STRESS is for most of us a commonplace if not daily occurrence. Some people thrive on it, others cannot deal with it at all and thousands sit somewhere in the middle. Most schools of thought reckon that a little stress is good, keeps you motivated and on top of your game, but continuous long term stress is agreed by all to be a major player in most of the chronic and debilitating diseases such as heart disease, depression and obesity.
This year, more than any other that I have been working on a one-to-one basis with people, has brought hundreds of stressed out people into my clinics. Predominantly the stresses have been work related and it seems that teachers and workers from a wide range of disciplines within the health service seem to have been suffering the most.
However, there are stressors that you can easily change. For example, if you're often around stressed-out people, or you choose to watch stressful programming on TV, your health could suffer. It can be very liberating sometimes to take stock of the company you keep and consider, are you with them out of habit or some misplaced loyalty?
Our time on this Earth is short and it is wiser to spend time with people who treat you as you treat them and in a way that nurtures and supports you, and with whom you can have fun. In one American study of being in the company of stressed-out people it was shown that observers who had a romantic relationship with a stressed participant had a strong emphatic stress response.
This applied even when observing a stressed stranger and the stress response was transmitted not only when observers watched subjects live through one-way mirror but also via video. About 24 per cent of the observers had increased cortisol levels when they watched a televised version of a stressful event.
One of the study's researchers noted that stress has "enormous contagion potential". "The fact that we could actually measure this empathic stress in the form of a significant hormone release was astonishing even television programmes depicting the suffering of other people can transmit that stress to viewers."
But unlike other more obvious health risk factors, like over-indulging in junk food or not exercising, stress is more insidious, subtly sneaking up on you over time, increasing your risk of health problems even as you don't noticeably feel sick or realise that your chronically stressed-out state is slowly zapping away your vitality.
So it is not a good idea, especially if you are unwell or stressed yourself, to watch graphic footage for war-torn nations or to get too closely involved with natural disasters, or even watch the soaps.
Over the years I have developed some rules on how to get through the world: to be observant and respectful of the suffering of others but not to get too entrenched with world or local events that we have no control over. I have three questions that I ask; Is there anything practical that I can do to help the situation? Is there anyone I can ask who can help? And if there is nothing to be done, hand it over to God.
I meet a lot of people who say that they pray and give their problems over; however, the missing element is that many still dont trust that it will be sorted and continue to worry, fret and badger God with the issue. Leave it alone!
If stress is contagious, it would seem plausible that happiness would be contagious, too, and research shows it very much is. One of the latest studies examined the emotional content of one billion Facebook posts and suggested that while both positive and negative emotions seem to be contagious, positive emotions are actually more contagious than negative emotions.
Other research has shown that people who are surrounded by many happy people are more likely to become happy in the future.
Also like stress, happiness alters your physical health although in a positive way. Positive thoughts and attitudes can prompt changes in your body that strengthen your immune system, boost positive emotions, decrease pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief. One study found that happiness, optimism, life satisfaction, and other positive psychological attributes are associated with a lower risk of heart disease.
Occasionally I have come across people who feel that they have no right to be happy, I think this quote sums it up:
Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life, and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and the result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values.
Ayn Rand
r.armstrong@irishnews.com
