STRESS MANAGEMENT SPECIAL .......................Suffering from stress? Here is how to get rid of it

Suffering from stress? Here is how to get rid of it

A leading wellness centre in the city organised an open house to make sense of what has become an urban epidemic and suggested ways to overcome it. Three experts at The Health Awareness Centre in Worli, Navina Venkat, Shilpa Chawla and Anju Venkat organised a rather pertinent seminar. They addressed the subject of stress -its cause and effect, and offered possible solutions. 

The talk was attended by a myriad set of people. They learnt what happens to the body when we are 'stressed'. While some of us are motivated by it, some experience butterflies in the stomach. Some lose sleep, get anxious, jittery, experience a sensation in the gut, feel insecure, get cranky or get so demotivated that they almost give up. "However," Navina said, "to all these responses, there is one thing common. We have all been given a capacity to take action when required and that is known as the stress response. It's called eustress, distress or stress." 

Understanding stress 

They defined the word 'Stress' as 'Stimulus Triggered Response, which is Excitatory, Systemic and Short Lived'. The rest of the open house was precisely about understanding this acronym.

In the biological pathways, this response is expressed through catabolic action (when we use energy and when are tissues break down) and anabolic action (when our energy is stored, tissues are built and repaired). "For the anabolic and catabolic action to take place, the Stimulus of a nervous system is required. This is handled by the autonomic nervous system. This autonomic nervous system is nothing but involuntary actions that is triggered again by the ympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system,"

"The point where the sympathetic nervous system gets aroused the most is in typical situations where it has to choose between pleasure or pain, a threat or an opportunity, preventing or promoting, what is called fleeing or fighting. Any perceived or real threat will always trigger the same sympathetic nervous system and the same catabolic response that is the fight-or-flight response. If this system wasn't there, we wouldn't be able to survive."

Three states of the body 

It is learnt that the body moves between three states: rest-activity-rest. Though being in the 'resting state' is what our body is constantly striving to do. "Every cell, tissue, organ, at any given point is working hard to create a stable environment inside, so that cells can function to their optimum. This is called homeostatis (stability or balance) in the body," said Navina. "But in reality, at every given point, the body has to respond to physiological symptoms at the micro-cellular level. It has to keep adjusting our behaviour at the macro level. And along with making the physiological and behavioural adjustments at the micro and macro level, it has to keep a balance with the dance that is happening in our environment."
In the activity state, the body is thrown out of balance because of an external stimuli -physical, physiological, environmental, social and economic in nature. For instance, bad traffic, lack of sleep, loss of a loved one, pressure at work, junk food, and disagreements. "And we think we have no control in what way our body is responding to these external stimulus. But the point is, the physiological response is always the same. Both at the micro and macro level, our body is producing the same fight-or-flight chemicals, hormones and behaviour each time we feel stressed or our stressor is out there," Navina pointed out.

Is stress bad? 

Stress is nothing but our body's response to the brain perceiving a threat. So, it is useful. "The reason it has become such a killer disease today is because most of us lay suspended in the second stage," she asserted. "And the stress doesn't finish inside there. It has to move to the third stage which is resting stage." So between a situation that is causing anxiety and your system dealing with it, your body comes back to a period of rest, which is a period of balance.

How does the body respond? 

In order to understand how stress affects us, we have to understand what happens within our body when we feel an emotion. "So when we experience an emotion whether it is sight, sound, smell, taste or touch, it produces a chemical inside which moves all over the body, goes cell to cell and says, 'listen, this is what is happening and this is what we need to respond to'," shared Shilpa. Each time we experience as emotion, we have a chemical that is released in the body. When we are in love, we release oxytocin, when we are happy, we release endorphins. So, what happens to the body when we are stressed?

Internally 

- Our body recognises a stressor - A rapid relay of messages across the nervous system, alerts the body of the stressor - The first message goes to the adrenal (the little cap like organs sitting on top of the kidneys). The adrenal releases adrenaline and cortisol. These are chemicals that diffuse into our blood, gearing the rest of the body in a stress response - Adrenaline and cortisol tag the lung, heart and liver, which means oxygen, triglycerides and glucose get pumped into the blood - Muscles contract to action - The second message moves to the gut. It alerts the microflora of possible danger. The gut microbes move into the blood to support the immune system, slowing down the process of digestion.

Externally 

Our muscles tense and contract, pupils dilate, heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, sweat glands get activated all over the body, mouth runs dry, breathing becomes rapid and shallow, brain gets hyper alert, senses get sharpened, cholesterol and blood sugar appear elevated.

Appraising the situation 

According to Anju, the second stage is nothing but appraisal -How will I response to a situation or event? "Every response creates a feeling, which is different, and therefore, the chemical or hormone created in them is different. The situation is the same. The action is the same. What changes it is perception. And one needs to understand this perception because that is our appraisal," she said.

She gave the example of a chair, which is stationary in a room, but if seen from out of space it is moving 1000 miles per hour. "The perception," she insisted, "is not a chemical, neither it is automatic. It is taught and learnt."

For instance, a snake to a layperson might create fear, but to a snake charmer, it is something that it works with every day. "The moment I experience fear, which is an intangible feeling, I am immediately creating something extremely real that is a real molecule called adrenaline because where thought goes, hormone goes. Your mind and body are one," said Anju. Your feeling changes according to what you have learnt and experienced and how many times you have experienced it. This is termed as the appraisal of a situation. If stress is there, action of the body is there. What is in-between is how your body is perceiving it.

What creates stress? 

Lack of predictability: For instance, bad traffic, a sudden tough conversation with your spouse or the maid not showing up are unpredictable situations. This unpredictable process will make your body move into excitation because your response is being triggered by that appraisal of the experience. Lack of control: Lack of control in a process means your body is in continuous excitation.
Lack of outlet: The lack of feeling that when I am in a stressful situation, I have something to release it causes stress.

Coping with stress 

Anju laid great emphasis on the food we consume. When we eat foods that are cheesy, for instance, we are blocking our gut. "So in that case, you are not allowing serotonin (happy hormone) to be activated. Therefore, the serotonin cannot go to the cell and say do not degenerate me," she explained. "If it is a blocker, your body has already produced C Reactive protein to make your blood thicker to cope with that onslaught. Instead, what you are putting is more thickening agents. Are you then not going to move into an embolism or blood clot? Of course, you will."

The moment you intake aerated drinks and caffeine, you are stimulating the adrenaline further. And what needs to be short lived becomes long-term. "So it will take that body much longer to move back to an inhibitory state/resting state," she said.

Points to remember 

- Know your signals/triggers whether it is palpitation, sweaty palms, or the need to pick up coffee - Use your triggers (mental, emotional, physical, financial) because what you have at that time is more energy, more muscle power, oxygen and functioning capabilities. If used, from distress it will become eustress. This changes your memory, your perception on what you see as stress. - All your senses are taking in and leaving an imprint on your cells. As human beings, we hold on to our imprints and. emotions. Your body communicates stress through your individual mechanism (hair fall, eyes dilating, sleeplessness, irritability), understand it. This helps you predict and the moment you're able to predict, you can change the trigger. - When you are stressed, take control through rhythm and routine. For that, you need to be in a resting phase. This will help you boost your Dhea - the hormone that allows you to fight this process in the most conscious way.
-Sleep for eight hours in darkness. - Intake of natural foods must be high. During a stressful period, do not turn to stimulant food (chocolate, cheese, Chinese fare), aerated drinks, alcohol, nicotine, and spend time on screen. That release is violence.

By 

Reema Gehi ETP12JUL16