Last month’s posting on “Nurturing Yourself” briefly introduced the impact of stress in our lives. This month’s article is about stress. It will be a bit technical at times, however, it’s important to understand the body’s complex response to stress and the level to which it impacts us. Our health and survival is dependent on the ability to maintain a balance of our physical and mental processes and manage the stress in our lives. When you and your staff are able to manage your stress you will not only be healthier, you will be more productive and efficient. You will also be able to provide a higher quality of child care.

Our everyday challenges whether they are at home, at work, or at play, impose on our bodies and minds and arouse them. This state of arousal is stress, we cannot live without it. The mechanism that registers this arousal is the same no matter what the source or its level. It helps us cope with all the challenges we face.

Our response to challenge is the fight or flight response and is speedy and efficient. The body has an automatic chain reaction of processes that provides an instant surge of energy and strength preparing us to fight or flee. Our body cannot tell the difference between various types of stress arousal. Its response is the same whether we are being chased by a raging bull or we are faced with the stress of a traffic jam. Our causes of stress have varied vastly from our evolutionary history when this fight or flight response was the difference between life and death. Although the causes are different our primitive response to them remains unaltered, even if the stressor is psychological.

We cannot often deal with stress situations with physical exertion, so our body's response to the new pressures civilization has created is often inappropriate. This is not harmful in itself, when we discharge the energy and tensions that are generated through the fight or flight response. Energy builds up and is not used when we are faced with repeated persistent stress situations that unconsciously arouse the flight or flight response. This physical pressure can accumulate and eventually can lead to exhaustion and/or disease.

Our personality, behavior, and lifestyle all affect our own stress level. Stress may be generated by unhealthy diet, drinking, smoking and taking drugs or by internal emotional conflicts as a result of strained relationships at home or at work. Stress often occurs when emotions such as impatience, anger, anxiety, and fear are present, all of which kindles our body's stress response. These anticipatory emotions produce the same nerve impulses and chemical reactions as being faced with a real physical challenge. The hypothalamus, a tiny cluster of cells at the base of the brain, (it controls the automatic functions of the body) produces the same nerve and chemical reactions as being faced with a real challenge. The hypothalamus continues to repair the body for action in anticipation, allowing stress chemicals and muscular tension to build up even if the anticipated action never occurs.

 In our culture, we often become "stress addicts", hooked on our level of stress chemicals, (noradrenalin) feeling energetic and feeling "high". This may cause us to unconsciously seek further sources of stress arousal. (Nearly all of what we do, as much as 98, is unconscious habit)

Stress only becomes harmful when we cannot control our responses to it. Our awareness of this is a vital step to reducing the harmful effects of stress in our lives. When our stress situations are removed, or resolved, the fight or flight response diminishes. When we are faced with a stressful situation, we must either use up the energy created, or learn to control the response (turn it off) by using conscious relaxation exercises or techniques. When we switch from arousal to relaxation, the body again regenerates and functions normally.

·               Pituitary gland:

            This releases the hormone ACTH which triggers the adrenal glands.

·               Adrenal glands:

            These produce another hormone cortisol, which acts on the liver.

·               Liver:

            Cortisol converts glycogen stored in the liver into blood sugar to provide instant energy.

·               Lungs:

            The breathing becomes faster and shallower.

·               Cardiovascular system:

            Stress chemicals such as adrenalin and noradrenalin are released into the blood stream to produce a surge of energy in the body. The heart rate is increased, blood vessels are dilated, and blood pressure is increased.

·               Digestive tract:

            The process of digestion is shut down as blood is diverted away from the skin and stomach.

·               Bladder and rectum:

            Muscles relax.

·               Muscles:

            Tension is increased.

·               Skin:

Sweating increases.

STRESS AND YOU

Some increased stress does increase productivity – up to a point, after which things rapidly deteriorate, and that level also differs for each of us. Under intense stress, we don't function mentally, physically or emotionally as well as we should. Stress clouds our thinking and distracts us from matters at hand. It’s much like the stress or tension on a stringed instrument. Not enough produces a dull raspy sound and too much an irritating screech or snaps the string – but just the correct degree of stress creates a harmonic tone. Similarly, we all have to find the right amount of stress that permits us to function harmoniously and balanced in our daily lives.

Illness is not an inevitable result of change or stress, nor should we avoid them, your personality and your ability to cope also determine how and how well you react.

All stress is not caused by negative events in our lives. Hans Selye defined stress as "the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it". Good things (like a job promotion or getting married), to which we must adapt are considered EUSTRESS and bad things (like the death of a loved one or being dismissed from a job) to which we must adapt are considered DISTRESS. The body physiologically experiences both types of stress in the same way.

 Our goal should be to limit the harmful effects of stress while maintaining life's quality and vitality. You can learn how to utilize and transform stress so that it will make you more productive and less self-destructive. One way to start is to be aware of one’s stress level.

A stress scale, devised by doctors T.H. Holmes and R. H. Rahe, list 41 positive and negative events valued according to the amount of adjustment needed to cope with them. A score over 300 points in one year, greatly increases the risk of illness, while a score of 150 - 299 reduces the risk by 30 % . A score of less than 150 involves a slight chance of illness.

To explore how your stress level rates on the Holmes-Rahe scale visit http://www.geocities.com/beyond_stretched/holmes.htm and use the online calculator

Contributed by Keith Engelhardt

Keith has been teaching Stress Management and Yoga for over 25 years at Dayton Ohio area institutions including Montgomery Co. Career Technology Center, the Dayton Heart Fitness Center and Samaritan North's Well Being Center. He has also taught Yoga to the touring cast of CATS(tm).

In future articles in this series, he will share tips on how to manage your stress.

Tell the ECE community your thoughts on this topic or ask questions. Visit the Forum and discuss this topic with other ECE professionals.

Bibliography

Greenburg, Jerrold S.,  "Comprehensive Stress Management"

Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.

Krista, Alix,  "The Book of Stress Survival"

Simon and Shuster Inc., 1986.

Resources

The American Institute of Stress

http://www.stress.org

Occupational Stress Test

http://www.geocities.com/beyond_stretched/occup.htm

Stress-Building Beliefs

http://www.geocities.com/beyond_stretched/build.htm

Keith's Yoga Classes
http://daytonyoga.com/daytonyoga/KE/Home.htm