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RISING WOMEN EXPERT
ADVICE...
What is stress and how does one cope with it effectively? (Part 1)
As a mental health clinician, I’ve been supporting many clients who
struggled with stress. Therefore, I deeply believe that self-awareness and
insight into a problem are the key elements of healing and finding necessary
solutions. In other words, “I can only change what I am aware of and
understand.”
Stress is simply a fact of nature by which external forces affect us through
a constant interplay with our environment and incessant exchange of
stimulation. The critical difference for our survival is in how well we cope
with these stressors. Therefore, the accumulation of stress causes us to
perceive it only as negative. However, from a biological point of view,
stress is neither negative or positive.
Stress has motivated the evolutionary process of change and natural
selection of all species. Therefore, the species that best adapted to the
stressors have survived and evolved into the world we now observe. Paramount
to the understanding of negative stress (distress) is the concept of the
internal homeostasis. The concept of homeostatic equilibrium is constancy of
self regulation to ever-changing external or internal conditions.
Consequently, these environmental changes influence the homeostatic balance
which must be countered and compensated for.
Apart from physical distress, we constantly struggle with the emotional and
psychological barrage of stimuli. When we feel upset, we automatically react
with the “fight or flight” response. Distressing conditions cause the
release of many powerful neurotransmitters that relay messages to and from
the central nervous system to all organs in a feedback loop. However,
prolonged secretion of these stress chemicals has debilitating consequences
on our physical and mental health. In multiple stress experiments, constant
psychological responses to prolonged distress are: gastrointestinal upset,
anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, migraines, backaches, asthma
attacks, cancers, and premature aging.
The organism’s natural responses to stress are universal and are appropriate
in fighting off stress but if chronic, could become much like an infection
damaging our health. This is why prolonged stress can be harmful and become
a root cause of many diseases.
For more information about stress & healthy stress responses stay tuned
to the next issues. Tom Zaniecki is a licensed marriage & family therapist &
registered social worker in counseling private practice. Email
tomzaniecki@hotmail.com
or call 403.471.3955.
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