Physical and Psychological Approaches to Stress
http://www.healityourself.com/articlelive/articles/4/1/Physical-and-Psychological-Approaches-to-Stress/Page1.html
By Steven H Horne
Published on February 9, 2008
Everyone experiences some stress in their lives. In this article I explore both the physical and psychological aspects of stress and provide suggestions on holistic methods of reducing it, such as herbs, nutrition and attitude changes.
Introduction
They say that nobody gets through this life without experiencing death and taxes. But, since both of these life experiences are stressful, it’s safe to say that nobody gets through life without experiencing stress, either.
Stress isn’t just a health problem, it’s one of the major root causes of health problems. In fact, it is likely that most illness has at least some stress related component. (I personally can’t think of a time when I got sick when I wasn’t feeling stressed. How about you?)
I have personal experience dealing with the problem of stress. In college I was introduced to Dr. Richard Rahe’s Life Changes Stress Test. The test ranks different life events and gives them a stress score. For example, “death of a spouse” has the highest score (100), divorce is second at 73. Even positive events have a stress factor associated with them. Marriage is 50 and a Vacation is 13. You check all the events you’ve had and total the score. Between 150 and 299 you’re moderately prone to stress related illness, while over 300 you’re very likely to have stress related illnesses.
When I first took the test in college I was over 300 and scored high for the previous three years as well. More recently, I went through a 7-8 year period in which all of the following happened: I went through two divorces, the break-up of three business relationships, the death of a child, the death of both of my parents, serious financial problems that culminated in bankruptcy and seven changes in residency, along with, of course, the normal stresses we all face such as bills, taxes, etc. I’ve never totaled my score for those years, but I’m sure I was over 300 for several of them.
I’m not going to pretend that I went through all of this unscathed. Quite the contrary, I suffered major adrenal burnout and gained a few unwanted pounds during the period mentioned above. I’m still not quite back to where I’d like to be energy and weight-wise, but I haven’t developed any serious health problems, my hair hasn’t turned gray and I still look much younger than I am. So, I’m still in good shape for my age, in spite of the stressful experiences I went through.
I attribute part of my ability to manage stress to my knowledge of herbs and nutrition, but I also know that the stress management skills I was taught in college (and have continued to learn about since) have played a key role in my healing process. So, bottom line, I’m speaking from first hand experience, not just theory, when I tell you that the stuff I’m about to share really works. And, since stress is both a physical problem and a psychological problem, and I’m going to cover both aspects of stress management.
Physical Effects of Stress
Stress is a physical problem because stressful events cause the release of various chemical messengers (hormones and neurotransmitters) that produce physiological changes in the body. These chemical messengers are responsible for the physical effects of stress that can undermine our health and wellbeing.
The immediate effect of stress is the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the depression of the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system creates the physiological reactions you have when someone “jumps” you from behind the doorway. The physical reactions to being startled are instantaneous because they are created by the nerves. These reactions include your heart beating faster, shallow rapid breathing, hair standing on end and your pupils dilating (making you wide-eyed). These reactions also move blood away from your digestive organs and into your muscles and brain.
The cumulative effect of this is that your body gets put on “red alert.” It is poised for action, ready to fight off or flee from the danger. This is why this stress response has been called the flight or fight response.
Of course, when your friend scares you, the physical reactions are over almost as quickly as they began. You realize the danger wasn’t “real” and your nervous system rapidly calms down and restores you back to normal function. However, if your mind had perceived the danger as real, then the glandular system would have kicked in to create a stronger (and longer lasting) effect. Hormones would released from the hypothalamus to stimulate the pituitary to produce ACTH, which would, in turn, stimulate the adrenal glands. The adrenals would begin pumping out hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), aldosterone and testosterone into your blood stream to gear the body up for action.
There’s Nothing Wrong with Stress (Really!)
There’s nothing wrong with any of this. It’s actually a very positive thing. If you were being attacked by a mugger (the modern equivalent of a bear or mountain lion), you’d want all those stress hormones because they allow your body to physically perform at it’s peak. In fact, it isn’t even really fair to call these hormones stress hormones because that implies they cause stress. They are really anti-stress hormones because they are gearing your body up so you can take action to combat what is really stressing you (the problem or situation you perceive as dangerous or painful).
