Stress
What is Stress?
In ancient times it was a matter of life or death that man was able to react quickly to dangerous situations.
When faced with danger, our bodies release hormones (cortisol and adrenaline for example) that increase the blood pressure, the metabolic rate and the heart rate.
The body becomes ‘pumped up’ - ready for action – ready for a fight or a flight. In ancient times man either ran for his life or stayed and fought - the energy got burned up one way or the other.
In modern times very few situations require us to fight or flight. However our bodies react the same way as they did in ancient times – hormones are released into the blood stream, blood pressure, metabolic rate and heart rate rise. The body is ‘pumped up’ but we rarely burn off the energy.
If this happens day in day out then the continual release of hormones and their effect on our bodies can have a harm our health leading to a downward spiral and an inability to cope with everyday situations.
Stress can trigger depression and can affect your physical health.
Note that danger today is mainly ‘perceived’ danger. We rarely confront real danger for example a tiger chasing after you. The body however, reacts the same to both real danger and perceived danger.
If you have to stand in front of a group of people and give a speech, hormones are released into your bloodstream, your heartbeat rises, your blood pressure rises, you start sweating, your legs go weak etc.
How Do You Tackle Stress?
Stress is caused by events/ situations happening to you that you are not happy with or are uncomfortable about.
The above tells us two very important things.
1) Something has to happen to us to make you stressed.
2) You react in a negative way to that event.
In these two statements lies the cure – either avoid the stressful situation or change how we react to it.
In my case I began to avoid stressful events, eventually reaching the point where I was afraid to leave the safety of my home – I developed agoraphobia.
Obviously this is not the answer, you cannot avoid the random events that life throws at you. In order to live a happy, contented life then the answer is for you to react in a relaxed, positive way to the stressful situation.
My low cost Book shows you the simple techniques that helped me recover from stress, anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia. It will help you get your life back to where you want it to be. |
