The Physiological Effects Of Stress – Mind Body Connection

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The Physiological Effects Of Stress – Mind Body Connection

Stress affects us mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s actually a rather complex process and there are still many unknowns regarding stress including the physiological effects of stress. What do we mean by physiological?

Physiology is a science. Human physiology has a wide scope that includes the processes that go on within cells; how tissues and organs work; and also how we respond to the environment. Therefore, human physiological processes are the functions of living persons and their parts, and the physical and chemical factors and processes involved.

Bottom line is that in this article, we’ll focus on how stress affects your physical health, or the physiological effects of stress. Stress doesn’t just happen and then disappear. It has a lingering effect on you. It alters your body and your brain.

The effect on your brain (which leads to impacts on your body) is analogous to an allergy. Your body becomes sensitized to stress. Then, the slightest hint of a stressful event can trigger a slew of chemical reactions in your brain and body that assault you from within.

And we all have the capacity to become sensitized to stress. The danger is that when the brain is sensitized, it re-circuits itself in response to stress. You may think you’re not getting all that worked up over missing the commuter train. But your brain is treating it like a life-threatening situation.

This intense over-activity means slugs of bio-chemicals are being unleashed by stress even at the most trivial of events. Your physical brain patterns have been altered. Therefore, in the future you respond differently. You may produce too many excitatory chemicals or too fee calming ones. Your brain is responding inappropriately.

In other words, stress itself alters your ability to cope with stress!

The result? When stresses become routine, the constant biological pounding takes its toll on the body; the system starts to wear out at an accelerated rate. This is anything BUT good news!

The physiological effects of stress vary from one individual to another regardless of whether you’ve yet been sensitized to stress or not. Mounting evidence strongly suggests that the same chemicals being released in response to stress are triggering physical reactions throughout the body. The potential impact on the body ranges from relatively minor to deadly.

When stress triggers the adrenal glands they manufacture and release the true stress hormones (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and especially cortisol). The body is so responsive to adrenal hormones that basic body functions like blood flow and breathing are significantly altered by even minute changes in these chemicals resulting in significant impacts on health.

Potential impacts include higher blood pressure; diabetes; and asthma. If the adrenal gland slacks off on cortisol production the result may be obesity, heart disease, or osteoporosis; too much of the hormone can cause women to take on masculine traits like hair growth and muscle development or baldness in men. High levels of cortisol also may kill off brain cells crucial for memory.

More physiological effects of stress are a sudden surge in blood sugar or heart rate. The problem is the stress system is actually responsible for coordinating much more than just our response to stress. These chemicals and hormones direct everything from the immune system to the cardiovascular system to our behavioral system.

For example, cortisol directly impacts short-term memory. The stress hormones dopamine and epinephrine are also neurotransmitters widely active in enabling communication among brain cells. Stress also alters serotonin pathways which links stress with depression on one hand, aggression on the other.

Stress can also affect the organs, immune system, metabolic system, and even the sexual response system. Other “conditions” include irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety, gastric problems, stroke, substance abuse, possibly cancer, sleep disorders, headaches, uncontrollable bouts of crying, skin allergies, acne, altered metabolism, more susceptible to colds and flu, and various body aches.

Stress also directly affects a part of the nervous system that controls the glands, heart, digestive system, respiratory system, and skin. This means any pre-existing medical condition influenced by a nervous system response such as chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, digestive disorders, or headaches is likely to become exacerbated by stress when the already overworked system becomes overloaded by additional stress.

If you take more time to learn about the physiological effects of stress you may be able to explore more effective ways to create a wall of deflection. Stress will always be present in our lives but it doesn’t have to be life threatening.

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6 Effective Tips To Deal With Leadership Stress

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6 Effective Tips To Deal With Leadership Stress

True leaders know how powerful a certain level of stress can be to keep you focused, to make you competitive, and to encourage action.  Anytime you have to give a big presentation or talk to an important client, if you are not at least a little nervous, you won’t give it your best.