So, what’s the real problem here? Well, I can see three. First of all, it takes nutrients to produce these chemical messengers-čnutrients like B-complex, vitamin C, zinc, and l-tyrosine. Modern diets are often low in these nutrients, so as one is repeatedly exposed to stressful events, the body can easily “burn up” its nutrient reserves. At this point, the nerves and glands can no longer pump us up with enough “juice” to deal with the stress we are facing. That’s when we start to feel overwhelmed, exhausted and defeated.
So, it’s quite obvious that good nutrition is going to increase our ability to manage stress. Sugary, caffeinated beverages may temporarily “amp” us up and help us “get through the day,” but ultimately they will contribute to our nutritional depletion. So, a diet full of whole, natural foods will provide more anti-stress nutrition than the SAD Standard American Diet. If you’re under a lot of stress a little extra nutritional boost in the form of some Nutri-Calm wouldn’t hurt either.
Years ago I read an article by Australian Naturopath Dorothy Hall about silica. She maintained that silica also helps the body cope better with stress, both mechanically and emotionally. Silica is primarily found in the peelings and seeds of foods (the chewy parts). When we peel and core and throw away all the chewy stuff and only eat the soft parts of our food, it makes us soft, too. So, HSN-W can also be a good formula to keep your nerves from “fraying” when you’re feeling really stressed.
A second reason why stress becomes a problem for many of us is that today’s problems, unlike many of the sources of stress people faced by people in the past, usually don’t call for physical action. We don’t have fields to plow, mountains to climb, bears and lions to fight (or run away from). Instead, our modern stress is largely mental (bills, traffic, work, family problems, etc.) which don’t take much physical effort to fix. (It’s true, you could try running away from bills and family, but they’d probably just track you down, wouldn’t they?)
However, even when you’re stressed because you’re stuck in freeway traffic, looking at a stack of bills or having your boss threaten to fire you, the physical reaction remains the same. The event still releases the hormones that gear the body up for physical action. Since there is nothing physically to do, this can make us feel tense, irritable and edgy and will sometimes cause us to explode with anger or frustration.
However, if you’ve ever taken a walk to let yourself “cool down” then you understand that channeling that energy into any kind of physical activity dissipates it. The physical activity “burns off” the stress hormones. So, just about any kind of exercise, even walking, is going to reduce your stress level. Right now, I’m doing a lot of work in my garden, and that does wonders for reducing my stress levels. In fact, I enjoy it so much, it makes it difficult to come to the office sometimes.
The third problem that makes stress a serious issue for many people is the unrelenting nature of many modern problems. Stress can be thought of as stimulation, because that’s what it’s doingčstimulating us to action. As long as we also have “down time” where the parasympathetic nervous system can activate and help us unwind, it’s not a problem.
During our “down time” the parasympathetic nerves move blood to the digestive organs and the reproductive organs, enhancing digestion, elimination and sensual pleasure. Tissue regeneration and repair (i.e., healing) also take place under the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Traditionally, people relaxed in the evenings, ate meals in a relaxed atmosphere and took more time for recreation. We often think that hunter-gatherer people’s (like the Native Americans) must have had very stressful lives living in the wilderness and having to forage for food, but this is not the case. Researchers have discovered that these people spent only 15-20 hours per week working and much of the remaining time was spent playing, relaxing, socializing, etc. Just look at your household pets (if you have any). How much time do they spend just lying around relaxing?
In contrast, many of us eat on the run (that’s why they call it “fast food”), work long hours at jobs that don’t require physical activity and seldom take time to just kick back and take it easy. Unwinding often involves watching TV, which may contain violent and stressful images that provoke the release of more stress hormones. Even our vacations tend to be adrenaline-pumping experiencesčextreme sports, wild amusement park rides and rushed vacations. In short, many people in modern society never take time to really unwind.
So, if you’re nutrient-depleted, seldom exercise and are constantly rushing around with little time to relax, your stress level will stay pretty high. This will cause your blood pressure and your blood sugar to stay elevated, your muscles to stay tense, your digestion and elimination to be poor and your nerves and glands to become increasingly depleted. In short, you’ve made yourself more prone to infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and hear attacks, constipation, indigestion and even cancer.
