Stress

Stress is a normal reaction the body has when changes occur, resulting in physical, emotional and
intellectual responses. Stress management training can help you deal with changes in a healthier way.

What is stress?

Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to
experience stress and react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body
produces physical and mental responses. That’s stress.

Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert,
motivated and ready to avoid danger. For example, if you have an important test coming up, a stress
response might help your body work harder and stay awake longer. But stress becomes a problem when
stressors continue without relief or periods of relaxation.

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Stress is a natural part of our modern lives. Bills come every month, kids’ activities are year-round and
work never seems to slow down. A little bit of stress is inevitable, but oftentimes that’s a good thing.

Stress helps you meet your daily challenges and motivates you to reach your goals, ultimately making
you a smarter, happier and healthier person. That’s right. Good stress is vital for a healthy life.

Good vs. Bad Stress

You may think any type of stress is bad, but that isn’t the case. Good stress, or eustress, is the type of
stress you feel when you’re excited. Your pulse quickens and your hormones surge, but there is no
threat or fear.

You might feel this type of stress when you ride a roller coaster, compete in a game, or go on a first
date. Good stress is short-term and it inspires and motivates you, focuses your energy and enhances
performance.

Bad stress, however, is the kind that wears you out, leaves you jittery and is harmful to your health. Bad
stress, or distress, can lead to anxiety, confusion, poor concentration and decreased performance.
Bad stress can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Acute stress doesn’t take a heavy toll on
your body if you can find ways to relax quickly. However, chronic stress, when you repeatedly face
stressors, can take a heavy toll on your body and can cause negative health effects. Chronic stress can
cause headaches, insomnia, weight gain, anxiety, pain and high blood pressure.

Common chronic stressors include:

Relationships

Money

Work

Unmanaged health or mental health problems

Racial inequities

Perceived loss

Both good and bad stress result in your body releasing hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, that
trigger common signs of stress: butterflies in the stomach, racing heart and sweaty palms. Ultimately,
what distinguishes good stress from bad is how you react or feel about the experience.

How to Reduce Bad Stress

Stress becomes a problem when it starts to take over your life. The key to stress management is
identifying the bad stressors in your life and developing healthy ways to deal with them. Summa Health
offers 7 healthy ways to manage your bad stress.

Eliminate stress where you can. Learning how to say “no” more often, paring down your to-do list and
avoiding people who stress you out is a great place to start. Once you learn to manage your time more
effectively, your stress level will go down.

Accept there are events you can’t control. There are things in life beyond your control, such as someone
else’s behavior. Instead of stressing about what you can’t control, focus on what you can control and
how you react to the problem. That way, you are expending your energy where it can be more effective.

Think positive thoughts. Negative thoughts can lead to negative behavior, while a positive attitude can
help offset difficult situations. Make an effort to think positively by looking for the upside in every
situation, whether you learn from your mistakes or use major challenges as a time for personal growth.
In addition, thinking about all the things you appreciate in your life, including your own positive
qualities, can change your perspective.
Get support. Confide in family and friends, or turn to someone professional. Expressing how you feel can
be cathartic. Also, it’s important to express your feelings, instead of bottling them up because that can
add to your stress.

Add relaxation techniques to your everyday routine. Relaxation promotes overall health and gives you a
chance to step away and clear your head. It doesn’t have to be a big time commitment; it can be
accomplished with deep breathing exercises, meditation or even yoga.

Stay healthy and fit. A well-balanced diet and staying active ensures your body is better prepared to
fight stress. Exercise relaxes your body and mind, while improving your mood. In fact, physical exercise
has been proven to play a key role in preventing and reducing the effects of stress.

Get a good night’s rest. Getting enough rest is important because it gives your body time to recover
from stressful events and sets you up to fight new challenges the next day.

The key is identifying good stress from bad stress. As long as it’s not chronic, stress can be a positive
addition to your life. Make an effort to reduce your chronic stress as much as possible, and add positive
activities to promote good stress. It creates a healthy balance and a better quality of life.

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What Is Chronic Stress?

Chronic stress is a prolonged and constant feeling of stress that can negatively affect your health if it
goes untreated. It can be caused by the everyday pressures of family and work or by traumatic
situations.

Chronic stress occurs when the body experiences stressors with such frequency or intensity that the
autonomic nervous system does not have an adequate chance to activate the relaxation response on a
regular basis. This means that the body remains in a constant state of physiological arousal.

This affects virtually every system in the body, either directly or indirectly. People were built to handle
acute stress, which is short-lived, but not chronic stress, which is steady over a long period of time. In
order to begin managing chronic stress, it is important to understand what it is, what may be causing it,
and how it affects the entire body.

Symptoms

Chronic stress affects both the mind and body. It produces both physical and psychological symptoms
that can take a toll on a person's ability to function normally in their daily life.
These symptoms can vary in their severity from one person to the next. Some of the most common signs
of chronic stress include:

Aches and pains

Decreased energy

Difficulty sleeping

Disorganized thinking

Fatigue

Feeling a loss of control

Feelings of helplessness

Frequent illnesses and infections

Gastrointestinal complaints

Headaches

Irritability

Muscle tension

Nervousness and anxiety

Trouble concentrating

Upset stomach

Identifying Chronic Stress

It isn't always easy to recognize chronic stress. Because it is pervasive and long-lasting, people often
grow so accustomed to it that it begins to feel normal. Some signs to look for when identifying chronic
stress:

Are you often moody or irritated?

