Download Orange and strange

Chapter 4
Develop Mastery Over Stress
Part I: Understanding Stress
Stress Mastery
• How to become a “master” over your
stress
• Key is not only to survive stress, but to
thrive in stress
• Stress mastery is a craft in which you
learn to take the stressors in life and then
create a reality for yourself in which you
can live
• Listen for key Ideas
Stress Management
vs Stress Mastery
Stress Management Stress Mastery
One more thing to
do
Part of the fabric of
your life
Work
Craft
Takes Time
Adds Time
Do Exercises
Cultivate Wisdom
Mechanical
Increase Awareness
Organic
Stress Defined
• Anything that requires an adaptive
response on the part of the organism
• Stress is inescapable in our times
• Eustress is the healthy stress
• Distress is the negative stress
Stress and Illness
• A positive correlation exists
between stress and illness
• Stress negatively affects your
physical, psychological, and
occupational functioning in a
variety of ways.
Physical Effects of Stress
• Glucocorticoids – cause white blood
cells to migrate to the bone marrow
and hide out, making them less
available for combating disease
• Chronic stress weakens the
immune system
Facts about Stress (p. 70)
• 80% of all visits to doctors offices are for
stress-related disorders
• 50% of all deaths in the US are caused
by a cardiovascular diseases such as
heart disease and stroke, in which stress
plays a significant contributing role
• Dentists report that a high percentage of
patients show signs of nocturnal bruxing
(teeth grinding)
Psychological Effects of
Stress (p. 71)
• Stress is key in the development
of emotional difficulties and
behavioral problems
• There are over 30 million
Americans suffering from
insomnia. Sales of sedatives are
second only to aspirin
Consequences in the Workplace
(p. 72)
• Inability to deal with life stressors
decreases productivity at work
• People are more accident prone
during periods of stress
• 80-90% of all business dismissals
are somehow linked to tension and
subsequent mental and physical
problems.
General Adaptation Syndrome
•
•
•
•
Homeostasis
Alarm
Resistance
Exhaustion
Stress Sensitization
• Before the Stage of Exhaustion overtakes us,
recent research indicates we can become
sensitized, or acutely sensitive to stress
• Once this occurs, the slightest stress can trigger
major chemical reactions in both our brain and
body
• Our brain next sends a message to our body,
“OVERREACT” because our brain sees the
minute issue now as life or death
Stress and the Human Body
• I. Immediate:
– brain protectively dulls the body’s sense of pain: thinking and
memory improve
– Eyes: pupils dilate for better vision
– Lungs take in more oxygen
– Liver: stores more sugar, glycogen is converted to glucose for
energy
– Heart: extra oxygen and glucose into the bloodstream. Heart rate
and blood pressure increase
– Adrenal glands: medulla secretes fight-or-flight hormone
Epinephrine (adrenaline)
– Spleen: extra red blood cells flow out, allowing the blood to carry
more oxygen to the muscles
– Digestion halts, allowing body to dedicate energy to the muscles
– Hair: body hair becomes erect. Puffed-up hair makes animals
look bigger and more dangerous
– Muscles: tense to prepare to fight or flee
Stress and the Human Body
II. Delayed:
– Brain: hippocampus, a center of memory/learning,
gets activated to process the stress
– Immune system: infection fighting is diminished,
perhaps increasing available energy
– Liver: fat-stored energy is converted into usable fuel
– Adrenal gland: the cortex secretes cortisol, which
regulates metabolism and immunity. Over time, this
may be toxic
Stress and the Human Body
III. Chronic
– Brain: Cortisol becomes toxic to the brain cells,
potentially damaging cognitive ability. Fatigue, anger
and depression increase.
– Immune System: Repeated suppression of diseasefighting cells ultimately weakens infection resistance
– Intestines: Decreases in blood flow leave mucous
lining vulnerable to ulcers
– Circulatory System: Elevated blood pressure and
heart rate damage elasticity of blood vessels.
Norman Cousins
• Supposedly had an incurable
and very painful connective
tissue disease leading to
spinal deterioration and
paralysis
• Given a 1 in 500 chance of
recovery
• Used humor to relieve stress
• Watched Three Stooges and
other slapstick comedy
• Used other healing remedies
• Went into complete remission
Laughter Yoga (Hasya)
• In India, 1995, Dr.Madan Kataria created
Laughter Yoga…..
– http://www.laughteryoga.org/
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEfjVnYkq
M
-Listen to this baby’s laugh
http://www.laughteryoga.org/laughtersounds.php
• Did that change how you felt five seconds
ago?
Assignment
• Do an internet search on Hasya or
laughing yoga. Then write a short essay:
• On the WebCT, read the Brain Connection
article on Selye
– What is the philosophy behind each?
– How can you blend Selye’s GAS to Hasya?
• How do these two concepts compliment each
other?
• Do you think the laughing groups can actually
reduce stress? Why? Or Why not?
The Power of Belief
• Optimism appears to help in healing
• 30% of effectiveness of any treatment,
including drugs, can be accounted for by
placebo effects
• Placebo Effect
– Example….complain of having pains
(psychological) and you are given medication
(sugar pill) next time you see your doctor, you
report the “miracle pill” took your pain away
Mind-Body Connection
• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) – the
study of the relationship between stress
and our immune system and health
outcomes in order to uncover the workings
of the mind-body connection, and discover
how to use these mechanisms to fight
illness, ranging from AIDS to the common
cold
Maier and Watkins (1998)
• Hypothesize that the immune system functions
as a messenger which signals the brain of injury
or impending illness by releasing cytokine
proteins that travel to the nervous system and
the brain. In response, the brain then releases
its own cytokines to prompt the nervous system
to discharge a cascade of responses, such as
fever and fatigue that assist the body's healing
mechanism by slowing down activity level, thus,
conserving energy.
Margaret Kemeny et al
• Are expanding on Selye’s theory and state
that:
– The classic fight/flight reaction Selye
describes is factual and also propose that:
– A withdrawal response exists where people
cut back to conserve energy (getting
depressed rather than anxious)