The answer to this problem is simply making (not finding) down time. You have to schedule time for relaxation. It may seem like you have too many things to do to afford to take the time off, but if you don’t do it voluntarily, your body will make you do it involuntarily by making you sick. (And that kind of down time isn’t any fun!)
Stress isn’t just a health problem, it’s one of the major root causes of health problems. In fact, it is likely that most illness has at least some stress related component. (I personally can’t think of a time when I got sick when I wasn’t feeling stressed. How about you?)
I have personal experience dealing with the problem of stress. In college I was introduced to Dr. Richard Rahe’s Life Changes Stress Test. The test ranks different life events and gives them a stress score. For example, “death of a spouse” has the highest score (100), divorce is second at 73. Even positive events have a stress factor associated with them. Marriage is 50 and a Vacation is 13. You check all the events you’ve had and total the score. Between 150 and 299 you’re moderately prone to stress related illness, while over 300 you’re very likely to have stress related illnesses.
When I first took the test in college I was over 300 and scored high for the previous three years as well. More recently, I went through a 7-8 year period in which all of the following happened: I went through two divorces, the break-up of three business relationships, the death of a child, the death of both of my parents, serious financial problems that culminated in bankruptcy and seven changes in residency, along with, of course, the normal stresses we all face such as bills, taxes, etc. I’ve never totaled my score for those years, but I’m sure I was over 300 for several of them.
I’m not going to pretend that I went through all of this unscathed. Quite the contrary, I suffered major adrenal burnout and gained a few unwanted pounds during the period mentioned above. I’m still not quite back to where I’d like to be energy and weight-wise, but I haven’t developed any serious health problems, my hair hasn’t turned gray and I still look much younger than I am. So, I’m still in good shape for my age, in spite of the stressful experiences I went through.
I attribute part of my ability to manage stress to my knowledge of herbs and nutrition, but I also know that the stress management skills I was taught in college (and have continued to learn about since) have played a key role in my healing process. So, bottom line, I’m speaking from first hand experience, not just theory, when I tell you that the stuff I’m about to share really works. And, since stress is both a physical problem and a psychological problem, and I’m going to cover both aspects of stress management.
Physical Effects of Stress
Stress is a physical problem because stressful events cause the release of various chemical messengers (hormones and neurotransmitters) that produce physiological changes in the body. These chemical messengers are responsible for the physical effects of stress that can undermine our health and wellbeing.
The immediate effect of stress is the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the depression of the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system creates the physiological reactions you have when someone “jumps” you from behind the doorway. The physical reactions to being startled are instantaneous because they are created by the nerves. These reactions include your heart beating faster, shallow rapid breathing, hair standing on end and your pupils dilating (making you wide-eyed). These reactions also move blood away from your digestive organs and into your muscles and brain.
The cumulative effect of this is that your body gets put on “red alert.” It is poised for action, ready to fight off or flee from the danger. This is why this stress response has been called the flight or fight response.
Of course, when your friend scares you, the physical reactions are over almost as quickly as they began. You realize the danger wasn’t “real” and your nervous system rapidly calms down and restores you back to normal function. However, if your mind had perceived the danger as real, then the glandular system would have kicked in to create a stronger (and longer lasting) effect. Hormones would released from the hypothalamus to stimulate the pituitary to produce ACTH, which would, in turn, stimulate the adrenal glands. The adrenals would begin pumping out hormones like cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline), aldosterone and testosterone into your blood stream to gear the body up for action.
There’s Nothing Wrong with Stress (Really!)
There’s nothing wrong with any of this. It’s actually a very positive thing. If you were being attacked by a mugger (the modern equivalent of a bear or mountain lion), you’d want all those stress hormones because they allow your body to physically perform at it’s peak. In fact, it isn’t even really fair to call these hormones stress hormones because that implies they cause stress. They are really anti-stress hormones because they are gearing your body up so you can take action to combat what is really stressing you (the problem or situation you perceive as dangerous or painful).
