The Many Faces of Stress, and the Ways to Protect Your Health

We have all used the word “stress” in describing our personal feelings or unique situations at some point in our lives; it is after all a broadly used term. Many of us use it with unconscious regard for its actual meaning and effects on our bodies. If you were asked right now to give a definition for the term, how quickly and accurately would you be in answering the question? There is a high probability that few people would be able to capture the essence of its meaning, although many of us have a good concept in our heads of what it is. One of the main concerns of this commonly wielded-about word is that it has a less than finite meaning. As such, while it slips lower in rank as a significant health issue, it also has the potential to adversely impact our lives. Like a mask it takes a toll on our health without our ability to recognise it.

Too often the beguiling faces of stress and its insidious effects on our bodies are recklessly transferred to another health ailment as a cause of sickness when the true underlying cause is stress itself.

So what is stress, exactly? In its most basic of forms, stress is our total response to all environmental demands. It is regarded as any event that requires us to change, namely a physical, emotional, psychological adjustment that can lead to stressful situations. Our response to the stressors around us can either be adaptive and healthy or non-conforming and destructive, depending on how we perceive a given stimulus. Constant exposure to a stressor that yields a maladaptive response has negative implications on a person’s health.

Each person responds to his or her environment in a unique way. An event that is stressful for one person may not be for another; in fact it may just be quite exhilarating. Just think of someone preparing for and participating in a momentous speaking engagement. One person may see it as a chance to shine; an opportunity to eloquently display skills and accomplishments, while another may see it as a role beyond their capabilities, a podium by which insecurities become magnified. It goes back to our previous discussion of “how we perceive a given stimulus,” and what we determine is our ability to handle a given situation. One thing is certain, however, the term is difficult to define, and for all to agree on because it means different things to different people.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the complexities of this concept. Scientists have tried to identify the various sources of stressors in the environment and how these elements interrelate with psychological and physiological conditions. This includes related concepts such as anxiety, arousal, tension, burnout and so forth, and the ways they become manifested in each individual, according to personality types. No doubt the concept is entangling and pervasive. It is one of the primary reasons for its use in healthcare settings as a baseline diagnosis for any non-definable illness. It is also a good reason why many of us would be hard-pressed to explain what it actually means.

It is estimated that 80-90% of healthcare visits around the world are for stress-related illnesses.

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Historical perspective

The first time that this stimulus was given microscopic scrutiny, was in the 1940s, when Hans Selye, a notable endocrinologist, spearheaded the stress research while investigating human responses to stressful, noxious stimuli. At the time he was curious about the prolonged effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) being experienced by World War II veterans, who were previously referred to as “shell shock” victims.

Selye describes stress as evolving into a variety of situations: emotional, arousal, concentration, humiliation, fear, anxiety, loss of blood, and even the wild excitement of joy. No single factor however was directly linked as a single cause of someone’s stress. He noted that we all responded to a stimulus in predictable, coordinated, physiological processes.

Take for instance the trigger of the “fight or flight response” to a perceived threat. Our body’s immediate response to a threat is to initiate a wave of changes in an effort to protect us from the stressor. The waves are internal modifications intimately associated with the autonomic nervous system (responsible for unconscious function of heartbeat, digestion, pupil dilation etc.) and the endocrine system (glands). When there are systemic disruptions in our bodies’ normal internal state (homeostasis), our system: releases the stress hormone, cortisol from the adrenal glands; releases epinephrine from the sympathetic nervous system; and there is an increase in white blood cells from the immune system.

In what is labelled general adaptation syndrome (GAS) our bodies respond in this predictable preparatory mode. Elevated levels of different types of hormones are immediately put in motion overriding other organ systems that are temporarily shut down. Constricted blood vessels, elevated blood pressure, and an activated immune system with powerful hormone involvement can negatively affect our bodies. The result of persistent exposure to stressors leads to dysfunctions in multiple organ systems, including the brain, cardiovascular, and immune system.

An extensive body of research also supports the view that life stressors induce an increase in steroid hormones known to be lympholytic, resulting in lessened immune responses and increasing a person’s susceptibility to infections and the spread of tumours.

Now, this is not to say that stress is always negative. The fight or flight response is very useful during moments of need for a quick responsive action. It provides healthy competition for the scholar, the nurse who must respond to an emergency situation, and to the jackpot winner of the lottery.

