Chapter 4

Develop Mastery Over Stress

Part I: Understanding Stress

Stress Mastery

• How to become a “master” over your stress

• Key is not only to survive stress, but to thrive in stress

• Stress mastery is a craft in which you learn to take the stressors in life and then create a reality for yourself in which you can live

• Listen for key Ideas

Stress Management vs Stress Mastery

Stress Management Stress Mastery

One more thing to do

Part of the fabric of your life

Work Craft

Takes Time Adds Time

Do Exercises Cultivate Wisdom

Mechanical Increase Awareness

Organic

Stress Defined

• Anything that requires an adaptive response on the part of the organism

• Stress is inescapable in our times

• Eustress is the healthy stress

• Distress is the negative stress

Stress and Illness

• A positive correlation exists between stress and illness

• Stress negatively affects your physical, psychological, and occupational functioning in a variety of ways.

Physical Effects of Stress

• Glucocorticoids – cause white blood cells to migrate to the bone marrow and hide out, making them less available for combating disease

• Chronic stress weakens the immune system

Facts about Stress (p. 70)

• 80% of all visits to doctors offices are for stress-related disorders

• 50% of all deaths in the US are caused by a cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, in which stress plays a significant contributing role

• Dentists report that a high percentage of patients show signs of nocturnal bruxing (teeth grinding)

Psychological Effects of Stress (p. 71)

• Stress is key in the development of emotional difficulties and behavioral problems

• There are over 30 million Americans suffering from insomnia. Sales of sedatives are second only to aspirin

Consequences in the Workplace (p. 72)

• Inability to deal with life stressors decreases productivity at work

• People are more accident prone during periods of stress

• 80-90% of all business dismissals are somehow linked to tension and subsequent mental and physical problems.

General Adaptation Syndrome

• Homeostasis• Alarm• Resistance• Exhaustion

Stress Sensitization

• Before the Stage of Exhaustion overtakes us, recent research indicates we can become sensitized, or acutely sensitive to stress

• Once this occurs, the slightest stress can trigger major chemical reactions in both our brain and body

• Our brain next sends a message to our body, “OVERREACT” because our brain sees the minute issue now as life or death

Stress and the Human Body

• I. Immediate: – brain protectively dulls the body’s sense of pain: thinking and

memory improve– Eyes: pupils dilate for better vision– Lungs take in more oxygen– Liver: stores more sugar, glycogen is converted to glucose for

energy– Heart: extra oxygen and glucose into the bloodstream. Heart

rate and blood pressure increase– Adrenal glands: medulla secretes fight-or-flight hormone

Epinephrine (adrenaline)– Spleen: extra red blood cells flow out, allowing the blood to carry

more oxygen to the muscles– Digestion halts, allowing body to dedicate energy to the muscles– Hair: body hair becomes erect. Puffed-up hair makes animals

look bigger and more dangerous– Muscles: tense to prepare to fight or flee

Stress and the Human Body

II. Delayed:– Brain: hippocampus, a center of memory/learning,

gets activated to process the stress– Immune system: infection fighting is diminished,

perhaps increasing available energy– Liver: fat-stored energy is converted into usable fuel– Adrenal gland: the cortex secretes cortisol, which

regulates metabolism and immunity. Over time, this may be toxic

Stress and the Human Body

III. Chronic– Brain: Cortisol becomes toxic to the brain cells,

potentially damaging cognitive ability. Fatigue, anger and depression increase.

– Immune System: Repeated suppression of disease-fighting cells ultimately weakens infection resistance

– Intestines: Decreases in blood flow leave mucous lining vulnerable to ulcers

– Circulatory System: Elevated blood pressure and heart rate damage elasticity of blood vessels.

Norman Cousins

• Supposedly had an incurable and very painful connective tissue disease leading to spinal deterioration and paralysis

• Given a 1 in 500 chance of recovery

• Used humor to relieve stress• Watched Three Stooges and

other slapstick comedy• Used other healing remedies• Went into complete remission

Laughter Yoga (Hasya)

• In India, 1995, Dr.Madan Kataria created Laughter Yoga…..– http://www.laughteryoga.org/– http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=yXEfjVnYkqM-Listen to this baby’s laugh

http://www.laughteryoga.org/laughter-sounds.php

• Did that change how you felt five seconds ago?

Assignment• Do an internet search on Hasya or

laughing yoga. Then write a short essay:

• On the WebCT, read the Brain Connection article on Selye– What is the philosophy behind each?– How can you blend Selye’s GAS to Hasya?

• How do these two concepts compliment each other?

• Do you think the laughing groups can actually reduce stress? Why? Or Why not?

The Power of Belief

• Optimism appears to help in healing

• 30% of effectiveness of any treatment, including drugs, can be accounted for by placebo effects

• Placebo Effect– Example….complain of having pains

(psychological) and you are given medication (sugar pill) next time you see your doctor, you report the “miracle pill” took your pain away

Mind-Body Connection

• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) – the study of the relationship between stress and our immune system and health outcomes in order to uncover the workings of the mind-body connection, and discover how to use these mechanisms to fight illness, ranging from AIDS to the common cold

Maier and Watkins (1998)

• Hypothesize that the immune system functions as a messenger which signals the brain of injury or impending illness by releasing cytokine proteins that travel to the nervous system and the brain. In response, the brain then releases its own cytokines to prompt the nervous system to discharge a cascade of responses, such as fever and fatigue that assist the body's healing mechanism by slowing down activity level, thus, conserving energy.

Margaret Kemeny et al

• Are expanding on Selye’s theory and state that:– The classic fight/flight reaction Selye

describes is factual and also propose that:– A withdrawal response exists where people

cut back to conserve energy (getting depressed rather than anxious)