Nevertheless, stress can also be lethal, especially in today’s vile economic reality, where every professional is menaced by endless hours, layoffs, and anxiety about what may come next.

The best and most experienced leaders acknowledge that dealing with leadership stress has to do with 6 essential factors, and these are the way out, now more than ever:

1.Keeping perspective
It is crucial to acknowledge that no matter how bad the circumstances, or how big your challenge is, there are others in a worse situation who are probably dealing with it much better than you are.

Thousands of managers have to talk to their staff about costs reductions, possible dismissals, and new ways to make profit; it is a stressful speech, and many need to calm down afterwards, at least James Mitchum had to.  

James is an executive director at a major communications’ firm, and after delivering the dreaded speech he decided to go out for lunch at a nearby restaurant to unwind.  While he was there, he noticed the cashier was on a wheelchair, and he also saw a blind customer trying to order a meal.  Immediately he realized his problem would disappear, theirs wouldn’t.  Nevertheless, they looked happy, optimistic, and energized. Basically, their attitude was far more inspiring and helpful than his at that moment and he was grateful for the lesson.

2.    Staying fit
Exercise is crucial for a leader’s success.  Several studies have proven that leaders who exercise are more effective and deal much better with stress.

Exercise helps keep emotions under control, and it relaxes and energizes you.  We know it is not easy to fit an exercise schedule when you are a busy executive, however, you must find the way. Everyone around you and you yourself will be thankful.

3.Opening up
Stress manifests when you hold on to too much inside, and leaders often feel they have to manage certain things by themselves… Don’t!  Open up, it will make you appear vulnerable in a good way and authentic, and that’s what draws people to a leader.  

Releasing the load will make you feel liberated, and the more your staff knows about a serious situation, the more in control they will feel.    

4.    Accepting feedback and criticism
The better you acknowledge your strengths and your weaknesses, the easier it will be to remain calm.  The more you welcome ideas and opportunities, the more powerful you will feel. However, this means you have to ask people to be honest with you, and you have to be ready to accept what they say even if you don’t like it.  Allowing for this will make you smarter, and will diminish everyone’s stress because they know they can speak and you will listen.

5.    Reorganizing your life
Get organized and define your priorities, both professionally and personally.  It is very common to add stress to your life by getting ready for a meeting in the last minute or by not sharing crucial information in a timely manner, and this happens when you are too worried about competition and secondary assignments.

Most people live their lives in a very busy but undisciplined way.  In many cases, we only care about doing things non-stop, without ever considering stopping certain things.  Successful leaders make it a habit to select one unproductive thing that wastes their time daily and stop doing it right away.  They do the same the next day, and in the process, liberate themselves from stress.

6.    Recharging batteries
Take time to slow down. Working long hours without stop won’t make you more productive, much to the contrary, it will jeopardize your performance.

When you take time to recharge, you are able to do more in less time.  Professional athletes know it very well: overdo it and you will get burned out.  

Spend time with your family and friends, read good books, go out and have fun, or take a trip.  Your company won’t disappear because you take some days off, and you will boost your capacity to solve difficult situations.

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Physical Effects Of Stress On Women

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Physical Effects Of Stress On Women

The physical effects of stress on women are often discussed, especially among women themselves. Even as they cause themselves by responding with anxiety to the thought of the physical effects of stress on women, they increase those effects. As a woman, I have often sat in a group, each member of which seemed bent on proving that she suffered more physical effects of stress than the others.

Physical Effects of Stress on Women When It Is Distress

Physical effects of stress on women when that stress is negative distress include health concerns such as backache, shoulder and neck pain, headache, migraine, and digestive distresses. The list goes on with insomnia, absence of menstruation, abnormal bleeding during menstruation, pregnancy concerns, and fertility problems. The physical effects of stress on women can be traced to everything from itchy skin to heart disease and cancer.

