Have you ever considered how life would have been like had we not departed the Garden of Eden! What peace, what beauty, what tranquility! Evicted from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve stepped out into a world of massive confusion and giant despair. No longer was there rapture in beauty or joy in life, leaving this luckless race to survive and cope with the great burden of anxiety… the anxiety of a finite being over the threat of non-being. Our anxiety is part of our basic existence, an unavoidable consequence of living. We are a society of down-hearted, disappointed people, consumed with a direful need for repose… which never comes! Worrying is a constant companion, despite our carefully constructed façade. Unlike Eden, this is a vulgar world, full of bellowing and brutality, shouting, and raging, leaving us ill-equipped to stay this Niagara of impiety and corruption. Unable to limit the outcome; far too perturbed to act, the helpless human worries. Stress soon turns into anxiety which leads to the necessity of self-examination. You are suffering under a certain level of stress, and you may not even know it. It creeps upon you slowly, silently. Soon, stress begins to feel familiar, even normal. You can hardly notice its damaging effects, until it is often too late, leading to serious mental and physical problems. What is Stress? Simply put, it is a body condition that occurs when we face an unfamiliar or threatening situation. Such situations vary from weddings to funerals, success and failure, promotion or demotion. The body responds to sudden acute stress by alerting all systems---the brain, the heart, lungs, digestive system and immune system in order to cope with the perceived danger. The hypothalamus, a part of the brain that regulates the body's responses to a given situation is activated. It triggers the release of steroid hormones that affect the entire body including the immune system. Picture the dispatch of a line of soldiers ready to confront the enemy. These troops are sent to the body's front line where injury or infection is most likely. This is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened when you sense danger. Your body's responses kick into high gear in a rapid systematic process known among psychologists as “Fight, flight or freeze” or the process response. When you perceive a threat, a flood of stress-hormones appear, like adrenaline and cortisol. Those hormones rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, your muscles tighten and your blood pressure rises. You breathe quicker and your senses become sharper. The physical change increases your stamina, enhances your focus, preparing you to fight or flee from the danger at hand. Our degree of stress has increased during the last four years of turbulence and turmoil. We are living in a chronic state of heightened alertness and helplessness. This applies not just to Egyptians or Arabs but to the world at large. Stress knows no discrimination. It affects the very young and the very old. The young are stressed by peer pressure, performance, romance, exams; the old by disease, divorce, death of a loved one, etc. Stress is synonymous with change. Any change in life, good or bad is stressful. Why just getting ready to throw a party causes more stress than you can imagine. Studies show that 89 per cent of us live under daily stress. In a controlled study 2/3 of subjects had nearly six times the risk of developing depression within a month of stressful events. Unbelievable as it may sound, some stress is good. A healthy degree of stress can promote wellness. Winning can be just as stressful as losing, but it triggers different emotional and biological responses that are advantages to our well-being. Stress of victory in sports, politics, academics etc is good stress. Often increased stress results in increased productivity. The right degree allows us to conquer adversity. It was only in the 70s that experts started to consider stress and its extended family. Science has provided us with tools to help ourselves, if we could only remember the words of American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: “Grant me the courage to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I can't change and the wisdom to know the difference.” Face your stress… acknowledge it! Fetter out the clutter of the mind and focus on slower breathing and an overall calm. A healthy lifestyle, regular exercise and a diet rich in whole grains, veggies and fruit is mandatory. Avoid excessive alcohol, quit smoking, start Yoga, Tai Chi, aerobics, swimming, or even just brisk walking will help you deal better with any stress; at least get your mind off it… for a while. You would be surprised at how many aches, pains, headaches, ulcers, rashes are diminished. Prolonged stress, anxiety, worry grow into a fearful monster taking control of mind and body and the result can lead to heart diseases and even cancer. Deal with it now! Lack of control spells danger. You must have observed people laugh during tragic events. Laughter is the fight and the flight from stress. Prostrate yourself at the foot of some tranquility by learning to worry less and to laugh more. Life is a struggle, but if you can control your constant worrying, if you can laugh it off… undoubtedly you will win the fight! ”I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened” Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
