Not all stress is bad. We need positive stress to excite us so we take action and drive ourselves forward. In nature animals produce a stress response as a short term reaction to immediate threat - the body shuts down non-essential activities such as digestion and releases a surge of chemicals such as adrenalin to enable the "prey" to engage in "fight or flight". The problem with humans is that unlike other mammals we produce a stress response for both real and imagined threats. We can end up on permanent stress alert because of the perceived sense of threat we create in our brains. As a result of this many of us may be chronically stressed or suffering from continuous low levels of stress - a bit like living with the house alarm on all the time!
Many of us factor in this constant sense of stress or anxiety as something we can live with or something that just comes with the territory of 21st century living.
Research suggests that ongoing stress is harmful for our minds and bodies and links it to many modern diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Stress doesn't cause disease but it weakens our defences and puts much of our energy into being on high alert. No wonder anxiety and depression seem to be increasing.
We don't have to tolerate living with chronic stress. We can choose to control and use our stress responses to our advantage.
Relaxation and stress management techniques can help us learn to regulate and switch off this alarm system. But it takes practice! Fifteen minutes a day could make a big difference to our mental and physical wellbeing.
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