So, what’s the real problem here? Well, I can see three. First of all, it takes nutrients to produce these chemical messengers-čnutrients like B-complex, vitamin C, zinc, and l-tyrosine. Modern diets are often low in these nutrients, so as one is repeatedly exposed to stressful events, the body can easily “burn up” its nutrient reserves. At this point, the nerves and glands can no longer pump us up with enough “juice” to deal with the stress we are facing. That’s when we start to feel overwhelmed, exhausted and defeated.
So, it’s quite obvious that good nutrition is going to increase our ability to manage stress. Sugary, caffeinated beverages may temporarily “amp” us up and help us “get through the day,” but ultimately they will contribute to our nutritional depletion. So, a diet full of whole, natural foods will provide more anti-stress nutrition than the SAD Standard American Diet. If you’re under a lot of stress a little extra nutritional boost in the form of some Nutri-Calm wouldn’t hurt either.
Years ago I read an article by Australian Naturopath Dorothy Hall about silica. She maintained that silica also helps the body cope better with stress, both mechanically and emotionally. Silica is primarily found in the peelings and seeds of foods (the chewy parts). When we peel and core and throw away all the chewy stuff and only eat the soft parts of our food, it makes us soft, too. So, HSN-W can also be a good formula to keep your nerves from “fraying” when you’re feeling really stressed.
A second reason why stress becomes a problem for many of us is that today’s problems, unlike many of the sources of stress people faced by people in the past, usually don’t call for physical action. We don’t have fields to plow, mountains to climb, bears and lions to fight (or run away from). Instead, our modern stress is largely mental (bills, traffic, work, family problems, etc.) which don’t take much physical effort to fix. (It’s true, you could try running away from bills and family, but they’d probably just track you down, wouldn’t they?)
However, even when you’re stressed because you’re stuck in freeway traffic, looking at a stack of bills or having your boss threaten to fire you, the physical reaction remains the same. The event still releases the hormones that gear the body up for physical action. Since there is nothing physically to do, this can make us feel tense, irritable and edgy and will sometimes cause us to explode with anger or frustration.
However, if you’ve ever taken a walk to let yourself “cool down” then you understand that channeling that energy into any kind of physical activity dissipates it. The physical activity “burns off” the stress hormones. So, just about any kind of exercise, even walking, is going to reduce your stress level. Right now, I’m doing a lot of work in my garden, and that does wonders for reducing my stress levels. In fact, I enjoy it so much, it makes it difficult to come to the office sometimes.
The third problem that makes stress a serious issue for many people is the unrelenting nature of many modern problems. Stress can be thought of as stimulation, because that’s what it’s doingčstimulating us to action. As long as we also have “down time” where the parasympathetic nervous system can activate and help us unwind, it’s not a problem.
During our “down time” the parasympathetic nerves move blood to the digestive organs and the reproductive organs, enhancing digestion, elimination and sensual pleasure. Tissue regeneration and repair (i.e., healing) also take place under the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Traditionally, people relaxed in the evenings, ate meals in a relaxed atmosphere and took more time for recreation. We often think that hunter-gatherer people’s (like the Native Americans) must have had very stressful lives living in the wilderness and having to forage for food, but this is not the case. Researchers have discovered that these people spent only 15-20 hours per week working and much of the remaining time was spent playing, relaxing, socializing, etc. Just look at your household pets (if you have any). How much time do they spend just lying around relaxing?
In contrast, many of us eat on the run (that’s why they call it “fast food”), work long hours at jobs that don’t require physical activity and seldom take time to just kick back and take it easy. Unwinding often involves watching TV, which may contain violent and stressful images that provoke the release of more stress hormones. Even our vacations tend to be adrenaline-pumping experiencesčextreme sports, wild amusement park rides and rushed vacations. In short, many people in modern society never take time to really unwind.
So, if you’re nutrient-depleted, seldom exercise and are constantly rushing around with little time to relax, your stress level will stay pretty high. This will cause your blood pressure and your blood sugar to stay elevated, your muscles to stay tense, your digestion and elimination to be poor and your nerves and glands to become increasingly depleted. In short, you’ve made yourself more prone to infections, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and hear attacks, constipation, indigestion and even cancer.
