Stress Management
Stress is a part of everyday life. Managing our stresses, then, becomes a necessary
daily activity. From mild frustration to all out panic attacks, stress in all its forms
and magnitudes plagues each of us every minute of every day. Since we can't avoid stress,
we must learn to manage it. And, learning to manage it can save our lives.
What is stress?
There are many definitions. Some say it is a complex interaction, others say it is the
perception of the individual, still others say it is an interruption of the balance of life.
Everyone experiences stress and everyone can learn to cope with it. Most people view stress
as negative, but there are good stresses (called: motivations) that encourage us to do great
things. Would you study for a test if you didn’t feel pressured to study? How about the
holidays, don’t we feel stress during these times? It is an interesting phenomenon that stress
is seen as both good and bad.
What causes stress?
Just about anything can cause stress. For example, job promotion, loss of a loved one, bankruptcy,
traffic, relationships, irresponsible behavior, poor health habits, negative attitudes, unrealistic
expectations, perfectionism. The list is endless really, because everyone views stress differently.
We all have defenses that may, or may not, be effective for the types of stresses that we encounter.
You may be stronger than I am in resisting rush hour traffic. This may mean that you can withstand
the frustration of getting to work better than I can, so you get to work feeling okay, but I get to
work so pressured that I can’t work properly. Some people have a “toughness” that protects them from
certain stresses; this may be a genetic predisposition, but there may be a strong behavioral component
as well.
Stress and Physical Disease
Happy people seem to be healthy people. This seems to be true in most cases and statistics
substantiate this statement. It would also be accurate to say that happy people know how to
cope with stress. So happy, healthy people are stressed in the same way as most people. It is
also a fact that stress can lead to various diseases, such as arrhythmia, atherosclerosis,
coronary artery disease, rheumatoid arthritis, gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic
ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, acne, psoriasis, etc., and it can also lead to immune system
weakness. People who are resourceful in dealing with stress are healthier than those who are
not so resourceful because less stress means less tension in your muscle and skeletal systems.
Chronic stress, however, can lead to constant tension in the muscles and other systems in the
body. Stress can be inherited but not the way most people might think. People's techniques of
coping with stress can be inherited; some people are extremely resilient to stress, others break,
and others thrive on it.
For our physical health considerations we would really want to know how to increase our stress
tolerance. Could we decrease our prevalence of disease if we could increase our stress coping
mechanisms? I believe the answer is, yes! If we accept the premise that stress is the underlying
matrix, or seen from a different perspective, that stress causes a suppression of our natural
defenses (the immune system), then the possibility of strengthening our defenses becomes possible.
In a like manner, if stress is a matrix wherein disease is nurtured, then we have a new direction
to follow to find a solution.
Should we see stress as a separate, pervasive component of physical disease? That it causes,
exacerbates, and encourages physical break-down of the body? Is stress an integral part of this
condition? This, of course, is the current view of most researchers. As such, we would look to
the myriad of coping mechanisms that have been identified to find an effective cure. Some of these
coping mechanisms include relaxation, soothing music, distractions of all kinds, attitude adjustments,
and learning. There are hundreds of ways to cope with stress. However, the key factor in all stress
reducers is to match the coping method with the stressor, and to the individual. For example, if the
stressor (cause of the stress) is rush hour traffic, then an effective coping mechanism might be a
mental distraction such as thinking about the sequence of turns, or lane changes, that would alleviate
some of the tension of sitting behind a long line of cars. You certainly would not want to
take a nap at this time because you would only add to the problem. Additionally, the person’s
individuality must be considered. If cognitive exercises add to the pressure, then a different
tact may be more appropriate. An attitude change might work better in this case. Change the attitude
from upset over slow traffic to satisfaction that you have a job to go to instead of being unemployed.
In short, effective coping leads to stress reduction on an individual basis. Get the formula right
and you’ll be more healthy.
What if stress is a disease separate and distinct unto itself? Then coping mechanisms are simply
a band-aid that may work for the moment but do not affect a cure. If we are not seeing stress for
what it really is, then we wrestle endlessly with a malady whose cure remains anonymous.