Stress (Part 2)

Although, they are having the time of their life, your stress levels will probably hit the roof!

KEY POINTS

Stressors are demands that require from us more than routine adjustments.

• Stress is our response to demands upon us (lack of (e.g., boredom) or overwhelming — also known in psychology as stages of di-stress).

• Distress can lead to emotional breakdown, burnout and disease, because of continuous pressure on the body (e.g., adrenal exhaustion, chronic illnesses) and on the mind (e.g., mental exhaustion), which is also often accompanied by poor diet and lifestyle habits.

• We can’t eliminate all stress. Our connected modern world demands more from us more often, and too often when we should be slowing down (mind and body), relaxing, or socialising, or spend quality time with our kids.

• We experience stress in physical, emotional, and behavioural ways. Our coping mechanisms originate from the way we think about ourselves. Negative self-talk (putting yourself down) leads to emotional inadequacies and to poor behavioural adjustment — thoughts are linked to emotions and emotions to behaviour, therefore, giving attention to your chains of thoughts is often the key to uncover poor coping mechanisms (or lack of).

• We can live better with stress when we recognise its impacts, choose our responses, and build resources.

LIVE EVENTS

One of the most important stressor in life is change.

Change that occurs from within family circles
Various changes occur in families at each new stage of life. Even though some are expected — good or bad —, these are stressors that usually involve readjustment and often coming to term with some type of loss.
Often, we’re unrealistic about expectations, and results of change, sometimes underestimating its impact, but more often than not overestimating the stress that change will bring (anxiety, anticipatory stress — stress that we are creating ourselves).
Unexpected changes also impact families with swift and sometimes very tragic loss. Death or disabling injury, especially that of your child, or illness, divorce, and job loss can turn life upside down. Readjustment is usually slow and painful.

Change that arise from outside family boundaries
Changes in the world around us can threaten our own sense of order and security (2020 has certainly taught us this much). They can require us to take in more information than we can manage, learn new things, or accept things that would otherwise seem unacceptable.
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Stressful changes include:

• Corporate restructuring

• Political and economic trends

• New ways/methods/machinery/technology affecting our productivity

• Instant access to worldwide problems through the media, leading to addiction, to always look for (and only focus on) the worse in every situation.

Change creates new opportunities; however, it may also involve loss of:

• Familiar ways to do things (loss of habits, comfort — change often pulls us out of our comfort zone)

• Feeling useful, skilled, or needed (loss of purpose)

• Loved ones’ presence, support and companionship

• Health (pushing through to make up for lack of …)

• Security or confidence (starting a new job or a big promotion, for example, can be very scary because you need once more to prove your ability while all eyes are on you and much more is expected from you).

WHEN TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH 

What happens when we’re under too much stress?
Most of the time, we probably aren’t even aware of our coping mechanisms (or even a lack of) or of our automatic mental/emotional/physiological reactions to everyday problems, worries, or crises. In an emergency, these stress responses help us act quickly — these are lifesaving and have ensured our survival as a species. Automatic changes in body chemistry, heart rate, and blood pressure tense us for action and resistance (to fight back or flight, whichever will ensure our survival). As the threat is resolved, our bodies adapt and return to normal function.
Many stressors in our lives may continue for a long time or may affect us for much longer than the actual event itself (e.g., trauma. Every time the traumatic event is relieved the stress response is activated, bringing the same physiological responses inside the body as it did back then).

We can’t always avoid stress, but sometimes we don’t even recognise stressors. For example, taking on too much at work, taking work on home, and sleeping very little, are all stressors that can affect our health on the long-term. Often the first signs — the symptoms that occur as a result of the body ringing the alarm — are unspecific and widespread, like fatigue, poor focus, memory, digestive issues, low mood, can go for a very long time, sometimes decades, until the problem is too big, too severe to ignore.
Over time, the constant mental, physical and emotional demands and adaptations to those stressors can take a toll, mediating inflammatory responses (e.g., low grade inflammation in the gut and the joints, as well as brain fog) and poor blood sugar (energy) management (e.g., diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative disorders).

“A negative outlook makes us believe nothing can change.”

HOW STRESS CAN AFFECT US

Below are some of the ways (symptoms) in which you might experience stress. You may also notice other symptoms or even a combinations of symptoms. Paying attention to them is a good first step in taking charge of the stress in our lives.
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Physical
_ Headaches
​_ Appetite or weight changes
_ Feeling tired all the time
_ Changes in sleep habits (insomnia, broken sleep)
_ Muscle tensions and aches
_ Getting sick often, taking longer to recover
_ Taking longer to recuperate after exercise

Emotional
_ Anger
_ Sadness or crying spells
_ Irritability or short temper
_ Tendency to worry excessively, anxiety
_ Discouragement
_ Trouble relaxing
_ Emptiness or loss of direction
_ Looking for magic solutions

Behavioural
_ Increase in use of drugs (over the counter — e.g., painkillers, or recreational), or alcohol, or stimulants (caffeine), or other addictive substances (e.g., sugar)
_ Trouble focussing/concentrating
_ Avoiding decisions/confrontations/resolutions
_ Low productivity
_ Forgetfulness
_ Boredom
_ Fear of talking in front of a crowd

Relationships
_ Problems with marriage or children
_ Intolerance of others (the way we react and feel when around them, which has nothing to do with them as a person)
_ Avoiding social gatherings (social disconnection)
_ Difficulties at work (not being able to work as a team or finish a project on time, respect budget or any other restrictions)
_ Nagging
_ Lowered libido
_ Loneliness
_ Resentment