It is a person’s coping ability that will naturally influence how often and how long they experience unnatural changes to their body’s homeostasis. How stressful the condition is perceived by a person determines whether the stress produces anxiety, PTSD, or shock in the individual. It is important to note that a person’s response to a stressful situation or event is often a result of learned or conditioned behaviour.

Anxiety, for example, has a prime role in stress; it is called the universal emotion and is indeed a response to stressful events. It can be described as a state of apprehension, a vague feeling in which the source is usually unknown. Everyone has experienced periods of anxiety in his or her life, but the real concern is that anxiety forms a major component in all mental health disturbances. In mild forms anxiety puts us on alert to danger and is productive, enabling our body to constructively problem solve; whereas, higher levels of anxiety immobilises our efforts to use coping skills and results in emotional chaos and mental illness.

The degree of anxiety experienced by an individual is influenced by the following factors:

    The number of stressors being handled at once
    How the person views the stressor
    Previous experience with similar situations
    The magnitude of change the event represents
    The ability to make decisions: element of decisiveness or engrossed in mental conflict

Events that may precipitate a person’s feelings of anxiety include:

    Marriage or divorce
    Completing one’s education
    Pain, infection, trauma
    Giving birth, becoming a new mother or father
    Threats to self-esteem and identity: loss of a spouse, child, job, relocation from home

Symptoms can be manifested in illnesses and include:

    Heart attack
    Irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal conditions
    Allergies and similar immunologic response
    Epilepsy, seizures, tremors
    Various skin conditions: acne, eczema, psoriasis
    Chronic headaches

When a doctor suspects that a patient’s illness is connected to higher levels of anxiety he or she will typically review the person’s history and exposure to stressors (exposure to death, abuse, illnesses, etc.) including performing an evaluation of the person’s personality and coping skills.

Doctors can perform one of several psychological tests to help diagnose levels of anxiety or situations where a person is not managing life’s demands effectively. The tests are often instrumental in leading to a diagnosis. Most primary care doctors as well as those who specialise in psychiatry can diagnose stress related illnesses. The doctor’s initial approach is to distinguish between mental health states that is primarily influenced by the person’s environment and which shows up as a physical illness, like a skin disorder; or one that involves more of an internal interpretation of a stressor, like anxiety and other adjustment disorders that leads toward psychological effects.

It may come as no surprise that financial and relationship challenges are at the root of many stressful responses. They capture the larger percentage of the people linked to stressors compared to those suffering from personal aspiration struggles. What is even more disturbing, is the types of behaviour displayed from worrying about uncontrollable events. Not getting enough sleep is an area where adults report a large gap in response to stressors. Poor eating habits and malnutrition is another type of ineffective response. Alcohol and drug consumption are typical reactions to “drowning-out” sorrows, temporarily escaping from reality, while transcending down an unwanted path of addiction. Passive aggressive disorders used to remonstrate against unwanted pressures, and other types of anti-social behaviours are outgrowths from overwhelming life scenarios.

Are children affected by stressors?

One of the most famous American psychoanalysts on personality development, Eric Erickson, postulated the well-thinking view that from infancy life presents a series of developmental challenges; how well each step is mastered and the responsiveness of others in gratifying the infant’s need, paves the way for better coping skills to meet the next milestone, or conversely, creates room for maladaptive behaviour. Ericson’s study into the human psyche across age groups showed the complex interplay of nature and nurture in developing human conditioning. No age group is immune to life’s pressures.

Children first began life’s journey of transitions as infants by means of the birth process and it continued when their needs were not met. Toddlers receive stress when they are separated from their mother, receive potty training or when another new baby enters the family and the toddler has to compete for attention. School age children receive pressures within learning institutions or from parental expectations. Normal social interactions are difficult moments too, presenting their own stressful demands, including: bullying, peer pressures, and teasing.

Experiencing loss, the death of a relative, or pet, and separation of family are traumatic, stressful conditions for a child.

Here is where the parents’ role in nurturing their children becomes critical. When parents solemnly recognise how social conditions help foster a child’s self-esteem, efforts for more mindful proactive presence in buffering stressful situations will follow. Children need their feelings validated. Let them know that it is ok to feel uneasy about any circumstance requiring change and help then bring about possible solutions.

