What Is Stress Anyway?
This may seem like a rather obvious question. Everyone knows what stress is or, at the very least, knows when they are experiencing it firsthand or witnessing its effects on someone close to them.
Stress is that feeling when you canât seem to sit still, when your thoughts are racing and you feel out of control. Your body feels tense, as if tied into a knot. You feel revved up but canât figure out where to direct your energy. Time pressures weigh down on you. Concentration seems difficult.
Intense pressure: you feel it in your neck, in your back, in your belly. You notice your jaw muscles are clenched. There is, perhaps, a throbbing in your head. Your heart rate has increased, and your hands feel clammy.
This is stress, or at least some of the symptoms. As you will learn, there are many others that you will learn to recognize, and understand how they develop. There are also different kinds of stress, some of which break down your body and mind while others actually help you perform at peak levels.
One definition of stress is that it represents both a psychological and a physiological reaction to a real or perceived threat that requires some action or resolution. It is a response that operates on cognitive, behavioral, and biological levels that, when sustained and chronic, results in significant negative health effects (Linden, 2005). Stress is, therefore, what happens when life exerts pressure on us, but also the way it makes us feel. According to landmark brain researcher Bruce McEwen (McEwen, 2002; McEwen & Wingfield, 2010), it is both a stimulus and a response.
A more humorous (and perhaps accurate) description of stress is offered by Elkin (1999, p. 24) as the condition created when âyour mind overrides the bodyâs basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some idiot who desperately deserves it.â (Note: There is a high likelihood that your friends and family are going to ask what you are learning in âthat stress class you are taking.â Please offer them the first definition rather than the second one.)
Stress is actually a survival mechanism, programmed a long time ago, to increase internal awareness of danger and transform all the bodyâs resources to a heightened state of readiness. It is, essentially, the experience of perceived attack. It doesnât matter whether the threat is real or not; the autonomic nervous system (think âautomaticâ) is activated. This system works well only when it turns itself on and off within a reasonable period of time so as to not wear out its welcome (and deplete your energy). Unfortunately, half of all Americans report significant stress in their lives. Even more disturbingly, according to a recent survey, most people donât intend to do anything about it (Schuler, 2006).
There is a fairly good possibility that you are experiencing some degree of stress in your life right now, perhaps this very minute. How do you know when you are stressed? Stress responses have some common symptoms and signs, but they are also highly individualized, impacting your body, your internal thoughts, your emotional reactions, and your behavior (see Table 1.2 later in the chapter).
Stress symptoms are the bodyâs way of getting your attention to tell you: Look, youâve got to get your act together. Iâm a little tired of you running me ragged. Iâm going to annoy you until you do something about this situation. And if you donât pay attention to me, well then, Iâll just have to figure out more ways to get to you.
If your body could talk to you, it might communicate this message. The problem is that stress symptoms are not always obvious and direct; sometimes they can become disguised or rather subtle and their messages somewhat clouded.
Meanings of Stress
Trey thought he had things under control. He was well organized and intentional in almost everything he did. He had a plan for his life and clear ideas about just how he wanted to reach his goals.
In addition to his college courses, Trey had a good job and was well respected at work. There were opportunities for advancement within the company and almost no limit to how far he could rise, especially after he completed his degree. He was involved in a long-term relationship with Mia, whom he had been seeing since they were both 16.
Trey was doing well in school, enjoyed a good social life with friends, and was getting along well with his family. He was in good health, exercised regularly, andâexcept for a fondness for Hawaiian pizza with extra hamâmonitored his diet.
So it was all the more surprising, given how well everything seemed to be going in his life, that he suddenly (or maybe it was graduallyâhe couldnât remember) started to lose control. First the headaches started, and this was highly unusual for him; he was almost never sick. He tried to ignore them and, when that didnât work, starting consuming up to a dozen aspirin a day to reduce the throbbing.
Eventually, Trey decided to visit his doctor, but after a thorough physical exam, no physiological cause was found. His blood pressure was a little high, as was his cholesterol, but otherwise he was in reasonably good shape.
âThey seem to be stress headaches,â the doctor suggested to him. âAre you under a lot of pressure lately?â
Trey shrugged. âNot really,â he replied. âEverything is going pretty well in my life. Iâve got everything under control.â These were the mantras of his life, his trademark responses every time anyone asked him how things were going. Indeed, Trey was much admired by friends and family alike for his calm, controlled demeanor and ability to keep things under control.
Here is the key question: what is the particular meaning of Treyâs stress symptoms? Later, when he was asked this question by a friend who ...