That Darn Straw
September 22, 2015 in Counseling
By: Alexandra Shanklin
Stress. Everyone has it. Everyone feels it. Everyone needs it.
You were with me until that last sentence right? Don’t worry. I’ll explain.
Let’s begin at, well the beginning. Every living animal on this planet experiences anxiety. Someone actually won a Nobel Prize for giving sea snails an anxiety disorder. His name was Dr. Eric Kandel, M.D. and he proved he could cause sea snails to have anxiety to the point that they would stop eating. You can find out more about his work here if you feel so inclined. (http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/ericrkandel) Believe it or not anxiety is actually a vital part of our existence. Without anxiety we wouldn’t have any worries. That sounds like a good thing doesn’t it? Well, actually it isn’t. The truth is, we need anxiety and we need to worry. Anxiety makes us worry and worry helps us to continue to exist. If we didn’t have anxiety we’d have no need to take care of ourselves; not even our basic needs. Things like eating, having proper shelter, keeping our bodies safe from the elements, etc. are required for the continuation of our existence. Our young would never survive because we wouldn’t take care of them. All these basic needs for survival are driven home to us by stress, worry, and to certain extent anxiety.
Today’s blog isn’t actually about anxiety per se. It’s about stress. Stress is one of the things that can cause anxiety. It is important to learn about stress and how your body and mind react to it. Some people have a natural ability to handle anything that comes their way. Some people have a much harder time coping. Most of us fall somewhere in between. I’ve already established why we need a certain amount of anxiety in our lives. Now I’ll explain why we need stress too. Stress is caused by a perceived change in our environment. Some changes are good and some are bad but what is vital is that we notice the changes. Being clueless is a dangerous thing. For instance, our ancestors needed to identify that a saber tooth tiger walking towards us creeping in the bushes was potentially dangerous. Then we had to be stressed out enough about it to try to save ourselves through a healthy anxiety response known as fight or flight.
Did you know there are two completely different kinds of stress? The first kind of stress is the kind of stress with which everyone has familiarity. It is the kind of stress you have when you experience something as an event or change in your life that is negative. Typically, the most stressful event in a human’s life occurs when a loved one dies. There is a hierarchy of stress that clinicians use as a guide to help determine how “stressed out” you are. The usual suspects are all on this list including death of a loved one, divorce, catastrophic illness, and financial difficulties to name a few. But would it surprise you to know that events typically associated with being good changes are also on this list? Things like having a baby, getting a new job, getting married, and buying a new house are all things that cause stress. Eustress is the name of the kind of stress you experience from the good changes and events in your life. In fact, eustress can actually be that proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back and kicks off an anxiety disorder for some people.
I’ve seen people come into my office completely perplexed as to why they are having panic attacks. They’ve got nothing but good going on in their lives. Must be nice, I know. They just got a great promotion and in turn are looking to trade up on a new house since their wife is pregnant with their first child. What could possibly be their problem? Eustress! When a person comes to see me for problems related to anxiety, one of the first things I do is enquire about any good changes and events happening in their lives over the past couple of years. Everyone wants to tell me about all the bad stuff. That easily comes to mind. Rarely does anyone know they are supposed to tell me about the good stuff too. It just doesn’t occur to them. Typically people’s lives are a mixture of good and bad. It is the sum total of both stress and eustress that can cause someone who ordinarily would be able to cope to have an anxiety disorder. What tips them over can sometimes be a good thing. That darn straw!
For more information on stress and anxiety reduction and the treatment of anxiety disorders you can contact Alexandria at alex@novocousel.com or 6304940221.