Stress Information
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Stress-proof your life
National Statistics on Stress:
According to the Occupational Health and Safety News and the National
Council of Compensation Insurance:
-Stress accounts for over $30 billion in medical and disability payments
and over $99 billion in productivity loss.
-Stress keeps about one million people a day from going to work.
-Stress causes one third of American workers to seriously consider
quitting their jobs.
-75% of reported high frequency illness in employees is stress related,
and 85% of employee accidents are stress related
According to the Occupational Health and Safety News and the National
Council of Compensation Insurance:
-Stress accounts for over $30 billion in medical and disability payments
and over $99 billion in productivity loss.
-Stress keeps about one million people a day from going to work.
-Stress causes one third of American workers to seriously consider
quitting their jobs.
-75% of reported high frequency illness in employees is stress related,
and 85% of employee accidents are stress related
Stress and Health
“Damaging stress is created when forces or circumstances outside the
body overwhelm the mind, the physiology, and the senses in the body
causing them to go through a negative change”.
“Unlike the obviously harmful events such as a fresh cut that bleeds,
the damaging and even deadly effects of stress can often be a silent
killer”.
There is a direct link between stress and the dysfunction of various
parts and systems within the body. Stress reactions alter the digestive
system, over-stimulate certain glands while under stimulating others,
affect heart function and change breathing. As a result, stress has an
actual, measurable negative impact on:
the aging process and cause or contribute to literally every type of
symptom or disease known to man. Stress even makes you gain weight.
“People all face much of the same outside factors that cause stress.
Work, relationships, school, personal and family health problems,
money issues, and even positive events like weddings and parties can
all be stress-producing circumstances. However, none of these things
are necessarily bad”.
“Both happy events and tragedies alike cause a stress response in the
body. Some stress is unavoidable. The only way to have zero stress is
to not get up in the morning”!
“On the other hand, stress only becomes negative when your response
to it is negative. The condition we call stress is entirely self-induced. It is
how each individual responds to stress, and not the stress itself, that
causes a negative reaction in the body”.
“Stress is not a person, a condition or an event. Stress is a reaction to
a person, a condition or an event. Just how negative this reaction is will
determine the amount of emotional turmoil and damage done to the
body. Effectively, any injury induced by stress is a self-inflicted wound”.
-Dr Ben Lerner
Okay that’s interesting so far… But why do we feel so horrible when we
are stressed?
The fight-or-flight response Our physiological response to stress is the
same no matter what the stressor is, be it physical danger,
psychological distress or imagined threat. The ‘fight-or-flight’ response
is one of our body’s built-indefence mechanisms. Its purpose is to
stimulate the system so that it can either escape from danger or
confront it. The response occurs with any perceived threat, regardless
of whether it is real (in a physical sense) or psychological (imagined).
This means, ofcourse, that the ‘fight-or-flight’ response can be
triggered either by physical danger or by our feelings and thoughts
about a possible threat or danger. Today we have many more stressors
than our ancestors faced. We also have the problem that, unlike our
ancestors, it’s not polite to hit another person on the nose for ‘stressing
you out’ or running away from the boss or place of work when the going
gets tough. Paying the mortgage is still going to be there at the end of
the month, isn’t it.
When we are under stress, our bodies respond with the fight-or-flight
response. How does this occur? Well, we know that our brains respond
to both real and imagined danger by sending signals to the part of the
brain called the Hypothalamus. This activates the stress response,
stimulating the nervous system. The nervous system reacts and creates
changes in our bodies, releasing chemicals that get us pumped and
ready to fight or to run away from the perceived danger. This response
was all well and good for our ancient ancestors in dealing with the
occasional sabre-toothed tiger or going on a hunt for mammoths. Life
for us today is quite different from those far-off times, yet the stress
response is still with us and triggers changes in our heart rate, blood
pressure, breathing and muscles just as it did in our ancestors’ days. If,
however, we cannot turn off the stress response, or if it is triggered
constantly, we’re in trouble.
