It is an act of great courage, and unavoidable. As a brave soldier is sent to war to face the enemy, so are we, everyday of our lives face the enemy, which the scientific community calls ‘stress'. Can we avoid it, escape it or hide from it? Not if we are human. The only thing left to do is to face it Stress has been around since Adam and Eve. Imagine their stress when they decided to disobey their Lord's order? When they were evicted from the Garden of Eden, stress went along with them. Since then our luckless race, determined to survive, carries along the burden of a basic anxiety, the anxiety of a finite being over the threat of non- being. It has become part of our existence and it is lethal, it is a killer much like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. It grows into fear, long-term anxiety and depression, inviting a host of potential diseases to our weak-end immune system. We get sick. We die. Studies show that 89 per cent of us live under stress, some of it beneficial. Yes, a healthy degree of stress can promote wellness. For example, winning can be just as stressful as losing, but it triggers different emotional and biological responses that are advantageous to our well- being. Therefore should we welcome or destroy stress? What we should do is control it. Without stress there would be no life. But stress is powerful. It affects the very young as well as the very old. With all the unending stress of wars, terror threats, the conspiracy to dismantle the Middle East, the shriveling economy of Europe and elsewhere, how are we supposed to control stress? Is there a corner in the world where we escape to and enjoy our days without stress? If we find it, stress will be there, waiting for us. Stress is a body condition that occurs when we face unfamiliar or threatening situations. The body responds by alerting all systems — the heart, the brain, the lungs, the digestive and immune systems in order to meet the perceived danger. That part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which regulates the body's responses, is activated. It triggers the release of steroid hormones that affects the entire body. Picture the dispatch of a line of soldiers ready to confront the enemy. These troops are sent to the body's front line and inevitably one of them is injured. Once the stress has passed, the stress hormones return to normal, but often the harm is done. If stress persists, the body's stress-apparatus becomes chronically over- activated and eventually harmful. In a controlled study, 2/3 of the subjects had 6 times the risk of developing depression within a month of a stressful event. Pleasure, happiness, enthusiasm disappear. Stress is sneaky and like a chameleon has many faces. Almost everything in our world produces enough stress to annihilate us. Scientists believe that stress drives us to over drink, smoke, overeat, take drugs, and instead of reducing stress, it produces disease. One way or another, stress will get you. Even imagined stress, we call ‘worry', affects us biologically. Winston Churchill tells this story: “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.” Uncontrolled worry grows into a fearful monster, rendering us slaves to a mere ghost. Dr. Charles Mayo, founder of the renowned Mayo Clinic believes that: “Worry affects our circulation, our hearts, our glands our nervous systems, leaving doctors helpless.” Can you please stop worrying about things that may or will never happen, if you cannot, help is on the way. It was only in the 70s that experts started to consider stress and its extended family. Fear, anxiety depression are not beyond the reach of science. “We can take people with extreme phobias and treat them in a day or two.” But can we not also help ourselves? Theologist Rheinhold Niebur wrote: “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.” If we can get that drilled in our minds, we can well control our stress. If we cannot then we should face our condition and seek medical help. Consulting a physician can arrest the psychological symptoms that are bound to develop into serious physical ones. It is easy to say: “don't worry”, but facing it is harder. Confront the emotion, name it out loud. Tell yourself, “I am stressed because…” that is already half the battle. By acknowledging the emotion, we become less vulnerable and more able to cope. An efficient way to reduce stress is to focus on one thing we can do effectively. Studies show that yoga helps. It causes you to fetter out the clutter of the mind and focus on slower breathing and an overall calm. Make a plan and execute it successfully. Develop feelings of mastery and control since lack of control spells danger. The tried and true are a healthy diet, regular exercise, recreation, vacation, humour and laughter. Some people laugh intensely during tragic events. It helps them endure the physical pain. Stress is here to stay. Since our initial folly to be evicted from our Garden of Eden, we have to deal with the stress we took along with us.
“Life's too short for worrying.” “Yes, that's what worries me!” Anonymous
