Can we unplug and tune in?

Today in our society there are many people under a great deal of chronic stress, our society almost demands it. Our very economic system is built on competition. Technology has enabled companies to expect more from their employees, employees are plugged in with corporate laptops and blackberries. You have to raise your kids right and take them here and there, go to their soccer games while working on your blackberry. This pressure to perform and compete follows us around via our phones dinging and chirping every couple minutes to let us know someone wants something. Our stress response evolved thousands of years ago and has not changed all that much. The constant plugging in is today's equivalent of a saber tooth tiger following us around snarling every couple minutes. Surely we can see this constant being plugged in creates stress but we can't unplug, society and corporations will crumble! Or will they?

What is the cost of stress on our own health?

Of people who visit the doctors yearly 90% have chronic problems and many of these chronic problems either stem from stress or are made worse by stress. The physical changes that occur during stress, inhibited immune system, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, inhibited reproduction, increased blood flow to the major muscles, decreased blood flow to the organs, halted digestion, and inhibited insulin action, are great for having the edge during an acute stress situation. However, our bodies were not made to operate this way long term. Here are just a few medical conditions that are caused by or are accelerated by stress, heart attack, stroke, asthma, high blood pressure, poor digestion, diabetes, metabolic disorders reproductive problems, memory loss, depression, accelerated aging. Some people many think, “Stress is all in the mind” and this is actually not correct. There are neuropeptides all over the body that are constantly communicating. Information is going back and forth between the endocrine system, brain, and immune system all the time. Others do not understand the full potential of the negative impact of stress saying “oh well we are all going to get old, get ill, and die anyway so what if I loose a year, two, or three at the end of my life” To that I would say, “it is not about when you die, it is about the quality of your life. By quality of life I mean your health, your tuning in and living in the moment, your connections with society, your appreciation, and your love.” We all have choices to make about our lives but I would suggest that we take a step back and look at where we are headed physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Do we like what we see? Are there changes we can make to live a quality life?

What is the cost of stress on our society that breeds it?

The Occupational Safety and Hazard Association (OSHA) says we spend $300 billion annually on diseases related to stress, a Canadian Study found that stress accounts for the highest percent of health insurance costs in big corporations, a 1992 British study estimated the amount totaled 10% of their GDP. Graham Clarke, the National Health, Safety & Environmental Manager states, “80% of all modern diseases have their origins in stress.” These are just few of the stress related costs to our society, then there's the diseases that go along with stress and these not only drain the healthcare system but the people as well. Migraines, depression, insomnia, digestive disorders, addictions, irritable bowel syndrome, and arthritis (just to name a few) hurt the quality, happiness, and fulfillment of life for our neighbors, family members, and friends. Are we ready to just drudge along through life with decreased enjoyment and health? I'm not.

What are the benefits to tuning in and alleviating stress?

Above I outlined all of the negative things associated with chronic stress so clearly the benefits to reducing stress are improved health, improved quality of health, lengthened lifespan, lowered medical cost to yourself and society. But in addition to these benefits, learning stress coping techniques and reducing stressors in our lives will give us time to “Tune in”. When we tune into our lives we recognize the beauty in our life, the love we give and receive, our values, our wisdom, and our strengths that make up our soul and we can develop a mind body connection that gives us peace and happiness.

Ways to alleviate stress

We know that stress is any event that requires us to adapt or change. You can't get away from stress it is a part of our lives. What you can do is learn how to deal with it effectively reducing your risk of medical conditions, that shorten your lifespan or reduce the quality of your life. Here are some ideas of activities that can help you cope with stress.

• Breathing
• Stretching
• Meditation
• Visualization
• Self hypnosis
• Diet
• Exercise
• Music
• Aromatherapy
• Laughter
• Thought field therapy

You can also work to develop a stress hardy personality. There are some people who seem to deal better with prolonged stress in the study it was noted that they all had commitment to their lives and themselves, they felt they had a sense of control even if directives were given, they looked for challenges to grow and be stronger. Perhaps knowing these three things can help us deal with stress. We are conditioned to respond to stress the way we have for a long time however, if we can recognize when stress occurs and try to refocus on the idea that we still have some control and see it as an opportunity to learn and grow we may be far better off. Scientists have know for a long time there is a connection between health and personality type.

I submit that with all the information we have about stress it may be wise for each of us to find a way to unplug every once and a while and learn several stress coping strategies.

1. Take those two weeks vacation each year without the blackberry.
2. Join your companies HR sponsored work-life balance team.
3. Try to get a room for meditation that can be used at certain times throughout the day.
4. Have a yoga class at lunchtime on site.
5. Once an hour take 10 deep cleansing breaths.
6. Talk to HR about getting a chair massage person in once a month.
7. Have aromatherapy oils in your office.

Is there anyone who doesn't want to live happy and healthy? Healthy living involves engaging in a healthy nutritional plan, socially active lifestyle, regular exercise, sufficient rest and sleep, and finally, proactive strategies to reduce the impact of chronic stress. And healthy lifestyles are a good foundation for a happy life as well.

* It should be noted here that I wrote primarily about chronic stress that we put on ourselves, put on each other or have put on us through our job and job position. There are many other kinds of stress such as death of a loved one, traumatic childhood events, or stress that happened to us prenatally like the “winter hunger”children. I do recognize that there are other kinds of stress by the benefits of alleviating stress and ways to do that remain the same.

* Also I obviously wrote only about Distress not Eustress but recognize that although different both can be stressful

Are you stressed? So what's the big deal isn't everyone?