The answer to this problem is simply making (not finding) down time. You have to schedule time for relaxation. It may seem like you have too many things to do to afford to take the time off, but if you don’t do it voluntarily, your body will make you do it involuntarily by making you sick. (And that kind of down time isn’t any fun!)
Natural Remedies for Stress
upplements for Stress
I don’t want to spend a lot of time here discussing supplements for stress. However, I do need to cover the basics.
Most herbs that help the body relax are going to inhibit the sympathetic nervous system and/or stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. So, all our standard nervine formulas can be used to help reduce stress levels by helping us to “unwind.” These include Stress-J, Nerve Control, Nerve Eight, Chinese Stress Relief and Herbal Sleep. Any of these can be good combinations to take at the end of a long, hard, stress-filled day. They’re work better than a “night-cap” and are a lot healthier, too.
For really chronic stress, however, we need adaptagens. Adaptagens reduce the output of stress hormones from the adrenals. Eleuthero Root was the first one discovered. I’ve taken it off and on during periods of stress and found it to be very helpful. Adaptamax, Mineral Chi tonic and Suma Combination are all good adaptagenic combinations. If you feel like you’re under a lot of stress, I highly recommend them.
Cortisol is an important hormone in this stress cascade. It is one of the glucocorticoids produced by the adrenals which help to regulate blood sugar. It also dampens inflammation. So, in one way it is part of the healing process. Too little cortisol and inflammation runs rampant. Too much and the immune system is depressed. Too much cortisol and you also gain weight, which is what happened to me when I went through that seven-year period of intense stress.
When cortisol levels are high, as in acutely stressful conditions where you feel “all wound up,” Nature’s Cortisol can help. It has adaptagenic effects and helps reduce cortisol output from the adrenals.
In spite of the negative effects of excess levels of cortisol, it isn’t “a nasty little hormone” as some TV commercials have suggested. When cortisol levels are too low you’ll get chronic inflammation (as in autoimmune disorders, asthma, chronic fatigue, etc.) Here, yucca, licorice and wild yam can all be used to support the adrenals and reduce the inflammation. Nature’s Cortisol should be avoided when the cortisol levels are low because it reduces rather than enhances cortisol.
When the stress has really gotten to you, and your adrenals are beginning to get exhausted, you’ll find Nervous Fatigue Formula or Adrenal Support to be indispensable. The first signs of “burn-out” are disturbed dreams and restless sleep. Later, you start to feel tired during the day, but toss and turn all night long, waking up frequently. You’ll feel confused, moody, lose your memory and feel “unable to cope.”
When I was going through some severely stressful periods a few years ago Nervous Fatigue Formula saved my sanity. Later, Adrenal Support really helped me rebuilt.
Like I said, all this nutritional stuff is covered in a lot more detail in this month’s Sunshine Sharing and Herbal Hour Video. So, what I really want to talk about now is the physiological aspect of stress.
Is It All In Your Mind?
Last month, when my son and I went to the Whole Foods Expo in Anaheim, California, we went a day early and went to Disneyland and the new California Adventure park. Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, etc. and we had a blast. What’s interesting is that all these amusement park rides are causing the release of the same hormones we associate with stress. Yet, it was fun!
The same is true for rock climbing, hang gliding, surfing, riding motorcycles and so forth. People do this because it gets “stress” hormones pumping in their bodies and they love it.
It’s also interesting that the body reacts the same way to an imagined experience as it does to a real experience. The same chemicals are released. So, when we watch an action-adventure or horror film we get the same chemical response as when we ride a roller coaster. In both cases we’re “flirting” with danger. On the roller coaster, our senses tell us we’re in “danger” but we know we’re really not, and we have the same experience in the movie theater.
So, it’s quite obvious that people can actually enjoy the physiological effects of stress. That’s because stress hormones can help us feel good. They give us energy and can even create a kind of internal “high.” If we don’t produce enough of them, then we feel tired and depressed. So, as with any other aspect of health, balance is the key.
But, let’s go back to that perception thing. Remember that an imaginary experience can cause the same physical stress response as a real experience. That’s why what is stressful for one person can be fun for another. It really depends on the attitude and perceptions of the person.
