STRESS AND THE RELAXATION RESPONSE

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STRESS AND THE RELAXATION RESPONSE

• Rob Rutledge

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WHY LEARN ABOUT STRESS

• Improves your health
• You can take an active role
• Enjoy your life more

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MAIN POINTS

• Recognize when you feel stress
• Train yourself to de-stress
• Learn to live in a peaceful way

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OVERVIEW OF STRESS TALK

• Stressors vs stress
• Physiology of stress reaction
• Short-term vs long-term stress
• Vicious cycles and burnout
• How to de-stress
• The benefits of meditation
• Questions

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WHAT IS STRESS?

• A condition in which an individual perceives the
  demands of a situation as exceeding their
  resources
• Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman

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STRESSORS VS STRESS

• Stressor - thing that causes stress
• -Physical or psychological
• -Real or perceived
• Stress - our body/mind reaction
• -Physical and psychological

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Stressor Perception Stress
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STRESSORS

• The runaway car
• An illness
• A traffic jam
• Dealing with an angry person
• Feeling of having too much to do

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ACUTE STRESS

• Our body's reaction to the stressor
• Fight or flight reaction
• Physical response - heart, breathing
• Feeling of anxiety or anger
• Usually short-lived

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PHYSIOLOGY OF STRESS

• Stress starts in the brain
• Stress hormones are released
• Pumps sugar and fats into blood
• Autonomic nervous system release catecholamines
• Effects every cell in the body

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PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTSOF STRESS

• Increased mental energy
• Increased emotional sensitivity
• Poor memory, ability to plan and rationalize

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HOW DO YOU EXPERIENCE STRESS

• What are your triggers?
• What happens in your body?
• What happens to your thinking?
• What emotions do you feel?

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IS STRESS ALL BAD?

• In short term - can help us
• When in danger - keeps us safe
• Helps our bodies heal
• Sharpens our minds
• The problem - ongoing stress

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TOO MUCH STRESS

• Animals - stress reaction works
• Humans - think and relive a stressful
  reaction
• Multiple stressors over years
• We often forget to relax

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PHYSIOLOGY OF CHRONIC STRESS

• Constant - high output of hormones
• Mind remains in agitated state
• Difficulty with sleep
• Body adapts and is hypersensitized

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PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM STRESS

• ALL SYSTEMS
• Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease
• Mutes the normal stress reaction
• Susceptible to infection
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Inflammatory disease
• Damage our brain

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CHRONIC STRESS SYNDROME

• Irritable
• Depressed
• Poor concentration/memory
• Anxiety
• Poor sleep and fatigue
• Vicious circle

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VICIOUS CYCLES OF STRESS

• Sensitization of the brain
• Irritable and so any perceived insult creates
  more stress
• More stress hormones released every time

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POOR SLEEP
STRESS
IRRITABLE
ANY STRESSOR
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CHRONIC STRESS
SOCIAL FUNCTIONING FAILS SUSCEPTIBLE TO STRESSORS
DETERIORATION OF BRAIN AND BODY
IRRITABLE DEPRESSED HEALTH PROBLEMS
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HOW DO YOU EXPERIENCE LONG TERM STRESS

• What happens to your body?
• What happens to your thinking?
• What emotions do you feel?

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STRESS RESPONSE
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THE ANTIDOTE TO STRESS

• Dealing with acute stress
• Looking at the big picture
• AWARENESS IS KEY
• Listen to your body
• Watch your mind and emotions

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ANTIDOTE TO ACUTE STRESS

• Notice - be aware
• Center yourself with breathing
• Think - Is the threat real?
• Reassure yourself
• Remember to relax - choice

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PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO DECREASE STRESS LEVELS

• Find a balance in your life
• Stop the stressors
• Rest and exercise
• Use humour
• Let Nature surround you
• Listen to music, garden ...

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STRESS AND EXERCISE

• Very effective
• Burn off the sugars and fats
• Strengthens the heart
• More energy, better sleep

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LEARNING RELAXATION

• Relaxation is a natural state
• Relaxation techniques, massage, meditation
• Creates a response in the body
• The feeling stays with us
• Call upon the relaxation response

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BREATHE
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QUESTIONS
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PHYSICAL EFFECTSOF STRESS

• HORMONAL CHANGES
• Sugar and insulin release
• Cholesterol release
• Sex hormones decrease

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PHYSICAL EFFECTSOF STRESS

• CARDIOVASCULAR CHANGES
• Increase in heart rate and
• blood pressure
• Increase in blood clotting factor
• Increase in sweating

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PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF STRESS

• Increase in respiratory rate
• Increased tension of all muscles
• Digestion slows down

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HOW TO ELICIT THE RELAXATION RESPONSE

• Repeat a word, sound or prayer
• secular - one, ocean, love, peace, calm
• spiritual - The Lord is my Shepard, om, Hail
  Mary, Full of Grace
• Passively disregard everyday thoughts
• Meditate