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Health & Fitness

April Is Stress Awareness Month

April is Stress Awareness Month. Learn what stress really is, what causes it and how our bodies react to it.

Did you know that April is Stress Awareness Month? When I first heard about this commemoration, my initial reaction was that most people are cognizant of the stress in their lives every day of the year and probably don’t need any additional reminders during the time that falls between March and May. However, the reality is that having an entire month to focus on stress can be a good thing. This gives us an opportunity to learn what stress is, what causes it, how we react to it and ways to alleviate it.

 Many of us frequently talk about how much stress we have. But, what does this really mean? Simply stated, stress is our bodies’ reaction to any change we must adapt to. This runs the gamut from dealing with the negative, disturbing events we may unfortunately be faced with to the opposite end of the spectrum of experiencing the positive, wonderful happenings we may be fortunate to be blessed with. Everything from the frustration of dealing with traffic delays, deadlines at work, financial problems, loss of a loved one, illness, aging, lack of sleep to the exhilaration of falling in love, graduating, winning the lottery, getting a new job, marriage, the birth of a child and celebrating major milestones, all have the potential to produce the same response in our bodies. Interestingly enough, simply thinking about our current situations and/or worrying about future events has the same effect on our systems.

Whenever any problem, real or imagined, is perceived, our “Flight or Fight” response kicks into gear stimulating our sympathetic nervous systems to make a series of changes in our bodies to help us deal with the circumstance. To most effectively handle the impending predicament, our heart rates, breathing rates, metabolic rates and blood pressure increase. Muscles tense. Hands and feet become cold as blood is directed away from our extremities and digestive system to the larger muscles that can help us fight or run away. Our diaphragms lock and we often experience the sensation of butterflies in our stomachs. Pupils dilate to enhance vision and hearing becomes acute. After the stressor has been effectively dealt with, our bodies once again return to their resting states.  Whether it happens once in a while or several times during the day, this normal and natural phenomenon transpires every time we respond to an actual or imagined change in our environment. However, if stress remains constant and unrelenting, problems eventually occur.

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In my next article, I’ll explain the impact continuous stress has on our health.

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