Those are the physical effects of distress: our detrimental, negative response to unusual demands placed upon us. Those are the effects of stress we hear about most frequently: the negative.

There are other effects of stress on women, however. There are the physical effects of stress that is positive: the effects of eustress.

In the remainder of this article, I want to concentrate on the effects of stress.

Physical Effects of Stress on Women When It Is Eustress

Eustress is positive, beneficial stress. This is the stress you feel when your hard work finally results in a promotion. It is the stress you create when you respond with laughter and intense euphoria to a marriage proposal.

The physical effects of stress on women when that stress is eustress are beneficial, health-giving effects. To understand that line of thinking, we need to look at the meaning of the Greek roots of the word.

The word “eustress” and the word “euphoria” have their first two letters in common. The Greek prefix “eu” indicates a state of happiness. This prefix is one of the basic Greek elements that we need to know to understand much of what we read.

The Greek prefix “eu” refers to that which is good, well, and normal. Words that carry this prefix normally refer to things that are happy and pleasing. For example, “euphoria” is defined by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary as “a feeling of well-being or elation” and is said to come from the Greek prefix “Eu” and the word “pherein” meaning to bear. Euphoria is a good feeling experienced when you bear things happily.

Dividing the word “eustress” into its two syllables, “eu” and “stress,” we find that eustress is good, well, normal (eu) stress. Eustress makes you feel good. It makes you euphoric, joyful, merry, and exhilarated. It creates laughter.

A proverb from the Holy Bible has recently been proven scientifically true. That proverb refers directly to the physical effects of stress on women when that stress is eustress.

”A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” The Holy Bible, Proverbs 17:22.

That proverb contrasts eustress and distress. It points out that, on the one hand, eustress, shown by a merry heart, is physically beneficial. Distress, on the other hand, is detrimental to physical health – it dries the bones.

The physical effects of stress on women, when that stress is eustress, are improved health and vitality. It prepares our physical bodies for the manual work they must do. It prepares our minds for decisions and cerebral work.

Two men by the names of Frank Churchill and Larry Morey wrote a little song that featured in Walt Disney’s “Snow White” film. Morey’s lyrics to “Whistle While You Work” extolled the benefits of eustress. They urged that “when there’s too much to do (a stressor)”, you shouldn’t let it bother you. Rather, wrote Morey, it is smart to whistle while you work. It makes time fly.

Physical effects of stress on women, when that stress is eustress, are beneficial. Women have increased strength and vitality with eustress. Their immune systems are better able to fight off disease. They tend to enjoy better health in every way. They have better physical balance.

While eustress is not a guarantee of safety from disease, its physiological effects do promote better health.

The Choice Is Yours

Many women believe that they have no choice in the matter, but we do. When meeting unusual demands, we can choose to respond negatively (distress) or positively (eustress). We can choose a “merry heart” or a “broken spirit.”

In other words, the physical effects of stress on women are determined greatly by women’s responses to the demands life makes on them.

Stress and the Law of Cause and Effect

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Stress and the Law of Cause and Effect

The number one challenge that many people in the modern world are struggling with today is stress. It is said that stress is one of the main causes of illness, and in many cases even suicide. What is the main cause of stress? Simply put, it is resistance to anything that is perceived to be undesirable or unpleasant, or alternatively trying to force that which is not, to be. This resisting or forcing is as a result of negative thoughts and perceptions about a situation or circumstance, which in turn cause negative emotions, creating stress. This, in medical scientific terms means the release of stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) in the body, creating the fear-based “flight of fight” response. How do you overcome stress? The best way is essentially by learning to accept every situation or circumstance as it is. This may sound like a tall order, impossible to do for some, but as soon as you learn to understand some very important principles in this regard, it will start to make more sense.

