I am so stressed out today! How many times lately have you
said or heard this expression? "Stress" has become such a
common household word that we use it to describe everything
from the rush of the morning commute to the hours of
homework our children complete after their mandatory club
soccer practices. The average person who I see in my
practice is on six to ten medications. Young boys are on
Ritalin for attention deficit problems and girls are on
anti-depressants. Why? The culprit is stress. Most often,
you are speaking of emotional stress when you use the "s"
word. Stress is harmful because stress imbalances every
hormone system in your body. To achieve optimum health and
an ideal body composition, you must focus on regular stress
management. When you experience a stressor, there are three
phases to your response:
1) the stressful event,
2) your inner appraisal of it, and
3) your body's reaction. The stress response is difficult
to handle because once it begins, the mind has no control
over it.
Sitting in traffic or being criticized at work can trigger
a stress response 'the "fight-or-flight" reaction ' that
has no hope of being physically carried out, thus
dissipating the hormones that create the body's call to
action. Although you may not be able to control the
stressful event -- or your body's reaction to it -- your
inner appraisal of it, the link between the event and your
reaction, is up to you. The totally personal way in which
you filter all events determines how stressful they are.
Everyone has a different level of stress tolerance.
What seems to create the greatest perceived threat in any
given situation are these three factors:
1) lack of predictability,
2) lack of control,
3) lack of outlets for frustration.
The sympathetic nervous system regulates the
fight-or-flight response. When this system is under attack
from a stressor, it turns down the immune system and you
have a greater chance of being sick. A growing body of
research indicates that activity levels of cells that
identify and destroy cancer are likely to be lower in
people experiencing high levels of stress. When the
sympathetic system is activated for a period of time, the
system turns to "sympathetic dominant" mode, where the
system is compromised by stress. The second, even more
serious stage, is "sympathetic shock" to describe a
condition where the mind-body system has been so totally
overloaded by one or more stressors that the immune system
is shocked and is repressed. As you internalize the
memory of events you perceive to be stressful, your
conditioned response becomes reinforced to the point that
the expectation of the event becomes the stressor. There
are techniques to break the emotional stress cycle that
involve "erasing" the old habitual way of thinking and
reacting to a stressor with a new way that creates a more
healthful, life-enhancing response. The intelligence that
made your body and runs your body can heal your body.
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Dr. Michael B. Roth has been a holistic chiropractor for 23
years. His goal is to transform the health care system
from crisis/reactive care to a wellness model of health.
Dr. Roth is a dynamic speaker on health and wellness who
can motivate and transform your audience and you to bring
your own health and well-being to a new level! Learn more
about Dr. Roth's programs by visiting his website,
http://www.rothwellnesscenter.com
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