Stress Public Health Enemy #1 Or Is It?

STRESS – PUBLIC HEALTH ENEMY #1 OR IS IT?
March 12, 2015 • 0 Responses • Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 41 secondsr
Share this post and help spread the love!
Share on FacebookShare on Google+Pin on PinterestTweet about this on Twitterr
Stress!! Such a killer. Stress has been deemed a public health enemy #1. We are told to chill out, calm down, don’t get stressed out. Our doctors write prescriptions in huge numbers. In most cases, we have a very negative attitude toward stress.

Recently I watched a You Tube presentation by Health Psychologist, Kelly McGorigal where she spoke about stress. Of course, she works with patients to teach them how to handle stress. “Stress is harmful to your health if we believe it to be stressful” said McGorigal. According to her, we should learn how to handle stress in a positive way.

When we learn how to handle our daily stress in a positive way, we release an unsung mechanism for stress reduction, releasing a little known hormone called oxytocin. This hormone, protects our cardio system, as it strengthens our body to recover from stress.

You may ask what do you need to do to handle stress. If, while you are having a stressful situation, first of all, look around you and you will probably find someone else who has a worst problem. If you are sick, again look around and find someone who is sicker than you are. Find someone who is having financial problems worse than yours. I think we tend to have a pity party which is exactly the wrong thing to do. Our pity party only leads to more serious problems–heart, depression and many other emotional problems. Then what comes next, a visit to the doctor where you are given more prescriptions.

What Ms. McGorigal advises is to look for something or someone you can help. Someone you can hug and love on. This will help. Get busy with being there for someone or something. How about that older neighbor who can’t go to the grocery store, that person in your church who is having problems with their children. How about fixing some meals and surprise that favorite aunt or uncle. Go mow their yard and save them some money from having to pay a fellow to take care of their yard. Help them clean up their house. As you can see, there are many ways to relieve your stress, short of taking a pill.

I don’t mean to be against doctors, they do help a lot of people, but I believe that before we end up in the doctor’s office, we should try some of these suggestions. By helping others, we are really helping ourselves and allowing the oxytocin hormone to release in our body thus making our bodies stronger and more able to fight off the next stressful situation.

There are many ways to handle stress and being informed is a good way to alleviate stress in our lives rather than to succumb to the negative aspects of it. It is better when chasing meaning in your life than trying to avoid discomfort. An example would be when seeking a new job which will carry much stress. You must know how to put it in prospective. Your life will be better because you know how to handle stress. More to come!!

63963_331169380404013_3949075175123123074_n