Stress?

Kumar

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Hello all,

Most people consider stress as a bad & unhealthful condition to our body. Is it true? Whether stress is always bad to us?

"Stress is defined as an organism's total response to an environmental condition or stimulus, also known as a stressor. Stress typically describes a negative condition that can have an impact on an organism's mental and physical well-being."-- wikipedia

I am bit doubtful about it and just want to clear it.

Best wishes.
 
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Well, stress is a term generally used for a collection of physiological and psychological reactions to novel conditions, persons, and events. Stress can be good, in that it stimulates us and can produce higher levels of awareness and performance; it's a bit of an oversimplification to say that "stress" means we're in a low-level version of the Flight or Fight reflex, but only a bit of a stress.

Meeting an attractive member of the opposite sex (or the same sex if you're gay) is stressful, but it's 'good stress'. Meeting a hostile large person who is apparently interested in your possessions is 'bad stress'. Getting a new job, starting an exercise routine, or moving to a new home can all be positive changes in one's life overall; but they also include imposing some new stress, at least initially.

It has been said that humans spend their lives trying to walk the line between their need for the familiar and their love of novelty. Boredom is not fun, but it's not stressful; we tend therefore to seek out a certain amount of stress because in small quantities it is valuable. We like a little excitement, but too much of it can add a lot of wear and tear on our physical and mental health.

I don't know if I've cleared this up a bit or made it more confusing. -- MK
 
Miss_Kitt said:
Well, stress is a term generally used for a collection of physiological and psychological reactions to novel conditions, persons, and events. Stress can be good, in that it stimulates us and can produce higher levels of awareness and performance; it's a bit of an oversimplification to say that "stress" means we're in a low-level version of the Flight or Fight reflex, but only a bit of a stress.

Meeting an attractive member of the opposite sex (or the same sex if you're gay) is stressful, but it's 'good stress'. Meeting a hostile large person who is apparently interested in your possessions is 'bad stress'. Getting a new job, starting an exercise routine, or moving to a new home can all be positive changes in one's life overall; but they also include imposing some new stress, at least initially.

It has been said that humans spend their lives trying to walk the line between their need for the familiar and their love of novelty. Boredom is not fun, but it's not stressful; we tend therefore to seek out a certain amount of stress because in small quantities it is valuable. We like a little excitement, but too much of it can add a lot of wear and tear on our physical and mental health.

I don't know if I've cleared this up a bit or made it more confusing. -- MK
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You are a kind person:). We shall see where this goes.
 
Miss_Kitt said:
Well, stress is a term generally used for a collection of physiological and psychological reactions to novel conditions, persons, and events. Stress can be good, in that it stimulates us and can produce higher levels of awareness and performance; it's a bit of an oversimplification to say that "stress" means we're in a low-level version of the Flight or Fight reflex, but only a bit of a stress.

Meeting an attractive member of the opposite sex (or the same sex if you're gay) is stressful, but it's 'good stress'. Meeting a hostile large person who is apparently interested in your possessions is 'bad stress'. Getting a new job, starting an exercise routine, or moving to a new home can all be positive changes in one's life overall; but they also include imposing some new stress, at least initially.

It has been said that humans spend their lives trying to walk the line between their need for the familiar and their love of novelty. Boredom is not fun, but it's not stressful; we tend therefore to seek out a certain amount of stress because in small quantities it is valuable. We like a little excitement, but too much of it can add a lot of wear and tear on our physical and mental health.

I don't know if I've cleared this up a bit or made it more confusing. -- MK
Click to expand...

Thanks & welcome. Well told. Do you mean that some stress or actute stress is good as it bring motivation to do an needed act? I think some stress is also relaxing ef warming excercises. What about chronic stress?
 
Short periods of stress (such as when exercising) are fine. Prolonged periods of constant or intermittent stress are bad.

[/oversimplification]
 
Kumar said:
Hello all,

Most people consider stress as a bad & unhealthful condition to our body. Is it true? Whether stress is always bad to us?

"Stress is defined as an organism's total response to an environmental condition or stimulus, also known as a stressor. Stress typically describes a negative condition that can have an impact on an organism's mental and physical well-being."-- wikipedia

I am bit doubtful about it and just want to clear it.

Best wishes.
Click to expand...

Not really,
-the body has a normal response of arousal, when something happens that may requite more attention and energy as it were.
-the body however is not meant to be in a state of arousal for extended periods
-negative events frequently cause people to feel sad and over whelmed
-major life changes, whether happy or sad require extra energy and attention

Now given these and some other common factors, what is stress and stressful?

Usually what people mean when they say they are stressed out, they mean that they feel tired and that they feel easily overwhelmed. When people say that they feel stress it means that they a negative emotion regarding something they are experiencing or have to get done.

Now the crucial part of it is this
-arousal is a normal response to life, but being in that state for an extended period leads to depletion of resources, where people feel more irritable, vulnerable and overwhelmed.
-some events are very negative and people are going to have negative emotions and responses to them, they will also have depletion of their resources
-even positive and especially major life changes induce extended periods of arousal and lead to depletion of resources.

