It's a beautiful day in Yellowstone National Park. You
emerge from your tent into the morning sunlight, a gentle
breeze delighting your senses. As you prepare breakfast
over the camp stove, you notice a movement out of the
corner of your eye. It's a bear! Your heart starts to
pound, your blood pressure goes up, your breath
accelerates, and your digestion turns down. This is the
normal and appropriate physiological response of your body
dispensing the stress hormones you need to prepare the body
to "fight-or flight."
This well-documented biological event is the response
shared by humans and animals and is extremely helpful when
the individual faces physical danger. If the problem can be
solved by "fighting," taking action to scare the bear away,
or by "flight," running away so fast the bear can't harm
you, the solution itself dissipates the stress and bodily
functions return to normal. When stress is caused by a
problem, situation, or condition that can't be solved
through such a response, the impact extends for a longer
period and upsets the Triad of Health.
When the body is physically, chemically, or emotionally
overloaded, it causes a state of alarm that sets off a
complex interaction called the stress cycle. Research
scientist and medical doctor Hans Selye introduced the
concept of stress in the 1930s. He showed that a variety
of chemical changes accompany stress and proved that a
stress reaction results from excess physical, chemical, or
emotional pressure.
Selye also delineated the four phases of stress:
1. Alarm
2. Adaptation
3. Fatigue/exhaustion
4. Death
The alarm stage starts when the brain activates the
sympathetic nervous system to stimulate the adrenal glands
to release norepinephrine and adrenaline. Cortisol is also
secreted from the adrenals. One of its functions is to
stimulate the breakdown of glycogen into glucose, which is
sugar, to be used for energy.
When the same stress is repeated frequently, our bodies
adapt and respond less intensely. However, this adaptation
lowers our tolerance for new stress. So, we may adapt to
caffeine, sugar, alcohol and nicotine, yet then we become
less able to tolerate emotional or physical stress. We
become so desensitized to stress that symptoms become
chronic and are taken as normal. For example, stomach
bloating, gas and hiccups are all symptoms of not digesting
properly, yet we are led to believe by advertisements that
this is not unusual, actually it is common and that simply
taking an antacid will take care of it. This does not
address the cause, but simply masks the symptom. However,
one can never treat enough symptoms to correct the cause.
Repeated adaptation leads to the third phase of stress -
fatigue and exhaustion. Here the autonomic nervous system
comes into play. The autonomic nervous system has two parts:
1. The parasympathetic nervous system ' the part that heals
us when we rest.
2. The sympathetic nervous system ' the "fight-or-flight"
reaction - when this system is under attack from a
stressor, it turns down the immune system and increases the
chances of getting diseases. Lowered resistance invites
disease.
Selye discovered and documented that stress differs from
other physical responses in that stress is stressful
whether one receives good or bad news, whether the impulse
is positive or negative. Thus, it is not the event itself,
but our reaction to the stress that harms us.
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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!
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