'It is not events but how we view them that matters' Epictetus.

Appraisal

The psychologist Richard Lazarus showed how appraisal of a situation can affect how stressful it feel.

He created a stressful situation as a research experiment to test the idea that it is our thoughts or 'reading' of a situation rather than the objective reality of the event that determines how stressful we find it.

He showed people films in which people were hurt - a finger was cut off by a saw!
One group were told beforehand that this was not real and was acted.
Another group were told beforehand that it was a training video used and so could distance themselves somewhat.
The third group were told that the people on film really suffered pain and infection later.

Lazarus then measured the stress reactions such as increased heart rate and sweating and participant's own evaluation of how stressed they felt.
Not surprisingly the third group showed most physiological activity and reported the most stress.

A few thoughts.
Not surprising perhaps.
Does this mean fake violence in the media is less harmful if it is framed as fake?
Are more sensitive people more at risk for stress? Probably.
It would seem to strongly suggest that we should stop banging on about stress to our young people in the media and perhaps in our schools.
How to get the balance right? To acknowledge and support people in stressful situations without leading them to view it as more stressful than they might have before!

Are you stressed?

Symptoms of Stress
Do you find that you...

Get headaches
Have aches and pains in your arms and legs
Feel tension in your neck and shoulders
Feel your stomach churning
Get more colds and flu
Feel tense and nervy
Feel impatient and irritable
Make silly mistakes
Find it hard to concentrate or make decisions
Feel stupid
Feel you can't cope with demands
Put things off
Avoid difficult situations
Drink,eat or smoke too much
Never have time for yourself

How many of these apply to you?
What do you need for yourself?

Professor Robert Sapolsky talks on The Uniqueness of Humans

Professor Sapolsky is a leading neuroscientist and the author of "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Organisational Rank and Stress." and "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: An Updated Guide to Stress, Stress- Related Diseases and Coping" A fascinating and very readable book. He is a brilliant speaker. He is renowned for his studies on stress and human behaviour and his research with African Baboons and observation of fight or flight responses in zebras. He researches issues of stress and neuron degeneration and was one of the first to document the link between prolonged stress and damage to the neurons in the hippocampus and links between stress and physical and mental disease from a neuroscience and evolutionary perspective.

Described by the New York Times as 'one of the finest natural history writers around' and by Oliver Sacks as ' one of the best science writers of our time'

Stress Management

Stress is a normal physical, mental and emotional reaction to events which we percieve as threatening or overwhelming. It is an adaptive evolutionary response to our environment and can be both positive and negative. Recently almost two thirds of Americans surveyed by the American Psychological Society said that they expected to seek help for stress at some point in their lives.

Positive stress drives us to exert ourselves and push our boundaries.
Negative stress is when we tip over the other side. This sort of stress can be become chronic and has been linked to many of the most prevalent modern diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. Studies suggest that chronic ongoing stress releases hormones into the body that if not dispersed can weaken our immune systems.

The bad news is that much of the way we live today can contribute to raised levels of stress.
The good news is that we can do a great deal to avoid, minimize and manage our stress. There are clinically proven methods of stress reduction which are easy to implement and do not require any elaborate equipment, expense or training.

We just need to believe that being stressed is bad for us and that we can choose to do manage our stress.

First we need to understand just how our stress response works. Once you understand how our stress response gets switched on it becomes easier to see how we can start to learn to switch it off or at least control it

Breathing

The simplest way to relax is to learn to breathe properly. Learn how to control your breathing.

• Sit comfortably or lie down
• Try to adopt an attentive and straight but relaxed posture.
• Now, notice your breath entering and leaving your body.
• Don't judge your breath just notice as you breathe in and out.
• Focus on inhaling and exhaling
• Inhale by slowly taking the air down into your lungs (try to feel the air going down to your diaphragm), hold the breath for a couple of seconds and then gently and slowly exhale.
• Try breathing in and out, counting slowly: IN (one, two, three, four), HOLD (one, two) and OUT (one, two, three, four).
• When you have found the rhythm that suits you and is comfortable, focus on the words 'in' and 'out'. In your mind say, 'In - Out, In - Out, In - Out' in line with your breathing.

As you breathe in imagine the breath recharging or nurturing you. Whatever feels good or makes sense for you.

As you breathe out you may like to imagine yourself relaxing as you let go of tension.

Try to keep thoughts to a minimum by focusing on the breath and your 'In' - 'Out' mantra.

If your busy mind starts to wander don't judge it harshly just notice that that is what the mind tends to do and then gently bring yourself back to observing your breath.

Sometimes I imagine myself like my phone recharging!

Here you can listen to a clinical psychologist explaining the physiological effect of breathing in controlling the stress response and talking about how he uses mindful breathing and meditation to counter anxiety.