Stress, Anxiety and Depression
by Melinda Grossman
According to the American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary, stress is a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental tension, or physiological reactions that may lead to illness. To put it another way, stress is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.
Happy events cause stress
Stress is many different kinds of things: happy
things, sad things, allergic things, physical things. Certain amounts of stress are necessary for healthy functioning. Many of us carry enormous stress loads and don't even realize it!
These are just a few examples of events and changes that cause your body stress:
- You move to a new home
- You get a promotion at work
- Your car has a flat tire
- You give birth to a new baby
- You go to a fun party that lasts till 2:00 a.m.
- Your dog gets sick
- You get a divorce
- Your new bedroom set is being delivered
- Your best friend and spouse come to stay at your house for a week
- You retire from work
- You get a bad case of hay fever
- You take a family vacation
Yep! All of those cause stress despite the fact you may consider many of these examples to be happy, positive events in your life. Stress is NOT limited to worrying and negative episodes. And that's also why it's often easier to get overstressed than you might expect. It's why you might experience a stronger or more intense reaction to a relatively minor negative event than you expect.
When a helpful emotion becomes destructive
Stress disturbs your body's normal state of functioning. Stated simply, your body defines stress as anything that causes a change in your life causes stress. Even "imagined change" - worrying - causes stress.
You, me, and everyone have felt anxious during our lives. The tension and nervousness you feel when sitting down to take a school exam. The nervous excitement in your stomach before your first date. The tension you feel when your boss is upset. The butterflies in your stomach as you start to give a public speech.
Normally these are all positive emotions. For example they help you study harder; motivate you to take extra time getting prepared; or drive you to do a better job at work or to learn how to express yourself better. This is how you cope.
But it's very important for you to correctly manage stress! If all you do is "adapt" to stress you're actually experiencing "distress." In other words, you're not resolving the stress. What you're doing is more like sweeping it under the carpet.
Over time unresolved persistent stress may lead to stress anxiety or depression behavior. Even if you have a lot of stress from positive events, a negative stressor may just tip the balance. It may be a factor in causing disease including heart disease and cancer.
And for those who have an anxiety disorder, this normally helpful emotion can stop them from coping and disrupt their lives. An anxiety disorder might cause someone to feel anxious most of the time with no apparent reason. Or the feeling might be so uncomfortable they stop some everyday activities to avoid the feeling. Or they could be so intense the person is actually paralyzed with fear.
Anxiety disorders are NOT a character flaw. They don't happen because you're weak. And they're not a purely biochemical or medical disorder either. There are as many potential causes of anxiety disorders as there are people who suffer from them. Possibilities include: family history; genetics; increased stress and inadequate coping skills to deal with the stress; experiencing a traumatic event; or facing a major life decision are some examples of how anxiety disorder may be caused.
Health care professionals now know there are biological and psychological elements to every anxiety disorder. They also know the best form of treatment is a combination of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy actions. And depending upon the severity they may also use medication along with psychotherapy.
Stress anxiety and all anxiety disorders are very treatable. There's no need for you or someone you love to suffer. The most important action you can possibly take is to get thoroughly examined by a physician before consulting psychological or psychiatric care, since anxiety disorders can have an underlying medical cause.
About the Author
Learn how to identify the causes of stress, anxiety and depression by visiting http://www.StressAndDepressionAnswers.com - a popular website that also provides tips, advice and resources for relieving stress and anxiety symptoms.