|
|
|
WHAT'S NEW
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Why stress can be good for you
|
|
|
Frenetic festivities are a fact of life at this time of year. By changing how you respond to it, you can convert frantic anxiety (bad) into positive energy and excitement (good).
|
|
|
By Dr. Patricia Mark
|
|
|
|
|
Halloween's final ghost is scarcely thrust back into the closet before Canadian women brace themselves for that annual workshop in stress management, otherwise known as the Festive Season. A popular Christmas carol bids merry gentlemen to rest and be undismayed. But there is nothing, anywhere, in any Christmas lore that suggests what women should do other than sharpen their survival claws on memories of past Christmas disasters and deploy their financial, culinary, social and artistic resources in a grimly determined bid to make this a "real Christmas." After all, everyone knows that a woman's job description includes a commitment to ensure that harmony, satisfaction and goodwill envelop loved ones, hangers-on and even mere acquaintances.
A recipe for total stress out? No kidding! And totally bad for you, right? Not necessarily. In fact, what we know as stress can be a very positive force in your life, providing you understand what it is and how to make it work for you.
Stress is a modern concept
We hear so much about stress these days that most people are amazed to discover it is a relatively recent phenomenon, first described by Montreal researcher Dr. Hans Selye in 1950. It is generally defined as your mental, physical and emotional response to demands that seem to exceed your personal and social resources.
Stress itself is not necessarily good or bad. It becomes either good or bad depending on the way you react to it. If it overwhelms and depresses you, it is harmful and destructive. But if you can manage to change your attitude toward stress, you will be able to use it to enrich your life.
The first step in learning to make stress work for you is to acknowledge that stressors -- recognized and unrecognized -- surround you and are part of your daily life. The second is to demystify stress by understanding how it works and why it affects you. Step three happens when you change those attitudes so that stress stimulates and excites you, which leads to better mental, physical and psychological health.
1. You can't escape stress
It's a given that daily stress is unavoidable. We're stuck with it, which is a good thing because without stress, which lets us know of the need to eat and work and keep relationships going, most of us wouldn't bother to get out of bed each morning.
You'll probably recognize the following stressors. Missing a bus, losing an important list, forgetting the essential ingredient in a recipe. How do these minor disasters make you feel? Your blood pressure goes up and your heart starts hammering. But the same physical symptoms can be caused by many other experiences: cheering for the home team, hoping for a win; getting asked out to dinner; mastering a new exercise routine; getting an unexpected phone call from an old friend. Are these stressors? Oh, yes! They, too, cause a rise in blood pressure and make our hearts beat faster. The difference is in the emotional experience. Minor disasters become bad stressors when you allow them to make you feel frustrated, irritable and angry with yourself. Pleasurable anticipation and a sense of satisfaction are good stressors and cause you to feel joy and excitement.
Get advice on holiday survival strategies from other readers in our forums.
Page 1 of 3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 more articles |
|
|
|
|
|
|
