The sound of your heart pounding in your chest is almost deafening. You quickly snap at everyone around you. One more problem--no matter how small--will send you careening over the edge. Why? Your stressed.
What is stress? Stress is the body’s natural response to the unknown or dangerous. Stress causes the body to secrete the hormones that cause the “fight or flight” response; the heart quickens and your senses become heightened. This is very helpful in situations were our lives may be in danger, but being stressed over a long period of time wears the body out causing a short temper. Long term stress is very detrimental to our health and may take our very lives.
However, not all stress is created equal.
- Acute stress- Acute stress is a sudden and short response to the unknown or dangerous.
- Episodic acute stress- This is best described as many episodes of acute stress in a row, but they eventually end.
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Chronic stress- Chronic stress is one of the most dangerous types of stress. It wears down the body and mind over a long period of time day after day with no end in sight.
- Traumatic stress- Traumatic stress is caused by a catastrophic event. This is the most serious type of stress. In most cases it requires professional medical Attention
For the purposes of this article we will be focusing on Chronic stress.
The main causes of chronic stress, most often, are concerns about the things that are supposed to enhance our lives; our jobs, finances, relationship and our children. When these concerns are not dealt with they can manifest themselves as many other health problems.
Research has shown that any were from 2/3 to 90% of all illness is related to, or accelerated by stress. These include, but are not limited to; heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression and obesity. Ultimately all these diseases can lead to premature death.
So it’s apparent we need to learn ways to manage our stress. Here are just a few.
- Writing- Sometime just writing about what your stressed about can be wonderful therapy.
- Meditation- Regular meditation has been proven as an effective stress reliever and is a wonderful way to focus the mind.
- Physical activity- Exercise helps to relieve stress, but competitive sports also does. This may seem counter intuitive since competition causes stress, but it works. The competition causes you to focus on the acute stress of the game and not on the stress of whatever’s bothering you.
- Medication- Not all cases of stress can be managed with lifestyle choices alone. Many may require medication of professional help.
Stress can be a very serious condition. Sometimes we need to stop and ask ourselves “Am I stressed.”. If so, then steps must be taken to deal with and relieve it. Your health and possibly you life may depend on it.
