STRESS:  Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It

Written by Marianne E. Morano, M.S., ACSM, CWC

STRESS; the word itself gives us grief.  We know that prolonged, unmanaged stress is harmful to our health, and as such, we can’t continually live with it.  Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to live life without some type of stress, and as such, we can’t live without it.

So what is stress, how does it affect our body, mind and spirit, and how do we manage it?  These are some of the questions we will be exploring in this article.

Basically, if you are alive, you experience stress. Stress is a physical and emotional reaction to both good and bad situations that may be beneficial or harmful to your health.  Hans Selye in 1936 defined it as “The non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”.  He later redefined stress as “The rate of wear and tear on the body”.  As such, increased stress may accelerate many aspects of the aging process.

Although, stress usually has a negative connotation, it can actually be positive.  For example, the birth of a baby, a wedding, moving to a bigger home, all very stressful; however, with positive outcomes.  Sometimes stress can be good when it increases productivity and motivates you to accomplish more.

We generally view stress as negative however, because of the toll it takes on the body, and because of the struggle to manage routine, severe or catastrophic stress.  Routine stress is related to everyday pressures of work, time constraints, family, traffic and other daily responsibilities.  Severe stress may be brought about due to a huge negative change, such as, termination from a job, illness, death, divorce or abuse.  Catastrophic stress occurs if you are involved in a war, natural disaster, are at gunpoint, or in a major accident that threatens your life, for example.

So, is stress positive, negative, helpful or harmful?  The answer is, it depends.  As non-specific of an answer this is, it is in fact dependent on many variables.  First of all, to understand stress, we need to understand its triggers known as stressors, or any physical or emotional stimulus that causes stress.  We need to understand the difference between acute and chronic stress.  In addition, we must understand what determines our ability to manage stress.  Finally, we need to practice coping mechanisms for managing stress.

Stressors may be positive or negative, helpful or harmful.  It is not necessarily the stressor itself that is harmful to our health, but rather our reaction to that stressor that determines the affect on our physical and emotional health. 

Each of us may perceive a stressor differently.  For instance, let’s examine reactions to a ride on the world’s largest roller coaster.  For thrill seekers, this is exciting, and exhilarating.  For those afraid of heights and speed, this ride is torturous and debilitating. 

The stressor is the same (the roller coaster ride); the perception of that stressor may be different.  For the thrill seeker, it is a great experience and for those afraid of speed it is a horrible experience, as they cannot wait for the ride to end and pray they live to see another day.

Even though the physical response is the same for both, a rush of adrenalin, heart pounding, palms sweating etc. the thrill seeker sees this as a positive rush, while those afraid of speed and heights perceive this experience as impending doom.  When the ride is over, the thrill seekers are laughing and excited and the physiological changes (increased heart rate, sweating) begin to subside, whereas, those afraid of speed are pale and sick to their stomach with physiological symptoms lasting for a longer period of time with a negative impact emotionally; same stressor, different response.

As this is an analogy, the point can be made that a stressful situation may be perceived differently by various people, and each response might be different to a stressor, making it a gray area rather than black and white for all stress and stressors.

The difference between acute and chronic stress is the length of time to exposure.  With an acute stress, the effects are short term.  For example, you are driving your car and a deer runs in front of your car and you slam on the breaks and barely miss hitting it.  Adrenalin is released, your muscles tense, you begin to sweat as your heart pounds and head throbs, and then you realize that you missed hitting it and you are OK.  Within minutes, all of those physiological symptoms reverse, as you return back to your pre-stressed state of homeostasis, or body balance. 

With chronic stress, the effects are long term.  For example, you are diagnosed with a debilitating illness and suffer deleterious effects from the treatment.  You worry 24/7 about your survival, and vacillate between a heightened state of arousal and bouts of severe depression.

Often we create our own stress because of learned, faulty perceptions that are, fortunately, correctable. You can learn ways to cope with and manage stress. As Eleanor Roosevelt noted, “nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent,” similarly you choose how you react to stress.

While there is not one single definition for stress, all experimental and clinical research confirm that the sense of having little or no control is always stressful – and that’s what stress is all about.  So, learning to control how you react to stress is key.

Before learning how to manage stress, let us examine the effects of stress on the body, mind and spirit.

Stress affects all systems of the human body including: Nervous System, Digestive System, Cardiovascular System, Immune System, Muscular System, Respiratory System, and Reproductive System to name a few.  Each system has its own set of symptoms and reactions to stress.

