People’s reactions to stress differ

The effects of prolonged stress on the human nervous system have been compared to overloading the electrical wiring in a home. After a period of time, heavy surges of electricity cause the wires to heat up. Eventually, fires may threaten the existence of the house.

Prolonged stress on the human nervous system also may overload the human system to the point that something “has to give.” Most individuals have a “weak organ” or “weak organs.” If it is the stomach or the intestinal tract, ulcers or other gastrointestinal problems may develop because of stress. In some individuals, stress may produce skin problems; in others, headaches. Emotional problems including anxiety and depression are frequently the result of prolonged stress and the individual’s inability to cope with this.

The number of health-care professionals recognizing the importance of stress and its correlation with many diseases is growing. The new field of behavioral medicine is but one of the specialties concerned with teaching people to reduce the negative influences of stress in their daily lives.

For those of us who practice these specialties, one problem is getting patients to understand that a great number of individuals suffer from the negative effects of stress. Another problem is getting these patients to realize that the people who admit to having problems in this area are not mentally ill, weak, or people who suffer from hopeless disease.

Let us look at some of the myths surrounding stress:

• Myth No. 1 – Stress only affects weak people, unsuccessful people, or people who just don’t have control of their lives. Stress management practitioners find just the opposite to be true. Hard driving, very competitive, over-achieving individuals who have accumulated many material possessions and honors are frequently suffering from a great deal of stress-related problems. The Type A personality, for instance, is characterized by a high need for control. They want everything under their thumb. They frequently do, in fact, have a great deal of control in their lives, but their obsessive need for more control leads to problems with stress.

• Myth No. 2 – Effects of stress generally appears during the time that the person is experiencing stress. Contrary to this myth, findings indicate that people experience a delayed reaction. Many migraine headache sufferers say headaches occur primarily on weekends and seem to disappear during work days. They are often not aware that their mind and body are simply pushing through the stressful situation, only to let down after it is all over.

• Myth No. 3 – A change in environment or living conditions, job, or marital status will make the stress go away. Part of this fallacy lies in the fact that it is our perception of the negative consequences and those around us that causes the stress, not the event itself. The key to the problem frequently involves reinterpreting our beliefs, assumptions and attitudes about out lives enabling us to see things more objectively, and frequently beginning to live under less stress in the same environment and circumstances.

• Myth No. 4 – People are not responsible for the stress in their lives – stress is unavoidable these days and everybody is a victim. This is not true because most people can take a great deal more responsibility for their lives than they actually realize. Assuming the responsibility for our action and thoughts gives us an opportunity to change the way we manage our lives so that stress management techniques can be employed to cope more effectively with the stress in our life that is unavoidable.

• Myth No. 5 – all people respond to stress in the same way. Not true. What may be stressful to one may simply be a part of routine living for another. Living and working in a noisy urban environment might be very stressful for a person raised in the country. But the native New Yorker will tell you that he would not live anywhere but New York City.

• Myth No. 6 – People suffering from excessive stress just need to sit down and relax. Unfortunately, changing our physiological response to excessive stress is more complicated. Techniques are available, such as yoga, meditation, biofeedback, and techniques to produce deep muscle relaxation. These techniques have been shown to by physiologically different for most individuals who are simply reading a good book or listening to music.

As the study of stress continues, understanding more about stress and its debilitating effects can be helpful in avoiding the negative consequences of stress.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1984