Different approaches to stressors across ethnicities, and the role of religion

Culture can affect the way we appraise stressful events. Each culture offers a unique repertoire of resources for dealing with stressful encounters. Affluent nations such as Great Britain and the United States may choose yoga, meditation, stress management classes or seek to have body massages done in times of mild anxiety. At higher levels of tension they may be more inclined to seek the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Because coping methods are culturally dictated, many other parts of the world including Jamaica, Haiti, Indian, China, and Korea would not use those first steps as therapy. First of all, they would not only find the cost to be prohibitive but also their cultural norms would dictate otherwise. Suffice it to say, such responses are viewed in a negative light by this culture and it is seen as loss of control of self.

Religion:

A large body of research has indicated the role of religion in providing comfort and a means of release from stressors for Caribbean and African-Americans. The latter ethnicity is also more prone than Caucasians to report their open relationship with God, looking to Him for comfort, guidance, and forgiveness. Most African-Americans and Caribbean nationals are also more likely to have a robust prayer life than most Caucasians.

Gender:

Gender differences are also pronounced in the way we perceive stressful events and how our bodies manifest negative appraisals, physiologically. For example women are more prone to illnesses of the immune system and to psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Researchers believe oestrogen is largely attributable to the fact that women are 3 times more likely to develop depression in response to stressors. On the other hand, men are more prone to cardiac disease and infectious conditions; they are more likely to have anti-social behaviour, commit suicide, and become substance abusers. Men tend not to have the strong support group as do women, and in so doing are less able to handle stressors effectively.

These are fascinating indicators to inherent gender predispositions used to interpret our world. Our reactions to stressors are unique to the way we internalise a stimulus. Despite this fact there is a universal connection across ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds that is part of the human condition and it is what makes us human.

Is there a personality type best-suited for stress?

Not much can be debated on this fact—there is a personality style best suited for stress—and that person in a nutshell is one who is usually able to see the “glass as half full.”

Mental health professionals believe personality plays a significant role in how life events are perceived. Take the infamous analogy of Type A and Type B personalities, real personalities that represent many of us. Type A is driven, timely, organized and rushed. If not managed properly these traits result in stress-related illness. Type B, in contrast is calm, less driven or rushed. This personality is better able to adapt to changes and view the environment reflectively. They are less likely to be experience stress related illness.

Scientists agree that we are all born with a genetic predisposition, an in-born temperament that allows one personality to cope better than another. This genetic personal chemistry influences us from infancy in ways that can be assertive or shy. Added is the role of environmental stimuli that impact our experience. Together, inherent traits and our learning environment shape the characteristic way we think, feel, and behave; thereby evolving into our personality styles.

This truth shows that some individuals are born with a unique set of advantages over another; depending on the right combination of both genetics and environment that person stands a better chance of successfully adjusting to multiple situations.

PROTECTING YOUR HEALTH

Stress reduction techniques

Higher levels of anxiety can be better managed through various coping strategies.

Cognitive appraisals skills: teaches systematic self-talk and cognitive restructuring methods to allow you to choose your reality and change your reaction to almost any challenging situation. The view on someone with a negative perception of life is that his or her feelings is not caused only by external forces but are innate; a natural result of how his/her feelings are internalised. If a person uses coping strategies such as daily affirmations, creative visualisation techniques, and self-talk, eventually the unconscious state will react in a positive and instinctive manner to life challenges.

Time management: stressors are also caused by not being able to meet deadlines or arriving late for important events that will automatically result in negative feedback, which puts more pressure on us. Time management aims to provide useful tools to combat self-destructive personality types. It will take adapting to cognitive coping skills first to transform ourselves. Sometimes ineffective time management stems from a deep-seated fear of rejection or personal failure and is therefore the cause of putting off an assignment (this operates below a person’s level of consciousness), this means the behaviour will probably persist until the attitude is corrected.

Procrastination is usually a lifestyle issue; it is a part of how we characteristically function. It may mean agreeing to a major commitment to change parts of our enduring patterns and habits. Substantial changes such as clarifying our goals into more realistic ones, setting priorities, and changing how we view ourselves (and teaching others how to view us) as someone reliable, dependable, on-time, and responsible are positive starts.

Relaxation methods: well suited to the realms of alternative medicine, relaxation methods can take the form of learning meditation, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation techniques, singing, and prayer. Relaxation allows us to connect mind and body, allowing us to receive internal peace and taking our focus away from worry, anxiety, and pain. Some people achieve an immediate benefit from the physiological, biochemical, and mental effects of applying any one of these techniques.

