STRESSED? TIME TO RETHINK...
To put it quite simply, stress is what occurs when demand exceeds capacity.
Not enough money, not enough time, not enough energy, not enough knowledge…Not enough ‘X’ to fulfill requirement ‘Y’.
Think about some of the most common life stresses. Will I be able to pay my bills this month and put food on the table for my family? Will I be able to finish all these work reports before their deadline? How am I going to cook dinner, take the kids to after school sports practice, and still find the energy for quality time with my spouse at the end of the day?
If we take an evolutionary perspective, stress can be a very adaptive strategy. Switching on the stress response mobilizes us to take action, by releasing adrenaline and cortisol to energise us, increasing our heart rate and blood flow around the body. Acute (short lived) stress is helpful to motivate us and prompt us to fulfill the necessary demands.
The problem occurs when this happens without a sufficient ‘release’ of energy, or a sufficient recovery period afterwards for the stress response to dissipate. The feeling of ‘demand exceeds capacity’ persists.
When we start to experience chronic stress, the under-utilised physiological response can begin to create havoc on our body. Stress is the new smoking, and can underpin many chronic health conditions, particularly around our heart and mental health!
The interesting thing about stress is the relationship that it has with our perception of resources versus demand. While feelings of stress may feel outside of our own control, it can help to remember that our stress response is simply a response to the cues that we are exposing ourselves to. And this includes the thoughts that are going through our mind!
At any given moment, our subconscious mind is scanning the environment, on the look out for clues that we may be under threat, ready to raise the alarm if need be. This includes clues that suggest that we don’t have the resources to fulfill the given demands (over-committing yourself to work can actually be perceived by the brain and nervous system as a threat to your survival!)
The ability to cope with stressful situations has been strongly linked to variables such as perceived ability to cope, perceived competence, having an internal locus of control, and higher feelings of self efficacy. Conversely, a lack of these variables has been related to increased anxiety and depression, less helpful coping behaviors, and lower self worth (1).
Note that these variables are dependent on our personal perception. What this means is that there is an opportunity for us to interject! If this stress response is simply a reaction to the clues that our brain and nervous system detects about our ability to cope, what would happen if we change the messages that we are sending?
If you wake up in the morning thinking “There’s so much to do today, I’ll never get it all finished” versus “I have a busy day ahead but I can cope with this,” how do you think the brain interprets the level of ‘threat’? What story do you think is a better one to be feeding the brain?
Often a simple ‘re-framing’ of the mindset can go a long way in managing your stress. For me, the magic is in the objective questioning of my stress. Is the to-do list actually as life or death threatening as it feels to me? Is my stress helpful? Is it necessary?
When you start to be aware of your internal monologue, you start to realise how much of your stress experience is internally generated. This gives you a golden opportunity to change the monologue. The more capable I tell myself that I am at dealing with the impeding to do list, the less consuming it feels, and the less I fall prey to the sense of overwhelming, emotionally draining, fatiguing stress.
Sometime demands simply do exceed capacity, and that is just a part of life. Re-framing your thoughts provides you an opportunity to stop and evaluate your stress, and approach these challenges in a way that returns the locus of control to you.
How much of your stress could be spared by changing the narrative that you tell yourself?
This blog was originally written for Specialised Health, an Australian / NZ based exercise physiology provider. To check it out, as well as heaps of other awesome content, head over to https://specialisedhealth.com.au/ .
References:
1. The self-perception of flexible coping with stress: A new measure and relations with emotional adjustment (Zimmer-Gembeck et al. 2018)