ORDINARY STRESS
Ordinary stress is pressure exerted on us in our normal daily life. My car breaks down, my boss misunderstands me, I lose some money in my investment, 1 have an argument with my friend, I am going to sit an important examination tomorrow, and so on; these are normal events that we may have everyday. I am jealous, I am disappointed, I regret, I am frustrated, I feel guilty, I am frightened, and so on; these are feelings and reactions we can have in our everyday lives.
When we are under stress, a normal reacting mechanism in our body works to counteract the stress applied to us. Our body feels threatened, and we put ourselves on battle alert. We respond in two ways: with a biological reaction and with a psychological reaction. These two ways go hand in hand with each other, and both are protective mechanisms against the threat of imminent danger.
Biological reaction. Our body is immediately geared up for the stress, ready for Tight or flight’. Plenty of adrenaline is circulating, and our muscles are all tensed, our heart pumping hard, our blood pressure high so that our body is ready for the flight, our blood thickened and able to clot easily just in case we are injured or bleed in the fight, and our eyes wide open with the pupils dilated and staring at every move of the enemy. There is little chance of falling asleep when
there is imminent danger as we are on guard all the time.
The biological reaction to stress developed way back in the course of evolution, but is still very important in present day life; for example, in a boxing competition or when soldiers are fighting in combat Or when attacked by a burglar, we have to either ‘fight’ or ‘flight’.
However, in most modern stress situations the biological reaction becomes a burden. Physical action is normally not required. If your boss misunderstands you, you become very uptight and are ready to explode. But in most cases, even if you want to, you are not going to give him a black eye, as this is a civilized world. This biological reaction generates a lot of energy, which we are unable to release. We feel distressed. Continual, chronic, modern stress can be harmful to the body. We are flooded with excess adrenaline, and we have a greater chance of falling victim to a heart attack or stroke. This is because, during the biological reaction to stress, the blood pressure is high to increase the energy supply through circulation, and the blood will clot easily to stop bleeding if this is necessary. Some authorities recommend an aspirin a day to thin the blood, so as to prevent heart attack or stroke, as both can result from a clot in a vital blood vessel; in the case of a heart attack, it is a clot in the coronary artery supplying the heart muscle, and, in the case of a stroke, it is a clot in an important artery supplying the brain.
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