That being said, sometime we need to take a hard look at ourselves in order to identify habits that are stressful and harmful to our well-being. We can start by looking closely at our attitudes, excuses, and habits by asking these questions:

Do I define stress as an integral part of my work and home environment or more a part of my personality?
Do I blame other persons or events for my stress or do I view it as entirely normal and up to me?
Do I dismiss the fact that I may really be a workaholic, knowing that I can’t remember the last time I took a break and relaxed?
Honestly assessing how we are partly responsible for stressful relationships in our life is a start in reducing our anxiety levels; otherwise our stress levels will remain outside of our control.

Accept the things you can’t change

You often can’t change stressors, such as the economic downturn, work pressures, chronic illnesses, and death of a loved one. In such cases the best course of action is to accept things the way they are. It may be difficult at first but take time to evaluate the situation and with relaxation methods to help you can start accepting those situations outside of your control.

    Don’t try to control the uncontrollable: focus on what you can control such as the way you choose to perceive and react to challenges.
    Look at the bright side: try to look at major challenges as events that will only make you stronger. Look for opportunities for personal growth. If the situation was borne out of your decision, use that moment to reflect on your mistake,
    Learn to forgive: Let go of anger and resentment and free yourself from negative energy. Move on.
    Share your feelings: release of pent up feelings occur when you have a listening ear. Consider confiding with a close friend, family member or therapist to help with resolutions. Even if there is no available solution, get support in looking at the situation from another perspective.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle

    Eat a balanced diet: no need to restrict yourself, just become a mindful eater. Plan your meals so that you don’t grab the first thing you see because you are hungry. Try to incorporate vegetables, fruits, whole -grains and peas/beans in most of your meals.
    Exercise regularly: 30 minutes a day is all you need to start reaping benefits. Try 3 times a week, more if possible. Exercise is a known de-stressor and energiser.
    B-Vitamins: When we are stressed the B-Vitamins in our system will greatly be depleted and this will cause the body to be out of balance. Rebalance the system with a B-Vitamin Supplement and within 30minutes the body will be calmer and more relaxated.
    Avoid harmful habits: too much alcohol, smoking and taking drugs are reckless habits that mask your perception of reality. They lead to a slippery slope of more stressful conditions, such as addiction, family disruptions and financial difficulties
    Reduce caffeine and sugar: both are stimulants which are addictive, they increase anxiety and interfere with sleep. You will feel more relaxed and sleep better.
    Get enough sleep: we can never speak enough on this restorative state of being. Sleep helps with mental well-being, reduces tension, and gives you clarity. Feeling tired will increase angst and dysfunction. Aim for at least 8 hours a night.

Special mention of exercise

The importance of well-being and peace of mind supersedes any other priorities related to financial pursuits. It is one of the first answers people give to the question of “what would make their lives happier?”

When you live in the face of challenges every-day the need for peace of mind is a “no-brainer.” Yet exercise is an instant way of receiving tranquillity. The good news is there is no need to take time-out to learn a relaxation technique, you just get up and do it! You will immediately release your “feel good” endorphins. It also doesn’t require 30 minutes or more before you get the heart pumping and the brain chemicals flowing. Sometimes all you need is 5 minutes of fast paced exercise like jumping jacks, running on the spot, or push-ups to reduce moments of anxiety or depression. I like to do 30 seconds of fast push ups (that will quickly get you heart rate up!) to ease moments of built-up tension.

The effects that exercise has on our mind and body are immeasurable and it will help toward coping with overwhelming events.

Special Note

It should be cautioned that complete prevention of stress is neither possible nor desirable. It represents an important part of human existence and provides for personal growth and creative thinking. Recognise that stress is an inevitable part of every person’s life, but it imposes more challenges on those of us less inclined to adapt to its demands.

If you were asked the same question posed at the beginning of our discussion, (“define stress?”) would you answer it any differently? In the end, how you assimilate this information, your interpretation of its meaning and your willingness to adapt to needed changes is a reflection of your characteristic style of responding to your environment.

Consequently, it must be said that we were not born with a list of instructions on how to relate to our evolving world; instead we were each given a genetic manual with all the skill sets at our disposal to take advantage of. And like our ancient predecessors, some were born with an inherent advantage over the other (survival of the fittest) to cope with challenges; the salient point here is how to tap into our “DNA manual” and smartly make use of genetic resources to enable us to successfully adapt to a dynamic world.

Life was meant to be celebrated, so ride each wave as your personal silver lining!