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In support of wellness:
Stress Solutions
Centering, mindfulness exercise
Progressive muscle relaxation, basic breathing
Stress Solutions
Chronic diseases of lifestyle are
responsible for 37% of deaths in South
Africa, second only to HIV / AIDS (39%):
The 2003 / 4 SA Health Review
Work-related stress doubles the risk of
dying from heart disease: Research
published in the British Medical Journal
Oct. 2002
Vitality: www.discovery.co.za/stress
Wellness: stress management
Awareness of triggers:
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Stress assessment, personal stress graph
HRA
Personal stress management program based on wellness
principles:
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Intent
Dimensions: mind, body, emotions, soul, social, work, environment
Behaviour change – regular group sessions, Internet support programs, workshops,
talks, courses
Supportive environment / culture – family involvement, Internet programs, chill room,
flexi time
Readiness to change:
Not ready
Pre-contemplative
Contemplative
Action
Maintenance
Stress & health: 2004 research
July 2004 Psychological Bulletin. Short term stress
enhances immunity. Long term stress weakens immunity.
Stress promotes ageing process. November 2004
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers in Germany: taking vitamin C (as part of an
antioxidant combination) helpful stress management tool.
Swedish researchers: work related stress doubles the risk
of a heart attack.
Large Swedish study: men chronic high levels of stress
more likely to have cardiovascular disease and to die of a
stroke.
The Stress Response
Fight-flight response - physiological arousal to ensure
survival
Fight response triggered by anger or aggression, to
defend territorial boundaries or attack smaller
aggressors
Requires physiological preparations that recruit power
& strength for short duration
Flight response induced by fear, includes fleeing,
hiding, withdrawal
Requirement of fuel for prolonged movement – energy
intensive, demands on body’s physical reserves
Human body in all its metabolic splendour prepares
itself to do both simultaneously.
All mammalian species: extremely effective survival
response
Pathways of the stress response
Effects
Reaction
Time
Immediate
Adrenalin,
noradrenalin via
sympathetic
nervous system
2-3 seconds
Intermediate
Adrenalin,
noradrenalin via
adrenal medulla
20-30 seconds
Prolonged
ACTH,
Minutes, hours,
vasopressin,
days, weeks
thyroxine via
neuro-endocrine
pathways, cortisol
The stress response: endocrine system
Cortisol, aldosterone
Adrenalin,
noradrenalin
Aldosterone
Vasopressin (ADH)
Glucagon
Growth hormone
Prolactin
Thyroid hormone
•Insulin
•Sex hormones
Top stress triggers / stressors
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Work related stress
Financial strain
Chronic health problems / stress
related symptoms: feelings, physical
Conflict in close relationships /
marriage / sex
Conflict and problems with children /
family
Time constraints / excess
responsibilities
A different perspective on ‘diseases of
meaning’
‘I am not a mechanism, an assembly of various
sections. And it is not because the mechanism
is working wrongly that I’m ill. I am ill because of
wounds to the soul, to the deep emotional self.
And the wounds to the soul take a long, long
time, only time can help and patience, and a
certain difficult repentance, realisation of life’s
mistake, and freeing oneself from the endless
repetition of this mistake which mankind at large
has chosen to sanctify.’
- ‘Healing’ by DH Lawrence
Stress-heart disease links
1.
Hypertension
Sympathetic arousal: adr / nor neural endings & adrenal
medulla - ↑ heart rate, myocardial contractility
Aldosterone, vasopressin - ↑ blood volume.
All to move blood to areas where it’s needed even
without conscious attempt to actually move!
Pressure ↑ closed system: damage vascular tissue,
increased turbulence, microtears intima lining coronary
vessels.
Healing tears – blood clotting, inflammatory response
bind to damaged tissue. Primary ‘healing’ substance:
cholesterol!
Stress-heart disease links
2. Cortisol
↑ level free fatty acids carried by
lipoproteins from adipose tissue into blood
to be used by working muscles for energy
production
Cholesterol already there to ‘heal’ tears!
Protective measure becomes major
hindrance to efficiency of heart muscle –
CHS
Stress prone personalities: Type A behaviour
Greater predictor of heart disease than all other
risk factors combined!
Rushed, hurried lifestyle
More prone to sympathetic arousal:
hypertension, high cholesterol, high TGL
Time urgency – preoccupied / obsessed with
passage of time, impatient – waiting in lines,
others who are deemed slow with tasks that
threaten work schedule. Guilty when relaxing.
Everything done with speed: eating, walking,
talking. Time becomes a major stressor!
Polyphasia: engaging in more than one
thought / activity at a time – multitasking.
Stress prone personalities: Type A behaviour
Ultra competitiveness
Rapid speech pattern
Manipulative control: symbolic of ego
driven person. Desire to influence,
intimidate. Control through direct
intimidation or passiveaggressiveness. To promote feelings
of one-upmanship
Stress prone personalities: Type A behaviour
Hyperaggressiveness & free floating hostility:
strive for high goals, walk over others to get to
top, permanently indwelling anger erupting at
trivial occurrences, suppress anger, erupt later.
