An important part of managing your
stress is knowing what your stress looks like. Your stress responses can take
different forms: bodily changes, emotional changes, and behavioral changes.
This section gives you a clearer picture of what these changes look like.
Although they look very different, they are all possible responses you may have
when confronted with a stressful situation.
Your body reacts
When
you’re in fight-or-flight mode, your physiological system goes into high gear.
Often your body tells you first that you’re experiencing stress. You may notice
that you’re breathing more quickly than you normally do and that your hands
feel cool and more than a little moist. But that’s just for starters.
If
you could see what’s happening below the surface, you’d also notice some other
changes. Your sympathetic nervous system, one of the two branches of your
autonomic nervous system, is producing changes in your body. Your hypothalamus,
a small portion of your brain located above the brain stem, stimulates your
pituitary, a small gland near the base of your brain. It releases a hormone
into the bloodstream called adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). When that
hormone reaches your adrenal glands, they in turn produce extra adrenalin (also
known as epinephrine) along with other hormones called glucocorticoids.
(Cortisol is one.)
More specifically, here are some
highlights:
1. Your heart rate speeds up, and your blood
pressure rises. (More blood is pumped to your muscles and lungs.)
2. You breathe more rapidly, and your
nostrils flare, causing an increased supply of air.
3. Your digestion slows. (Who’s got time to eat?)
4. Your blood is directed away from your skin and
internal organs and shunted to your brain and skeletal muscles. Your muscles
tense. You feel stronger. You are ready for action.
5. Your blood clots more quickly, ready to repair
any damage to your arteries.
6. Your pupils dilate, so you see better.
7. Your liver converts glycogen into
glucose, which teams up with free fatty acids to supply you with fuel and some
quick energy. (You’ll probably need it.)
In
short, when you’re experiencing stress, your entire body undergoes a dramatic
series of physiological changes that readies you for a life-threatening
emergency. Clearly, stress has adaptive survival potential. Stress, way back
when, was nature’s way of keeping you alive.
Your feelings and behavior change
Your body isn’t the only thing that
responds to a stressor. You also react to a stressor with feelings and
emotions. A partial list of emotional symptoms includes feeling anxious, upset,
angry, sad, guilty, frustrated, hopeless, afraid, or overwhelmed. Your
emotional reactions may be minor (“I’m a wee bit annoyed” or “I’m a bit
concerned”) or major (“I’m furious!” or “I’m very anxious!”).
Together
your physiological responses and emotional reactions can activate changes in
your behavior. These changes help you “fight” or help you “flee.” Fight or
flight may not be an appropriate response to a non-life-threatening situation
such as misplacing your keys or failing your driving test. The right amount of
anxiety can motivate adaptive behavior, such as doing your best and working
toward important goals.
However,
too much anxiety, too much anger, or too much of some other emotional trigger
can cause you to over-react or under-react. Annoyance can become anger, and
concern can turn into anxiety. Excessive emotion can result in inappropriate
responses. You may act too angrily, quarrel, and later regret what you said or
did. If you’re feeling anxious or fearful, you may go in the other direction.
You may withdraw, avoid, and give up too quickly.
Copyright © Allen Elkin Phd – Originally appeared in Stress Management for Dummies 2nd edition by Allen Elkin
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