Nervous System Response to Stress

• Fight or flight response; adrenalin and cortisol are released
  • Cortisol increases cravings and emotional eating, and causes less fat to be burned increasing weight gain risk
  • Memory is impaired, inability to concentrate, poor judgment, constant worrying, dizziness
  • Headaches, insomnia, irritability, depression, anxiety, moodiness, agitation, short tempered, cannot relax, unhappy
  • Alcohol, drug abuse
  • Social withdrawal, loneliness
  • Chronic stress shortens telomeres, the protective caps on chromosomes, and as such quickens the aging process

Cardiovascular System Response to Stress

• Heart beats faster
• Possible chest pain
• Blood vessels constrict, blood pressure increases
• Chronic stress causes heart to work to hard increasing risk of stroke & heart attack

Respiratory System Response to Stress

• Breathing rate is faster as the body tries to circulate blood and oxygen quickly to the core of the body
• Stress exacerbates respiratory issues such as: COPD, Asthma making it more difficult to breathe and stressing the respiratory system further

Digestive System Response to Stress

• Stress hormones cause rapid breathing, increased heart rate and increased acid production in the stomach, all contributing to an upset digestive system
• Diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowl syndrome, acid reflux, nausea
• Overeating, under eating

Endocrine System

• Adrenal glands produce cortisol and adrenalin to signal the nervous system to prepare for fight or flight
• The liver produces extra glucose (blood sugar) to boost energy during stressful situations.  If the extra glucose is not burned it is stored by the body.  Extra storage of glucose in the blood that is not taken up by cells leads to high blood sugar and risk of Diabetes

Immune System Response to Stress

• More susceptible to viral infections and colds
• Increased risk for other diseases and infections as the immune system is weakened by chronic stress
• Increased recovery time from illness and disease

Muscular System Response to Stress

• Muscles tense during stress and without relaxing, there is an increased risk for back pain, shoulder pain and overall body aches
• Tense muscles and soft tissue are prone to tears and injury
• Pain usually causes exercise to stop and increases the likelihood of consuming pain medications, setting off an unhealthy vicious circle.

Reproductive System Response to Stress

• Menstrual cycle may become irregular, making it more difficult to conceive
• Menstrual cycle may be heavier and more painful
• Loss of sex drive for both genders
• Chronic stress may reduce male’s testosterone levels, interfering with sperm production, causing erectile dysfunction or impotence.

It is evident that the body reacts negatively in so many ways if we do not manage stress and stressful situations properly.  There are so many causes of stress.  External causes of stress include: major life changes, work or school, relationships, financial struggles, family issues, and poor time management.  Internal causes of stress include: constant worry, an all or nothing attitude, rigid thinking, perfectionism, negativity and negative self-talk and pessimism. 

As we now have an understanding of what stress is, how it affects the body and what causes it, how do we manage it?  What determines our ability to cope with stress?  Everyone’s response to stress depends on a variety of factors.  A support network, life experiences, genetics, the quality of relationships, the ability to deal with emotions, your diet and exercise habits, a sense of control, overall attitude and outlook, and how well you prepare for stress are some of the factors that determine if someone just rolls with it, or crumbles in the face of stress.

Stress Management Techniques

As there are so many stressors, so many responses to stress, and so many affects on the physiological systems, there a multitude of coping strategies or stress management techniques.  This topic is so vast and beyond the scope of this article so we will suggest some techniques and will elaborate in future articles and presentations.  Some foods listed below positively affect stress.

To manage stress it is important to have someone to confide in who will help you feel better.  In addition, you need to be able to express when something is upsetting you and you must feel confident in your ability to handle various stressors.  Try to feel grateful and find time to laugh even during stressful situations.  Practice techniques that will assist in calming you down when you are overwhelmed.  Some techniques are listed below and will be discussed in detail in future articles.

As with any other skill, you need to practice before the event.  You would not wait until one hour before a baseball game to practice batting.  You cannot wait until after a stressful event to practice stress management techniques.  This practice needs to become part of your day in the same way physical exercise does.  If you practice stress management techniques regularly, when you are faced with a stressful situation, you have many weapons in your arsenal to draw from.  By practicing the techniques, they become habit and are easy to recall in a stressful situation. 

Determine your main stressors, analyze your responses to them, build an arsenal of stress management techniques and practice them to battle stress in a positive rather than negative manner, and help rather than harm you.

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Marianne E. Morano, M.S., ACSM, CWC serves on Cancer Schmancer's Medical Advisory Board. She is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and the CEO and Founder of Fit or WHAT, Inc. Her mission is to empower clients and the community to achieve their personal best through healthy lifestyle programs, creating longevity and quality of life.