Recognizing Stress
Which of these is stress?
- You receive a promotion at work.
- Your car has a flat tire.
- You go to a fun party that lasts till 2:00 a.m.
- Your dog gets sick.
- Your new bedroom set is being delivered.
- Your best friend and his wife come to stay at your house for a
week.
- You get a bad case of hay fever.
- All of the above.
ALL OF THESE ARE STRESS
If you are used to thinking that stress is something that makes
you worry, you have the wrong idea of stress. Stress is many
different kinds of things: happy things, sad things, allergic things,
physical things. Many people carry enormous stress loads and they do
not even realize it!
WHAT IS STRESS?
We are all familiar with the word "stress". Stress is when you are
worried about getting laid off your job, or worried about having
enough money to pay your bills, or worried about your mother when the
doctor says she may need an operation. In fact, to most of us, stress
is synonymous with worry. If it is something that makes you worry,
then it is stress.
Your body, however, has a much broader definition of stress. TO
YOUR BODY, STRESS IS SYNONYMOUS WITH CHANGE. Anything that causes a
change in your life causes stress. It doesn't matter if it is a
"good" change, or a "bad" change, they are both stress. When you find
your dream apartment and get ready to move, that is stress. If you
break your leg, that is stress. Good or bad, if it is a CHANGE in
your life, it is stress as far as your body is concerned.
Even IMAGINED CHANGE is stress. (Imagining changes is what we call
"worrying".) If you fear that you will not have enough money to pay
your rent, that is stress. If you worry that you may get fired, that
is stress. If you think that you may receive a promotion at work,
that is also stress (even though this would be a good change).
Whether the event is good or bad, imagining changes in your life is
stressful.
Anything that causes CHANGE IN YOUR DAILY ROUTINE is
stressful.
Anything that causes CHANGE IN YOUR BODY HEALTH is stressful.
IMAGINED CHANGES are just as stressful as real changes.
Let us look at several types of stress -- ones that are so
commonplace that you might not even realize that they are
stressful.......
Emotional Stress
When arguments, disagreements, and conflicts cause CHANGES in your
personal life -- that is stress.
Illness
Catching a cold, breaking an arm, a skin infection, a sore back,
are all CHANGES in your body condition.
Pushing Your Body Too Hard
A major source of stress is overdriving yourself. If you are
working (or partying) 16 hours a day, you will have reducedyour
available time for rest. Sooner or later, the energy drain on your
system will cause the body to fall behind in its repair work. There
will not be enough time or energy for the body to fix broken cells,
or replace used up brain neurotransmitters. CHANGES will occur in
your body's internal environment. You will "hit thewall," "run out of
gas". If you continue, permanent damage may be done. The body's fight
to stay healthy in the face of the increased energy that your are
expending is major stress.
Environmental Factors
Very hot or very cold climates can be stressful. Very high
altitude may be a stress. Toxins or poisons are a stress. Each of
these factors threatens to cause CHANGES in your body's internal
environment.
The Special Case of Tobacco Use
Tobacco is a powerful toxin!! Smoking destroys cells that clean
your trachea, bronchi, and lungs. Smoking causes emphysema and
chronic bronchitis, which progress to slow suffocation. The carbon
monoxide from cigarette smoking causes chronic carbon monoxide
poisoning. Tobacco use damages the arteries in your body, causing
insufficient blood supply to the brain, heart, and vital organs.
Cigarette smoking increases the risk of cancer 50 fold.
Chewing tobacco or snuff is no safe haven. It also damages your
arteries, and it carries the same cancer risk. (Cancers of the head
and neck are particularly vicious, disfiguring, and deadly).
Poisoning the body with carbon monoxide, and causing the physical
illnesses of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, cancer, and arterial
damage, tobacco is a powerful source of added stress to one's
life.
Hormonal Factors
PUBERTY
The vast hormonal changes of puberty are severe stressors. A
person's body actually CHANGES shape, sexual organs begin to
function, new hormones are released in large quantities. Puberty, as
we all know, is very stressful.
PRE-MENSTRUAL SYNDROME
Once a woman passes puberty, her body is designed to function best
in the presence of female hormones. For women past puberty, a lack of
female hormones is a major stress on the body. Once a month, just
prior to menstruation, a woman's hormone levels drop sharply. In many
women, the stress of sharply falling hormones is enough to create a
temporary OVERSTRESS. This temporary OVERSTRESS is popularly known as
Pre MenstrualSyndrome (PMS).
POST-PARTUM
Following a pregnancy, hormone levels CHANGE dramatically. After a
normal childbirth, or a miscarriage, some women may be thrown into
OVERSTRESS by loss of the hormones of pregnancy.
