What do a plate of cookies, a backache, a sick relative and an argumentative coworker have in common? They are all sources of stress, which is defined as any stimulus that interferes with your mental or physical equilibrium. There are so many of these potential triggers in our modern lives, in fact, that research has shown that anywhere from 60 percent to 90 percent of doctor visits are due to symptoms that can be traced back to stress.
Because stress is such a powerful force, it’s worth taking the time to learn exactly how it affects your body, mind, mood and behavior. But before we get started, perhaps the most important thing you can know about stress is that it is an unavoidable part of life. You cannot eliminate it. Even Buddhist monks who spend hours meditating each day can’t completely erase stress from their lives. All any of us can do is learn how to manage it better.
Types of Stressors
All stressors are not created equal. Some are acute or immediate, such as a near crash on your drive home from work, while others are chronic, like a long-lasting home-renovation project, for example. Some stressors are external, such as the financial crisis or a demanding boss, and some are internal, such as thoughts, beliefs and memories. And surprisingly, not all stressors are negative. Having a baby, starting a new job and falling in love — all things that are definitely positive developments in your life — can be just as stressful as losing a loved one, dealing with an illness or ending a relationship.
Interestingly, no matter what triggers your stress, your body reacts to it in the same way.
What Happens in Your Body: The Fight-or-Flight Response
When your brain perceives that you are undergoing any kind of stress, it kicks off a cascade of reactions known as the fight-or-flight response. This reaction is involuntary — the sympathetic nervous system turns on and releases an array of hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine and adrenaline. As a result, the heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, you become more alert, your muscles tense, and your digestion slows down. All these changes prepare you to either stay and fight whatever is causing the stress response or to flee from it. You become poised for action, coiled like a spring. It doesn’t matter what type of stressor you’re experiencing; the physiological reaction (how your body reacts) is always the same.
In many instances, this fight-or-flight response is a positive change. It gives you the strength and mental quickness you may need to get out of a tight spot. The problem comes when feeling stressed becomes a way of life. When that happens, you exist in a state of hyperarousal. Like an overexcited puppy, your body can’t settle down and will overwork until it completely exhausts itself. A stress response that gets stuck in the “on” position can lead to a host of common ailments, including hypertension, infertility, sleep disorders, impotency, asthma, bronchitis, diabetes, arthritis, chronic pain, headaches, anxiety disorders and depression. And then once you develop one or more of these conditions, they become yet another source of stress.
Cues That Stress Is Affecting You
Stress has a way of highlighting the weak spots in our well-being. If you have ever had whiplash, for example, your neck may get tense and sore before any other stress symptoms arise. In this sense, stress can be a teacher, by showing us when and where we need to take better care of ourselves.
If you live with perpetual stress, its symptoms can feel like your normal state of being. Only by learning to recognize the symptoms stress creates can you start to break the cycle. Then, when you realize that stress is taking a toll on your well-being, you can take steps to counter it through calming activities (which you’ll learn more about this week and as this program progresses). To that end, here are some of the most common symptoms triggered by stress:
Physical: Headaches, backaches, muscle tension, chest tightness, fatigue, stomach distress, diarrhea, shortness of breath, decreased interest in sex, insomnia, frequent illnesses
Emotional: Anger, irritability, depressed or anxious mood, poor self-esteem, tearfulness, guilt, loss of motivation, feeling overwhelmed
Mental: Difficulty concentrating, forgetfulness, worrying, poor attention to detail, indecisiveness, turning everything into a catastrophe, feeling helpless
Behavioral: Withdrawal from others, avoidance of tasks, substance use (whether it’s alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, drugs or sugar), workaholism, loss of productivity, speeding when driving, road rage, relationship conflict, becoming increasingly rigid, decreased attention to hygiene and self-care
If you are experiencing one or many of these symptoms, consider them a message from your body that you need to find new ways to manage your stress.
How You Cope Makes All the Difference
There are two basic types of stress coping mechanisms: those that are harmful, and those that are helpful. Coping mechanisms that do more harm than good include denial (pretending that nothing is happening, which keeps you from taking steps to stop the source of stress), medication (whether it’s prescribed or self-prescribed, including alcohol, caffeine, food, legal and illegal drugs, and nicotine) and distraction (such as gambling, losing yourself in your work or shopping). Of course the whole purpose of this program is to help you develop beneficial coping mechanisms, which we’ll cover in greater detail in future weeks.
The way you deal with stress is determined by several factors, including your genetics, history, beliefs and environment. If you were raised to not show your emotions, you might attempt to stuff your stress by gorging on M&Ms. If you believe that you perform best under pressure, you may actually seek out stressful situations, such as a challenging job or a difficult relationship. The peril of all these methods is that the coping mechanisms can become another source of stress. In the end, they perpetuate your discomfort instead of mitigating it. The good news is that it is possible to learn and employ helpful coping techniques, ones that will reduce your current stress levels, make you more resilient to future stress, improve your physical health and enrich your life with a greater sense of well-being.
Taking Stock
Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of how stress works in general, take a moment to assess how stress is impacting you by asking yourself the following questions:
• What causes you stress? Are your stressors acute (immediate or one-time) or chronic (ongoing or repeated)? Real or imagined? External or internal?
• How is stress affecting you today? What physical, emotional, mental and/or behavioral symptoms are you experiencing?
• How do you cope with stress? Do these techniques help reduce your stress levels, or do they ultimately add to them?
Try This
No matter where you are, how you’re feeling or how much time you have, you always have one powerful stress buster at your disposal — your breath. Diaphragmatic breathing — inhaling so deeply that your diaphragm moves downward, your lungs inflate fully and your belly moves out — can short-circuit the physiological reaction to stress, and thus improve your mood, boost your energy and increase your overall sense of well-being.
To learn more about using breathing to trigger your body’s relaxation response, read this week’s Zen Talk: The Breath. If you don’t have that much time right now, put your computer to sleep and take one minute to practice diaphragmatic breathing before you move on to the rest of your day. To do it, sit up tall, rest a hand on your lower belly, and breathe so deeply that you feel your hand move away from your spine as you inhale, and let your rib cage and lungs fill with air. Exhale by releasing the air from your lungs, then your rib cage, and then your belly. Keep your eyes open, or close them — whichever helps you focus on what’s happening in your body. Breathe way down into your belly for at least a minute. After you finish, notice what effect this easy practice has on how you react to the stressors that, unfortunately, will inevitably crop up between now and the time you go to bed tonight.