My gardening is hard work, but it’s relaxing to me. It reduces my stress level. Now, if I hated the outdoors and hated getting dirty and I was forced to do gardening, I would have an entirely different reaction wouldn’t I? So, it isn’t just the activity or event itself that causes stress, it’s our perception of it. Anxiety and excitement create the basically the same chemical reactions in the body, but one is perceived as enjoyable and the other as negative.
So, what really creates the reaction we call stress is when we perceive that something is “bad” and we mentally resist it. Taking the same situation and thinking, “Okay, I don’t like this, but I’m going to make the best of it,” takes most of the stress out of it.
Furthermore, you’ll note that we don’t put “stress” as a root cause of disease on the Disease Tree model. Instead, we say, “unresolved mental and emotional stress.” It’s the stressful events and situations that we are unable to resolve and let go of that really cause us to get sick. It’s the stuff that happened 10 years ago that we still get upset about when we think about it.
So, if we change our perception of something we can actually take a lot of the stress out of it. For example, we could fuss and fume about a traffic jam, or we could decide, “hey, this is a great time to relax” and put on some nice music or a motivational program. In other words, stuff isn’t just happening to us, we are assigning meaning to the stuff that is happening to us. And, if we assign a negative meaning to any event in our life, it will cause us stress. If we chose (and we can chose) to see the event in a different light, the stress can be defused.
My father in his 50s and 60s could outwork me with I was in my teens and early 20s. In fact, he could outwork most men who were 20-30 years younger than he was. He shared with me his secret. He said he stayed relaxed, but just picked up the pace. He said that when you tense up, you get tired faster.
So, when faced with a stressful event, we have a choice. We can fuss, fume, stew and otherwise resist what is happening, OR we can take a deep breath, allow ourselves to relax and just take things one step at a time. Doing the former will give us an ulcer or worse, doing the later will keep our mind clear, our body primed for action, and have us doing our best to resolve the situation. The choice is ours.
In fact, when I practice what my now deceased chiropractor Michael Brenay said, and practice having a “gratitude attitude,” stressful situations rapidly diminish into manageable situations. When one is grateful, it dissolves resistance, and that dissolves tension, which dissipates stress. And that keeps us healthy, physically and emotionally. So, as Dr. Brenay would say, “Glide down the glory road of life with a gratitude attitude.”
I don’t want to spend a lot of time here discussing supplements for stress. However, I do need to cover the basics.
Most herbs that help the body relax are going to inhibit the sympathetic nervous system and/or stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. So, all our standard nervine formulas can be used to help reduce stress levels by helping us to “unwind.” These include Stress-J, Nerve Control, Nerve Eight, Chinese Stress Relief and Herbal Sleep. Any of these can be good combinations to take at the end of a long, hard, stress-filled day. They’re work better than a “night-cap” and are a lot healthier, too.
For really chronic stress, however, we need adaptagens. Adaptagens reduce the output of stress hormones from the adrenals. Eleuthero Root was the first one discovered. I’ve taken it off and on during periods of stress and found it to be very helpful. Adaptamax, Mineral Chi tonic and Suma Combination are all good adaptagenic combinations. If you feel like you’re under a lot of stress, I highly recommend them.
Cortisol is an important hormone in this stress cascade. It is one of the glucocorticoids produced by the adrenals which help to regulate blood sugar. It also dampens inflammation. So, in one way it is part of the healing process. Too little cortisol and inflammation runs rampant. Too much and the immune system is depressed. Too much cortisol and you also gain weight, which is what happened to me when I went through that seven-year period of intense stress.
When cortisol levels are high, as in acutely stressful conditions where you feel “all wound up,” Nature’s Cortisol can help. It has adaptagenic effects and helps reduce cortisol output from the adrenals.
In spite of the negative effects of excess levels of cortisol, it isn’t “a nasty little hormone” as some TV commercials have suggested. When cortisol levels are too low you’ll get chronic inflammation (as in autoimmune disorders, asthma, chronic fatigue, etc.) Here, yucca, licorice and wild yam can all be used to support the adrenals and reduce the inflammation. Nature’s Cortisol should be avoided when the cortisol levels are low because it reduces rather than enhances cortisol.
