The Most Common Types of Stress

By Joanne King

Everyone has to deal with stress, no matter how old they are, where they live, or what gender they are. We all have different tolerances, and each one of us handles stress differently, but we all have to face it. Stress can be broken down into four different categories, which we learn about during this article.

Eustress is the best type of stress to have, as it affects you in a positive way. Eustress is kind of like a controlled stress that helps give you that extra boost that you may need to get the job done, or do your best. Just like you hear some people say they work best under pressure, they are talking about eustress. Eustress can help you focus and concentrate better on the task at hand, giving you that competitive edge, that extra driving force. Eustress can add that measure of excitement to an otherwise droll existence.

From the positive to the negative, distress is first on the list. The common cause of distress is life changes or interruptions, such as moving to a new house, or starting a new job. Some people suffer from chronic distress, meaning that it could take years for them to feel better again. Basically, distress is your body’s way of responding to what it views as a tragic or upsetting event in your life. It can affect both your physical and your mental health, especially for chronic sufferers. Distress can interfere with your concentration; can lead to excessive absences from school and work, and can often make sufferers become very hard to get along with, even for friends and family members.

When you have had some much stress that you just cannot handle it anymore, then you are probably in a state of hyperstress. The most common sufferers of hyperstress are those who are overloaded trying to juggle children, careers, marriages, so much so, that one more little incidence could very easily push them over the edge. One thing that help you manage hyperstress is learning how to efficiently schedule all of your responsibilities, and try to eliminate those that are not completely necessary. In other words, forget about trying to be everyone’s hero, and just worry about the things that you have to do, not what you feel obligated to do. Mothers are often victims of hyperstress, as they may work and care for the home, husband, and children, or they may stay at home, but volunteer at school and church, plus juggle marriage and the demands of motherhood. You have to realize when it all becomes to much to deal with, that you have to let something go and focus on yourself.

From hyperstress to the other extreme hypostress, hypostress is what happens when you suffer from extreme boredom, or when you have nothing in your life that stimulates you anymore. If you go to work everyday at the same time, same place, and perform the same repetitive work, then you are likely to suffer from hypostress.

To cope with any form of stress, you should first realize that it is there, and try to avoid situations that cause stress as much as possible. You need to learn exactly where your breaking point is, and take actions long before it ever gets to that level. There are many proven techniques that work to help you better deal with all kinds of stress, one of the best being going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, so that your body gets into a bedtime routine. You will not only get more sleep this way, but the sleep you do get will be more beneficial to you. Somewhere in your busy schedule, try to fit in time to exercise at least three times a week. Twenty minutes or so each session should be enough to help you have more energy, get more sleep, alleviate some built up stress, and feel better about yourself.

Try to make healthy food choices, even when you are on the go. Avoid sugary foods and drinks, as they are only empty calories, and opt for healthier choices, such as fruit or yogurt to snack on in between meals. If you are overscheduled, don’t be afraid to say no sometimes, and don’t worry about what people will think of you. You have to learn how to take care of yourself, because in today’s busy world, you can’t depend on someone else to do it for you.

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Do You Do Manic?

By H. Bernard Wechsler

The headline in Science Daily read, How Manic Thinking Makes us Happy, Energized and Self-Confident. Does that arouse your curiosity and even make you smile as you think – weird? Are they suggesting we reinforce a new style of craziness?

The first thing I searched were the credentials of the authors behind the research; too many articles get published that are bad-science and later die a horrible death.

Dr. Emily Pronin of Princeton, and Daniel Wegner of Harvard, are well documented researchers. The article is published in the respected journal of the Association for Psychological Science, in the September, 2006 issue.

So What

The authors conclude: when people are made to Think Quicker, they report feeling happier, their mood improves, they become more creative, more powerful and self-confident.

We call it Speed Reading, see what you think.

The scientists made half the participants read a series of statements twice-as-fast as normal, and the other half twice-as-slow as their ordinary reading. Next, they had the folks in the experiment read depressing text like, I want to go to sleep and never wake up, and the other half read positive-statements, including, Wow, I feel great.

Conclusions: regardless of textual content, depressing or elating, if you intentionally read twice-as-fast as normal, you change your emotions and your experiences. You get an immediate dose of mental energy, happiness, and feel self-assured in what you are doing.

