Do You Know How To Recognize Stress And The Effects Of Stress?

Stress affects different people in different ways, but it does affect them. 

Whether you recognize it or not, if you're stressed, it's only a matter of time before something has to give in, and it's probably you! So recognizing stress and the effects of stress becomes an utmost important for day to day life.

So what precisely is stress and what does it do to you?

Stress is a cumulative term for a full series of effects, mental, physical and emotional, that occur as a result of excess food, excessive work, excessive partying, and excessive crying on the part of the baby: it does not matter which. 

By definition, you are executing extra to your body than it can cope with, and sooner or later it will let you know, usually in a hurry and with little or no warning. What is common to virtually all types of stress is that they cause the release of the stress hormone - adrenaline (epinephrine).

Although adrenaline hormone is completely necessary and has essential functions in the body, it can, like most things, cause excess problems. 

Like a hormone (definition, a chemical released in one part of the body that has effects in other distant parts of the body), very small increases in adrenaline hormone have very large effects on the host, also known as YOU. 

Hormones are incredibly powerful in nature and even a small increase can have very significant effects. In the case of adrenaline, these effects include increased heart rate, faster breathing, higher blood pressure, and reduced digestion.

The easiest way to understand the effects of adrenaline hormone is to think of the "fight or flight" response. 

We have all experienced the rush you feel when faced with a sudden scare or imminent danger: pounding heartbeats, knots in the stomach, tingling palms, and keen awareness. 

This is the way the body prepares to face the situation in question: "fight" or get out of there: "run away", hence its name. 

In nature, it is invariably followed by an intense period of physical activity (either running away or fighting) that "burns" the adrenaline, allowing a return to the normal state of rest. 

It is when this physical activity does not happen that stress becomes dangerous and the effects of stress.

When a span of stress is lenghtened, and especially when it is not followed by some form of physical exertion to "relieve pressure," several things happen. 

First of all, all forms of stress are cumulative, that is, they add to each other, building more and more pressure on the system and requiring more and more "release" to restore balance. 

As a result, adrenaline levels build up in the body, causing chronic long-term increases in blood pressure, heart rate, etc., which are harmful and require more and more repairs by the body to correct. 

The result of this is that the reserves of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, balancing hormones and all kinds of other "goodies" are depleted (if you drive with your engine at 6000 revolutions instead of 2500 you use more fuel, more oil, and its engine wears out faster: the body is no different).

This leaves your body in a kind of dilemma. You need to replace the things you have used and fast. 

However, if you are still stressed, your digestive system is almost shut down, so it cannot absorb nutrients. 

Your body is not interested in that: it needs those nutrients and it needs them NOW, so you must get them from ANY possible source. 

This means that bodily processes that are NOT ESSENTIAL for survival at this time are reduced or even closed entirely to conserve energy and nutrients. If this is not enough on its own, additional nutrients must be found from any possible source. 

In extreme cases, this means that your body begins to break down existing structures - muscles, bones, connective tissue, etc. - to extract nutrients from them for use elsewhere.

Clearly, this is not a good long-term thing, and its results are as predictable as they are harmful. What commenced as a position of balance and "ease" becomes a position of imbalance and "disease" or disease! This fact explains practically all chronic diseases. What at first perhaps seemed absurd, now becomes obvious.

Recognizing stress

• Recognizing stress and the effects of stress comes down to two things. 

• First, you must acknowledge that you are stressed, and second, you must identify the sources of your stress.

• Discovering that you are stressed is not that difficult for most people. 

• If you have a chronic illness of any kind, e.g. high blood pressure, heart disease, skin problems, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, etc., then your body suffers from at least one major source of stress. 

• ALL chronic diseases are a sign of stress in one or more body systems and, as stated by two-time Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, is a sign of a specific nutritional deficiency. 

• Remember that stress can, and does take many forms, not all of which are direct or even obvious.

Identifying the specific source (or sources) of your stress is not that simple. 

You may be stressed in specific situations, at specific times of the day, or in response to certain people, events, or situations. 

Maybe it's a certain physical activity that makes you feel stressed, a particular dietary element, an environmental factor like driving, a noisy house, or the phone ringing ‘(or a baby crying). 

You may even have palpitations, a pounding pulse, or muscle aches or other chronic pain caused by being too "tense" or any other variety of symptoms, but that's it: symptoms of a bigger and more fundamental problem than if treated will go away. Alone with little or no specific help from you.

Most people will benefit from seeing a properly qualified alternative medicine professional working in one of the stress related fields like acupuncture, reflexology, massage, reiki, kinesiology etc. 

Relaxation therapies such as Tai Chi and yoga will help you not only to relax, but to identify where the stresses are in your body so that you specifically treat them and endeavor yourself from effects of stress. 

Medical tests will help define irregularities in your system that reflect the sources of your stress, thus helping professionals identify the best path to resolution and health. 

Please note here that we are not talking about symptomatic relief, but rather getting rid of the problem once and for all (unless you are still under the same stress, in which case, you can expect problems to come back quickly!)

Once you have identified your stressors, you can take the appropriate steps to resolve the problem. 

Your practitioner will advise you accordingly, probably along the lines of the Principles of Stress Relief.

Read About: Five Stress Management Techniques

Read About: Stress Management | Coping With Stress