Does it feel like you are always worrying about something?

Does it seem like you don't have time to take care of yourself or do the things that you enjoy?

Do the smallest inconveniences seem like too much to handle?

Do you always seem to catch colds or get infections?

Have you been relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms like alcohol to manage your stress?

Causes
This type of chronic stress response occurs all too frequently from our modern lifestyle. Everything from
high-pressured jobs to loneliness to busy traffic can keep the body in a state of the perceived threat and
chronic stress.

In this case, our fight-or-flight response, which was designed to help us fight occasional life-threatening
situations (like swerving to nearly miss a car crash), can wear down our bodies and cause us to become
ill, either physically or emotionally.

Estimates suggest that between 60—80% of primary care visits involve a stress-related component.1
That's why it is so important to learn stress management techniques and make healthy lifestyle changes
to safeguard yourself from the negative impact of chronic stress.

Types of Chronic Stress

Sources of chronic stress can vary, but often fall into one of four different types:

Emotional stress (difficult emotions such as anger, sadness, or frustration)

Environmental stress (where you live and work)

Relationship stress (how you relate to friends, family, co-workers, partners)

Work stress (challenges and pressures related to your job)

In many instances, these types of stresses affect multiple domains in a person's life. Work stress can
create stress in your relationships. Relationship stress can make it more difficult to manage difficult
emotions.

For example, if your family is struggling financially or with a severe illness, the stress can become
chronic. Someone in your home may not be able to work, bills are piling up and your home is nearing
foreclosure, and this can leave you stressed for months or even a year or more.

Your constant worry wears down your body, making you feel tired and anxious. You may be working
harder than ever to make ends meet and make unhealthy choices about food and exercise, which can
make you feel even worse. This can lead to a number of significant health concerns.

We can also have chronic stress related to work. Many jobs require a lot from us, and it can often feel
like you never get a break or are always under pressure to perform.
Working overtime, constant travel, and high-pressure business relations can keep your body in a
constant state of excitement, even when you get home to your family. This can also add to the wear and
tear on your body, and continuous stress can contribute to serious health issues like heart disease.

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What does the phrase fight or flight mean?

The fight or flight response is an automatic physiological reaction to an event that is perceived as
stressful or frightening. The perception of threat activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers
an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee.

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Internal Stressors

Internal stressors are made by your belief system and the way you evaluate yourself. When you have
trouble meeting personal expectations, goals and visions, internal stress results.

Additionally, the way you think about life and the world around you impacts your stress levels.
Sometimes, reality doesn’t match your belief system. Differences between reality and your expectations
can be quite stressful.

Your everyday emotions can be internal stressors, as can mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression.
Your thinking patterns can lead to detrimental stress buildup.

More examples of internal stressors:

Pessimistic attitude

Negative self-talk

Deep need to be perfect

Low self-esteem
Unhealthy standards for self

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External Stressors

External stressors are out of your control. These are stressful things that happen in your surroundings,
your environment. From worldwide events to small car accidents, everyone experiences external stress
daily.

The key difference between external and internal stressors is that external stressors are unlikely to be in
your control. The only way to reduce the stress caused by external stressors is to change the way you
react to the stressors. You control the effect it has on your life.

Examples of external stressors include:

Busy schedule

Work problems

Family issues

Financial trouble

Social problems

Injury

Unforeseen circumstances

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Tips for Handling Internal Stressors

Journal. Keep track of your day-to-day experiences and record changes in your mood. You’ll begin to see
patterns in the way you think, which is the first step in identifying and eliminating unhealthy internal
responses.

Therapy. Sometimes it takes a professional to recognize unhealthy patterns in your thinking and help
you get back on track. A therapist can help you think more positively about yourself and teach you
stress-management skills.
Exercise. Physical activity is a very effective stress relief tool. Not only does it relieve tension and feel-
good chemicals in your body, but it can offer a meditative state for your mind to process stress. Plus,
exercise combats the negative health effects caused by stress.

Tips for Handling External Stressors

Talk it out. If you’re feeling stress because of a situation with a friend, boss or family member, speaking
up can relieve anxiety and stress. It might feel difficult, but talking through issues knocks out a lot of
associated stress.

Develop stress-relief strategies. When stressful things happen out of nowhere, you should have some
go-to techniques to reduce stress in those moments. It’s helpful to learn and know stress-relieving
breathing or meditation techniques. You’ll be better prepared to handle stress from external events.

Make changes. If life is just too stressful in general, you may need to make some difficult decisions.
Leaving a toxic job or relationship might be hard, but it might also remove chronic stress. Take steps to
create a life that takes care of you, not one that buries you in stress.

Everyone’s different, so it’s a good thing there are stress management techniques to fit into anyone’s
life. For more ideas on relieving both internal and external stress,

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Stress is a normal response to certain stimuli. Our minds and bodies are designed to protect us from a
perceived threat, releasing stress hormones to help us engage our fight-or-flight response. This reaction
is meant to be helpful.

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