Stress, it’s that 6 letter dirty word that many of us have experiences. Whether it’s a tense interaction with a boss or pressure from friends and family, we all face stressful situations from time to time and even more so now in a time of uncertainty. For some of us, these events happen sporadically. For others, daily stress is a regular part of life!
Everyday stresses can seem like small things when considered individually. Mostly we all associate stress as a negative feeling and of course when it begin to stack up, collectively they can be quite harmful. But there is also stress that is beneficial and positive to your overall wellbeing.
Good stress, called eustress, can actually be beneficial to you. Unlike bad stress, or distress good stress can help with motivation, focus, energy and performance. For some people it can also feel exciting.
On the other hand, bad stress typically causes anxiety, concern and a decrease in performance. It also feels uncomfortable and it can lead to more serious health issues if not addressed.
There are 4 types of stress that we want to de-bunk today and it’s really important that we break these down and get you to fully understand each one of them!
So what are they types of stress we experience…?
Tolerable Stress
Positive Stress
Toxic stress
Physiological Stress
All of which are beneficial to our health and wellbeing. Let’s kick off talking about what stress is; Stress is the body’s physiological and cognitive response to situations/events we perceive as threats or challenges. It is a normal and natural response.
So let’s break them down:
Positive Stress: Symptoms: Brief increase in heart rate with mild elevations of hormone stress levels A positive stress response refers to a physiologic state that is brief and mild to moderate in magnitude. Examples of stressors that trigger a positive response is dealing with frustration, anxiety associated with being in novel situations or environments of uncertainty.
Tolerable Stress Symptoms: Serious Temporary Stress responses buffered by supportive relationships A tolerable stress response is associated with exposure to non-normative experiences that present a greater magnitude of adversity or threat. Examples of this type of stress response include experiencing the death a family member, a serious illness or injury, natural disaster, an act of terrorism. This helps to “reduce the physiologic stress response and promote a return to baseline status.”
Toxic Stress Symptoms: Prolonged activation of stress response system in the absences of supportive relationships This is considered as the most dangerous or harmful type of stress response. Exposure to stressful and adverse experiences over a long period of time can become toxic. This repeated exposure to stress without the benefit of buffering protection of a supportive relationships has been termed toxic stress. Several adverse life events may contribute to toxic stress response include neglect and abuse, divorce/separation, death of a loved one, exposure to domestic violence, incarceration of a parent or a family member, neighbourhood violence, extreme poverty, parent or family member abusing drugs/alcohol, parent or caregiver having a mental illness and traumatic events. Exposure to toxic stress can have detrimental short and long-term physical and mental health consequences on both children and adults.
One other thing that I want to add in here is physiological stress.
This is the type of stress that majority of the world is experiencing right now due to the global impact of what it happening with COVID-19. What is Physiological Stress? There is no denying that stress can cause long term effects on our health and wellbeing and physiological stress can be broken down a few different ways, but let’s start with this simple “bucket” terminology to help you understand how it can effect this physiological stress effects your body!
We all have what is called a physiological load. This is to do with all the different stresses we have in life and with reference to the above some are positive some are tolerable, some are just outright toxic to our life.
Let’s say you have 6 buckets. You have 5 small buckets that are labelled Buckets 1-5 and Bucket 6 is labelled physiological Load.
Bucket 1 - Nutritional Stress
Bucket 2 - Relationship stress
Bucket 3- Work Stress
Bucket 4- General Stress
Bucket 5 - Financial Stress
Bucket 6 - YOUR LOAD
As you can see they all funnel down to Bucket 6. Now how full that bucket is dependent on how full those other little buckets are above it. If its super full, our bodies can’t handle that overload and will shut down and go into stress mode. The more stress we have the more catabolic we are, the more catabolic we are the more inflamed our bodies get and susceptible to being sick. The thing that we need to do the most in this given situation is reduce that physiological load right now.
With all the panic, fear and anxiety around us or within us, we need to tap back in to what we can do to decrease that physiological load which can be done from working out.
What are you doing to help build your energy? Are you choosing the right nutritional choices and drinking enough water? How are you thinking right now?
All of these things effect your bottom bucket and this effects how you feel right now if you feel stressed. Check in on that big bucket and see what you can do to make changes and remember everyone’s buckets are different sizes. Some can handle more stress than others and/or deal with stressful situations in different ways.
Here are our tips on what you can do to help lower the physiological load to decrease your stress levels:
Find a balance: It’s important to structure some of your time so that you can be comfortably busy without being overwhelmed. Working hard does not usually equate with working efficiently. In fact, working too much can reduce productivity.
Be kind to yourself: Understanding that you aren’t weak because you’re feeling stressed is important. Stress is a very normal reaction to the stressors in your life.
Lean on the people you trust: Before your stress levels escalate, reach out to someone you trust such as a friend, family member or co-worker. Sharing your feelings or venting your concerns may help to reduce your stress.
Keep a journal: Set aside time to reflect on your day. Write down any thoughts or feelings you’re having. This can be a useful tool to help you better understand your stressors and how you react to stress.
Eat well-balanced, regular meals: When it comes to managing stress, proper nutrition is your friend. Skipping meals can lower your blood sugar, which can depress your mood. In some cases, this can also trigger intense feelings of anger and frustration.
Exercise regularly: Engaging in regular physical activity can improve your overall health and reduce your stress levels. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins. These feel-good hormones can also ease symptoms of depression and anxiety. Right now we can’t participate in group exercise but we can go get some fresh air and go for a walk, run or ride. We also have our Survival of the Fittest program where we deliver online workouts and nutritional education you can join here.
Get plenty of rest: Your ability to manage stress decreases when you’re tired. Try to get a recommended seven to nine hours each night. If you have insomnia, aim to get as much sleep as you can, then build in periods of rest during the day.
Practice relaxation exercises: These exercises, which can include deep, slow breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, involve tensing and then relaxing various groups of muscles. Try to put aside 15-30 minutes a day to do this.
Hope this help you manage your stress with some new coping tools!
Coach CY
xo
Some useful videos to further help explain how stress impacts your body and brain are listed below:
How does exercise effect your brain
Resources:
