What is Stress?
Stress affects everyone at some point in their life. Our response to stress is prehistoric and served us well when we had to protect and provide for our families in those times. However that high degree of risk to life and limb rarely occurs in this day and age.
Stress is the body's natural response to a perceived threat and can serve us well in certain situations, which is usually in the short term. For example when we are completing exams, moving house or responding to deadlines; it provides the momentum, motivation and energy to move us forward quickly for a short period of time.
However the body does not know the difference between a threat that is real and life threatening and anticipatory stress which is created in the mind. Therefore our body prepares to either fight or flee and this results in our muscles tensing, heart and breathing rates increasing, while glucose and oxygen are delivered into the muscles from the bloodstream in preparation to use them quickly. The immune system is revved up in case we receive an injury in order to fight infection. Hormones are released into the body, and so that we do not waste vital energy the digestive and reproductive systems are suppressed.
Long term stress can contribute to the development of muscular tension which can often be felt in the neck and shoulders resulting in headache and backache.
Problems also occurs when we perceive that daily events threaten us, an example of this is when the car breaks down or we have an argument with a friend or a loved one or are late for work. The mind is a very powerful machine and as fear kicks in the body prepares itself to either fight or flee. The palms of our hands become clammy, our breathing rate increases and our muscles become tense.
The body also remembers previous situations and their outcomes, so prepares for a similar response even thought that might not be the case in this situation. An example of this is, as a child you get into trouble at school from a teacher and you feel angry, vulnerable and embarrassed, this affects your self esteem, confidence and the way you view yourself. You may feel that you were not listened to and were not valued or respected. However as a child you were still exploring, testing and working things out and learning about the world around you through your experiences and your interactions with others. Then as an adult a situation occurs where someone you perceive to be in authority, for example your employer asks to talk to you about a piece of work you have completed. This takes you back into this memory of being a child and fear kicks in and you start to feel stressed, anxious and unrealistically harsh with yourselves, as you start to tell yourself that you are not good enough and you can't do anything right. The negative thoughts start to spiral, even before the conversation with your employer has begun. As an adult you recognise that the degree of stress ad anxiety you are feeling does not really match the situation and is over the top, but you are struggling to rationalise your thoughts.
In becoming stressed we perceive that the demands on us exceed our personal and social abilities.
Remember 98% of what you worry about never actually happens!
Does everyone suffer from stress?
We all get stressed at some point in our lives, some of us more than others. The way we deal with stress is the difference that separates us, and the degree to which we are affected has major implications on our health and well-being. Stress is not always a bad thing, as long as it is not consistent. However we cannot completely eliminate stress from our lives, but we can learn to take steps to deal with it when it occurs, so that we avoid the negative symptoms stress produces.
For some people stress acts as a motivator, while for others it becomes an unmanageable pressure.
According to research carried out and information retained by ACAS £3.7 billion and 12.8 million days are lost each year as a result of stress related illnesses. Over the last few years, stress has become the number one priority for Health and Safety; due to the impact stress related illnesses have on the health and wellbeing of Managers and employees.