What is stress?

By Sylvia Sage - June 2020

We distinguish between two types of stress: positive stress, also known as ‘eustress’, and negative stress known as ‘distress’. Distress is perceived as negative and burdening, and is triggered by such stressors as an argument or challenges at work, while eustress is the type of stress that you get when you feel excited, that makes you leap out of bed in the morning. This type of stress is perceived as pleasant.

Medical News Today (March 11, 2020) defines stress as ‘the body's natural defence against predators and danger. It causes the body to flood with hormones to prepare its systems to evade or confront danger. People commonly refer to this as the fight or flight mechanism.’

This is our primary or acute stress response to immediate stress – our natural safety mechanism. It is this which enables us to flee from a sabre-tooth tiger or stop the car when a child suddenly dashes out onto the road.

Acute stress causes short-term reactions in the body, including:

-          muscles tensing, ready for fight or flight

-          the air passages leading to and from the lungs dilating and breathing becoming more intense to

provide more oxygen

-          the blood thickening to enable it to transport more oxygen and stop any bleeding

-          the heart beginning to pound, to pump blood around the body at an increased rate, carrying sugar for

energy and hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, which are responsible for the stress response

-          the digestive processes shutting down as blood is diverted to the muscles

-          the sweat glands starting to work to cool the muscles

When we talk about feeling stressed, we tend to be referring to ‘distress’. We often mean stress or perceived threat which has not been dealt with.

While it can take anything from 30 minutes to a number of days for our body to recover from our primary stress response and return to its normal resting state, chronic stress causes our bodies to remain in the secondary stress response, including

-          continuous tension in our muscles – leading to pain

-          super-oxygenated blood, which could lead to blackouts and upset heart rhythms

-          our hearts having to work harder to pump thickened blood

-          heart racing and high blood pressure, which can lead to strokes and heart attacks

-          digestive disorders

-          high cholesterol in the blood…

Chronic stress makes us ill.

Psychological stress is a biochemical process in the brain, triggered by the fear of not being able to cope. According to Klaus Jurgen Becker in Erfolg Ohne Stress (publ. Peter Erd., 1990), stress is not caused by external factors, but originates within the distressed person themselves. Or, in the words attributed to the Greek Stoic Philosopher, Epictetus, c. 35 AD, “It is not the things of this world that hurt us, but the way we perceive them.”

What is encouraging is that research has shown that we are dynamic systems, and capable of learning and change. We can work on and modify our stress response – sometimes ‘with a little help from our friends’.

Three helpful ideas

1.   Connection

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) recommend talking to others and sharing your feelings with a parent, friend, counsellor, doctor, etc., as a healthy way to cope with stress.

Many studies have shown that emotional and social connection is vital. David Rock of the NeuroLeadership Institute (https://neuroleadership.com/) has shown that Relatedness is a key need, and a threat to our sense of relatedness launches a stress response comparable to our reaction to danger.

One of the many secrets to a long and happy life, as described in IKIGAI, The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles (publ. Penguin, Random House UK) is the ‘moai’ or community – ‘an informal group of people with common interests who look out for one another’ (p. 16).

We sometimes underestimate the emotional and psychological support we get from those we love and feel connected with, and we need to make time to invest in these connections.

2.   Nurturing ourselves

The CDC also recommend ‘taking care of yourself; eating healthy, well-balanced meals; exercising on a regular basis; getting plenty of sleep and giving yourself a break when you feel stressed out’.

Regular exercise has long been known to have beneficial effects on our physical, emotional and mental health. In IKIGAI, the centenarians interviewed did gentle exercise, such as gardening, every day.

3.   Understanding our stressors

This is where a trained coach, counsellor or therapist can help – each with a different approach. In Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, one of the tools we use is a daily journal. In it, we make a note of how we are feeling, the situation, and what might have triggered this response in us. Over time, we begin to gain a better understanding of our stressors and our triggers… which will put us in a better position to recognise when we have been triggered, to STOP and observe, and give ourselves a choice before we proceed: ‘How would I like to react this time?’

Over time, this can lead to a greater sense of control and confidence.  

Note

Watch this space for further information, and please contact me, if you would like more information on Stress & Resilience training and coaching.