Your Perception of Your Stress
Stress is a feeling of emotional strain or pressure, or, overload on a physiological system.
STRESS - such a loaded word!
Stress is a feeling of emotional strain or pressure, or overload on a physiological system.
The stressor can be real or perceived.
Our individual interpretation of that word, STRESS, can really make a difference to our health. It is the perception of stress that will also impact our physiological response - the adrenal release of the stress hormones, and the nervous system response to the stress. The body will either maintain a sympathetic (fight or flight) state, or will reset and switch to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Remember, stress is experienced by everyone, and stress is a normal part of life.
If I ask a client about their life and work and stress some will say ‘nah i’m not stressed!’ Yet when we dig deeper and I understand all that is going on in their everyday life, in a clinical sense they are under stress and the adrenal glands would be releasing the stress hormones so that they can physically and mentally keep up with the demands required of them on a day to day basis. If this is short term, and is an event or situation that will pass, their attitude or perception to the stressor being that they don’t feel stressed is most likely regulating the stress response and not exacerbating the response. Therefore once the event has passed they will most likely be able to return to a parasympathetic state every day and the adrenals will reset after the event has passed. However, if this event or life situation were to continue indefinitely, then it is possible that there will be repercussions to the sustained adrenal response and release of stress hormones so that they may reach ‘burn out’ - a loss of energy, deep fatigue, poor immunity etc. It is individual whether this would take 2/5/10 years.
Remember that stress is good, and is a normal part of life. Stress calls us to action (a work presentation, exam study, task completion, maintains alertness). It is both the longevity of the stress response and the perception of the stress or life event that can impact our health.
The flip-side of the ‘non-stressed’ person in clinic is the person that when I discuss stress this person feels completely overwhelmed with a tenth of the workload that the above ‘non-stressed’ person may have. This person will often feel every decision they must make in everyday life as stressful. To feed themselves and go to work is as much as their adrenal and nervous system can cope with. To care for their new child, to start a new job in a new environment is more than their nervous system can handle. This person is always feeling overwhelmed and ‘stressed’. How they got to this state may be due to trauma and the physiological stress response has remained such that everything is stressful and overwhelming. We all have different constitutions too which lend us to dealing with life and situations differently.
Do you feel like this stressed person? What can you do?
There are a number of strategies to assist the body shift out of parasympathetic state, including appropriate counselling and trauma release modalities. I also use a number of different herbal medicines, nutrient and appropriate diet recommendation, movement and exercise. Your daily rituals will assist the body to shift to the parasympathetic nervous system every day, to allow reset.
But I would like to bring your attention to how you perceive stress.
Stress is enhancing (until it becomes distress!). But if you perceive stress to be bad then the stress and nervous system response is shown to be different - ie studies show that the release of hormones is actually different. The mindset and the words we use matter. Even the difference between saying I have a very stressful day today, as opposed to ‘I have a full day today’. The day is full and busy, and if you approach the day in a positive manner then the nervous system will respond in a different manner.
The mindset and thoughts you have influence the response in the body. Your interoception (the ability to be aware of internal sensations in the body, including heart rate, respiration, hunger, fullness, temperature, and pain, as well as emotion sensations) will assist you to regulate your responses ie your nervous system response to the everyday stressor. It is important to connect within.
Daily rituals to regulate, connect within and shift the nervous system into a parasympathetic state supporting the stress response and creating stress resilience include:
walking in nature,
mindful breathing, meditation
herbal tea ceremonies,
yoga,
night time routines
What do you think? Where do you sit in this realm?
As we head into the sharp end of the year where life tends to get ‘busier’ due to a perception that we are running out of time - when really all it is is the end of another calender month.
I hope that this is able to assist your approach and intention towards our year end, and provide some survival tips to arrive at your summer holiday rested and not collapsed in adrenal exhaustion.
For more in-depth information on stress please take a look at this previous N&B Journal Article. Also, see me in naturopathic clinic or at the apothecary for nutrient and herbal medicine to support both the nervous system and adrenal glands for better energy and sleep.
