How much stress is too much?

How much stress is too much?

Because of the widespread damage stress can cause, it’s important to know your own limit. But just how much stress is “too much” differs from person to person. We’re all different. Some people are able to roll with the punches, while others seem to crumble in the face of far smaller obstacles or frustrations. Some people even seem to thrive on the excitement and challenge of a high-stress lifestyle.

Your ability to tolerate stress depends on many factors, including the quality of your relationships, your general outlook on life, your emotional intelligence, and genetics.

Things that influence your stress tolerance level

  • Your support network – A strong network of supportive friends and family members can be an enormous buffer against life’s stressors. On the flip side, the more lonely and isolated you are, the greater your vulnerability to stress.
  • Your sense of control – It may be easier to take stress in your stride if you have confidence in yourself and your ability to influence events and persevere through challenges. If you feel like things are out of your control, you’re likely to have less tolerance for stress.
  • Your attitude and outlook – Optimistic people are often more stress-hardy. They tend to embrace challenges, have a strong sense of humor, and accept that change is a part of life.
  • Your ability to deal with your emotions – You’re extremely vulnerable to stress if you don’t know how to calm and soothe yourself when you’re feeling sad, angry, or overwhelmed by a situation. The ability to bring your emotions into balance helps you bounce back from adversity and is a skill that can be learned at any age.
  • Your knowledge and preparation – The more you know about a stressful situation, including how long it will last and what to expect, the easier it is to cope. For example, if you go into surgery with a realistic picture of what to expect post-op, a painful recovery will be less traumatic than if you were expecting to bounce back immediately.

Related Posts

  • Physical Impact of Stress on the body – Part 1

    Stress is a natural human response that enables the body to cope during certain situations. There are three phases to our stress response:

    • Phase 1 - The Alarm Phase
    • Phase 2 - The Resistance Phase
    • Phase 3 - Exhaustion
    Phase 1 - The Alarm Phase This phase is short lived and initiated by the hormones released by the adrenal medulla.  It is triggered by excitement, exercise, emergency and embarrassment - what are commonly called the "E" situations. During this phase the sympathetic nervous system will dominate and favour body functions that support vigorous physical activity.  Once the situation is resolved the body either the parasympathetic nervous system will dominate allowing the body to relax and digestion food or the sympathetic nervous system will continue to dominate and the body will move into phase 2. Phase 2 - The Resistance Reaction This is a long term stress reaction or chronic stress and it initiated by the hypothalamic releasing hormones:
    • Corticotropin
    • Growth hormone
    • Thyroptropin
    During phase 1 stress response the heart rate is increased to increase the rate of blood flow as blood is directed away from the digestive system and digestive organs towards the skeletal muscles of the body.   Drawing blood away from the blood away from the stomach for too long can lead to indigestion or IBS.   In addition, corticotropin is the body's hormone alarm bell telling it to release steroids and adrenaline, increased exposure can lead to IBS, stomach aches, nausea, diarrhea and heartburn. All the body functions are impacted as the body's pH is increased.  The body's sodium levels are increased increasing water retention by the kidneys and maintaining the increase in blood pressure during the alarm phase.  This increase in blood pressure and blood flow helps the body cope with the demands placed upon it but in the long term can lead to hypertension. The stress hormones cause the blood to become thicker and stickier increasing its ability to clot to help the body cope with injury.  Chronic stress where there is thicker blood and no injury can lead to blood clots and therefore affect the blood flow causing damage to the heart.  The increase in the heart rate and force of the contractions of the heart in chronic stress can lead to an abnormal heart rhythm causing heart muscle damage. Adrenaline and cortisol trigger the release of fatty acids into the blood stream for the body to use as energy.  Prolonged release by cortisol can potentially increase cholesterol levels leading to a thickening of the lumen and hence a narrowing of the arteries.  Continued exposure to cortisol can increase abdominal fat, therefore increasing the risk of heart disease.    

  • Does nature restore you? – Part 2

    In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you.  I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space. This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester.  In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire.  A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me.  What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire.  So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature. Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress.  In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress.  So maybe you could just look at a picture instead. So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone  or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you. References D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue.  Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 - 158.

    Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China.  Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122

  • How to be more mindful

    So if mindfulness is doesn't requires lots of effort, and its really beneficial, why aren't we all doing it? While exploring a new city is naturally interesting, we rarely have the same enthusiasm for brushing our teeth, loading the washing machine or my commute.  So if you are like me, these are just some of the activities that I do on a regular basis that I have labelled "boring" and I go into autopilot (mindlessness). So the simplest way to practice mindfulness is to bring awareness to the daily activities you consider "boring". Another great way time to practice mindfulness is while you wait.  We are all so short of time that waiting is a huge source of frustration, whether its waiting for a train to turn up, waiting in line or being stuck in traffic.  These are all ideal times to just be mindful.  You can do this by focusing on your breathing and left everything else just be.  Start by breathing in and out slowly - one cycle should last for approximately 6 seconds.  Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Letting your breath flow effortlessly in and out of your body. Our brains respond to short burst of mindfulness, so its ok to keep it short, a few minutes per day.