Stress Management

Stress management is important for everyone. It's not a matter of whether or not we have X amount of stress, it's how we cope with it.

This is something that plays a big role in our overall mental and physical wellbeing. Let's take a closer look at what we're dealing with:

Definitions of Stress

Dr. Hans Selye (1974): "Stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it."

Davis, Eshelman & McKay (1988): "Stress is any change you must adjust to."

Spring Break T-shirt: "Stress: The confusion created when the mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living #@%$ out of some idiot who desperately deserves it."

Benson and Stuart (1992) offer another angle. Their definition: "Stress is the perception of a threat to one's physical or psychological well-being and the perception that one is unable to cope with that threat."

Surprise, It's the Little Things That Kill You

That's because there's this physiological mechanism, the fight-or-flight response, which makes the aforementioned little things more significant than we may have realized. The fight-or-flight response is an innate response with significant evolutionary background.

Eons ago, a difficult situation encountered by the caveman was usually of the life-threatening variety. To enhance survival, the body adapted accordingly. The immune and digestive systems would shut down; blood pressure, metabolism and heart rate would drastically increase, so that more blood could be pumped into the muscles of the arms and legs. Combined with a big surge of adrenaline, this autonomic response of the body enabled the caveman to fight harder than ever or run away from a predator.

This built-in survival response still exists in us today. It still comes in handy at times. We've all heard stories of people lifting cars or impossibly heavy debris to save others trapped underneath. The fight-or-flight response is like a turbo-boost in power, speed, and strength. It can get you out of a jam real quick.

Unfortunately, in today's age there are a number of tense situations from which there is no escape. The caveman was permitted to yell "Oooga!" and run away from the scene, but the rules of today's society dictate that we face the music. The boss calls us into the office. A policeman pulls us over. We're late for an appointment and seem to be getting every red light on New York avenue. The dentist says "this might hurt a little".

Obviously, smacking someone in the face and running away -- as tempting as it may be sometimes -- is not appropriate in any of the above situations and many others that we face every day. You know it and I know it, but our bodies, shaped by evolution, don't. Thus it is possible for some relatively harmless yet annoying circumstances -- such as reading the phone bill -- to set off our fight-or-flight response.

According to Benson (1975), "The more often the fight-or-flight response is activated, the more likely it is that you will develop high blood pressure, especially if circumstances do not allow you to actually give battle or flee". Borysenko (1990) compared being in a constant state of fight-or-flight to leaving one's car in overdrive too long; breakdown becomes inevitable if we don't downshift our gears.

Survival Skills

Stress management can also include specific, internal aspects, such as monitoring your breathing and/or practicing certain exercises to control your internal functions and reactions to stress. For more tips and strategies, check out our resources section below.

Note: A lot of the above information is an excerpt from a research paper I wrote in grad school back in the '90s. It has withstood the test of time. To appropriately give credit where credit is due, here are some of the sources that were quoted above:

Benson, H. (1975). The Relaxation Response. New York, NY: Avon Books.

Benson, H., & Stuart, E. (1992). The Wellness Book. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Borysenko, J. (1990). Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson. New York, NY: Warner Books.

Davis, M., Eshelman, E.R., & McKay, M. (1988). The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Selye, H. (1974). Stress Without Distress. New York, NY: Signet Books.

Recommended Resources