H E L P
Manage
y o u r stress
by Sandra Pinches. Ph.D.
The term "stress" has in recent years be
come such a popular psychological concept
that it is a household word, offered as an
explanation for all sorts of emotional and
physical problems. Part of its popularity is
due to the fact that people can admit to feel
ing stressed without fearing that they will be
seen as neurotic. The stress concept is also
more holistic than earlier psychological
theories of neurosis, in that both the body
and mind, the personality and the environ
ment are regarded as important fn evaluating
and maintaining a state of wellness.
The notion of stress tolerance used to be
familiar primarily to engineers, who need to
know how much weight or movement a struc
ture can accept before crumbling. For
people as well as for buildings, good stress
tolerance depends upon strength, flexibility,
endurance, and the absence of flaws in criti
cal areas. Of course, even the most fit struc
ture has a breaking point, given enough
external pressure.
Human symptoms of stress tend to be
psychomatic, both mental and physical, be
cause the action of the nervous system im
pacts upon both the mind and the body. The
part of the nervous system which is activated
under stress is called the sympathetic system,
and it is responsible for releasing adrenalin,
for speeding up the heart rate, increasing
perspiration and so on. This reaction pattern,
called the “fight or flight response," serves to
O
prepare an animal to fight or run from a
threat. When this mechanism evolved most
threats were of short duration, as when
another animal attacked, so the nervous acti
vation soon returned to a resting level. Un
fortunately, in modern human societies anxi
ety provoking situations are often long last
ing. and people can further increase stress by
imagining or remembering threats which are
not actually present. The fight or flight re
sponse thus becomes a chronic state, pro
ducing anxiety, fatigue and wear and tear on
the system.
Some common signs that stress tolerance
has been exceeded include muscle tension,
headaches, low back pain, acid stomach,
spastic colon, high blood pressure, and skin
disorders. The emotional experience of stress
often involves worrying, inability to sleep,
feeling “unable to cope," being fatigued, and
having a short temper.
The first step in reducing stress is to identify
its sources, which arise from within the person
as well as from the environment. On the phy
sical level, proper diet and regular aerobic
exercise can decrease symptoms and
improve stress tolerance. On the psychologi
cal level, certain types of temperament and
personal belief systems tend to be associated
with an increased probability of stress symp
toms. and these attitudes must be changed
to increase stress tolerance and wellness.
Individuals who place paramount import
ance on setting and achieving goals, usually
in as short a time and perfect a manner as
possible, tend to generate stress for them
selves regardless of the quality of their envi
ronments. This type of person is strongly
oriented toward "doing" at the expense of
"being," equating rest with laziness and
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nonproductivity. People who drive themselve
usually ignore physical and emotional signs
that they need to rest, or play, and so overex
tend themselves until they become disabled
with illness. Men have traditionally been prone
to overextend themselves at work, while wo
men have placed priority on taking care of
other people at their own expense.
In addition to changing beliefs, people can
manage stress by activating the parasympa
thetic nervous system, or relaxation response,
rather than activating the sympathetic system.
Many body-based strategies like massage,
Tai Chi and shiatsu activate this calming,
quieting response. Progressive relaxation, a
technique which can be self-taught and
practiced at home, employs muscle relaxa
tion and self-hypnosis principles to achieve
similar effects. Some forms of meditation
reduce both mental and physical tension.
The most important thing to remember
about all of these techniques is that they must
be practiced regularly to be effective.
Many powerful stressors arise from the en
vironment, which ranges from the immediate
family context to the whole planet. The key to
coping with environmental stressors is to be
able to differentiate what can be changed
from what must be accepted as it is. For
example, organizing a union to change op
pressive job conditions can be a more effec
tive strategy than using self-hypnosis to deal
with work-related tension, although the latter
is necessary until conditions improve. Symp
toms generated by external pressures can be
alleviated, but will usually return as long as
the external situation remains the same.
In addition to psychological, physical and
political strategies, stress can also be
approached as a spiritual problem. This is
especially true for stressful situations over
which a person has no power. Impending
death of oneself or one's partner is a good
example of a time when a deep religious faith
facilitates an attitude of peaceful acceptance
rather than stress-generating resistance to
reality. A spiritual orientation also tends to
sustain the hope that mistakes will be for
given. and that damage will be healed.
Finally, a spiritual attitude provides the basis
for revering our own bodies and minds as
sacred, deserving the best and most loving
care.
ANOTHER
MOTHER TONGUE
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