Travis Clark - A Stressed-Out Guys Guide. How to Deal

Maybe youre dealing with problems at work, school, or in your family. You feel like youre losing control of your life. What do you do? A Stressed-Out Guys Guide: How to Deal discusses the biological, emotional, and social effects of stress and provides research-based information about getting support and coping with it. Take a quiz to figure out how high your stress levels are, and take the first steps to improve how you deal with stress.

It was the night before a huge test, and Philip was over at his friend Tims house. They had been studying all afternoon for their European History test the next day. Both of them wanted to do well. But there was a lot of material to cover. Even though they studied for several hours, both felt nervous about how they would do.

The feeling that Tim and Philip are dealing with is called stress, which is the bodys reaction to an external force or event. In Tim and Philips case, that outside event is the test they face the next day. The test is their stressorthe term used to describe something that causes stress.

A stressor can be several different thingsa project, a job, a large crowd, an illness, an immediate danger, or even hunger, just to name a few. Generally, any type of change in a persons normal routine can cause stress. When stressful situations occur, the body prepares to deal with a challenge or tough situation by increasing alertness and focus. Up until the mid-1930s, the concept of stress did not even exist. Around that time, a physician named Hans Selye first noticed that his patients shared many of the same symptoms, although they suffered from different diseases. These complaints typically involved aches, pains, and nausea.

When Selye investigated the biological causes of the symptoms, he came to the conclusion that something within the body was causing it to react, or adapt, to illness. Through further research Selye learned that the body responded the same way, whether it was reacting to an illness, the injection of foreign bodies, or some other external force. Selye referred to this ability of the body to react and adapt as general adaptation syndrome. He would later call it stress.

Selyes research has led to a greater understanding of how the human mind can cause changes in the human body. He has also helped future generations understand why the body reacts to outside forces in different ways.

Everyone responds to stress differently. Some people may be very bothered by having a major test, while others feel completely confident. On the other hand, the confident test-taker may fall apart when having to give a speech in front of a group of people, while the nervous test-taker can easily speak before the whole student body. Similarly, the amount of stress that people can handle varies from person to person.

While a little bit of stress in your life can help you be at the top of your game, too much stress in life can cause health problems. Thats why its a good idea to learn how to manage stress. You can do this by learning how to identify your stressors and why they make you feel stressed. That way, you can know when it is time to make changes or take action to reduce stress in your lifeand keep it from overloading your system.

Stress can involve many emotions, ranging from excitement to anger, fear, embarrassment, guilt, or shame.

A part of everyones personality, emotions are a powerful driving force in life. They are hard to define and understand. But what is known is that emotionswhich include anger, fear, love, joy, jealousy, and hateare a normal part of the human system. They are responses to situations and events that trigger bodily changes, motivating you to take some kind of action.

Some studies show that the brain relies more on emotions than on intellect in learning and in making decisions. Being able to identify and understand the emotions in yourself and in others can help you in your relationships with family, friends, and others throughout your life.

Can you identify with any of these stressors and the emotions they cause?

1. Starting at a new school
2. Trouble with family and friends
3. Overloaded with school work, job, chores
4. Highly competitive athletics
5. Lack of rest
6. Desire to fit in
7. Birth of a new brother or sister
8. Tests or exams
9. Death of a family member or friend
10. Big social event, party, or date
11. Body changes of puberty

The auditorium was full for the school assembly. The entire high school had filled the 1,000-seat auditorium and the crush of people was really starting to bother Will. He didnt like large crowds but was okay when he could talk with his friends. However, they had decided to skip the assembly, leaving him stranded. As Will looked around the auditorium, he grew more uncomfortable. Waves of nausea began washing over him, and he started to sweat. Unable to bear his feelings any longer, Will stumbled out of the auditorium. He made it to the hall, where he sank to the floor and tried to collect himself.

Because crowded environments bother Will, he responded negatively to the stress of being in the auditorium. He broke into a sweat and felt sick to his stomach. Why was he feeling this way?

Wills body was responding to stress. The physical symptoms can range from a headache, to nausea, to a rash, to an anxiety attack. (An anxiety attack is when you feel overwhelmed by apprehension and fear. Symptoms include sweating, rapid heartbeat, and tension.) Anxiety often involves a number of different emotions, including fear, shame, and sometimes guilt. Feelings of anxiety commonly occur as a result of overstress, which occurs when your body is exposed to a high level of stress.

In his research, Hans Selye examined how the human body physically responds when under stress. He eventually identified an internal stress-causing system, known as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal system. The stress response starts in the brain, where the hypothalamus is located. The hypothalamus directs the pituitary gland, which is also in the brain, to send a message to other organs in the body. As a result certain chemicals, called hormones, are released into the bloodstream.

Worry and stress affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous system, and profoundly affects heart action.

Charles W. Mayo

Two hormones that increase in response to stressful situations are adrenaline and cortisol. These stress hormones come from the adrenal glands, which are located on the top of the kidneys. The additional amounts of adrenaline and cortisol cause the amount of sugar in the bloodstream to increase, resulting in a feeling of extra strength and energy. The adrenaline and cortisol can cause many other body changes, including a rapid heartbeat, sweaty hands, and upset stomach.

In Wills case, the stress of being in a hot, crowded room triggered extreme feelings of discomfort, nausea, and nervousness. His response was to remove himself from the environmentthat is, to flee from it.