STRESS FREE FOR HEALTHY LIFE

The proposition that the state which we term death is the final means of escape from the condition we call stress is somewhat reminiscent of the statement made by Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici that 'death is the cure of all diseases': this is, of course, essentially an anihilist view.

There is obvious scope for the alternative proposal as advanced, for example, by Sir James Barrie in Peter Pan that 'to die will be an awfully big adventure'.

Man appears to be adapted to react to changes in his environment in such a way that appropriate mechanisms, designed to prepare him for coping with danger, are automatically initiated when he is threatened. This physiological reaction which has been termed the 'fight or flight' (Selye 1976) response 'helped our ancestors to survive by making them fit' (Gregory 1987) to respond to any perceived threat. The physiological responses are measurable and hence they are now clearly understood: for example, 'we can show how psychological processes are reflected in the activity of the brain, in cardiovascular functions, in hormonal activity' (Ibid).

The General Adaptive Syndrome, a hypothesis proposed by Hans Seyle, gives a breakdown of the reactions which form the fight or flight response. The body enters the 'stress reaction through a chain of events that begins with the reception of stimulation by the senses and the forwarding of this information to areas of the brain designated to react to it' (Lynn 1997). The physiological results of this stimulation include stored sugar released into the bloodstream, increased heart rate, increased rate of breathing, muscles becoming tense, increased perspiration, increased salivation, muscle tension and hyper-alertness. The body therefore, via this physical reaction, makes available additional resources, which may be called upon by an individual caught up in some dangerous situation. He is ready for action; whichever decision - fight or flight - is made.

Stress Management for DummiesIn mechanical terms, stress and its effects have been succinctly described by the eminent mechanical engineer Hooke. When a system, or body, is subjected to forces in opposition, there are two components of physical deformation which will result: firstly there is an elastic deformation of the system and secondly there is a plastic deformation. Elastic deformation is that mechanical movement, the kinetic energy of which is entirely absorbed by the system, and which is reversible once the forces have been removed; whereas plastic deformation is physical strain, and it results in permanent damage. The ratio of elastic to plastic deformation depends upon the material and the system, or body, which has been subjected to the stress.

That this mechanical explanation provides a useful analogy for the condition of psychological stress has been recognised by Cox (1978). He explains that 'this analogy suggests that, just as physical systems have an elastic limit, people have some built-in resistance to stress. Up to a point, stress can be tolerated, but when it becomes intolerable permanent damage, physiological and psychological, may result'. Hamberger and Lohr (1984) suggest that physical illness is likely to be the consequential physiological damage which may result: their proposal is that the 'ultimate outcome of the stress response is fatigue and illness'. The Stress Management Handbook: Strategies for Health and Inner Peace

The analogy of stress with Hookes Law in mechanical systems makes the assumption that stress is a reaction of the system to external forces or stressors; and that strain or its parallel, physical illness, is equivalent to the resultant plastic deformation. However, there is an alternative view that stress exists not within the environment, that is to say as an external factor, but only within the individual. Mikhail (1981) says that stress is 'a state which arises from an actual or perceived demand-capability imbalance'- my italics. In this alternative model, the role of perception cannot be overstated because for any given situation, it is entirely the perception of the individual which becomes responsible for the resultant stress which is set up within the system.

Whichever is the case, and indeed even if the objective truth lies somewhere between these two positions, there appears to be an abundance of scientific evidence suggesting that stress is related to, and indeed may actually be the cause of many diverse medical conditions. A few examples taken from recent scientific journals are reproduced here to illustrate the point: a recent study (Circulation 1997) suggests the existence of a link between stress and increased risk of heart disease; a report by Dr Alfred Sapse notes that the link between retinitis pigmentosa and 'the stress hormone cortisol has been shown more clearly' (Sapse 1997); researchers have found that 'high stress levels result in lowered sperm counts in men' (Endocrinology 1997); a further study proposes that teenage alcohol abuse may be stress related (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry1997).

The list of possible medical conditions which may be related to stress appears to be almost endless; but perhaps the following brief extract from one further report concerning American soldiers who were veterans of the Vietnam war sums up current medical thinking. It noted that war veterans who were also diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were fifty to one hundred and fifty percent 'more likely to suffer from circulatory, digestive, musculoskeletal, respiratory, infectious and other serious diseases than non-PTSD veterans' (Psychosomatic Medicine 1997).Take the Stress Out of Your Life: A Medical Doctor's Proven Program to Minimize Stress and Maximize Health [Book with Two Audio CDs]

However, as Dr Oliver Sacks has said, 'a disease is never a mere loss or excess ... there is always a reaction on the part of the affected organism or individual to restore, to replace, to compensate for and to preserve its identity, however strange the means may be' (Lynn 1997). In other words, the stress-induced condition, or illness itself, may be viewed as part of the body's protection mechanism. In fact, Hans Seyle himself, 'made it clear that stress is a natural protective reaction' (Ibid).

Analysis of the role stress plays in relation to the specific problems of Attention Different Children has led George Lynn to propose that a clear understanding of the stress model is fundamental to successful treatment. 'The beauty of this way of looking at the problematic behaviours of Attention Different Children' he comments, 'is that the stress model also points the way to what we need to do to help the child heal'. He says that the key to the successful treatment of these problematic children is to help them build up their stress-hardiness.

Lynn comments on the work of Maddi and Kobasa at the University of Chicago in 1979 in which they studied people who stayed healthy despite the stress they experienced as part of their lives. Looking for common factors, he cites three which he says are important in stress tolerance. Firstly, these individuals had support from others: they felt loved and also had an outlet for the giving of love. Secondly, they felt in control of the situation and had adopted coping strategies which helped to develop more self-control. Finally, it seems that most of these stress-resistant people felt a sense of purpose in living out their lives.

It may be that many, extremely simple and yet highly effective treatments could be developed which will take these findings into account. Recently, researchers from the University of Miami have found that children who receive regular massages from their parents 'may experience significant health benefits'. They found that, amongst significant other benefits, children who received a fifteen to twenty minute massage for a period of thirty days 'showed decreases in anxiety and stress hormone levels (Touch Research Institues 1997). This uncomplicated treatment certainly incorporates the first two of the three factors highlighted by Lynn.

As for his third factor, the importance of purpose in life, it holds special irony. It was the 'teacher' of Ecclesiastes, said to have been the wisest man ever to have lived, who recognised the futility of human endeavour. Soloman, it appears, failed to find purpose within human endeavour and so proposed that 'all is vanity' or 'futility' as the word may be correctly, if less poetically rendered; a kind of 'chasing after the wind'. His logic leads him to conclude that whilst short-term goals may appear to be worthwhile for their own sake, in the final analysis, they do not constitute a purpose for living.New Chapter, Supercritical Stress Advantage - 60 softgels

Man's purpose, according to Soloman, is to 'fear God and keep his commandments' (Eccles. 12): the popular, alternative view is that life has no purpose. This enigma remains at the very heart of the great question relating to man's existence. Here, we must simply be content to reflect upon the proposition, on the one hand, that death is annihilation and therefore is also the complete release of the individual from all human ailments; or, on the other hand, simply the beginning of one great, and wonderfully stressful adventure.Stress Reduction for Busy People: Finding Peace in an Anxious World