KNOWING STRESS RESPONSE

 KNOWING STRESS RESPONSE

Most of us are unaware of the harmful effects of day-to-day stressors on us until it is too late. We wake up to the situation only when the damage is already done.

We then resort to various measures to save ourselves

These include

◆ Damage control measures

◆ Distress relief measures

◆ Elimination of stress

Damage control measures: When we suffer from a psychogenic ailment, we rush to the doctor, who now institutes damage control measures. He prescribes appropriate medicines for the treatment of psychosomatic diseases or neurotic disorders. These medications do provide relief, but do not affect a cure. They merely suppress the manifestation of the disease process but do not remove its cause. Medical treatment of psychosomatic and neurotic disorders brings about symptomatic relief only. There is no permanent cure for the root cause, viz., the emotional reaction remaining active. It would therefore result in the recurrence of the disease when the medications are stopped. If the drugs were administered continuously to prevent recurrence, it would result in syndrome shift - the development of a different disease. For instance, if high blood pressure is lowered with anti-hypertensive drugs, the root cause of the emotional reaction being untouched, the patient may now develop diabetes. The doctor says, "No problem, we have anti-diabetic treatment as well." The person may now develop rheumatoid arthritis and so on. This phenomenon of syndrome shift is well documented in psychosomatic literature. Thus, medicines do provide relief but cannot prevent recurrence or syndrome shift, as the root cause remains active.

Distress Relief Measures: To remove the root cause, viz., the emotional reaction, we resort to various distress-relieving measures that neutralise the distress. These include:

Relaxation exercise: There are various types of relaxation exercises, like the Jacobson muscle relaxation technique, hypnosis, Shavasana, Transcendental Meditation, etc. They relax the body and the mind, providing relief. Ventilation: This is the process of unburdening oneself by opening up and speaking one's heart out to a sympathetic listener. Or else giving vent to one's anger by an explosive outburst. (If one cannot give it back to the person, e.g. boss, who caused it, one may displace it onto another person who cannot retaliate, like the child). This helps to get it off our chest, causing relief.

Medication: Anxiolytics or minor tranquillizers (like alprazolam, diazepam, lorazepam, etc.) and antidepressants (like fluoxetine, imipramine, amitriptyline, etc.) help to nullify anxiety and depression, respectively. The most widely prescribed drugs in the world today are alprazolam and fluoxetine, giving an indication of the prevalence of stress reaction in the world. Some people resort to self-medication with alcohol or other drugs of addiction. These drugs help them to drown their sorrows, which, however, resurface when the influence of the drugs wears off. Moreover, the addiction produces its own deleterious effects, like medical problems, social problems, financial problems, etc.

All the above measures are also temporary; they neutralise the distress but cannot prevent its fresh occurrence. Relaxation, ventilation, and medication tend to become lifelong crutches. Better still would be to prevent the occurrence of distress itself so that we do not become dependent on these distress relief measures.

Elimination of Stress: Most of us try to prevent the occurrence of distress by trying to eliminate the stressful situation. This can be achieved either by Manipulation of the environment to suit one's needs or Self-alteration to match one's surroundings

The various techniques by which this can be achieved are summarised in the following.

ELIMINATION OF STRESS TO ENSURE STRESS-FREE ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL MANIPULATION

SELF-ALTERATION

GET RID OF STRESSOR BY MOVING IT AWAY (BANISHMENT)

SEVERANCE OF CONTRACT

MOVE AWAY FROM OFFENDING STRESSORS (FLIGHT)

KEEP STRESSOR AT BAY (AVOIDANCE)

These measures aimed at the elimination of stresses to ensure a stress-free environment do provide temporary respite, but they generate conflict and are counterproductive in the long run.

It is impossible to remove all the stressors from life, but if we fortify ourselves, strengthen ourselves, then despite the presence of stressors, we shall not become distressed.

So, rather than trying the impossible task, we should change ourselves in order to protect ourselves from getting distressed by the inevitable stresses. We should first know what is changeable in us and what is not. For if we are not aware of these two aspects, we may try to change the non. changeable part in us, and all the efforts would be in vain. This brings us to the topic of the composition of a human being.

Receipt of stressful stimuli induces a stress reaction (distress), which prompts us to respond with the intention of eliminating the offending stressful stimulus. The result of our response, serving as a receipt to others, sets off a reaction in them, who now respond, producing a result, which serves as a receipt to us.