Chronic stress and your brain’s chemistry. Just as hormones govern
many chemical functions in the body, the brain’s functions are governed
by neurotransmitters. A neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger used
by neurons (nerve cells) to communicate with other neurons. It is how
the brain communicates with itself and the rest of the body.
Communication between neurons is accomplished by the recognition of
a receptor for a specific chemical messenger; picture an egg
(neurotransmitter) in an egg cup (receptor).
Every day trillions, yes trillions, of messages are sent and received
between the brain’s cells. These messages are carried by these
chemical messengers via the brain’s biogenic Amine/Endorphin System.
Every thought, feeling and experience we are aware of requires the
interaction of these amazing brain chemicals. Neurotransmitters work
with neuroreceptors in our brains and produce these feelings,
experiences and thoughts!
Chronic stress causes problems with the body’s neurotransmitter
production. When too much stress is placed on a person, eventually the
individual’s neurotransmitters begin to fail. That is, the quantity of
neurotransmitters change; they become out of balance and, as the
stress continues, the neurotransmitters become depleted, unable to
carry out their important functions.
When that happens, the all-important neural nerve centers receive
distorted messages. Subjectively, what this means for us is that we
enter a state of brain chemical imbalance and experience this
imbalance as our stress symptoms. There are many possible symptoms
you may experience due to this chemical imbalance.
The most common are fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells,
depression, anxiety and panic attacks, insomnia, involuntary trembling
of the body, poor concentration, tension headaches, cramps and
diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, thyroid gland
malfunction, high blood pressure, heart attack, abnormal heart beat,
stroke, cold fingers, itchy skin rashes and decreased resistance to
infections.
As you can imagine, this chemical imbalance makes you feel awful and
these feelings are often overwhelming. Do any of these symptoms
sound familiar? (By the way, if you experience any of these you must
see your healthcare provider to investigate the cause of the symptoms
which can, of course, be caused by illness other than stress.)
So, simply put, these common complaints are of :
Being tired, unable to fall asleep or to stay asleep
General aches and pains and lack of energy
A definite loss of enjoyment of life
Feeling depressed, anxious and unable to cope with life.
According to the American Psychological Association’s online help
center:
Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death;
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
“Damaging stress is created when forces or circumstances outside the
body overwhelm the mind, the physiology, and the senses in the body
causing them to go through a negative change”.
“Unlike the obviously harmful events such as a fresh cut that bleeds,
the damaging and even deadly effects of stress can often be a silent
killer”.
There is a direct link between stress and the dysfunction of various
parts and systems within the body. Stress reactions alter the digestive
system, over-stimulate certain glands while under stimulating others,
affect heart function and change breathing. As a result, stress has an
actual, measurable negative impact on:
- Blood pressure
- Cholesterol
- Electrolytes
- Brain chemistry
- Blood sugar levels
- Joint function
- Hormonal balance
the aging process and cause or contribute to literally every type of
symptom or disease known to man. Stress even makes you gain weight.
“People all face much of the same outside factors that cause stress.
Work, relationships, school, personal and family health problems,
money issues, and even positive events like weddings and parties can
all be stress-producing circumstances. However, none of these things
are necessarily bad”.
“Both happy events and tragedies alike cause a stress response in the
body. Some stress is unavoidable. The only way to have zero stress is
to not get up in the morning”!
“On the other hand, stress only becomes negative when your response
to it is negative. The condition we call stress is entirely self-induced. It is
how each individual responds to stress, and not the stress itself, that
causes a negative reaction in the body”.
“Stress is not a person, a condition or an event. Stress is a reaction to
a person, a condition or an event. Just how negative this reaction is will
determine the amount of emotional turmoil and damage done to the
body. Effectively, any injury induced by stress is a self-inflicted wound”.
-Dr Ben Lerner
Okay that’s interesting so far… But why do we feel so horrible when we
are stressed?
