Understanding Stress

Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Effects

These are links to informative websites.

"Stress-related and psychological disorders in Great Britain (GB)".       Health and safety executive UK

"Work-related stress is increasingly recognised as playing a key role in the success or failure of a business."             BUPA . co.uk

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WHAT IS STRESS?

Hypnosis for Stress Managment in Leeds, West Yorkshire 

Modern life is full of demands, hassles, deadlines, and frustrations, for many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life.

However stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it  helps you perform under pressure and motivates you to do your best. But when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price.

If you frequently find yourself feeling under pressure, overwhelmed and unable to cope, it’s time to take action to bring your nervous system back into balance. It is essential at this time you seek help.

The symptoms of stress will not just go away if ignored, they will increase spiralling you toward ill health and maybe even complete breakdown.

Effects of chronic stress

When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with someone close, a traffic jam, or a pile of bills, your body reacts as it would if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of pressures and responsibilities, commitments and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more stressed you are, and the more frequent this is, the harder it becomes for you to shut off and your body’s stress system is pemenantely activated.

Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress effects nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.

Many health problems are caused or exacerbated by stress, including:

Steps need to be taken to reduce the harmful effects.

Indeed by learning to recognize the early signs and symptoms, it is possible to avoid an escalation into stress overload. By seeking help in the early stages  the harmful effects, and awful symptoms, can be greatly reduced and very often completely avoided.

The Body’s Stress Response

When you feel threatened, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, adrenaline being the one most people have heard of. These hormones rouse the body for emergency action.

Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and make you alert and ready for action. This is known as the fight or flight syndrome, a primitive defence mechanism which was perfect for our ancestors life style, when they could be in physical danger from rival tribes, wild animals and much more.

However whilst our way of life has totally changed our basic primitive instincts have not. Stress now comes in the form of a telling off from the boss, over work, personal issues etc. Yet our fight or flight mechanism still kicks in, however it would be unusual and unwise to thump the person stressing you, and of course not possible to physically run away. Therefore the increased energy is not used, and builds up in your body. When these events are repeated day after day the energy continues to  build up with no way of releasing it

The correct amount of stress keeps you alert and energetic.

In many situations , such as when you need to take emergency action when driving, or to defend yourself, that extra rush of adrenalin can save your life..

The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration, or keeps you studying for an exam when you'd rather be out enjoying yourself.

But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.

How much stress is too much?

This varies from person to person, no two people react in the same way. It is therefore very important to discover your own limits, in order to avoid the widespread damage stress can cause,. Some people are able to take things in their stride, while others crumble at the slightest obstacle or frustration. Some people even seem to thrive on the excitement and challenge of a high-stress lifestyle.

Your ability to tolerate stress depends on many factors, including the quality of your relationships, your general outlook on life, your emotional intelligence, and genetics.

Things that influence your stress tolerance level

• Your support network –A strong network of supportive friends and family members is an enormous buffer against life’s stressors. On the flip side, the more lonely and isolated you are, the greater your vulnerability to stress.
• Your sense of control– If you have confidence in yourself and your ability to influence events and persevere through challenges, it’s easier to take stress in your stride. People who are vulnerable to stress tend to feel that things are out of their control.
• Your attitude and outlook –Stress-hardy people have an optimistic attitude. They tend to embrace challenges, have a strong sense of humour, accept that change is a part of life, and believe in a higher power or purpose.
• Your ability to deal with your emotions. You’re extremely vulnerable to stress if you don’t know how to calm and soothe yourself when you’re feeling sad, angry, or afraid. The ability to bring your emotions into balance helps you bounce back from adversity. 
• Your knowledge and preparation –The more you know about a stressful situation, including how long it will last and what to expect, the easier it is to cope. For example, if you go into surgery with a realistic picture of what to expect post-op, a painful recovery will be less traumatic than if you were expecting to bounce back immediately.

Am I in control of stress or is stress controlling me?

• When I feel agitated, do I know how to quickly calm and soothe myself?
• Can I easily let go of my anger?
• Can I turn to others at work to help me calm down and feel better?
• When I come home at night, do I walk in the door feeling alert and relaxed?
• Am I seldom distracted or moody?
• Am I able to recognize upsets that others seem to be experiencing?
• Do I easily turn to friends or family members for a calming influence?
• When my energy is low, do I know how to boost it?
• 
  

Source:The Language of Emotional Intelligence by Jeanne Segal, Ph.D.

Causes of stress Top Ten Stressful Life Events

1. Spouse’s death
2. Divorce
3. Marriage separation
4. Jail term
5. Death of a close relative
6. Injury or illness
7. Marriage
8. Fired from job
9. Marriage reconciliation
10. Retirement

What's Stressful For You?

What's stressful for you may be quite different to what's stressful to your best friend, your spouse, or the person next door. For example:

• Some people enjoy speaking in public; others are terrified.
• Some people are more productive under deadline pressure; others are miserably tense.
• Some people are eager to help family and friends through difficult times; others find it very stressful.
• Some people feel comfortable complaining about bad service in a restaurant; others find it so difficult to complain that they prefer to suffer in silence.
• Some people may feel that changes at work represent a welcome opportunity; others worry about whether they'll be able to cope.

Source: ehealthMD.com

Signs and symptoms of stress overload

It’s important to learn how to recognize when your stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar – even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll. 

The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behaviour in many ways, and everyone experiences stress differently.

How do you respond to stress?

Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

• Foot on the gas – An angry or agitated stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
• Foot on the brake – A withdrawn or depressed stress response. You shut down, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
• Foot on both – A tense and frozen stress response. You “freeze” under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.

The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.

Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms of stress can also be caused by other psychological and medical problems. If you’re experiencing any of the warning signs of stress, it’s important to see a doctor for a full evaluation. Your doctor can help you determine whether or not your symptoms are stress-related.

Dealing with stress and its symptoms

While unchecked stress is undeniably damaging, there are many things you can do to reduce its impact and cope with symptoms.

Learn how to manage stress

You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction when you can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation.

Learn how to relax

You can’t completely eliminate stress from your life, but you can control how much it affects you. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body’s relaxation response, a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the stress response. When practiced regularly, these activities lead to a reduction in your everyday stress levels and a boost in your feelings of joy and serenity. They also increase your ability to stay calm and collected under pressure.

 Your emotional health

Most people ignore their emotional health until there’s a problem. But just as it requires time and energy to build or maintain your physical health, so it is with your emotional well-being. The more you put in to it, the stronger it will be. People with good emotional health have an ability to bounce back from stress and adversity. This ability is called resilience. They remain focused, flexible, and positive in bad times as well as good. The good news is that there are many steps you can take to build your resilience and your overall emotional health.

How can Hypnotherapy help me?

Through a process of learning to eliminate negative thought patterns, and replace them with positive ones, you can start to regain your confidence and feel good about yourself.

You will also be taught how to let go of stress and relax. Essential for your health and well being.

You have the right to relax, to feel good, to be happy. You do not have to accept stress overload and the negative effects it has on your health and well being.

The stress of modern life is real, but how you respond to it is up to you. You can react to stress in a positive way and counteract the damage it may be doing to your well being.

My stress management program uses a variety of stress reduction techniques, Hypnosis and Psychological strengthening to produce positive results.

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