Manic

The word is associated with psychiatric disorder, and includes excessive physical activity, impulsive behavior, and rapidly changing ideas. Manic is a synonym for frenzied, agitated, freaky and nutzy-fagin.

Manic-Depression and Bipolar Disorder are mental states of folks with Racing-Thoughts. Mentally healthy people also experience Manic thinking when they are In-The-Flow, In-The-Zone, and enjoying Peak-Experiences of creativity.

Have you ever engaged in group brainstorming and really gave it your creative heart-and-soul? Your consciousness blocks out everything in your environment except solving the problem in front of you. You become a mono-maniac and often discover the most brilliant genius-like ideas of your life. You cannot be distracted from your goal.

According to Connie Strong and Terrance Ketter, M.D. of Stanford University Medical Center, your emotional broadband expands to elicit creativity and imagination.

How

You know all about warming-up in sports, you have seen it all your life. The Yankee batter starts swinging three-bats to get his reflexes moving; Tiger Jones works out on the putting-range for two hours before the match. Tennis, basketball and hockey, all require warming-up before you get into the Zone, the Flow and experience a Peak Performance.

Do you ever think of warming up before taking an exam, reading a textbook, or taking notes at a lecture?

If you intentionally read some paragraphs aloud, twice as fast as your normal reading speed, you are warming up the neural networks of your brain. It erases feeling tired, panicked, and distressed about your results.

What if you cannot find a place to read aloud without appearing demented? Silently (subvocalize), the page or two as a warm up exercise. In two-minutes, you will be in-the-Zone, and ready to operate at your optimal level.

Science

You got a Sympathetic Nervous System that runs our Fight-or-Flight survival mechanism, also known as Stress and Distress. It is activated by adrenaline (epinephrine), and cortisol, and gets our bodies ready to fight or run.

Our Parasympathetic Nervous System is based on relaxation, and produces the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, which is directly related to learning and memory. Which do you need before an exam, interview or presentation?

Seyle

Dr. Hans Seyle wrote 32 books and 1,500 articles on Stress while at the University of Montreal. His research stood for stress destroying the cells of our immune systems, leading to heart disease, cancer and stroke. In his book, The Stress of Life, he said, Stress is not even necessarily bad for you; it is also the juice of life, for any emotion, any activity causes stress.

He makes his case against Distress, which is chronic (continuing), and disease-causing. He suggests that Eustress is a good form of stress, a pleasant or curative stress. According to Seyle, life is largely a process of adaptation to circumstances in which we exist. We can even use stress as a positive adaptation to life. Eustress is the High you get just before you do your best in any experience. Actors on Broadway or Hollywood, students ready for their exam, and your excitement prior to giving your presentation, are forms of Eustress.

Speed Reading

Most people think of speed reading as tripling your reading speed and doubling your memory. It is reading and remembering three books, articles and reports in the time others can hardly finish even one. But it is more. It is changing your mood from anxiety and panic, to expecting success and pleasure. It releases your creativity and imagination, makes you feel happier and trust in the unfolding.

Speed reading raises you mental and physical energy levels for greater comprehension and focus, in additional to initiating Eustress, the excitement of coming success.

Endwords

Do you ever want to change your mood and have two-minutes to do it? Ever go for an interview and feel angst, dread and fear?

Get a little manic thinking under your belt and you will ace your experience. One form of manic-thinking is Eustress, and it often produces success in the face of imminent failure.

The secret of Stressbusting is diaphragmatic breathing for increase oxygenation and release of carbon dioxide and toxins. You can voluntarily change the pictures on the movie-screen of your mind to a positive winning mood, one that optimizes your knowledge and skills. These strategies take just two-minutes. Are you up for it?

copyright © 2006
H. Bernard Wechsler
www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org

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Author of Speed Reading For Professionals, published by Barrons; former partner of Evelyn Wood, creator of speed reading, graduating 2 million, including the White House staffs of four U.S. Presidents.

See Wall Street Journal, 7.25.06 Speed Reading: the Sequel, and Fortune Magazine, Oct. 2006

http://www.speedlearning.org

hbw@speedlearning.org

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