I’m out on a boat fishing in the harbour. Not too far out, maybe 250 metres or so. We’re not wearing life jackets but we are having a wonderful time laughing and laughing when out of nowhere a freak wave appears and topples the boat. We go flying into the water and, almost at exactly the exact same time, we reach the surface.

Vejamos...

Now you are a confident swimmer and you come up laughing and laughing,”Where did this come from?” You inquire between fits of laughter. Me, on the other hand, I’m not that confident in the water, in actuality I can not swim at all so I’m scrambling to find any type of grip on the side of the boat. I’m holding on for dear life and you say to me,”Don’t worry. Stay with the ship, I’ll swim in and get help.” So off you go back to yourself about the look of panic in my face. You’re thinking to yourself how funny this will be when we are down in the bar later on. Meanwhile, I’m still holding onto the ship white-knuckled and I begin to realise exactly how cold the water real is.

I’m trying to recall how long it takes for someone to get hypothermia and my body begins to shiver uncontrollably. I notice that the wave is taking the boat farther out to sea, maybe only a little bit but I’m thinking that once a present gets hold of it I’m a gonner! Suddenly I see a shadow in the water, was it a shark? Sharks are common in the waters around New Zealand, what else is it! I try and catch a hand-hold higher on the surface of the ship and kick my legs.

O que está a acontecer?

My breathing gets short and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. Often times I ask the participants in my workshops,”What causes anxiety?” I get a number of answers including visitors, the boss, deadlines, getting children ready for school in the morning, sound, speaking before a group, etc. Let’s return to the opening situation. What’s the difference between you and me? We’re both having the identical experience at precisely the same time in precisely the same conditions.

Why am I freaking out and under immense stress and you are not? If you are considering the answer is that it is possible to swim and I can’t, you would be right. But there is something else too. My thoughts are full of the worst-case scenario and they’re running riot in my mind. They’re getting worse by the moment until I’m thinking that I will die. You, on the other hand, are having entirely different ideas. Therefore, when it comes down to it, stress is not due to the environment or events, anxiety is due to us.

Stress

It is the connection between the environment and you. The best weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. Back daily when we came across a sabre-toothed tiger that the sympathetic nervous system would kick in (fight or flight reaction ) and our adrenal glands could flood our system using a whole pile of stress-related hormones like norepinephrine, adrenaline, and cortisol. Whereas the first two are generated immediately and cause immediate energy that the effects of cortisol requires slightly more time.

The objective of cortisol is to modulate blood pressure and maintain fluid balance during this period. In a standard stress-induced scenario the body will naturally absorb these hormones through physical action; for instance, running away or fighting. The thing is that the body responds in exactly the exact same manner when we ‘perceive’ we’re under attack and do not have the resources or abilities (such as swimming) to take care of the circumstance.

If we could take care of the situation then we would not have an intense stress response (it’d more probably induce a positive pressure response – eustress.) So if we feel under stress (or place ourselves under stress ) the body goes through the exact same routine it does like it had been under physical attack.

Lembre-se

All those small things, if not rationalised away construct to what is termed an allostatic load (think boiling kettle without a port for the steam) that may cause irrational outbursts or unexplainable behavior. That’s 1 side-effect of anxiety but why is it killing us. If we don’t handle our chronic stress levels and we’re constantly under stress the endocrine system is always drip feeding hormones to the body.

Remember, if they’re absorbed naturally following the stressor is removed these are not a problem however when we don’t have any means of releasing stress then these hormones begin to do damage. Another side effect of cortisol in the blood is that it inhibits the body’s ability to break down harmful fats that wind up being deposited along the walls of the coronary arteries. Over time, this build-up of ‘plaque’ narrows the arteries to the heart, blood flow to the heart is reduced, and the likely result is an eventual cardiac arrest. It’s not stress that kills us, it’s our response to it. So what’s the solution? Stress is something which has to be actively managed. It’s not something that takes care of itself.

Conclusão

Managing chronic stress takes a strategy to avoid the allostatic load from building, to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and return the body to homeostasis (a calm condition which returns the immune system to normal function and allows the body to heal and function optimally). The obvious things you can do would be regular aerobic exercise, yoga, meditation, a great diet (yes, even those things we put in our body can cause a stress reaction – fruits and vegetables are best), journaling, and speaking to a buddy about issues are all useful means of preserving and reducing stress levels.

But what about those situations that cause acute anxiety? First of all, if our anxiety levels are low in the first case the fight or flight reaction won’t be as intense but more importantly, if there are things which cause one to severe stress in your life understand the skills to take care of the situation so it will become a non-issue for you. Learn to swim! Once you’ve learned the skills go out and practice, practice, practice. Welcome those opportunities to hone your skills. Remember, if anxiety is the connection between the environment and you, maintain a positive mind-set, unwind and just take care of the situation as best you can – the’perception’ of being in control makes all of the difference. Knowing what you know today: What are the things which cause you stress? What are the”hot points” in other people who drive you crazy? Knowing what you know today: What strategies can you put in place to better deal with acute and chronic anxiety? What are the skills you want to learn how to remain in control, not go in the fight or flight response?


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