Did you set an alarm this morning? Rush out of the house? Run into Traffic? Have a deadline you are rushing to meet?  A stressor is anything that knocks us out of homeostatic balance. A stressor could be skipping breakfast, a 101 degree summer day, anger, lack of sleep, too much work, trauma, allergies, infections, medical procedures, and excessive exercise (serious athletes are putting stress on their body and it is not healthy. If moderate exercise is good more is not better).  Side note here is that in humans we also can have anticipation and denial as stressors.

Stress is a daily occurrence.  It is normal and without stress response our bodies could not operate. The problem is not the small stressors we encounter each day but how we handle these stressors and the chronic stress we encounter.  Note: The biggest stressors in humans and primates are being low on the social ladder and not being able to change an undesirable situation.  The stress response from the Adrenal Glands is the body trying to reestablish homeostasis. It does this by secreting certain hormones, inhibiting others, activating particular parts of the nervous system. What is interesting is that no matter the stressor, whether we are running from an attacker, playing at the park on a hot afternoon, or stuck in traffic, we all turn on the same stress response. The core of our stress response is built around the fact that our muscles will need to work like crazy and we will need lots of energy right now not stored away for body rebuilding later (acute stress). 

Adrenal Glands have two parts the Cortex which is the outer part and the medulla, the middle. The Cortex produces hormones Cortisol and Corticosteroids whose primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. This is so your body will have all the energy it needs to react fast to a stressful situation.

The medulla or middle produces epinephrine and nor epinephrine which increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the “fight or flight” part of the sympathetic nervous system. All of this is in response to the possibility that we will need our muscles to operate at peak performance. If the muscles are to work their best they will need glucose so the body releases it into the blood stream and if there is not enough in stored supply then fat and protein can be converted. Our digestion is stopped, so all energy can be focused on the muscles. Our heart rate goes up so it can pump blood to the muscles faster, the lungs dilate so more air can be brought in, our pupils dilate so we can see better at night, our blood pressure goes up so blood can get to the muscles rapidly. In addition the pituitary gland and hypothalamus release endorphins and enkephalins to block pain should we get into a fight and clot the blood should we be wounded.

So what happens if we don't have an acute stressor but instead a long term stressor such as a tough family relationship, a boss we can't stand, or just too much work? Obviously we can not sustain the elevated levels of epinephrine and nor epinephrine that we would see if someone started chasing us down the street so in prolonged stressful situations the Gluccocorticoids (specifically cortisol) comes to back up the sympathetic nervous system. So now you have the sympathetic nervous system in control and the Gluccocorticoids to help the body stay in stress longer term. The Gluccocorticoid families primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis suppress the immune system, and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. It also decreases bone formation.

We know that elevated levels of Gluccocorticoids is a problem on several fronts.

• Gluccocorticoids will keep the blood sugar levels higher so the pancreas secretes more insulin and then blood sugar goes higher and sets up a vicious cycle. Also elevated levels of Gluccocorticoids counteract the release of insulin. Fat, protein, and carbohydrates are not stored but metabolized so the cells are not receiving adequate nutrition for regeneration.
• Elevated Gluccocorticoids weaken the immune system. The adrenal gland cortex produces cortisol and cortisone which are immune suppression anti-inflammatory steroids. Cortisol prevents proliferation of T-cells by rendering the interleukin-2 producer T-cells unresponsive to interleukin-1 (IL-1), and unable to produce the T-cell growth factor. Cortisol also reduces bone formation, causes calcium to leach from the bone, and reduces calcium absorption in the intestine. Cortisol also has been shown to shrink the thymus gland.
• Elevated levels of cortisol reduce reproduction function. In males the hormone system that stimulates sperm production and testosterone levels is inhibited. In females cortisol can shut down androgen production from the adrenal gland which is where where 5% of our estrogen comes from. Also in women stress can shrink fat cells telling the body there is not enough nutrition to support reproduction and finally ovulation is decreased.

The cortex of the adrenal glands produces the corticosteroids but the medulla of the adrenal glands produces Epinephrine and nor epinephrine under stress. These two hormones activate the sympathetic nervous system and are responsible for shutting down digestion, increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow, and increasing oxygen in take. In other words your heart is pounding, your breathing fast, your hands are sweating and shaking.

• Elevated levels of epinephrine and nor epinephrine are a problem for several reasons.The over stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system causes uneven wear on the bodies systems which leads to other hormones being disrupted, exhaustion, and fatigue of organs and hormone systems. This causes the desire for stimulants which cycles back into stimulating the adrenal glands.
• If the sympathetic nervous system is activated then digestion is slowed down. So the glucocorticoids are suppressing insulin and metabolizing your nutrient intake and now your digestion is slowed down so you may not be absorbing properly. You need more nutrients now to keep yourself healthy.
• If epinephrine and nor epinephrine are pumping through your body that means your heart is beating faster and working harder. Veins are constricted causing blood to return to the heart with more force. Your arteries are dilated so more blood can get to your muscles but a dramatic decrease in blood flow to non essential parts of the body like digestive tract and skin. If you have chronic stress than it stands to reason that you will have higher blood pressure or hypertension. Also though over time the blood returning to your heart with force will cause the left ventricle to thicken causing it to swell. This puts you at greater cardiac risk. And to make matters worse epinephrine makes circulating platelets more likely to clump together which can lead to atherosclerosis plaque. 

As you can see chronic stress is a major problem on the entire body. Tomorrow I will write about ways to improve your response to stress stimuli and ways to eliminate stress.