Stress- who has it?
Stress is this bodily or mental tension that can come in the form of difficult family relationships, job troubles, money issues or health problems. Wow, that sounds like everything can cause a feeling of stress! Stress can come as waves or as an isolated incident too.
Some types of stress are not necessarily harmful, like a deadline for a project at work, working on a more intense exercise routine, taking your driver’s license test or the alert feeling you get when something in your physical environment is not right. This last type of stress is helpful, it keeps you safe.
Stress can get worse at times like a pandemic and at these times it may feel like it is more than we can handle. This amount of stress is not healthy for the body. Your body has certain symptoms when you are under stress like:
· a rapid heartbeat
· sweaty palms
· loss of your ability to focus
· a dry mouth
When the stress never goes away it becomes chronic, you can become fatigued, ill or unable to sleep. Some people eat more under stress and others lose their appetite (I can’t imagine losing my appetite, thanks to my Italian genes)! Not getting enough quality sleep is a stress factor in itself.
What happens to your body when it is under stress?
There is a pair of glands in the body that help us deal with stress called the adrenal glands. Adrenal glands are a triangularly shaped gland that sit on top of the kidneys. They help regulate the metabolism, blood pressure, response to stress, immune system and other essential functions. When the glands don’t work correctly it can cause renal insufficiency or Addison’s Disease.
When the glands do work correctly, they send out cortisol, a hormone to help the body handle stress and complete daily functions.
Cortisol helps the body to:
· use fats, proteins and carbohydrates for metabolism
· suppress inflammation
· regulate blood pressure
· increase blood sugar
· decrease bone formation
· regulate the sleep/wake cycle.
For more information see this site.
When we remain under stress and we are not able to cope well, we can crave carbohydrates, comfort food or quick carbs like candy, sugar or cookies. Normally the adrenal glands do this to help us with the fight or flight response, to give us quick energy in case we are in an emergency and need to move quickly, like being chased by something or someone. However, the same hormones come out for an emotional emergency like a stressful boss, family member or a scary health situation. Since we are not moving and using up the extra energy or calories, the extra energy is stored as fat. We may end up gaining weight and this type of weight gain tends to be in the abdominal area. This is not a healthy place to store fat since it can lead to future health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart conditions and inflammation.
What are some ways to combat stress?
Focus on a hobby like (sewing, cooking, biking, reading, gardening, exercising or planning a fun craft project. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something that brings you joy. I am a new Master Gardener and I recently put in a shade garden in an area in my yard. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw a similar shade garden in the August issue of Better Homes and Garden. I have the heart shaped Jack Frost brunnera and hart’s tongue fern nestled in scented geraniums.
This is the shade garden I started this year to help me relax. It is similar the garden featured in the Better Homes and Garden article, "Focus on Foliage," in the August 2020 issue.
Dig into your past to find effective coping mechanisms that you’ve already used. One stress fighting strategy that worked well for my patients over the years was digging deep into their past effective coping mechanisms during a previously hard time. Often these same strategies were helpful when they called on them to deal with their new health challenge. Since they had used this strategy before, it gave them confidence. This will require you to pay attention to yourself as you work through your stressful incident.
Divide your large problem into smaller problems. Tackle one small problem until you have that particular issue solved. Then move onto the next issue until you have reached a satisfactory level of mastery over the whole problem. Over the years of working with my patients, I learned that they were less overwhelmed with the smaller tasks and I was amazed at their creativity and hard work in solving their problems. This made all the difference in their health. If you still feel stressed, try something else. Remember, coping mechanisms are individualized so you will need to find what helps you.
At certain times, stress may start to run our lives, then it may be time to talk with a professional, they can help you find the source of your stress and discuss strategies for handling it. Sometimes stress may require medication from your Healthcare Provider as well.
Resilience is another characteristic that helps people work through tough situations and it is a skill that builds over time throughout your life. The more frequently you handle stressful situations well, the more likely you will handle them well in the future. I have read a lot about resilience because I wondered why some people can handle a lot of stress fairly effortlessly and others get overwhelmed by very small stressors.
One thing that can help us feel less stressed is developing an attitude of gratitude. When we are grateful, we feel less stressed or upset. The feelings we have when we are grateful are calm and peaceful. It is hard to have feelings of gratefulness and anger running at the same time. This is a habit, so start small. Think of of 3 things daily that you are grateful for and dwell on those things. Some practical ways to be grateful are:
writing a handwritten note of thanks to someone who has helped you in the past
thanking a family member for their years of kindness to you
calling or texting a friend and telling them how thankful you are to have them in your life
thanking a clerk in a store for their smile and help
giving a bigger tip than usual to help the wait staff and show your appreciation
thanking a pastor, nurse, physician, dentist, accountant, police officer or teacher for their service, these professionals pour out their hearts and lives for others' daily
I wish you joy, and I hope that you find some useful things in this blog that will help you stay calmer and healthier.
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