The
dictionary defines Stress as ‘mental, emotional, or physical strain
or tension’, a ‘force or a system of forces producing deformation
or strain’.
When
we talk of stress colloquially we are referring to feelings that
we recognise in ourselves or those close to us, such as anger, resentment,
frustration, jealousy, desire. We recognise symptoms which are commonly
associated with stress such as, headaches, tiredness, lack of appetite
or comfort eating, depression, menstrual disorders, sexual problems,
allergy, insomnia, gastritis, inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS),
hypertension. The list is endless and could go on to include most
of the illnesses from a medical dictionary, for most of the ailments
that we suffer from emanate from two primary sources. The first
is from the nutrients we take in, in the form of the air we breathe,
the water we drink, and the food we eat. The second is from our
state of mind, our emotions. There is sadly a third source
these days, and that is the inappropriate or over-prescription of
drugs by medical doctors. This is not conventional medicine bashing,
just stating a fact that an ever-increasing number of caring MD’s
agree with.
It
is generally believed that we require a certain amount of stress
in order to maintain well being. However when stress occurs in quantities
that the system cannot handle, it produces physiological changes.
Stress is not all bad however and can be categorised into Good (eustress)
and Bad (distress), with perhaps a third category that is defined
when distress becomes chronic.
One
end of the eustress scale is when the body/mind is performing at
peak in order to fulfil its primordial instinct for survival. This
is the fight and flight mechanism, which is the natural short-lived
response to stress and includes the release of a fine cocktail of
hormones, endorphins, blood sugars, cholesterol, insulin and is
responsible for the shutdown of the entire digestive system. All
this can be a lifesaver in times of ‘old-fashioned’ danger. Professional
athletes psyche themselves up to this state, or sadly sometimes
take drugs to simulate it.
At
the other end of the eustress scale is the ‘high’ or excited tension
you get when performing a task efficiently and with pleasure. Its
the kind of high that makes one enjoy the work at hand and revel
in the sheer joy of being human and accomplishing something which
you feel is worthwhile.
Distress
is mental pain that can manifest in physical pain and may be due
to an excess of eustress. In early Chinese medicine the ‘Huang Ti
Nei Ching Su Wen’ or the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
written some 4000 years ago (2697 BC.) says “...........When the spirit is hurt, severe pain ensues.”
It
is impossible to remove all stress from our environment and in fact
some stress prepares us to meet life’s challenges. It is when that
stress becomes distress and we suddenly find difficulty coping,
that we start to look for ways out of our predicament.
The
stressful situation is not something that manifests overnight(unless you are James Bond). For most of us its origin is
more often insidious and becomes a part of our life in the form
of daily habits. The stress of daily life can be likened to snow
falling on a mountain, each flake settling almost imperceptibly,
until one day there is so much that it causes an avalanche. It’s
this covert build up of pressure within, which has the destructive
force and which needs our attention and control. Disease doesn’t
just start one day. It develops and evolves over a period of time
and eventually it can be the cause of our untimely demise from an
active, fulfilling, and enjoyable life.
Or
is it? Enjoyable and fulfilling that is. The question ‘are you happy’
for most of us creates an element of stress in itself, because we
are suddenly plunged back into that awful quandary of how to make
and keep our lives happy. Stress is the opposite of happiness because
by definition if you are happy you are not stressed out.
