Stress what is it good for? Maybe actually something?

Health and wellnessstressstress reliefFitness

Apr 13

Let’s take a minute and talk about out stress. At the beginning of this article I had two other pieces lined up to write — yet somehow the words just refused to cooperate. Writer’s block? Maybe However, after the week I just had I realized a literal change of subject would be best.

Stress comes in different shapes and sizes, from family drama to friendship fallouts to work not working and even things that are meant to to make your life easier … coughs *smart phones*. We’ve all had that moment when stress has taken over and you genuinely contemplated whether or not your phone can survive a six-story egg test or a solo 1v1 of table tennis (spoiler: the answer is neither).

Apparently that flash feeling of the hulk is normally, but like everything else in life little is healthy and too much is can cause dangerous levels of chaos. So if you thought stress just causes to you turn into the hulk from a alternative universe or water your pants in front of a crowd— you got a lot more coming.

Stress: the not-so-silent health assassin

Stress is a know contributor to a countless number of illness, pathologies and diseases. Even thought it may not be the direct cause it might be a strong contributing factor to whatever is going on. Studies have shown that stress can cause serious medical conditions like stroke, high blood pressure, mirigains and more. Brings a whole new meaning to that childhood flashback of your mom yelling, “You’re raising my blood pressure!” After an award winning running of supermarket sweep down aisle 5, 6 and maybe 7.

So … what is stress?

Stress put simply is a activation of your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) or your “fight or flight” system. This is the part of your body that says “nope, time to go!” Or its time to channel your John Wick and fight for your life. You can thank your automatic nervous system (ANS) for cuing your adrenal gland to release adrenaline (aka epinephrine) into your system. Picture this yours palms being sweaty, knees weak, arm heavy, vomit on his sweater — already, mom’s spaghetti. Sorry I couldn’t help myself and admit it Slim Shady had one of the most accurate stress diagnosis in 4 bars.

And yes all of that is a correct affects of stress. Epinephrine can also include changes like decreased pain sensitivity, an increase of vision or hearing, and slowing down of other systems like digestive and reproductive systems. This is pretty much your bodies emergency mode activated.

The 3 flavor of stress (…with a side of panic)

With that being said there are different kinds of stress and different length stressors. We as people of earth typically experience 3 different types of stress; routine, suddenly negative, and traumatic.

Routine: routine stress is what I think of as normal stress, your everyday type things. School, work, family, running for the train, should I buy these shoes or not? These are things you’re use to and although you can’t always control are easier to handle then others. This kind of stress also falls under acute stress, well talk more about that later.

Suddenly negative: suddenly negative stress is alittle higher on the scale. Filing life events like serious illness, divorces/ breakups, lost of a job, and financial hardship. Some people call it baggage some people call it life; either way they are events you can not control. However, can have a lasting effect on a persons life, whether it be a long time or a short one.

Traumatic: traumatic stress takes the cake with literally anything that has you feared for your life. Car accidents, wildfires, bear attacks, the one house at the end of road where no one lives but apparently has a high electricity bill. You name it.

The Tale of Stress twins: acute and chronic

Along with different stress types we also have different stress lengths; acute and chronic. Because of course they couldn’t come in just types —they also come in time zones.

Acute: actue stress is what we touched on before work, family, shoes. The little things in life meant to stress us out a-little here and there just to remind us we’re alive. They don’t last long and help with some of the balance between epinephrine and oxytocin. Some may even go as far as to say we need this little bit of stress, but I slightly digress. And then we have …

Chronic: chronic stress is long term, and well stressful. Suddenly negative and traumatic fall under this category. This were i think we all can agree that stress is bad. Stressors under this category can lead to other long term problems like anxiety, depression, weight gain or lost, heart disease and much more.

Cortisol 101

Unlike chronic when we are under acute stress our body is quick to release cortisol durning a trigger. However, is also quickly reduced after the trigger is removed. This is the lovely balance our bodies like to place on us. Released when we ready to go and withdrawn when you’re ready to chill, but don’t have too much of it it’ll try to kill you.

And to my ladies that are reading this that kind of doubles for us considering that studies have shown women are shown to express higher stress levels then our male counterparts —go figure.

To stress or not to stress

So what’s the balance? Because obviously, we can’t live without stress — dont believe me go ask a monk if he’s never been stressed; bet five bucks he says yes. However, we can’t delete stress but we can decrease it and it’s effects it can take on our bodies immediately and over time. Research studies have shown that stress levels can be decreased with a balance of physical and mental training.

Research shows incorporating practices like yoga, meditation, therapy and —insert heavenly choir sounds—massages are some ways that have been mentioned in the discussion of stress management. Of course there are medications that can manage your stress; but that’s a conversation for your doctor not a women you just met online threw a blog article.

Know when to cue the Disney song and let it go

It may help to know when to not sweat the small things. Not everything in your life requires the same stress response, so don’t give it all the same energy. If your acute stress turns chronic it may be time to look into different ways to combat them, before they turn long term.

There’s no harm in asking for help and seeing what others have to about how they handle more stressful triggers. There’s a reason they have mommy groups, support circles and AA meetings; not the same I know but you see where I’m going this. See what works for others, it may not work for you but it might and at-least there may be some information you can use within it.

Thank You for coming to my TED Talk

Thank you for taking the time to read this article I hope it was able to shed some light on and what stress is and what it can turn into. Below you can find a simple list of suggestions as well as all sources for this article that may be helpful with acute and some suddenly negative stressful situations/ stress management. However, if you’re feeling like your having a hard time managing your stress levels and need more help reach out your primary care physician or licensed professional for help. You’re not alone. Thank you for reading!

25 Suggestions for Reducing Stress

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Deep Breathing Exercises

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong

Guided Imagery

Regular Exercise

Walking in Nature

Stretching

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Time Management

Goal Setting

Adequate Sleep

Balanced Diet

Limiting Caffeine and Alcohol

Regular Routine

Social Connections

Talking to a Therapist

Support Groups

Art Therapy

Music Therapy

Aromatherapy

Massage Therapy

Pet Therapy

Exposure to Natural Light

Warm Baths

By Kalinda Kelley

References & More Information:

(Information in this article is supported by the following resources.)

stressmental healthreduce stressHealth and wellnessFitness

StarLytte TaW https://Starlyttetaw.com

Stress what is it good for? Maybe actually something?

Men please do more butt stuff; Take a Breath, I’m talking Glute Exercises

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