Control Stress

To be able to begin to control stress we must first know what “stress” is.

Interestingly, the term “stress” itself was unknown in a psychological and biological usage until the 1930s when it was first used in a describing human reaction to an outside stimulus.

“Stress” describes how the human body reacts to an outside stimulus, or “stressor.”  This can be either real, or it can be imagined but the result is a triggering of the “flight or fight” response. Stressors that affect us in the short term are called “acute” while those that act over a longer term are known as “chronic.”  Signs of stress include:

• Poor judgment
• Excess worrying
• Feeling of isolation
• Eating too much or not enough
• Social withdrawal
• Rapid heartbeat
• Nausea

The list goes on and on but these are enough to make the point that left untreated, stress is extremely destructive both emotionally as well as physically.Chronic stress (over the long term) is capable of significantly affecting many of the body’s natural defense immune systems. Changes in the way the immune system reacts to threats can increase vulnerability to disease and infection.

Chronic stress has also been proven to inhibit developmental growth in children through reducing the pituitary gland’s production of growth hormones.

It is important to realize that a stressor does not need to be negative to have a negative effect. Some positive stressors are:

• Becoming engaged
• Marriage
• Birth of a Child
• Purchasing a house

The body will react the same way to positive stress as it does to negative stress.Whether the stressor is negative or positive it must be managed.

There are many stress management techniques and they all attempt to teach someone effective coping methods that can be used in dealing with psychological stress.

Some of the more common methods of dealing with stress that do not depend on prescription medications are:

• Controlling the stress source
• Learning to protect your time by saying “no” to some demands
• Participating in a hobby (golf, fishing, etc.)
• Meditation