MENOPAUSE
There is another time in a woman's life when hormone levels
decline. This is the menopause. The decline in hormones during
menopause is slow and steady. Nevertheless, this menopausal decline
causes enough stress on the body to produce OVERSTRESS in many
women.
Taking Responsibility for Another Person's Actions
When you take responsibility for another person's actions, CHANGES
occur in your life over which you have little or no control. Taking
responsibility for another person's actions is a major stressor.
Allergic Stress
Allergic reactions are a part of your body's natural defense
mechanism. When confronted with a substance which your body considers
toxic, your body will try to get rid of it, attack it, or somehow
neutralize it. If it is something that lands in your nose, you might
get a runny, sneezy nose. If it lands on your skin, you might get
blistery skin. If you inhale it, you'll get wheezy lungs. If you eat
it, you may break out in itchy red hives all over your body. Allergy
is a definite stress, requiring large changes in energy expenditure
on the part of your body's defense system to fight off what the body
perceives as a dangerous attack by an outside toxin.
Your Stress Scale
In the following table you can look up representative changes in
your life and see how much stress value each of these changes is
adding to your life. NOTE ANY ITEM THAT YOU MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED IN
THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS. Then, total up your score.
(Adapted from the "Social Readjustment Rating Scale" by Thomas
Holmes and Richard Rahe. This scale was first published in the
"Journal of Psychosomatic Research", Copyright 1967, vol.II p. 214.
It is used by permission of Pergamon Press Ltd.)
STRESS EVENT VALUES
1. DEATH OF SPOUSE 100
2. DIVORCE 60
3. MENOPAUSE 60
4. SEPARATION FROM LIVING PARTNER 60
5. JAIL TERM OR PROBATION 60
6. DEATH OF CLOSE FAMILY MEMBER OTHER THAN SPOUSE 60
7. SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR ILLNESS 45
8. MARRIAGE OR ESTABLISHING LIFE PARTNERSHIP 45
9 .FIRED AT WORK 45
10.MARITAL OR RELATIONSHIP RECONCILIATION 40
11.RETIREMENT 40
12.CHANGE IN HEALTH OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER 40
13.WORK MORE THAN 40 HOURS PER WEEK 35
14.PREGNANCY OR CAUSING PREGNANCY 35
15.SEX DIFFICULTIES 35
16.GAIN OF NEW FAMILY MEMBER 35
17.BUSINESS OR WORK ROLE CHANGE 35
18.CHANGE IN FINANCIAL STATE 35
19.DEATH OF A CLOSE FRIEND (not a family member) 30
20.CHANGE IN NUMBER OF ARGUMENTS WITH SPOUSE OR LIFE PARTNER 30
21.MORTGAGE OR LOAN FOR A MAJOR PURPOSE 25
22.FORECLOSURE OF MORTGAGE OR LOAN 25
23.SLEEP LESS THAN 8 HOURS PER NIGHT 25
24.CHANGE IN RESPONSIBILITIES AT WORK 25
25.TROUBLE WITH IN-LAWS,OR WITH CHILDREN 25
26.OUTSTANDING PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT 25
27.SPOUSE BEGINS OR STOPS WORK 20
28.BEGIN OR END SCHOOL 20
29.CHANGE IN LIVING CONDITIONS (visitors in the home,
change in roommates, remodeling house) 20
30.CHANGE IN PERSONAL HABITS (diet, exercise,
smoking, etc.) 20
31.CHRONIC ALLERGIES 20
32.TROUBLE WITH BOSS 20
33.CHANGE IN WORK HOURS OR CONDITIONS 15
34.MOVING TO NEW RESIDENCE 15
35.PRESENTLY IN PRE-MENSTRUAL PERIOD 15
36.CHANGE IN SCHOOLS 15
37.CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES 15
38.CHANGE IN SOCIAL ACTIVITIES (more or less than before) 15
39.MINOR FINANCIAL LOAN 10
40.CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF FAMILY GET-TOGETHERS 10
41.VACATION 10
42.PRESENTLY IN WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON 10
43.MINOR VIOLATION OF THE LAW 5
TOTAL SCORE:_________________
STRESS SCALE FOR YOUTH
STRESS EVENT VALUES
1. DEATH OF SPOUSE, PARENT, BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND 100
2. DIVORCE (of yourself or your parents) 65
3. PUBERTY 65
4. PREGNANCY (or causing pregnancy) 65
5. MARITAL SEPARATION OR BREAKUP WITH
BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND 60
6. JAIL TERM OR PROBATION 60
7. DEATH OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBER
(other than spouse, parent or boyfriend/girlfriend) 60
8. BROKEN ENGAGEMENT 55
9. ENGAGEMENT 50
10.SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR ILLNESS 45
