SPEAKER: We’ve been inundated recently with warnings about the dangers of stress. Perhaps in part as a reaction to the increasingly busy and task-oriented nature of modern society, experts have been pushing people to identify and eliminate unnecessary stress in their lives as a panacea for resolving health and psychological wellness issues. While it’s true that too much stress...otherwise known as chronic stress...can wear you down, stress is actually a healthy and necessary part of life. The key to not letting it get out of control is proper stress management. So that’s, more or less, what I want to talk with you about today.

But first it’s important to understand exactly what stress is and how it functions. When you experience stress, your sympathetic nervous system tells the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands to release stress hormones...um, adrenaline and cortisol...into your bloodstream. The effects of the sudden influx of hormones is that your blood vessels dilate, your blood flow to the brain increases, and your muscles and limbs get ready to move quickly on a moment’s notice. It’s kind of like what happens to your body when you do aerobic exercise.

Of course, the point of this stress reaction is to help you deal with a pending crisis or threat. Imagine a pre-modern person in the forest. They hear a noise that sounds like sticks cracking on the ground, and their body releases the stress hormones to prepare them to run in the case that a dangerous animal is approaching. In that situation, your stress reaction is your friend, giving you the capability of responding quickly and effectively.

So, the benefits of stress are that it makes you alert, energized, and focused. And even today, with fewer environmental threats, stress is necessary. People are often pushed to reach optimal performance as a result of stress. Think about tightrope walkers who actually prefer to not wear a harness because the fear of falling helps keep them alert and focused. What’s more, a recent study at the Stanford University School of Medicine showed that short spurts of stress actually boost your immune system and protect against certain types of cancer. So, stress in the appropriate amounts can be of great benefit.

The problems arise when you experience chronic stress...or, uh, stress that lasts for an extended period of time. Um, it’s also possible to experience too much stress in a short period, which can result in post-traumatic stress disorder. When you get too stressed, you feel tense, anxious, irritable, or overwhelmed. It can be disabling, and lead to excessive muscle tension, a rapid heart rate, or high blood pressure. So, obviously in these cases stress is a harmful rather than productive experience.

The key to managing stress is understanding the causes and learning how to control it. First, you have to be able to identify when your stress levels are too high. Just take note when you find yourself with a racing heart, heightened irritability, or lots of anxiety. Stop to ask yourself, am I stressed about something? If so, then you need to determine the cause of the stress. Has something bad just happened? Are you worried about something? Is there someone in your life making you feel stressed?

Once you know where your stress is coming from, you can decide to either change the situation or manage the stress. As we are not always able to remove stressors from our life, it’s more useful to know what to do with stress. And there’s no magic cure...everyone’s different. Many people find that slow breathing alleviates the effects of stress. Others prefer meditation, yoga, or a jog in the park.  And yet others lean towards counseling or guided imagery therapy. Whatever technique works for you, make sure to employ it when you feel your stress reaction getting out of control. 

Answer Key

1. D

2. H

3. G

4. pending crisis

5. quickly, effectively

6. alert

7. chronic stress

8. post-traumatic

9. control it

10. slow breathing