The fight-or-flight response Our physiological response to stress is the
same no matter what the stressor is, be it physical danger,
psychological distress or imagined threat. The ‘fight-or-flight’ response
is one of our body’s built-indefence mechanisms. Its purpose is to
stimulate the system so that it can either escape from danger or
confront it. The response occurs with any perceived threat, regardless
of whether it is real (in a physical sense) or psychological (imagined).
This means, ofcourse, that the ‘fight-or-flight’ response can be
triggered either by physical danger or by our feelings and thoughts
about a possible threat or danger. Today we have many more stressors
than our ancestors faced. We also have the problem that, unlike our
ancestors, it’s not polite to hit another person on the nose for ‘stressing
you out’ or running away from the boss or place of work when the going
gets tough. Paying the mortgage is still going to be there at the end of
the month, isn’t it.
When we are under stress, our bodies respond with the fight-or-flight
response. How does this occur? Well, we know that our brains respond
to both real and imagined danger by sending signals to the part of the
brain called the Hypothalamus. This activates the stress response,
stimulating the nervous system. The nervous system reacts and creates
changes in our bodies, releasing chemicals that get us pumped and
ready to fight or to run away from the perceived danger. This response
was all well and good for our ancient ancestors in dealing with the
occasional sabre-toothed tiger or going on a hunt for mammoths. Life
for us today is quite different from those far-off times, yet the stress
response is still with us and triggers changes in our heart rate, blood
pressure, breathing and muscles just as it did in our ancestors’ days. If,
however, we cannot turn off the stress response, or if it is triggered
constantly, we’re in trouble.
Chronic stress and your brain’s chemistry. Just as hormones govern
many chemical functions in the body, the brain’s functions are governed
by neurotransmitters. A neurotransmitter is a chemical messenger used
by neurons (nerve cells) to communicate with other neurons. It is how
the brain communicates with itself and the rest of the body.
Communication between neurons is accomplished by the recognition of
a receptor for a specific chemical messenger; picture an egg
(neurotransmitter) in an egg cup (receptor).
Every day trillions, yes trillions, of messages are sent and received
between the brain’s cells. These messages are carried by these
chemical messengers via the brain’s biogenic Amine/Endorphin System.
Every thought, feeling and experience we are aware of requires the
interaction of these amazing brain chemicals. Neurotransmitters work
with neuroreceptors in our brains and produce these feelings,
experiences and thoughts!
Chronic stress causes problems with the body’s neurotransmitter
production. When too much stress is placed on a person, eventually the
individual’s neurotransmitters begin to fail. That is, the quantity of
neurotransmitters change; they become out of balance and, as the
stress continues, the neurotransmitters become depleted, unable to
carry out their important functions.
When that happens, the all-important neural nerve centers receive
distorted messages. Subjectively, what this means for us is that we
enter a state of brain chemical imbalance and experience this
imbalance as our stress symptoms. There are many possible symptoms
you may experience due to this chemical imbalance.
The most common are fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells,
depression, anxiety and panic attacks, insomnia, involuntary trembling
of the body, poor concentration, tension headaches, cramps and
diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, thyroid gland
malfunction, high blood pressure, heart attack, abnormal heart beat,
stroke, cold fingers, itchy skin rashes and decreased resistance to
infections.
As you can imagine, this chemical imbalance makes you feel awful and
these feelings are often overwhelming. Do any of these symptoms
sound familiar? (By the way, if you experience any of these you must
see your healthcare provider to investigate the cause of the symptoms
which can, of course, be caused by illness other than stress.)
So, simply put, these common complaints are of :
Being tired, unable to fall asleep or to stay asleep
General aches and pains and lack of energy
A definite loss of enjoyment of life
Feeling depressed, anxious and unable to cope with life.
According to the American Psychological Association’s online help
center:
- Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects
from stress. - Seventy-five percent to 90 percent of all physician office visits
are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death;
- heart disease,
- cancer,
- lung ailments,
- accidents,
- cirrhosis of the liver,
- suicide.
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
Keeley
Education
Education