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Stress
More and more people report feeling “stressed out” by the pressures and strains of modern life. For many individuals high stress episodes come and go with at least some opportunity for rest, relaxation and renewal in between. However, other individuals experience stress for extended periods. For these individuals the experience of chronic stress can become a problem in its own right.
Stress is brought on by changes in our environment, and the events that cause stress are called stressors. Examples of typical stressors include highway traffic, changes in your career such as adapting to a new boss or new job tasks, or news that your child is not doing well in school.
The Most Stressful Life Events
Some people are surprised to discover that both positive and negative events can increase stress. This is true because the stress reaction occurs to help us adapt to change. Below is a list of the top 10 most stressful life events.
- Death of a partner or spouse
- Divorce
- Separation from a partner or spouse (due to injury, illness, employment or other circumstances)
- Imprisonment
- Death of a close family member
- Personal injury or illness
- Marriage
- Dismissal from work
- Change of job / starting a new job
- Retirement
Understanding the Stress Reaction
The human body responds to stressors by activating the nervous system and specific hormones. The hypothalamus signals the adrenal glands to produce more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol and release them into the blood stream. These hormones speed up your heart rate, increase your blood pressure, alter your metabolism and cause many other psychical changes. All of these changes are intended to help you survive whatever the potential (or perceived) threat might be. Unfortunately, if the threat does not go away and your body continues to engage in a stress reaction, you can experience chronic stress and stress overload. You might feel anxious, lose sleep, lose your appetite, feel irritable, have gastro-intestinal discomfort, feel overwhelmed, feel depressed, and if the stress is unrelenting, you may even feel hopeless.
The Impact of Stress and Health Risks
We now know that chronic stress contributes to a number of physical and mental health problems. The following data, taken from the American Medical Association is just a partial list of the impact and risks of stress.
- Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
- Seventy-five to 90% of all doctor's office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
- Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, or arthritis in addition to depression and anxiety.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.
- The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Life threatening events can even produce a potentially severe mental health diagnosis called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (click here for more information on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
Learn More About Stress
American Psychological Association: http://www.apa.org/topics/topicstress.html
WebMD.com: http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/7/1674_52144.htm
If you know the source of your stress, you can go to the Full List of Conditions and Disorders Treated by SLBMI Clinicians, where you can find more information about how we can help you with that issue.
If you do not know the source of your stress, or if stress itself is the issue, you can go to General Psychological and Counseling Services, to learn how to set up an evaluation.
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