Understanding Stress

Stress is something that we all feel. A question I think we all struggle with is when does stress come? Well, we often never know. Sometimes, it’s right beside you in bed in the morning, holding your covers as tight as possible. Other times, it appears with you at work, tightening your breathing and making your head lighter. Stress, while it may not feel like it, is here to help us. It is a psychological and physical reaction to a demand or perceived threat. This innate human trait was a great drive when we saw a bear in the woods a century ago, as it allowed us to stay alert, and assisted in acute muscle movements. Most importantly, it kept us ready and motivated for danger.

We don’t have too many run-ins with bears nowadays, not discounting your experience if you have, much respect to you. Today, our most common stressors come from the illness or death of a loved one, relationship changes, financial issues, due dates wheater for school, work, or life, and any major life changes. Instead of the bear looming over our shoulders, it is often a difficult relationship or a date circled date on the calendar. While it is pleasant our lives are in much less imminent danger these days, the innate trait of stress still drives us all, even if it is to our detriment.

Chronic stress is the continued activation of the stress response. Over time, it can cause significant wear on your body. This happens when our brains feel stress, it shelves some basic bodily functions like food digestion and tissue repair, by putting all focus on survival. This is called “Fight or Flight”. 

A person who spends too much time in this stress response will have many negative symptoms ranging from physical, psychological, and behavioral. These negative physical symptoms can look like aches, chest pain, trouble sleeping, headaches, dizziness, high blood pressure, muscle tension, stomach and digestive issues, intimacy issues, stress rashes, and a weakened immune system. Psychological symptoms look like anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and sadness. Behavioral symptoms often present as negative coping skills that aim to deal with chronic stress. These can look like alcohol abuse, substance abuse, gambling disorders, an eating disorder, compulsive actions, smoking, or substance use disorder.

  So there we have it folks. I just listed a bunch of negative symptoms of stress, so why do anything hard? Stress is bad for you, therefore we should never engage in things that are hard and cause us stress. We just discovered the solution to a simple relaxing life. 

Okay, so obviously that was a farce. Stress does play a role in those things, but it does not cause those negative symptoms. We have plenty of examples of people doing difficult stressful things, and them being as healthy as could be. It is not the stress that causes the negative symptoms, it is a person’s response to those stressors, positive or negative, that determines the severity of symptoms. 

How can you respond to stress in a healthy way then? It starts with self-care. Self-care can look like many different things. It could be squeezing in an extra hour of sleep, going outside for a walk, going to the gym, or having your favorite meal. We recommended moments of mindfulness as a great way to navigate your stressors. Take deep breaths in a calm space, allowing for time to provide you with a clear vision. Yoga and other forms of meditation are great for this as well. Reaching out to friends is another wonderful way to mediate stress, as just a good night of talking and reminiscing can make us feel safe. We recommend avoiding substances, or at least consuming them in moderation, as those just blanket your emotions for a time, but won’t ever put them to sleep. The most effective thing you can do for yourself is to take a deep breath. Shallow breathing only increases the feeling of stress, and a couple of deep breaths are an incredible way to ground yourself. 

I posed a question at the beginning of this article, “When does stress come?”, I suppose a better question now is, “How can I be prepared when stress comes?”

Ryan Keller