THEORIES, FACTS & FIGURES

THEORIES, FACTS AND FIGURES

*Walter. B. Cannon, Harvard, Physiologist, laid the ground work for the modern meaning of ‘stress’ at the turn of the century. ‘Flight or Fight’ response as a seris of biochemical changes that prepare you to deal with threat or danger.

*Hans Selye, first major researcher on stress, was able to trace exactly what happens to your body during the fight or flight response. He found that any prolem imagery or real can cause the cerebral cortex ( the thinking part of the brain)  to send an alarm to the hupothalamus ( the switch for the stress response, located in the midbrain). The hypothalamus then stimulates the sumpatheric nervous system to make a series of changes in your ody. Your heart rate, breathing rate, muscle tension, metaolism and blood pressure all increase. Your hands and feet get cold as the lood is directed away from all extremeities and digestive system into the larger mucvles that can help you fight or run. You experience utterflies and your diapham and anus lock. Your pupils dilate to sharpen your vision and your hearing becomes more acute. Unfortunately when this response continues unchecked during times of chronic stress, something else happens that can have long term negative effects. Your adrenal glands start to secret coricoids ( adrenaline or epinephrine and norepinephrine ) which inhibit difestion, reproduction, growth, tissue repair and the responses of your immune and inflammatory systems. ( In other words some very important functions that keep your body healthy begin to shut down)

Fortunatly, the same mechanism that turns the stress response on can turn it off. This is called the relaxation response. As soon as you decide that a situation is no longer dangerous your rain stips sending emergency signals to your rain stem , which in turn ceases to send panic signals to your neverous system. 3 mins after you shut off the dander signals the fight or slight response burns out. Your metaolism , heart rate and reatheing rate, muscle tension and lood pressure all return to nomal levels.

*Hebert Benson (1975) suggests that you can use your mind to change your physiology for better, improving your health. He coined ‘ the relaxation response’ to refer to this natural restorative process.

*Researchers have been looking at the relationship between stress and disease for over 50 years. Evidence shows that chronic stress can result in muscle tension and fatigue for some people. For others it can contribute to stress hypertension, migraines, ulcers, or chronic diarrhea.

*Thomas Holmes, M.D and research associates from University of Washington have found that people are more likely to develop illnesses or clinical symptoms after experiencing a period when they have had to adapt to many life events.

- they developed, Schedule of recent experience. Quanifing changes in your life.

According to Dr Holmes the higher your score the greater your risk of developing stress –related symptoms & illnesses

*Type A – strong sense of urgentcy, highly competitive, easily angered when doesn’t get his/her way, have a significantly higher rate of cardiovascular diease than ‘type B’

*Type B- don’t suffer chronic time urgentcy, can play and relax without guilt, not hostile or excessful competitive.

According to Herbert Benson and Eileen Stewart ‘the wellness book’, the incidence of illness is even lower in indiv who hae stress hardy characteristics and who also have a foos social support system, exerice regularly and maintain a healthy diet.

Research shows that performance and efficientcy improve with increase stress, until performance peaks and the stress levels become to great. Pg 10