Every week, family doctors see patients - anxious, angry, exhausted, burnt out or depressed - asking for a "stress leave" from work.
When we tell people at home or at work that they're causing a lot of stress, it's not a complement and we're not asking them to lay on some more.
We usually think stress as coming from the outside - as if stress is a negative force that attacks your personal peace and prevents you from experiencing lasting happiness.
But stress is a key spice of human life. The incremental stress of additional weight in resistance training improves the tone and strength of our muscles. Challenging our hearts with appropriate cardiovascular exercise conditions our hearts to pump more efficiently.
So the right types of stress in the right doses are essential to your wellbeing. Too much may be harmful. It is not something to be avoided at all costs. Sometimes the greatest harm comes from within - the ways in which we manage stress.
Our individual response to stress is influenced by infinite factors, including our cultural background and personal history. In health care, we recognize that people may have a predisposition towards certain conditions when confronted with excessive stress. If you have an addictive personality, you may deal with stress by drinking, gambling, using street drugs or abusing prescription medications.
If you are prone to anxiety, stress may provoke an increase in panic attacks, obsessive thinking, compulsive activity or avoidant behaviour. If you have a tendency towards a mood disorder, stress may trigger an episode of depression or mania.
Workaholics tend to work more when they are under more stress.
This creates the unhealthy vicious cycle of increasing stress from excessive work and the neglect of the other important areas of life.
Work is good, but too much work is not.
In a hostile or unpredictable world, we may find some relief by choosing our favourite comfort foods. Many of us may react to stress with compulsive eating, and those compulsions usually don't involve a lot of fresh vegetables.
Exercise is one of the healthiest ways to cope with stress. It releases natural endorphins that bring about a sense of wellbeing. However, excessive exercise can be surprisingly unhealthy. The signs include unwanted weight loss, extreme fatigue, and overuse injuries. You may actually lose muscle by burning more calories than you consume and not allowing for adequate rest and recovery.
How do you cope with stress? Do your coping strategies create greater stresses or imbalances in your life?
Dr. Davidicus Wong is a physician and writer. You can find his posts at davidicuswong.wordpress.com and listen to his podcasts at wgrnradio.com.