Hostility unfocused, often unresolved. Annoyed
at circumstance barely noticed by Type B’s
Low self-esteem – perception of self-worth
based on others and own perception of oneself;
worried about others’ perception re material
possession, social status
Social influences on Type A behaviour
Urban lifestyle
Material wealth
Immediate gratification
Competitiveness
People as numbers
Secularisation – less involved in spiritual issues,
decline self-reliance, self-esteem,
connectedness
Atrophy body & R brain!
TV - violence
The mind-body energy connection
Issues with unconditional love
Heart not in it anymore: work & relationships
Perfectionist, driven, workaholic
Harshly judgmental
Difficulty expressing emotions or feelings
Denying feelings
Difficult relationships – cannot cope with needs of
others
Self control issues - the inner drive to always be in
control of situations
Fear of failure – little / no empathy with yourself and
others
All these are stressors!
Healing ideas: The wellness approach
• Identify body signals of severe stress: feel the pain,
anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, depression
• Work on releasing past emotional injuries and hurts
• Forgiveness
• Anger management: proper expression
• Breathing exercises & positive affirmations
• Work with arms – reaching out, drawing in
• Self discovery – journaling, dreambody work, yoga therapy
• Work on relationships, release of sorrow, guilt, acceptance
of self and others
• Join a social support group – e.g. interest, community,
religious
• Meditation: mindfulness, witnessing, visualisation
Life purpose and meaning
‘Meaninglessness and the stress to which it
gives rise is the major cause of illness in the
developed world today... stress and
exhaustion are clearly bad for the people who
suffer them... but stressed and exhausted
people are also bad for business. They reduce
overall creativity and productivity, they are
prone to illness and absence from work, they
cost companies and national economies
money.’
- Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall in Spiritual
Capital
Stress compromises health
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Cardiovascular disease
High blood pressure
Brain atrophy
Depression
Reduced immunity
Cancer
Diabetes
Excess body fat
Muscle pain
Arthritis
Nutrient depletion
Stress Solutions
Stress is necessary: positive (eustress) vs negative stress
(distress); prevent and beware of burn-out
Time management, thought awareness: self talk, anger
management, tenacity
Relaxation, creativity, reflection, rest, to build resilience to
stress, free will vs responsibility
Enhancers for a healthy lifestyle, to moderate your physical
response to stress: nutrition, fun & laughter, workplace,
ergonomics, muscle relaxation exercises. Environment.
Self-knowledge, self-esteem, self-awareness, selfresponsibility, self-care
Soul – the human search for inner peace,
meaning & purpose; ego-soul balance
Candace Pert – former chief of Brain Chemistry
National Institute of Mental Health – ‘Molecules of
Emotion’
Immune cells, gut, heart, white blood cells: receptor sites
for, & manufacture ‘neuro’peptides
Brain produces neurotransmitters, the neuropeptides –
endogenous opiates (e.g. beta-endorphin, serotonin, CCK)
>90 neuropeptides have been identified – associated with
mood changes and immune regulation
Network concept: psycho, soma, endocrine, immune
Innate intelligence of body-mind
Molecules of emotion
Neuropeptides have similar molecular structure. Subtle
differences: only rate at which each molecule oscillates
– wavelike vibrations of electrons in each molecule
Neuropeptides change configuration (chameleon) due
to emotional influences
Not produced only in brain; also e.g. immune cells,
bone marrow, gut have receptors for and produce np’s.
T & B-cells communicate with brain & vice versa via
np’s.
Emotions can suppress lymphocyte function, others
may enhance it.
Emotions
Anger, fear, sadness, hate, resentment
Joy, contentment, courage, love
Basic sensations: pain, pleasure
Drive states: hunger, thirst, survival, instinct
Intangible, subjective experiences that are
uniquely human: spiritual inspiration, awe,
bliss. Links emotional centre to pre-frontal
cortex.
Endorphins: The Body's Stress Fighters
Chemicals produced in brain - response to variety
of stimuli
Discovered 1975, brain chemicals known as
neuropeptides - transmission of signals body-mind
network.
Stress & pain two most common factors for
release of endorphins.
Interact opiate receptors in brain to reduce
perception of pain (refer morphine and codeine).
Activation of opiate receptors body's endorphins
no addiction or dependence.
Endorphins: effect
↓ pain
Euphoria
Appetite modulation
Release of sex hormones
Enhancement immune response
Fewer negative effects of stress.
Encourage endorphins!
"runner's high" athletes prolonged
exercise.
Foods: e.g. chocolate, chili peppers,
enhanced secretion of endorphins craving for chocolate stress.
Acupuncture, massage therapy,
meditation.
Sex potent trigger for endorphin release.
Become aware of thought patterns
Thoughts: anticipation, worry – future
Thoughts about the past
Prevent you from being in the present, the NOW
Thoughts lead to emotions or feelings that often
manifest as physical symptoms and habitual
behaviour
Become aware of habitual thought patterns
Journal writing very effective management tool
Positive affirmations, personal power,
neuropeptides
I can achieve my goals
I can do this
I will succeed
I am confident in every
social situation
I am calm in my body,
in my mind and in my
emotions
I am in touch with my
peaceful inner centre
Stress management & relaxation training
Stress management helps you to avoid those
stressors or triggers in your life that you can
avoid, and minimise, master or manage your
reactions to the stressors you can’t avoid.
