Stress Management

Live in or around Sydney and there's bound to be an element of stress in your life. Some stress is quite normal and is actually productive. But too much stress can be hugely detrimental to your entire well-being.

Stress has always been hard to define scientifically because the causes and effects of stress are so diverse. In our 21st century world, it's also more likely that threats to our well-being are of a psychological rather than physical nature, which makes it harder to measure and also gives rise to opinion that stress is 'blamed' for too many things.

However, there's increasing evidence that prolonged stress has a huge and detrimental effect on our body, mind and spirit.

Below are some of the physical impacts of stress (from the American Institute of Stress):

Just what is Stress?

A quick science lesson. We have a sympathetic nervous system which is always operating on a basal level, but really kicks in for our 'flight or fight response' (ie under threat, we have a huge surge of energy to run at high speeds or fight with great strength). Nowadays, real threats to our survival don't happen too often but our mind can still tell us that there's a threat. Some of the times when our mind decides there's a threat are:

• Future oriented fears or threats (asking yourself "what if...?")
• Perceived stress (telling yourself "I can't do this")
• Comparison of actual situation with a desired ideal (eg road rage)
• Recall of disturbing or distressing event
• Self-criticism; putting yourself down
• Hostility or criticism from others
• Denial or avoidance of situations
• Feeling out of your comfort zone

When a real or perceived stressful situation occurs, adrenalin gets released into our blood stream and the effects include hyperarousal (you feel really alert) and increased physical performance (you run faster).

So activation of the sympathetic nervous system does have its uses. The adrenalin that's released during stress is great to kick-start us in a sporting event or to ensure we meet a work deadline. It's when we continue to use our sympathetic nervous system without the opportunity to 'recharge' that problems arise.

Heard of being an 'adrenalin junkie'? Maybe you are one. That's because living in a highly alert state is addictive: we can not only do more, we can do it faster and with more focus. It can also be negatively addictive, in that we wish we could stop being stressed but fear what would happen if we slowed down or stopped.

The bad news is that persistent sympathetic nervous system arousal wasn't how we were programmed to use this finely calibrated system. It was great for running away from tigers and other scary mammals when we needed to (a few thousand years ago), but not for road rage, arguments with partners, run-ins with bosses and so on...which can occur on a daily basis.

Symptoms of Stress

Some of the things you're likely to notice when you're in a stressed state are:

• Disrupted sleep patterns (including more dreaming)
• Lowered tolerance for everyday problems
• Negative feelings of self-worth
• More intense emotional state, including tearfulness, anger, impatience
• Inability to concentrate
• Inability to make decisions
• Digestive problems
• Skin outbreaks
• Drinking more, smoking more, eating more/less

Some of the things you won't always notice, but which have been associated with long-term stress are:

• Thyroid/endocrine burnout
• Brain damage
• Obesity/diabetes
• Immune suppression
• Infertility
• Autoimmune stress related diseases
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease, cardiac failure

Finding Balance

Here's the next quick science lesson. The parasympathetic nervous system complements the sympathetic nervous system, but we don't use it as much as we could. If you think of your body as a car then the sympathetic nervous system is the accelerator, and the parasympathetic nervous system is the brake. Putting on the brake helps to decrease heart rate, slow down breathing, improve digestion, regulate moods, rebuild cells, and generally relax and restore us.

Accessing the parasympathetic nervous system more frequently is an important starting point in managing your stress.

Taking the First Steps

An element of stress is part and parcel of our lives. It's important to remember that it's more realistic to learn to manage stress rather than try to eradicate it.

To help you do this, we would work together on:

• identifying your stress patterns
• building your resilience to stress
• uncovering the best ways for you to access the 'brakes' (parasympathetic nervous system)
• making appropriate lifestyle changes

To book an initial appointment, or for any questions, please contact Victoria today.