resources are accounted for – the more an individual will be distressed and emotionally affected. It is a logical human response: the more you can control your environment, the more confident you'll feel to face any challenges. For this reason, equal stimuli may have disparate responses by two different people.In this content, confidence and personal balance plays a big role in defining the emotional effect a stressful moment will cause. One of the strategies for 'combating' stress refers to the ability of moulding our emotional responses in order to better adapt to stressing situations: "When an animal can learn a coping response that allows it to avoid contact with an aversive stimulus, its emotional response will disappear" (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). By controlling our perception of an event, we are able to shorten stressful periods, and furthermore, reduce psychological harm from stressful events.© Life Coaching Institute (Aust). If you wish to republish or reproduce this article, please include this information in the end of the article. For more information about the Institute – please visit www.lcia.com.au/lz.Simon Clarke has over 15 years of experience as a writer, entrepreneur and business specialist. He is also the founder and Director of the Life Coaching Institute and the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors: both industry leading training providers in Australia and overseas.
Keyword : Health, Business, Life Coaching, Tips, Development, Stress, Success, Improvement