We hear the word “stress” bantered about so often, it almost becomes a joke. She’s stressed about the upcoming meeting; he’s stressed about the mortgage, and the kids are stressed about performing well at school. Heck, even the dog is stressed because there have been no “walkies” for a week .
But stress is no laughing matter.
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way.When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body’s defences kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response. The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges.
Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work or sharpens your concentration when you’re driving. The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slamon the brakes to avoid an accident.
However, there comes a point when stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, yourmood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life. Everyone has different stress levels and only you can be in tune to yourself to determine when you have reached your “stress”-hold. Your ability to tolerate stress depends on a number of factors including your general outlook on life, your emotions and even genetics.
Here are some things that influence your stress tolerance level:
• Your sense of control – If you have confidence in yourself and your ability to influence events and persevere through challenges, it’s easier to take stress in stride. People who are vulnerable to stress tend to feel like things are out of their control.
• Your attitude and outlook – Stress-hardy people have an optimist attitude. They tend to embrace challenges, have a strong sense of humor and accept that change is a part of life.
• Your ability to deal with your emotions – You’re extremely vulnerable to stress if you don’t know how to calm and soothe yourself when you’re feeling sad, angry, or afraid. Learn to bring your emotions back into balance to help you bounce back from adversity.
• Your knowledge and preparation – The more you know about a stressful situation, including how long it will last and what to expect, the easier it is to cope. For example, if you go into surgery with a realistic picture of what to expect post-op, a painful recovery will be less traumatic than if you were expecting to bounce back immediately.
