Stress: Why do we have it?
Stress is the taproot of our survival system. Without it we wouldn’t have the motivation to get out of bed, nor the sense of preservation to look both ways when crossing the street. Therefore, stress in and of itself is as natural and part of the landscape as a bunch of daisies. Too much stress, however, and you may be setting yourself up to be pulling up those flowers.
When we are stressed, our body releases from the ancient, reptilian part of our brain hormones, adrenaline, and cortisol. These are the fuels behind our physical and psychological reaction to a perceived danger: fight, flight, or freeze. Now, this was great for our ancestors when they needed that extra burst of energy to avoid becoming skewered by the mastodon they were hunting.
Stress: Modern day comparisons
However, getting stuck in a traffic jam, or feeling pressure to get the report out to your boss before deadline, aren’t such life and death situations. And yet, those same hormones get triggered and course through our veins, eliciting powerful effects. It can be like throwing our car into park, then flooring the gas. We get all revved up with no place to go, resulting in spitting out a lot of smoke and wearing our engine down.
Medical experts say that up to ninety percent of our illnesses are stress-related, and studies have shown how stressed workers can increase costs to the health care system almost fifty percent over their more easygoing workmates. And we wonder why billions of doses of psychotropic medicines are prescribed yearly.
10 Tips for Stress Management
Rather than taking a pill, here are 10 tips for developing your own stress-management strategies.
Get in the driver’s seat.
Emotionally healthy people tend to maintain a high degree of self-control over their life. This helps to accomplish their personal goals and reduce feelings of stress
Passionately pursue your purpose.
Those who feel a sense of purpose and commitment, who view change as a challenge instead of a threat, aren’t as affected by stress in a negative way.
Work your plan.
Take one thing at a time. Refrain from procrastinating. Choose how you spent your time.
Work your Put problems in perspective.
Most stress is caused by people who overestimate the importance of their problems.
Become a kookaburra.
A what?? Kookaburras are Australian birds known for their deep laughing sound. When was the last time you had a good, belly-wrenching laugh?
Don’t strangle yourself.
The word worry is Anglo-Saxon in origin – meaning to strangle or chock. Worry restricts your ability to think and act effectively. As the old saying goes, “It ain’t no use putting up your umbrella until it rains.”
Listen to what you are saying.
Your self-talk and perceptions of events cause undue stress. You become what you think, and your perception of any event will determine your reaction to it.
Are we having fun yet?
So, you live to be 70, which amounts to 613,200 hours! That is far too much time to not have fun. Fun is a diversion from the norm that gets us out of the rut the stressors of life create.
Build a buddy system.
Focus on building quality relationships. Give up judging, criticizing, holding grudges, unnecessary competition, and the like. Earn your neighbor’s love.
See streams in the desert.
Keep life in perspective. Concentrate on the positive. Keep failure and mistakes in perspective. Develop enthusiasm. See something good in every experience you have.
Stress: Building it for positive impacts
Using these 10 tips for managing your stress, remember some stress is normal to get you through daily tasks and responsibilities. This is a positive impact. Utilize that stress (and even ask for help!) to get things done so you can See streams in the desert.
Moments of heavy stress and how the body processes it is completely normal. But, extended periods of extreme stress can deregulate your body.
If you need assistance managing overwhelming stress, or the feelings of anxiety that come with stress are controlling your decisions, I welcome you into my private psychotherapy practice in Dripping Springs, Texas to build a plan to help you keep the daisies around you.
Leslie Tourish LPC 
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