STRESS

PART -1

STRESS can be defined as:-

The way your body responds to the demands of your lifestyle i.e. the effects of wear and tear on your body. Most people think of stress as a mental state but it is in fact, very largely, a physical condition.

Different people can tolerate different levels of stress. Each person needs to work on their own stress control techniques according to their tolerance levels.

For example : Child will not be able to fight stress and will start crying, that is his/her mindset at that point of time whereas adult person will have more courage to fight the same very easily. Politician may do find better ways to  handle his/her stress due to his great experience through ups and downs in his/her political career.

The stress response can be described as a chain reaction of changes within the body:

• Faster heart beat
• Shallower and quicker breathing
• Rise in blood pressure
• Reduction in the efficiency of the immune system

And all these above changes in the body also have an effect on the brain and this can cause an alert mental state leading to:

• Faster activity of the brain
• Faster Decision Making etc.

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF STRESS

Stress is valuable under certain circumstances i.e. sports, making speeches and taking examinations / job interview etc.

NEGATIVE EFECTS OF STRESS

The negative effects of stress show particularly when a person allows stress to remain in the body, usually when there is no chance to take the necessary steps to release a stress response that is too strong or lasts too long.

The negative effects of stress show up in three ways in particular;

• Unsuitable Behaviour
• Lower Energy and performance levels
• Poorer Health

STRESSORS

The first step in learning to control your stress, and live with it , is to find out what your Stressors are i.e. what stresses you personally.

For Example:-

Physical Stressors: Heat, Cold, Fire, Noise, Violence, Traffic, Own illness and Poor working conditions and equipment.

Social Stressors: Family, Job and Career, Interpersonal and Environmental

Social Economic & Political: Unemployment, Cost of House, Technological Change etc

Family: Money Problem, Different Values, Death or illness in the Family, Jealousy etc

Job and Career: Travelling Time, Education and Training, Targets, Competition etc

Interpersonal and Environmental: Poor Service, Obligations, Social Expectations, Different Values Waiting Time etc.

You must identify your Stressors and decide which stressors have the strongest effect on you.

Make a list of all the stressors you feel that affect you negatively. Consider all the categories and see if you need to include something from each of them. Think about your work and private life. Then tick the most significant ones. Try to number them in order of priority.

Once you have identified your stressors you have taken the first step towards doing something constructive about them.

Awareness of Stressor is 90 % of the solution…….

It is also good to learn to recognize the signals in ourselves which tell us that we are over stressed. These signals can be mental, physical, emotional or behavioural. 

Do not Treat the Symptom, Treat the cause…..

RELATED STORY:-

Many years back I happen to visit one mall at Andrews Ganj, South Delhi with my family.

I was just moving around the mall and I saw there is man standing outside the shop and displaying something unique. I stopped there to see what he is trying to show. 

Some people had already participated in the game and some were trying to move towards him. Everyone who came out of this game was happy. Seeing this, I also stood in the line to participate. Before my turn came I could see that the man had two palm impressions where participants are putting their palms (underside of the human hand) then murmuring something in their mind and laughing loudly.  I was very excited and my turn came. The guy started briefing me about the machine kept in-front of us. He told me that you have to put your both Palms on these impressions.

Machine had two palm shape gaps and one meter type thing with a needle in it. I was asked to put my both palms in these gaps and then murmur names of my near and dear ones. I started saying names from my family, children, maternal, paternal uncle, more relations, close friends and then came my office friends cum colleagues. When I told one particular name from office friends, needle moved from left to center. The guy asked me to say the names of office friends one by one but slowly. I started saying so, when I came to particular name needle moved and then he stopped me and asked me to remember the name of this person whom I have just murmured. The guy said, “This is the person who is giving you stress and you are not aware of it”.

I wondered and said “how you say that?” He explained to me further….. “Whenever you meet this person or hear his name, signal goes to your subconscious mind and that triggers your nervous system. The subconscious mind is a data-bank for everything, which is not in your conscious mind. It stores your beliefs, your previous experience, your memories, your skills. Everything that you have seen, done or thought is also there. It is also your guidance system. By saying or murmuring the name of your office colleague, subconscious mind based on your past experiences with that office colleague triggers your nervous system and you suddenly come under stress without you knowing from where and how. You keep talking to your colleague and be sure that this existing stress is not because of office colleague sitting next to you and never ever suspect your office colleague for this stress or headache during his presence”

In the first instance I told the guy or the expert standing on the machine that what you say is not correct. But the guy was pretty sure that this particular office colleague cum friend of mine is definitely giving me stress. So by saying or murmuring his name I come under stress for a while.

The next day, when I went to office, I tested this particular fact, myself. I found, whenever he comes to see me in my room and chats with me, I get headache and when he goes out, headache also goes off. So, this confirmed that what machine in the mall was depicting was right.

Since he was my office colleague cum friend I could not disassociate or detach from him forever. I knew that I have to live or stay with him for years to come. So the remedy, I found is that I will have less association with him to avoid unnecessary stress. Whenever he will come to my room, I will take some excuse and go out from my room to avoid stress. That is how I started handling him. 

This worked very fine….

In a NUT SHELL…..Awareness of Stressor is 90 % of the solution.

I became aware of my stressor with the help of that machine and then analyzed the whole thing followed by suitable treatment.

Thanks……Take care and Stay Happy.

Part II , I would talk about very effective ways of managing stress in day-to-day life.