Nice post, very informative. People do feel and deal with stress in different ways. I'm usually a calm person, and I do a lot of things that people recommend to combat stress [meditation, yoga, walks] I feel stress differently than most. Sometimes is a bunch of things pile up at once I do snap, but the majority of the time I don't feel hungry. It's not as bad now, but in school around finals my stress level was high and without realizing I would go days without eating. Once the stress was gone the hunger would hit me. So I suggest getting into a daily destressing routine, but also try noticing subtle changes in your body, sleep/eating patters, and other routines because everyone deals and feels stress in different ways. There are the common ones, but you might react differently and not realize you're stressed, internally though, you're running yourself down.
Thank you for this post, Brysing! Everyone has stress in their life to some degree. It could be good stress or bad. Depending on their experience and the way their mind works it can be quite difficult to get rid of stress.
A facinating post as you said stress is a chemical reaction within the body and also it was mention this reaction can cause many health issues both physcially and mentally. I think many suggestions have been made on how to flush the "stress" from your system however they are all passive. I wanted to share this as I hope I am not the only one that when really stressed it triggers an angry response and simple mediation and calming exercises are not enough. I work with law inforcment it's a high tension job and stress is prevelent so to combat this stress/anger I do kick boxing and go to the gym. Being able to get on the treadmill and run out the adrenline or to strap on a pair of gloves and get in the ring to work out the stress is always a plesure it satifies my desire to "fight back" agasint my stressors and it also lets me use the pent up adreniline in a safe and healthy way while working out. Afterwards I always feel drained but clean.
Which is exactly what I said about getting rid of the Adrenaline causing stress. Kick boxing,gym workout; or smashing plates!But there are some that cannot do any of that.So they "withdraw from life", become depressed, and very seriously ill!
I also believe relaxation is a method of releasing stress. Stress is held in the muscles and causes tension, releasing this tension will in turn release endorphins which will make you feel better (Exercise also does this) and is also shown to reduce levels of Cortisol (another stress chemical) and Noradrenaline.
I am a big advocate of the idea that we create and maintain our own reality, yet we make the habit of making external attributions and place the blame of all the bad things in our lives on other people. I do not believe tranquilisers help at all, I suffered from anxiety and took a calming medication which in turn made me act very strangely, all it really did was get rid of the symptom and not the cause- the cause was my own inertia, that is not the inability to change my life, but my unwillingness to change my life due to my social commitments and my worrying what others will think......
Now I try and live the way I want to live and take action instead of worrying what could be, I step forward, make a choice and find out what is.
But stress is far worse than just a feeling, it can cause all sorts of illnesses and make already present illnesses considerably worse. It is also far more than just a chemical there is a psychological component to it as well. The adrenaline is not the cause, it is an effect- brought about by an external stimulus, the external stimulus most probably also causes other effects, psychological in nature. The feeling we percieve as stress is (nor)adrenaline and cortisol, but the adrenaline itself is a physiological response to the actual cause of the problem, which often involves an external stimulus and an internal thinking process. This is why tranquilisers are not a cure, they deal with fixing the symptoms and not solving the problem.
Of course some forms of stress can be "eased" by relaxation! Everybody will feel some sort of stress in modern living.But really severe stress would not be eased by relaxing!
For instance,a domestic situation that cannot be resolved, can, and often does,cause severe stress. Another example would be a serviceman under heavy fire, and cannot fire back at the enemy. The stress caused by this is enormous! And often leads to the severest stress of all; Anxiety Neurosis. (In old wars this would be called "shell shock") And it is incurable, though "eased" by medication.
So, there is nothing simple about stress, even though some forms of it may be simple!
There is a saying, "you are only as sick as your secrets". Im not saying vomit up everything in your life that you felt a shred of guilt for to whatever ear is around. Everyone needs someone they can talk to who can listen abjectively and give support at the appropriate time. Without fear that the person is going to talk to others about you. Keeping in mind that humans are fallable and secrets shared are never guarenteed to be safe. You have to weigh the consequences/benefits. Communication is key.
Sleeping is a VERY good relaxation technique. It can help with headaches and moodiness. It doesn't stop the problem, but it's a much better cute for the symptoms than a pill. A lot of the world today is a part of a drug oriented society. And psychiatric therapy can work great, too.
