Life is filled with challenges, conflicts, problems, and sometimes hardships and tragedies. Some of these are personal, others involve major world events, the news of which can create stressful feelings. For example, in recent years there has been a global pandemic, food shortages and rising cost of living, multiple wars, and a range of natural disasters.

It’s important to learn how to deal with the stress you feel over world events and your own personal challenges because chronic stress adversely affects your health. Feeling stressed interferes with digestive function and can lead to indigestion, gastritis, constipation, or diarrhea. Stress also creates muscle tension, which can cause various types of pain, such as back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Stress increases heart rate and blood pressure and is a contributing factor in heart disease. It also depresses immune function, which leaves you more susceptible to infections and illness. It may also be a contributing factor in diseases like cancer and dementia.

The good news is that all of these health risks can be reduced or even eliminated by learning better stress management skills. That’s because stress is not just about what happens, it’s also about how you react to it. So, in this issue of Sunshine Sharing we’ll be exploring what stress is and how you can respond to it in healthier ways.

Understanding Stress

Stress is rooted in the fear response. Anything you perceive as frightening, problem or threat, will trigger a stress reaction. When you perceive something dangerous your brain sends a chemical message to the pituitary gland via the hypothalamus to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This stimulates the adrenal glands to release the hormones cortisol and adrenaline into the bloodstream. The diagram shows this process and the systems this release impacts.

Adrenaline is also the neurotransmitter in the sympathetic nervous system called epinephrine. Adrenaline/epinephrine is what causes the rush when something is startling or frightening.

This stress response isn’t meant to cause harm. Rather, it’s designed to help you survive. It primes the body for action so that you can escape the danger, fight back against the threat, or react in other ways that can save you in life-threatening emergencies.

Not only that, but some stress is actually exciting. It’s why people go to amusement parks, engage in extreme sports, or watch horror movies. A good challenge triggers a mild stress response that provides energy to deal with the situation. This positive stress, which helps you feel focused and motivated is known as eustress. It’s distress we want to minimize. Distress is the negative stress that you experience in situations when you don’t feel able to handle the situation. This chronic distress is what leads to feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and eventually exhausted.

The Pleasure Prescription by Paul Pearsall

Flower Essence Repertory by Patricia Kamynski and Richard Katz

Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief by David Winston and Steven Maimes

Strategies for Health by Steven Horne