Relaxation training increases your range of
responses, conserving your energy, allowing
you to remain calm, centered, the detached
observer. This allows you to be pro-active rather
than reactive when confronted by your stress
triggers’
Relaxation training - innercise
Not to teach you to permanently shut off the
stress response.
Increase range of responses to familiar
stressors
Have a diversified range to choose from to
help you respond to stressors more
effectively, productively and creatively.
Rather than a worry, fear or anger response to
triggers: become quiet, focused, aware of
feelings, consciously relaxed, able to react
pro-actively, responding, rather than reacting
to stress triggers.
Research
210 different universities
Research institutions in 27 countries
Articles in > 100 scientific journals.
Collected in 6 volumes of research papers.
One of the most intensively studied skills in
the field of human development.
Recent research
10 Nov 2004: Proceedings of the National Academy
of Science
compassionate meditation – regular practice
mental processes including attention, working
memory, learning, and conscious perception.
more activity in areas associated with positive
emotions, such as happiness.
18 Aug 2003: Psychosomatic Medicine
People who meditated had the most brain activity
in the part of the brain linked to positive emotion
Also had higher levels of antibodies than those
who didn't meditate.
Researchers also say that the increase in brain
activity was directly linked to the antibody increase
among people who meditated.
Health enhancement: alpha states/meditation
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 metabolic rate
 oxygen consumption by muscles
 blood lactate levels
 plasma cortisol
 muscle tension
 blood flow to certain areas in the brain ↑ O2,
nutrients:
 mental alertness
energy, vitality
relaxed, focused mental activity
learning in an effortless manner
 orderliness, integration R, L brain: access
unconscious resources and abilities: creative
imagery, problem solving skills, clarity, productivity
Implications: Health & well care
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 health care costs, need for medicines, visits to
hospitals, doctors and other primary care health
professionals. Even in older people there was little
increase in need for health care
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 in major risk factors for disease: High blood
pressure, high cholesterol levels, cigarette smoking,
alcohol consumption, drug abuse, obesity,
cardiovascular reactivity to stress, anxiety,
depression and hostility
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 appreciation of health protecting factors such as
job satisfaction, love of life and psychological health.
Relaxation training: integrates L & R
brain function; personality/ego & soul
Cognitive functions of the L & R hemispheres of the brain
L brain functions
Analytical skills
Judgmental skills - discernment
Time consciousness
R brain functions
Synthesis skills
Accepting, receiving nature
Non-time consciousness
Verbal acuity
Linear thought progression
Rational thought process
Symbolic imagery
Non-linear thought processes
Irrational thought process
Math acuity
Intuition, imagination
Spatial orientation
Music appreciation
Humour
Breathing
All techniques make use of breathing as start for, or
complete relaxation exercise
Involuntary function that we can control
Shallow, short breaths: sympathetic drive increases
Slow, deep breathing: parasympathetic drive
When pressure due to expansion of the chest wall &
muscular contraction is taken off the thoracic cavity,
sympathetic drive decreases
Diaphragmatic breathing: parasympathetic drive +
physiological homeostatic effect
Change in depth & rate of breathing: Flooding of
respiratory centre with endorphins
E: Physical Enhancers
for a healthy
lifestyle, to
Stress busting tips
moderate your
• Prevent low blood sugar
physical response,
• Sip away your stress
build reserves &
increase resilience
• Calming foods
to stress
• Energy boosting foods
• Sleep, power naps
• Herbal garden
Food supplements
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2.
3.
The basics:
Antioxidants, B-complex
Calcium, magnesium
EFA’s
Ergonomics, workplace enhancement, chill
room
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Stress Centre:
Desk top yoga, relaxercises
Ergonomics
Mini breaks
Chill room
Colour
Exercise
13 joint relaxercise / movement
Stress – fight/flight - muscle spasm body armour
Proprioception – sense awareness for
altered state of consciousness
Mindfulness
Vitality Stress Centre Newsletter Feb 2005
‘Many of us stumble from one self-help
program to another without getting any real
results. Why is this? Are the programs
ineffective? No. People endlessly go onto the
next quick fix or magic pill because they are
counting on the external item to do all the
work and provide eternal happiness, while
simultaneously healing or curing them. This
isn't going to happen!
Self-help means taking personal
responsibility. You have to apply what you
learn.’
Support - Additional Vitality De-stress
& Wellness Services
Stress talks
Stress management workshops
Stress courses
Stress retreats
Wellness, natural medicine talks, workshops,
courses, retreats
Books by Dr Arien van der Merwe: Stress
Solutions (Stres Strategie); Herbal Remedies
(Kruie met Geneeskrag); Health & Happiness
(Geluk & Gesondheid), available through website: www.healthstresswellness.com