So a stressor usually falls into one of four categories:
-an environment or life choices that leads to extended periods of arousal and subsequent depletion
-a major negative event that leads to negative emotions and consequences
-a major life change that leads to extended arousal and depletion
-an event that occurs during a state of depleted resources that leads to feeling anxious, overwhelmed, irritable and incapable

So the best way to deal with stress, feeling stressed and stressors
-take care of yourself, get enough sleep, eat well, exercise, engage in non depleting activities and have down time
-make a conscious boundary between work/stress environments and the rest of your life. Have a 'leaving work' ritual as it were, do not take work home, do not talk about work at home, do not engage in work at home.
-change your environment so that you are not always in an environment you associate with stress and negative emotions, get away and hour everyday and take time away at least one day a week. Go someplace quiet, calming or soothing that is not your usual environment.
-make your home life less like your work life. Do not schedule your weekend like it is work, do not fill your free time with over stimulating events and activities. Do not drive your self during your free time to get more done and stay on schedule, do not over schedule your home life.
-build up supportive networks and people, avoid negative environments and people


There is no magic bullet for stress and its effects, there is a global change in life style that will make you less vulnerable to it.


(This is the distillation of a stress work shop that was eight hours)
 
Kumar said:
Thanks & welcome. Well told. Do you mean that some stress or actute stress is good as it bring motivation to do an needed act? I think some stress is also relaxing ef warming excercises. What about chronic stress?
Click to expand...

Chronic states of arousal lead to depletion of resources.
 
Physiologically, stress is fairly well-defined, but in broad everyday terms, I consider there are two kinds of stress in two areas: the types are stress that you have control over (internal drivers) and stress you don't have control over (external drivers), and the general areas are physical stress and psychological stress.

In general, the stress you do have control over (e.g. self-imposed) tends to be beneficial, and stress you don't have control over tends to be detrimental. Physical stress tends to be more beneficial than detrimental - except in extremes, and psychological stress tends to be more detrimental than beneficial, especially in extremes.

As a rule of thumb, it works for me to avoid psychological stresses I can't control (e.g. unfair pressures of work), and embrace physical stress I can control (e.g. a good personal exercise regime).
 
Dancing David said:
Not really,
-the body has a normal response of arousal, when something happens that may requite more attention and energy as it were.
-the body however is not meant to be in a state of arousal for extended periods
-negative events frequently cause people to feel sad and over whelmed
-major life changes, whether happy or sad require extra energy and attention

Now given these and some other common factors, what is stress and stressful?....
Click to expand...

Thanks. Good tellings. I think "fight or flight" response under Sympatheic nervous system is relevant to beneficial side of stress, obiously not chronic.
 
Brian-M said:
Short periods of stress (such as when exercising) are fine. Prolonged periods of constant or intermittent stress are bad.

[/oversimplification]
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Yes thanks. Stress relation with immunity is also need to be understood.

Can it be considered: Stress equal to Immunity?
 
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dlorde said:
Physiologically, stress is fairly well-defined, but in broad everyday terms, I consider there are two kinds of stress in two areas: the types are stress that you have control over (internal drivers) and stress you don't have control over (external drivers), and the general areas are physical stress and psychological stress.

In general, the stress you do have control over (e.g. self-imposed) tends to be ...
Click to expand...

I feel that this consideration need more explaination.
 
Kumar said:
I feel that this consideration need more explaination.
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I know it's a crude simplification, but what parts of stress you can control and stress you can't control, and physical vs psychological stress are unclear?
 
Over a 4 month period of time, I had my baby grand daughter die in my sons arms, I was in an auto accident, I had my beloved 17 year old cat die in my arms, and I moved from a house I had owned for over 30 years.

The stress of those events created a great deal of stress for a period of time. I reacted by feeling anger, though I have no idea who or what I was angry with. I then realized that the stress and anger I felt could be used to motivate me in positive ways.

Only in retrospect I am surprised it worked that way. At other stressful times in life I let it overcome me into a pit of depression. It leaves me questioning if even bad stress can be turned into a positive.

I have a friend who blames everything on stress. If she eats a lot or not enough, if she is tired or overly alert, it is because of her "stress". I am not sue why, but it irritates me.
 
Dancing David said:
The term 'stress' involves a complex of external situations and internal states.
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Can't stress impact is explained by "fight or flight" response or with Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous system?

In a link which I provided in this topic about stress impact on immunity,can't stress is considered equal to immunity?
 
Daylightstar said:
Same as thread:
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207646

Post #66 by Kumar of that thread, titled: "Stress and Immunity Relation?"
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That is bit different though Instinct, stress & immunity relation is part of that topic. Here I am/shall try o find out:

1. Good & bad part of stress.

2. Compromising of immunity due to chronic bad stress.

3. Effect on immunity due to chronic good stress.

4. Effect of taking less stress chronically on immunity(a person take not or least stress if can get weakening effect on immunity?)
 
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