03 Jun Long-term stress also tests the strength of our inner resources (BRIAN LUKE SEAWARD)
Stress quickly begins with the perception of threat to our personal existence. Then the emotions join inanger, fear, or both. Before long a chain reaction of neurochemical responses is triggered and released throughout the body for fight or flight. Not all stress is bad for you, however.
Experts in the field of stress management agree that there is both good stress and bad stress. Good stress is anything that motivates you or inspires you to accomplish a goal or influences you to get something done. Good stress also includes those peakexperiences of exhilaration. Bad stress also called distress-pushes you over the edge of comfort. Distress can be acute, short-term stress or chronic, longterm stress.
Acute stress is intense but short-lived, like being pulled over for a speeding ticket or locking your keys in your car. The threat is over quickly, and life soon returns to normal (as does your body’s physiology).
Chronic stress, conversely, tends to have a much longer durationmonths or years, such as the stress associated with marital or financial problems, a career rut, or the boss from hell. Most stress researchers agree that chronic stressors are related to chronic disease and illness. Even at low levels, the body can only remain aroused in the stress mode for a finite time before the organs ultimately begin to show signs of dysfunction. Long-term stress also tests the strength of our inner resources such as humor, creativity, faith, patience, courage, compassion, forgiveness, and willpower.
A multitude of feelings can and will surface at the first moment of distress: impatience, embarrassment, anxiety or frustration, to name a few. Anger shows itself through guilt, prejudice, envy, jealousy, hostility, and rage. Fear can manifest in a host of emotions, including doubt, anxiety, and paranoia. Fear can be so overpowering that it immobilizes all other thoughts and actions.
Do anger and fear differ? Some insist that fear and anger are the same. They say that anger is merely an expression of fear. While there may be an element of truth to this notion, in terms of the stress response there are clear lines drawn between the two. Fight is not the same thing as fright. Perhaps it is best said that anger and fear are two sides of the same stress coin.’
Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like River
Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.
Εικόνα: Erik Johansson | http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/10/1410337429602_wps_65_PLEASE_PROVIDE_LINK_AND_C.jpg
