©Arlene R. Taylor PhD
Stress and stressors represent the quintessential different strokes for different folks. One person’s pleasure is another individual’s poison, as the old saying goes. The term itself refers to the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it. Dr. Hans Selye reportedly borrowed the term from the field of engineering and applied it to health care. Even though the term is used commonly, many people cannot clearly explain what stress is although they can often describe problems they believe result from it.
Stress can be broadly classified into three categories:
- Eustress = mostly desirable stress (e.g., a new baby, career advancement, vacation, marriage)
- Distress = undesirable stress (e.g., death, divorce, layoff, disease, earthquakes)
- Misstress = stress that tends to go largely unrecognized (e.g., commuting, technostress, inadequate diet, excessive or prolonged adapting) but that can have as deleterious an effect as distress in the long term. Refer to Prolonged Adaptive Stress Syndrome for additional information.
The brain is believed to be the first body system to recognize a stressor. Within the brain the hippocampus may be the brain organ most susceptible to stress. Studies from the field of Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) have shown that what happens in the brain definitely influences what happens in the body. Information about chemical changes in the brain involving neurotransmitters and other informational substances is sent to the immune system, which can be either suppressed or strengthened.
Examples follow of the way in which individual may perceive, respond to, or manage stressors based on innate brain lead.
Prioritizing Division | Envisioning Division
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Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to perceive the following as stressors:
They may be stressed by being shamed for perceived workaholism or from the lack of good support system.
| Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to perceive the following as stressors:
They may be stressed by being shamed for spontaneity and humor, or for their tendency to pursue variety and change, and their penchant for looking at the big picture and/or envisioning years in advance.
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Maintaining Division | Harmonizing Division |
Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to perceive the following as stressors:
They may be stressed by being shamed for excessive attention to detail, or for resistance to change
| Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to perceive the following as stressors:
They may be stressed by being shamed for oversensitivity, or for excessive emphasis on connection and harmony, or for an inability to establish meaningful connections
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Stress Management Tips
Stress management strategies may be most effective when they tap into a person’s own innate giftedness. That is, some strategies will be easier to implement and will require less energy to utilize. Therefore, they will tend to be more helpful in managing perceived stressors.
Left Frontal Lobe Prioritizing Division
| Right Frontal Lobe Envisioning Division
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Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to:
| Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to:
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Left Posterior Lobes Maintaining Division | Right Posterior Lobes Harmonizing Division |
Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to:
| Individuals who have their brain’s energy advantage in this division tend to:
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Additional Tips to Consider
Knowing who you are in relation to stress management involves identifying your stressors, stress symptoms, and stress patterns.
- Stressors. You need to identify your own stressors in order to manage them effectively.
- Stress symptoms. Your stress symptoms must be identified before they can be managed.
- Stress patterns. Identify and list your stress patterns.
As soon as you recognize a stressor, a stress symptom, or a stress pattern, use a combination of activities to interrupt the stress cycle. These can include exercise, meditation, massage, a change of activities, or even humor. Yes! Learn to laugh at some of the stressors.
Consider utilizing Dr. Herbert Benson’s Quieting Reflex (QR), a strategy designed to counteract the first six seconds of the body's Fight/Flight reaction to a stressful situation by substituting opposite body reactions. There are five steps:
- Smile to counter facial tension and alter the brain’s neurochemistry
- Self-talk to tell your body to be alert but calm and even amused
- Deep Breathe to increase the supply of oxygen at the cellular level
- Exhale and relax, allowing your body muscles go limp during the process
- Return to normal activity.
When utilized, the Serenity Prayer, from 12-step-program concepts, is a proven formula for managing stressors more successfully:
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.