How Stress Ruins Everything

[Lightfiend]

How Stress Ruins Everything And What You Can Do About It

It seldom happens when we go through a day without experiencing stress. We are especially familiar with these feelings when they build up after a long day at work or while studying for a difficult final exam. In our modern industrialized world, it is more difficult now than ever to avoid stress, and some experts say this is leading to many unforeseen health-related problems. In a society that values multi-tasking, an over consumption of commercial goods, and exponential increases in economic production, no wonder it always feels like our heads are spinning and no wonder life often seems so hectic and uncontrollable.

However, stress is a necessary component to the human experience. Neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, who is featured in the PBS documentary “Stress: Portrait Of A Killer,” explains how stress is an adaptive response of our nervous system. According to him, there are two main hormones involved in this stress response: epinephrine (also called “adrenaline”) and norepinephrine. Many recognize this biological process as the “fight or flight” response that takes place in our sympathetic nervous system. From an evolutionary perspective, this response was first adapted to increase an animal’s survival when confronted by an immediate danger. However, Sapolsky argues that humans tend to trigger this stress response psychologically, without any presence of a threatening stimulus. This “artificial” stress response is constantly being activated, which becomes severely taxing on our body’s resources, and later in life can result in some very undesirable outcomes.

 

[AllieBaba]

That's why God invented xanax. We used to have physical labor to burn off negative feelings of stress.

We don't anymore.

Breathing exercises do help. My son and I have anxiety disorder, his is about 10 volts higher than mine. He's a high energy, high maintenance guy.

He keeps very, very busy, physically and mentally. Otherwise he goes nuts. Now that he's an adult, he's considering low-dosage medication to see if it can help with the horrible feeling of doom that those who have anxiety disorder learn to live with. Until they discover that it's NOT a normal by-product of life. Once you learn how you're supposed to feel, it's easier to train yourself to feel that way.

Which is the way I use xanax. Once I learned what it feels like not to have that horrible feeling, I was able to take a breath when having stress related symptoms, and force myself to feel the way I knew I should be feeling.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - it's all dem anti-Trump lib'ral yankee media types fault...

Startling rise in stress levels witnessed in America due to current political upheaval
Saturday 18th February, 2017 - - The recent political climate in the U.S. is said to have left the country under significant stress.

According to a poll conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) between January 4 and 19, 57 percent of adult Americans said they said they considered the current political climate a “very" or "somewhat" significant source of stress, up from the 52 percent who felt the same in August. People on average reported that their stress levels rose from 4.8 to 5.1 (out of 10) between August and January according to the report titled “Stress in America." “Honestly, these are some pretty startling figures,” Vaile Wright, a licensed clinical psychologist and member of the APA’s Stress in America team was quoted as saying.

Americans are experiencing the highest levels of stress that they've had in the past 10 years, with the poll showing that the increase was the fastest rise on record since the APA's Stress in America survey first began in 2007, the report noted. The elections last year in the country clearly had a toll on the citizens with two-thirds of respondents saying the future of the nation is a significant source of stress, and 49 percent saying the outcome of the election was a significant source of stress. The poll results were divided according to party lines. In total, 66 percent of Americans were worried about the future of the country, with 76 percent of Democrats reporting they're stressed and 59 percent of Republicans saying the same.

Some 72 percent of Democrats saw President Trump's victory as stressful; however, only 26 percent of Republicans felt the same way. People in rural areas reported less stress, with just 33 percent saying they were very or somewhat stressed about the political changes. Forty-five percent of suburbanites reported stress, as did 62 percent of city dwellers. "The fact that two-thirds of Americans are saying the future of the nation is causing them stress, it is a startling number," Wright said. "It seems to suggest that what people thought would happen, that there would be relief [after the election], did not occur, and instead since the election, stress has increased. And not only did overall stress increase, what we found in January is the highest significant increase in stress in 10 years. That's stunning," he remarked.

Muslim Americans, immigrants and victims of sexual trauma were particularly prone to greater stress since the election, and mental health specialists who work in Veterans Affairs hospitals have reported their patients have made comments such as “This isn’t what I risked my life for,” Wright said. Katherine Nordal, APA’s executive director for professional practice, said in a statement, “The stress we’re seeing around political issues is deeply concerning, because it’s hard for Americans to get away from it.” “We’re surrounded by conversations, news and social media that constantly remind us of the issues that are stressing us the most.” Some 1019 adults were interviewed as part of the poll.

Startling rise in stress levels witnessed in America due to current political upheaval