 The
current volume of litigation against so many businesses
due to stress related problems is merely the tip of
the iceberg, for stress - or to be more accurate "distress"
- is the overloading of peoples physical, emotional
and mental systems and could almost be regarded as an
epidemic.
Obviously, not only Business Managers who realise that
their work forces are their most valuable assets, but
also an increasing number of individuals are now understanding
that Stress Management is now an essential, to a happy,
successful and enjoyable lifestyle.
What is Stress?
There are many definitions of stress dependant upon
such things as which book you read or which discipline
one works under ie. Engineer, Physicist, Psychologist
etc.
Because Stress can come in so many guises, can be caused
by many different things and can manifest itself in
a myriad of ways we are using the following definition
for the context of this Web site:
"The emotional, physiological & psychological
effects caused by a build up of either internally or
externally generated mental pressure".
Mental pressure
When considering what causes the mental pressure, we
find that there are such a wide range of differing reasons
for the varied levels of pressure build up in different
character types.
Each person will react in a different way to the same
set of pressure stimulants. These reactions will in
some part be result of things that have happened in
the past (often a result of childhood influences) and
the individual character types.
Accept stress as a fact
It is a fact that we do need stress - to give meaning
to our lives. There can be no highs in life without
some lows, life without highs and lows would be a flat
line !
We all need to accept stress as a fact in our daily
lives. Nobody can take your stress away from you, its
your stress and there is only one person that can deal
with it.
How many of these signs do
you recognise?
minor health problems (upset stomach, headache, cold,
flu, pains, rashes)
missed menstrual periods
loss of confidence or feeling of low self esteem
depression, feeling of hopelessness
feeling of intense fatigue, even after sleep
indigestion, eating disorders
self blame, guilt, cynicism, sense of total failure
anger and resentment at nothing in particular
lowered sex drive
extreme reluctance to go to work
greater dependency on alcohol, caffeine, nicotine or
drugs
loss of appetite or eating binges
Origins of stress
The origins of stress are as old as time itself - it
is a function of part of our primitive brain. If we
look at the times of early cave man and consider him
walking across a clearing with a club over his shoulder,
relaxed and happy. Just then, around the corner comes
a prehistoric wild beast. As you would expect our cave
man would instantly register danger and signals would
be sent to the brain which we generally refer to as
FIGHT or FLIGHT. That's all very well, but we no longer
come face to face with wild animals and of course our
"stressors" come in different guises.
What happens when stress and
pressures occur?
In these modern & relatively safe times, most of
our stress responses are set off by our own thoughts,
but it is widely accepted that we all think and imagine
in one of three ways : Seeing, hearing & feeling
(emotion). There are further triggers, which can come
from within that consciously have no known origin and
tend to manifest themselves in anxiety or panic. This
is named free-floating anxiety. Once stress is triggered
responses come in two forms - Chemical & Physical:
Chemical: Adrenaline, Noradrenaline, Cortisone, Testosterone,
Thyroxin & Endorphines
Physical: Breathing, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Blood
Flow, Digestion, and Muscular Tension
Taking positive control of
stress
A person who is stressed is like a car running on high
tick over - we need to examine the cause(s) of the problem(s)
and take a positive control of the situation and reduce
that "tick over" to an acceptable level. This
is done over four separate sessions in surgery on an
individual basis, or through bespoke seminars at Corporate
level (please contact the practice for details).
Queries and Questions
Please email Geoffrey
Schofield for further information.
|