11.MARRIAGE 45
12.ENTERING COLLEGE OR BEGINNING NEXT LEVEL OF SCHOOL
(starting junior high or high school) 45
13.CHANGE IN INDEPENDENCE OR RESPONSIBILITY 45
14.ANY DRUG AND/OR ALCOHOLIC USE 45
15.FIRED AT WORK OR EXPELLED FROM SCHOOL 45
16.CHANGE IN ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE 45
17.RECONCILIATION WITH MATE, FAMILY OR
BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND (getting back together) 40
18.TROUBLE AT SCHOOL 40
19.SERIOUS HEALTH PROBLEM OF A FAMILY MEMBER 40
20.WORKING WHILE ATTENDING SCHOOL 35
21.WORKING MORE THAN 40 HOURS PER WEEK 35
22.CHANGING COURSE OF STUDY 35
23.CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF DATING 35
24.SEXUAL ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS (confusion of sexual
identify) 35
25.GAIN OF NEW FAMILY MEMBER
(new baby born or parent remarries) 35
26.CHANGE IN WORK RESPONSIBILITIES 35
27.CHANGE IN FINANCIAL STATE 30
28.DEATH OF A CLOSE FRIEND (not a family member) 30
29.CHANGE TO A DIFFERENT KIND OF WORK 30
30.CHANGE IN NUMBER OR ARGUMENTS WITH MATE, FAMILY
OR FRIENDS 30
31.SLEEP LESS THAN 8 HOURS PER NIGHT 25
32.TROUBLE WITH IN-LAWS OR BOYFRIEND'S OR
GIRLFRIEND'S FAMILY 25
33.OUTSTANDING PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT
(awards, grades, etc.) 25
34.MATE OR PARENTS START OR STOP WORKING 20
35.BEGIN OR END SCHOOL 20
36.CHANGE IN LIVING CONDITIONS (visitors in the
home, remodeling house, change in roommates) 20
37.CHANGE IN PERSONAL HABITS (start or stop a habit
like smoking or dieting) 20
38.CHRONIC ALLERGIES 20
39.TROUBLE WITH THE BOSS 20
40.CHANGE IN WORK HOURS 15
41.CHANGE IN RESIDENCE 15
42.CHANGE TO A NEW SCHOOL (other than graduation) 10
43.PRESENTLY IN PRE-MENSTRUAL PERIOD 15
44.CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY 15
45.GOING IN DEBT (you or your family) 10
46.CHANGE IN FREQUENCY OF FAMILY GATHERINGS 10
47.VACATION 10
48.PRESENTLY IN WINTER HOLIDAY SEASON 10
49.MINOR VIOLATION OF THE LAW 5
TOTAL SCORE=_________________
We have asked you to look at the last twelve months of changes in
your life. This may surprise you. It is crucial to understand,
however, that a major change in your life has effects that carry over
for long periods of time. It is like dropping a rock into a pond.
After the initial splash, you will experience ripples of stress. And
these ripples may continue in your life for at least a year.
So, if you have experienced total stress within the last twelve
months of 250 or greater, even with normal stress tolerance, you may
be OVERSTRESSED. Persons with Low Stress Tolerance may be
OVERSTRESSED at levels as low as 150.
OVERSTRESS will make you sick. Carrying too heavy a stress load is
like running your car engine past the red line; or leaving your
toaster stuck in the "on" position; or running a nuclear reactor past
maximum permissible power. Sooner or later, something will break,
burnup, or melt down.
What breaks depends on where the weak links are in your physical
body. And this is largely an inherited characteristic.
Here are the common "weak links", and the symptoms of
their malfunction
- Brain OVERSTRESS
- Fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells, depression, anxiety
attacks, sleep disturbance.
- Gastrointestinal Tract
- Ulcer, cramps and diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel.
- Glandular System
- Thyroid gland malfunction.
- Cardiovascular
- High blood pressure, heart attack, abnormal heart beat,
stroke.
- Skin
- Itchy skin rashes.
- Immune System
- Decreased resistance to infections and neoplasm.
We have known for a long time that OVERSTRESS could cause physical
damage to the gastrointestinal tract, glandular system, skin or
cardiovascular system. But only recently have we learned that
OVERSTRESS actually causes physical changes in the brain. One of the
most exciting medical advances of our decade has been an
understanding of how OVERSTRESS physically affects your brain. We now
know that the fatigue, aches and pains, crying spells, depression,
anxiety attacks and sleep disturbances of OVERSTRESS are caused by
brain CHEMICAL MALFUNCTION.
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