Stress: What is really going on?

Stress.  We experience it every day, live closely with it and yet most of us still don't know just what it is.  Stress is a normal, healthy general response involving the whole body, to perceived threats in the environment.  Before finances, 9-5s and traffic, these threats were predators, finding food and water and surviving the elements.  Today, stressors are work deadlines, getting the kids to soccer then dance then piano then bed, relationships with our peers and political upheavals.  Our societies have evolved dramatically in such a short time, but our bodies are still primitive.  Our stress response is outdated, and has become a challenge to deal with.  Yes.  Stress itself has become a stressor.

And this stressor is a nagging one, isn't it?  Our bodies would have us run away or fight; natural responses to dealing with an attacker.  But when our stressor is our boss, or our kids, well, suddenly those options just don't seem to cut it.

Stress became a biological phenomenon in the 1930s when a scientist named Hans Selye began conducting experiments on organisms, recording their responses to stress.  He determined that all organisms react to stressors in the same basic, physiological ways, and the affect of stress on the organism would be the same for virtually all organisms.  He developed the General Adaptation Syndrome model as a means of identifying the 3 stages of stress.

Stage 1, Alarm: the stress response is triggered in the brain and the fight or flight system activates.  Stress hormones are produced and released and our nervous system is set to red alert.

Stage 2, Resistance: action is taken to deal with the threat.  In the case of an attacker, we fight or flee.  The body begins using its stored resources to fuel itself while it deals with the situation.

Stage 3, Exhaustion: the body can no longer keep up with the stressor as the reserves are used up.  Fatigue, depression, poor appetite and frequent illnesses are hallmarks of this stage.

So what's a person to do?  The first step is to identify what exactly is stressing you out.  It may be something you can do something about, it may not, but knowing what is bothering you gives you a better chance of dealing with it appropriately.  After that, it's a matter of taste.  Some like to go for a hard work out at the gym to burn off some of that excess energy, and others like to sit quietly and meditate.  The point is to find a means of using that energy wisely so you can think your way through.

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