When the stress has really gotten to you, and your adrenals are beginning to get exhausted, you’ll find Nervous Fatigue Formula or Adrenal Support to be indispensable. The first signs of “burn-out” are disturbed dreams and restless sleep. Later, you start to feel tired during the day, but toss and turn all night long, waking up frequently. You’ll feel confused, moody, lose your memory and feel “unable to cope.”
When I was going through some severely stressful periods a few years ago Nervous Fatigue Formula saved my sanity. Later, Adrenal Support really helped me rebuilt.
Like I said, all this nutritional stuff is covered in a lot more detail in this month’s Sunshine Sharing and Herbal Hour Video. So, what I really want to talk about now is the physiological aspect of stress.
Is It All In Your Mind?
Last month, when my son and I went to the Whole Foods Expo in Anaheim, California, we went a day early and went to Disneyland and the new California Adventure park. Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, etc. and we had a blast. What’s interesting is that all these amusement park rides are causing the release of the same hormones we associate with stress. Yet, it was fun!
The same is true for rock climbing, hang gliding, surfing, riding motorcycles and so forth. People do this because it gets “stress” hormones pumping in their bodies and they love it.
It’s also interesting that the body reacts the same way to an imagined experience as it does to a real experience. The same chemicals are released. So, when we watch an action-adventure or horror film we get the same chemical response as when we ride a roller coaster. In both cases we’re “flirting” with danger. On the roller coaster, our senses tell us we’re in “danger” but we know we’re really not, and we have the same experience in the movie theater.
So, it’s quite obvious that people can actually enjoy the physiological effects of stress. That’s because stress hormones can help us feel good. They give us energy and can even create a kind of internal “high.” If we don’t produce enough of them, then we feel tired and depressed. So, as with any other aspect of health, balance is the key.
But, let’s go back to that perception thing. Remember that an imaginary experience can cause the same physical stress response as a real experience. That’s why what is stressful for one person can be fun for another. It really depends on the attitude and perceptions of the person.
My gardening is hard work, but it’s relaxing to me. It reduces my stress level. Now, if I hated the outdoors and hated getting dirty and I was forced to do gardening, I would have an entirely different reaction wouldn’t I? So, it isn’t just the activity or event itself that causes stress, it’s our perception of it. Anxiety and excitement create the basically the same chemical reactions in the body, but one is perceived as enjoyable and the other as negative.
So, what really creates the reaction we call stress is when we perceive that something is “bad” and we mentally resist it. Taking the same situation and thinking, “Okay, I don’t like this, but I’m going to make the best of it,” takes most of the stress out of it.
Furthermore, you’ll note that we don’t put “stress” as a root cause of disease on the Disease Tree model. Instead, we say, “unresolved mental and emotional stress.” It’s the stressful events and situations that we are unable to resolve and let go of that really cause us to get sick. It’s the stuff that happened 10 years ago that we still get upset about when we think about it.
So, if we change our perception of something we can actually take a lot of the stress out of it. For example, we could fuss and fume about a traffic jam, or we could decide, “hey, this is a great time to relax” and put on some nice music or a motivational program. In other words, stuff isn’t just happening to us, we are assigning meaning to the stuff that is happening to us. And, if we assign a negative meaning to any event in our life, it will cause us stress. If we chose (and we can chose) to see the event in a different light, the stress can be defused.
My father in his 50s and 60s could outwork me with I was in my teens and early 20s. In fact, he could outwork most men who were 20-30 years younger than he was. He shared with me his secret. He said he stayed relaxed, but just picked up the pace. He said that when you tense up, you get tired faster.
So, when faced with a stressful event, we have a choice. We can fuss, fume, stew and otherwise resist what is happening, OR we can take a deep breath, allow ourselves to relax and just take things one step at a time. Doing the former will give us an ulcer or worse, doing the later will keep our mind clear, our body primed for action, and have us doing our best to resolve the situation. The choice is ours.
In fact, when I practice what my now deceased chiropractor Michael Brenay said, and practice having a “gratitude attitude,” stressful situations rapidly diminish into manageable situations. When one is grateful, it dissolves resistance, and that dissolves tension, which dissipates stress. And that keeps us healthy, physically and emotionally. So, as Dr. Brenay would say, “Glide down the glory road of life with a gratitude attitude.”