MHVI Owners Manual . Lifestyle Management . Managing Stress

Stress. Just the mention of the word produces an almost instantaneous reaction in most people. Everybody has had stress, but for many people, stress can cause a physical sensation. For example, you might react to stressful situations with sweaty palms, a dry mouth, tension in your neck and back, or feelings of anxiety and tension. We all have developed our own ways to respond to stress, and to a greater or lesser degree, are aware of how stress affects us.

Managing stress in a healthy way is especially important if you have some form of cardiovascular disease. This section of the manual will help you understand stress, how it can affect your health, and what techniques you can use to help manage your stress.

Though most of us equate stress with unpleasant situations or events that occur in life, the true definition of stress is broader and more complex. Stress is your response to any change, pressure or situation in your life. In actuality, it could be a pleasant event that causes stress. A wedding, vacation or job promotion, for example, can all cause stress, even though they are happy events. And although we usually think of stress as coming from external stressors, you can just as easily become stressed by your internal thoughts and emotions. Sometimes internal thoughts and feelings interact with external stressors to cause an even stronger stress response. This identification of internal and external factors is important when we try to address how best to manage stress.

What happens when you more suddenly experience stress? It can set off a series of physical reactions that are commonly called the "fight or flight" response. Nerve messages are rapidly sent to your muscles, bones, organs, glands, and senses to prepare them to react. Your blood pressure and pulse rate go up, your palms get sweaty, your blood vessels constrict, and your breathing quickens. You are highly alert, vigilant, and ready to face whatever threat is out there.

"Fight or flight" is critical to survival in an emergency. However, this same "fight or flight" response can occur when there is no real physical threat of harm. It can be triggered by everyday tensions, situations at work or home, or perceptions of impending harm that you feel only in your mind. Sometimes, this extra alertness can become a more constant (or chronic) state that you don't realize you are experiencing. Even at quiet times, your body and mind can still operate as if someone or something is threatening you. High blood pressure, palpitations, sleep disorders, feelings of anxiety and dread, chronic head and backaches, and muscular stiffness are just some of the abnormal physical and emotional reactions that can occur.

In trying to deal with these reactions, people may resort to a number of unhealthy behaviors such as overworking, overeating, overworrying, abuse of alcohol or drugs or cigarette smoking. But the underlying stress often does not go away, in part because it isn't recognized; and eventually these unhealthy behaviors can lead to the physical and emotional exhaustion we call "burnout." Chronic stress may contribute to the development of depression, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, cancer, and decreased immune function.

This makes it critical that you learn ways to recognize and handle stress before it becomes a major problem. If you can learn to become aware of the signs and symptoms of your stress, you can take the necessary steps to stop the "fight or flight" response and return your body and mind to a state of balance.

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