We can all probably say that we have suffered with stress or anxiety at some point in our lives, whether at work, or driving, moving house or just running daily chores. As time moves on, and the world fills with more and more things for us to consume and interact the less time we have to relax, digest and check in with ourselves and let go. So I would like to say to you , check in with yourself, take out an M.O.T on yourself. We treat cars better than ourselves, remembering to fill up with the right fuel at the right time (a balanced regular diet) remembering not to run on empty too often, remembering to fill with water regularily (rehydrate) remembering to fill with oil ,to keep the engine lubricated( amega 3’ fidh oils) and check in with a service and change the oil filters or fit a new exhausted or change a tyre all these things keep the car on the road helping you to get to where you want to go and if these things aren’t done then we could find ourselves broken down by the road side and in need of an overhaul a new engine or find ourselves on the way to the great scrap heap in the sky. Stress is literally the release of adrenalin and cortisol hormones and these can be released at different levels for example:
• Low release of hormones making for fuel to act and respond well
and quickly and able to concentrate.
• Higher release of hormones making for anxiety, heart palpertations,
headackes, bad digestion, sweatiness and lack of concentration
• Large release of hormones making for panic attacks ,sickness, fainting ,
Fight or Flight Survival Response
In the early 1900’s research done on stress showed that when an animal or Human experiences a shock or perceives a threat, it quickly releases hormones that help it to survive this is called “The Fight or Flight response”. This was particularly valuable around the time of Stone Age man and when man lived outside more, amongst other animals.
These hormones help us to run faster and fight harder. They increase the heart rate and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to power important muscles. They increase sweating in an effort to cool these muscles, and help them stay efficient. Sweaty palms for gripping things to help move quicker through the undergrowth. They divert blood away from the skin to the core of our bodies, reducing blood loss if we are damaged. And as well as this, these hormones focus our attention on the threat, to the exclusion of everything else. All of this significantly improves our ability to survive life-threatening events.
Power, but little control...
Unfortunately, this mobilization of the body for survival also has negative consequences. In this state, we are excitable, anxious, jumpy and irritable. This reduces our ability to work effectively. With trembling and a pounding heart i.e. experiencing stress, we can find it difficult to execute precise, controlled skills. And the intensity of our body’s focus on survival interferes with our ability to make fine judgments based on drawing information from many sources. We find ourselves more accident-prone and less able to make good decisions.
It is easy to think that this fight-or-flight, or adrenaline, response is only triggered by obviously life-threatening danger. On the contrary, recent research shows that we experience the fight-or-flight response when simply encountering something unexpected. The situation does not have to be dramatic: People experience this response when frustrated or interrupted, or when they experience a situation that is new or in some way challenging. This hormonal, fight-or-flight response is a normal part of everyday life and a part of everyday stress, although often with an intensity that is so low that we do not notice it.