It is partly because stress is so difficult to define, that medical experts cannot decide on exactly what part it plays in coronary heart disease. But most experts agree that stress does contribute in some way, not only to this disease, but also to illnesses such as stomach ulcers, asthma and eczema.
What causes stress?
Any change in life’s routine, pleasant or unpleasant, can cause stress. Divorce, the death of a partner, going to prison, having an accident or an illness, retiring, getting married or pregnant, going on holiday, getting a job… all these things can be stressful.
But the sort of stress which is particularly damaging to your health is long-term stress, for example from a permanent threat of redundancy or constant family problems, from loneliness or depression, or from ill health – either your own or someone else’s.
The environment can be a cause of stress: noise levels, pollution, overcrowding, bad working conditions, bad housing.
It is important to remember, though, that it’s not always the situation that makes you feel stressed. Very often it’s the way you react to it. And what is stressful to one person may be stimulating to another. Pressure at work might be worrying to one person while someone else would see it as a challenge.
The amount of control we have over stressful situations is important. The more control we have over our lives, the less likely we are to feel stressed.
How stress affects your body
Some of the common signs of stress are: breathlessness or nausea, feeling emotional and irritable, loss of appetite, indigestion, constipation or diarrhoea, sleeplessness, tiredness, sweating, fidgeting or nail biting, headaches or persistent back or neck pains.
When you are under stress your body produces adrenaline which gears you up for immediate action.
Adrenaline stimulates the heart to beat faster and redirects the blood to the brain, heart and muscles. As the blood is rapidly pumped around your body, your blood pressure rises. The blood becomes stickier and the liver releases sugar and fats into your bloodstream to give you instant energy.
The high blood caused by stress can mean more wear and tear on the heart. The stickiness of blood increases the risks of blood clots forming in the arteries. And if the extra supplies of sugar and fats released from the liver are not used up in energy, they are available to form the fatty deposits which fur up the arteries.
What you can do to beat stress
Special relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, autogenics and biofeedback can all help to reduce stress. They make the nervous system stop stimulating the production of adrenaline, helping to keep blood pressure levels down.
Exercise is a good stress beater. It helps to lift tension, releases pent up feelings of aggression and generally gives you a feeling of well-being. It is best to concentrate on exercise that requires stamina like walking, swimming, running, football or cycling, rather than the sort that builds up muscles like weight lifting.
There is no easy way for an individual to tackle the sources of stress at home or at work. Management safety representatives, staff associations, and trades unions all need to be involved in dealing with stress at work. You might find it helpful to talk to someone about problems at home.
To find people or groups in your area, you could ask at your public library or contact your Council for Voluntary Services. Their number should be in the phone book.
Stress is sometimes unavoidable. But if we are prepared for it we can at least reduce its impact on our health
What is stress?
In a dark underpass, a shadowy figure appears, blocking your exit. Could it be a mugger?…
AUTOMATICALLY YOUR BODY SWITCHES TO ‘RED ALERT’. You feel fear…your senses sharpen. Hormones flood into your bloodstream, causing you to breathe more deeply and making your heart rate soar. Your muscles tense in anticipation.
You are all ready for action – be it to tackle this potential aggressor – or turn and run like mad!
Your body was in tune with the threat you sensed and instinctive reactions primed you for self-survival.
This is an extreme case, but some stress is part of everyday life. In fact, it is essential – it helps keep us on our toes and out of danger, after all, we need to be alert when crossing a busy road.
Unfortunately, there are times when we feel we can no longer cope with our stress and it becomes DISTRESS. It is as if we develop a ‘hair trigger’ and become tense in everyday situations such as traffic jams, or even when the morning paper is five minutes late. Even simple things make us ‘blow a fuse’.
Frequent surges of stress hormones prime our bodies to run from things we can never escape. After all, no matter how tightly you grip the steering wheel, you will be stuck in the rush hour jam. These pent-up feelings can push up blood pressure and put a strain on the whole body including the heart.
If you think you are a stress sufferer, DON’T PANIC! Medical problems are not inevitable and there are many ways you can get your stress responses back in tune.
Who is prone to stress?
If you answered “yes” to some of our questions, ‘The tell-tale signs of stress’, there’s a good chance that your stress level is a bit high. You are probably hard-working, have a lot of drive and enjoys a challenge.
The sort of personality that some doctors call ‘Type A’. They call the other side of the personality coin ‘Type B’. These people have an easy going manner, they are relaxed, calm and won’t make a drama out of crisis. Like all attempts to categorise, splitting people into two types is a bit unrealistic – we all exhibit a mixture of both behaviours.
The key thing is to try and modify your behaviour so that it becomes more B and less A – basically trying to take a more relaxed attitude to life and its problems.
A good way to start is to list all the things that cause you stress. Is it the train that’s late (again!); the neighbour’s dog that barks; the person that lights up in the no smoker; the complicated wedding arrangements; the queue or the traffic jam; the rude receptionist; the search for a new home?
Make a list and learn to recognise your stress triggers. Once you have identified your ‘triggers’ consciously try to relax in these situations, and learn to tackle the source of the problem, where possible.
What can I do to avoid stress?
- Remember your ‘stress situations’ and when you get caught up in one, use it as a cue to relax. When the traffic is making you ‘tense up’, do the opposite. Give your arms and neck a stretch – try smiling at someone else caught in the jam.
- When the phone is engaged, or the taxi ignores you, take a deep breath and exhale slowly – think how silly it seems that minor hassles like these made you uptight.
- How much exercise do you get? Gentle rhythmic cycling, jogging or swimming are ideal ways of reducing the tension caused by stress. They help release all that pent up energy and will encourage deep refreshing sleep. Yoga, body conditioning classes or relaxation techniques may also be helpful.
- Try to cut down on drinking and smoking. If you use these to ‘unwind’, the relief can only be temporary. They will not solve the problems that make you tense.
- Stop trying to do more than one thing at a time. Take jobs in order of importance and try to plan ahead. Take control and have a positive action plan. You’ll soon find that instead of doing everything at the last minute, you can get things done at a relaxed pace.
- Instead of talking at other people, try having conversations with them and listen to what they say. Over lunch, eat more slowly, savour your food, forget work problems and have a good look round.
The tell tale signs of stress
- Do you feel guilty when relaxing – uneasy if not ‘on the go’?
- Do you lie awake worrying about tomorrow?
- Are you tense…does your neck feel ‘knotted up’?
- Are you impatient or irritable – do you interrupt when others are talking?
- Are you smoking or drinking more – do you eat in hurry?
- Does life seem full of crises – are you always having rows?
- Do you find it difficult to make decisions?
- Do you feel frustrated when people don’t do what you want?
- Do you frequently experience a butterfly stomach, a dry mouth, sweaty palms or a thumping heart?