Fight Stress

Our lives are often characterized by planning our next move before we are able to finish the last. We panic at the sight of a freeway colored with red brake lights, because traffic slows life down, and who in California has time for that? Whether it be an important meeting, picking your children up from school, or making it home in time for dinner, these moments that could be positive become negative, because for most of us being late or disappointing someone else or ourselves causes an immaculate amount of stress, even when we have virtually no control over the situation.

A stressor can range from something small, such as worrying about an upcoming exam, to something larger such as grieving over a lost loved one. Logically, the degree of the stress should parallel the degree of the stressor, but because society is so fast-paced, a small stressor becomes overwhelming and produces a large amount of tension in our minds. In fact, the body does not know how to distinguish between different types of situations, so when dealing with an argument and when dealing with financial problems, the body responds in the same way. Heart rate increases, blood pressure increases and digestion slows. The brain is working to prepare the body for the situation, so it remains alert and ready to fight or flee. Then, the brain works to restore that energy and calm the body.

When stress becomes constant, meaning it occurs over a prolonged amount of time or it occurs often over small things such as a traffic jam or deadline, our bodies lose the ability to become calm after a stressful event. This causes major damage to the body, such as depression, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers, and insomnia.

Relieving stress is crucial for mental health, and mental health is crucial for physical health. In order to achieve a stress-free mind, we must learn to slow down. This may seem unrealistic in such an intense, on-the-go society, but with a little self therapy it is possible. When sitting in a traffic jam, turn up the music and sing along. When your heart starts pounding over that upcoming exam, take a long walk and appreciate the scenery. When faced with an upcoming deadline, practice inhaling and exhaling in equal length with your eyes closed and your body still. Stress is taking over society and bringing it down, so it is up to each of us to work against the timeline, and create our own.