Loading ...- Category:
- Soap Box
- Author:
- Victorian AIDS Council
- Posted:
- Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Stress is part of modern living. We all feel stress — sometimes momentarily, sometimes it seems like a mosquito constantly buzzing by our ear.
There is good stress and bad stress. Good stress is that pressure that mobilises us to do something about problems or to achieve goals and aspirations.
Bad stress, on the other hand, can become life-impairing. Evolutionary biologists tell us stress is the result of human civilisation evolving much faster than the most primitive part of the brain which regulates emotion.
Our negative emotions were designed to help us survive in a world where we were at risk of death by predators, also known as our fight or flight response. Because we’re no longer under daily threat of being eaten by big toothy animals, negative emotions such as anger and fear are set off unnecessarily considering the relative severity of stressful events like running late for work.
Unfortunately there is no way to fast-track the evolution of the emotion centre of our brain, so what else can we do about stress?
It is important to get a handle on stress because it can contribute to both the cause and continuation of poor mental and physical health. The body is designed to have balance between time in arousal and time in relaxation, something not often achieved. The overabundance of stress hormones can contribute to health issues such as heart disease, anxiety and insomnia.
So there are good reasons to make the effort to manage your stress. Stress is usually triggered by our own thoughts which in turn produce symptoms that can feel physical. In dealing with stress, it’s possible to target both the triggering thoughts and the physical symptoms.
Stress-triggering thoughts can often be exaggerated, evidence-free, globalising and can snowball as in, “My jeans seem tighter than usual today. Look at my fat ass! I can’t wear these. I’m so hideous, no one will ever love me, I’m going to die alone!” You can see there is a bit of a leap from tight jeans to dying alone.
Being aware of these thoughts and checking for any evidence behind them is a good way to start counteracting stress-inducing thoughts. The body’s response to these stressful thoughts is typically an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, muscle tension and sweating amongst others.
The best remedy for these physical symptoms is relaxation such as deep breathing, progressive muscular relaxation, and the use of guided relaxation CDs or regular massage. The important thing is to find something that works for you.
Tags: VAC/GMHC
