{"id":7625,"date":"2016-05-16T19:37:14","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T09:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getblys.com.au\/?p=7625"},"modified":"2016-05-16T19:37:14","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T09:37:14","slug":"causes-of-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getblys.com\/en-nz\/blog\/causes-of-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Causes of Stress and How To Deal With It"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

What is stress?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Stress is a (usually) negative mental state that is the result of life\u2019s strains on your well-being. We\u2019ve all experienced it at some point in our lives, and are likely to experience it again. Nobody experiences stress the same way, and what might cause stress in some people, does not necessarily cause it in others. It usually doesn\u2019t necessarily associate itself with a bad prognosis, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you should have to endure it. For the sake of your health, it is important to identify stressors in your life, and learn to circumvent their effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

What causes stress and what are its consequences?<\/span><\/h3>\n

The difficulty in defining stress is in part due to the vast array of stressors life has to offer, and the fact that each of these have differing effects on different people. Broadly, common causes of stress often involve a change in lifestyle or a change in our ability to adapt to our lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Common causes thus may include illness, work overload, changes in personal or professional relationships, pregnancy, a change in work-related circumstances (unemployment, unexpected termination or retirement), legal or financial concerns. Any one or combination of stressors may seem manageable at first, but develop into stress, the consequences of which range in severity.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the lower end of the scale, stress can lead to changes in sleep patterns, a tendency to over or under-eat. You might notice an increase in frequency of headaches and digestive issues. In the same way that you get butterflies in your stomach when you\u2019re in love, stress can have pretty debilitating effects on your digestive system, including but not restricted to diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, or just general discomfort.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the more severe end of the scale are changes in cardiovascular (heart) function, severely disturbed sleep patterns (e.g. insomnia), and burnout, a psychological state from which it is sometimes impossible to recover, characterised by fatigue, depressive thoughts, mood swings, and an inability to self-generate motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mobile-Massage-Sydney-Blys-Stressed\"<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the anatomical indications of stress?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Feel free to skip this part as I realise not everybody is as passionate about neurobiology as I am!<\/span><\/p>\n

Simply put, the body operates on the premise of balance, which we call homeostasis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis serves to regulate our body\u2019s reactions to stress, and directly influences the many other integral systems of our body (including the: metabolic, cardiovascular, immune, reproductive, and central nervous systems), in order to achieve perpetual homeostasis. Stress comes from a dysregulation in favour of an unbalanced HPA axis: a lack of homeostasis.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the system responsible for regulating our sleep cycle, immunity, heart and digestive functions isn\u2019t balanced, we face an inevitable loss of function in some if not all of these areas, the consequences of which I have touched on above.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are some effective ways to deal with stress?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now that you are aware of just how deeply stress can reside within us, it might be worth discussing some ways which might serve to alleviate or prevent stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meditation<\/span><\/h4>\n

An effective means to target the nature of your stress, meditation can help improve your psychological well-being, help you overcome the triggers of your stress leading to the treatment of the symptoms. Recommended for the patient, and introspective types!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"massage<\/span><\/h4>\n

Hobbies \/ Entertainment<\/span><\/h4>\n

More of a short term solution, watching a bit of Netflix or partaking in a friendly game of pool with colleagues is a sure-fire way to unwind after a hard day at work. Positive social interactions excite the release the oxytocin, a hormone which contributes to happiness and actively counteracts stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sports \/ Exercise<\/span><\/h4>\n

Exercise is so important for your psychological and physical well-being and cannot possibly be stressed enough. Remember all the systems I mentioned above that suffer from the consequences of an unbalanced HPA axis? Sports can counteract that. It improves your immunity, increases blood flow to your heart, brain and extremities, builds your muscles, helps your self-confidence, and release a host of hormones the sole reason for which are to make you feel happy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Massage<\/span><\/h4>\n

After a stressful week, there really isn\u2019t anything much more unwinding than a professional full body massage<\/a>. Releasing equally important amounts of\u00a0 \u2018happy hormones\u2019, massages smooth out all the tensions in your muscles, easing any head, neck and back pain, common symptoms of stress and anxiety. If the last thing you want to do on the weekend is drive out to your local spa, then you can always rely on a mobile massage therapist<\/a> to come directly to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Full<\/span><\/p>\n

How to prevent stress?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now that I\u2019ve probably reminded you how stressed you are, I want to share some ways I\u2019ve found to prevent stress from taking too much of a toll on my daily life.<\/span><\/p>\n