It is important to realise and understand the fact that as much as there are physical laws that govern the universe, there are also universal or spiritual laws that govern the experience of life. Unless you are aware of and familiar with these laws, you may continue to live in violation of or resistance to these laws, which are immutable. You then continue to experience the consequences of this violation or resistance in the form of suffering. You are bound to suffer serious consequences should you decide to jump off a tall building, as you will be violating the natural Law of Gravity. The same applies to any of the universal laws of life. For the purpose of this topic, we will focus on one of the many universal laws, namely the Law of Cause and Effect. Isaac Newton’s third Law of Motion, states that “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This essentially explains how the Law of Cause and Effect operates.

The obvious question that arises would be how the Law of Cause and Effect relates to your stress levels. To avoid a long-winded scientific explanation, it can be summarised in a nutshell. If you understand and believe in the Law of Cause and Effect, you will learn to realise that every circumstance, experience and event in your life are purely effects caused by something, invariably something that you are responsible for, namely your thoughts, beliefs and expectations. Even if you did not directly cause the circumstance, you cause your own response to it, and if negative, stress will be a possible effect. This is a difficult concept to grasp for those who have been conditioned from young to be victims of life, unable to control what happens to them. However, the reality is that you are potentially far more in control of the circumstances in your life than you may have been led to believe.

As mentioned earlier, stress is generally caused by non-acceptance of and resistance to perceived undesirable or unpleasant circumstances. What role does the Law of Cause and Effect play in this equation? Firstly, apart from the obvious, why do most people tend to resist negative circumstances? Upon reflection, the answer can only be because of the belief that things should be different; that they are not meant to be the way they are. Think about that for a moment. If things are not meant to be the way they are, why should I not resist them? At this point it is important to consider the three options available in dealing with negative circumstances. The first is to change the circumstances if possible. The second is to walk away from the circumstances if you can. If neither of these is an option, the only remaining one is to accept the circumstances. But how can I accept what in my opinion is not meant to be? This is where the potential braintwister comes in. Everything that is, is meant to be. This may be an unacceptable concept for the conditioned victim of life. However, the Law of Cause and Effect alludes to the fact that whatever is, is meant to be. Why? There was a cause that created the effect, therefore the effect is meant to be. To use a simple illustration; when I open a door, that door is meant to be open because I opened it. Although that may speak of intention, the principle applies to whatever the circumstance may be. If you understand the Law of Cause and Effect, you will understand your responsibility for being the cause of the effects in your life, through your thoughts, beliefs and expectations, including your response to possible causes from the outside. Even though you may not be consciously aware of the Law of Cause and Effect, it does not cancel out the Law. Instead, you may cause negative effects in your life through unconscious wrong thoughts, beliefs and expectations and then try to resist the negative effects, which then leads to stress. Whether conscious or unconscious, whatever effect you experience, it is meant to be, as it was created by a cause. This truth may need some time to sink in as it may contradict previous conditioning.

By understanding the Law of Cause and Effect and viewing the current circumstances in your life from this perspective, you will begin to understand that resisting these circumstances because in your opinion they should not be, is not such a wise thing to do and only creates unnecessary stress. They are meant to be, as they are merely the effect of a cause. When you accept the fact that they are there and stop resisting, you will allow the universe or God to provide you with solutions as to how you can effectively deal with the circumstances. First of all, there should be gratitude for the fact that you have learnt a valuable lesson from the experience. Either, there is something in your thoughts, beliefs or expectations that caused the circumstance, or your reaction to the circumstance is causing your experience. Understanding this is empowering as it means that you have the power to change the effect by changing the cause. Instead of expending valuable energy in resisting, you can redirect that energy to explore what the cause was that led to the undesirable effect. You can start by asking questions and examining your thoughts, beliefs and expectations. This is far more proactive and productive than playing the victim and fighting against the effect.

Common sense should tell you that the more you learn about the universal laws that govern your experience of life and learn to live in harmony with these, the less stress and the more peace you will experience in your life. This is the principle of knowledge of the truth setting you free. Instead of remaining a victim of life, you can learn to become a creator of your life. Instead of living at effect, you can start learning to live at cause.

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