Stress

Stress is a very natural, biological phenomenon that serves an important purpose and can be seen throughout the animal world. When a creature senses a threat, it responds by preparing its body to deal with the potential problem – typically either by defending itself or running away (the ‘fight or flight’ response).

Anticipating one of these outcomes involves preparing the body for action. Your breathing becomes faster and your heart rate rises to pump blood and oxygen around the body for your muscles to use, and you start to sweat to cool yourself in the event of physical activity.

You may have a nauseous feeling or a cold sensation in the pit of your stomach as your body redirects blood away from the digestive system and towards your muscles. Some people are even physically sick under heavy stress.

These normal, understandable physical responses have evolved over millions of years to keep you safe in the event of a threat. However, they also occur when you are under any kind of perceived stress – at work or at home, physical or emotional. It’s a kind of one-size-fits-all response.

Because the stresses we typically find ourselves under today – high workloads, long commutes, money worries and relationship problems – didn’t exist until comparatively recently (at least, in evolutionary terms), the body instinctively just does the best it can. Unfortunately, these responses can be unhelpful in the modern world.

When does stress become harmful?

A little stress is helpful. It can motivate us to work harder and get things done. It also serves a useful function in warning us that something is wrong – for example, if you are driving and the car in front of you breaks sharply, your stress response enables you to react quickly to avoid an accident.

At other times, stress can be harmful. Stress in the wrong situation can be unpleasant and distracting. When it continues for a long time, it can make you frustrated, tired and angry, affect your relationships, disturb your sleep, and lead to anxiety, depression and other longer-term psychological problems.

It can contribute to physical ailments including headaches and migraines, back and neck pain, and stomach ulcers. Some medical professionals even believe that prolonged stress can undermine your immune system, leaving you more open to potentially serious conditions including some types of cancer. If you find that stress is affecting you in one or more of these ways, it’s fair to say it’s probably time to do something about it.

How do I deal with stress?

Different situations will inevitably arise in life that make you stressed – work, relationships of all kinds, and money being a few of the most common. You can find ways of dealing with the situation that has triggered the stress itself (such as changing your working habits), but it’s also important to look at the underlying reasons around exactly why you react in the way you do.

Addressing these tends to be a longer-term solution than just looking at the trigger. This site looks at ways of fixing both the ‘symptoms’ and the underlying causes that contribute to unwelcome and unmanageable stress.

Read more about stress in our blog