Watch out for stress?
Stress is the body’s physical, emotional, and psychological response to any demand. It is generally perceived mentally as pressure or urgency to respond, which is experienced as mental strain. Stress is associated with the more primitive survival “fight” or “flight” response.
When confronted with danger, the body responds physiologically with the release of adrenaline and cortisol. These chemicals shut down some biological mechanism in order to conserve energy, which may be needed for fight or flight. After the challenge has been met and resolved, the body returns to normal.
Stress has no boundaries, everyone experiences it. It is part of daily life. Most individuals live a lifestyle at a medium level of stress. This level is enough to keep one’s attention sharp and motivation high in order to remain task oriented with the goal of alleviating stress.
It is when stress intensifies beyond this reasonable level that it can become harmful. No one is immune from the negative effects of stress. Stress can come from pressure at home or work, from relationships, from school, or as the result of the personal situations. Stress is associated with the idea of “too much” going on.
Positive stress is short-term, it is pleasant and beneficial. It can make you feel excited, improve your performance, sharpens the mind and focuses the energy. It is important to physical and mental fitness.
Negative stress on the other hand can be harmful, especially if experienced over a prolonged period of time. It can drain your energy, cause emotional depression, change the way you think, and can lead to mental and physical problems. Negative stress builds over time instead of diminishing.
Causes of negative stress can be
- Too many changes, change is challenging for any person and during times of change you need time to adjust and adapt. Take your time and allow yourself to become aware of how the changes are affecting you.
- Too high of expectations, expectations can lead to disappointment. Don’t expect too much from yourself. Be realistic in your expectations, be kind to yourself. Don’t expect too much from others and don’t assume others know how you are thinking or feeling.
- Too much responsibility, learn to say no. Don’t take on too much and tell others when you become overwhelmed. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We all need it and you are no different.
- Too much information (overload), in modern society we get a lot of information all day every day. It’s very difficult to absorb. Take time out for yourself, reflect on your own thoughts and protect yourself from overload.
Stand back from yourself and look at what you’re doing. If it was someone else doing the same thing what would you say to them? Remember life is a ‘rollercoaster’, but sometimes it’s nice to sit it out. Take time out you deserve it.
When one is pretending, the entire body revolts. (Anais Nin)