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All about Stress and Anxiety Disorders

April 13th, 2008

Susceptible People to Stress

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It is well known that a given situation produces more stress in some persons than others. These people are more susceptible to stress and certain features characterizes them.

  • They are highly susceptible to annoyance.
  • They lack a bit less confidence in untried events or performance. Trying new things makes them uncomfortable.
  • They can recall fewer friends.
  • They show inconsistency in their responses to similar situations they encounter.
  • They are generally more suspicious of the motives of others.
  • They are more prone to guilt feelings. Their ethical and moral perceptions are very acute.

The physical symptoms that is accompanied are

  • High respiration and pulse rate
  • Increase in systolic blood pressure
  • Increased BMR ( basic metabolic rate )
  • Decrease in alkalinity in saliva
  • Increase in hippuric acid in urine

Studies conducted indicate certain professions are prone to high or moderate degree of mental tension. They include editor, general writer, science fiction writer, executive (business, managerial), sales manager, salesman, Olympic athletes, medical students etc.

Professions that generate low degree of mental tension include research works in physics, biology, psychology etc.

Irrespective of situation and profession, which is for more statistical purposes, it all boils down to how the person is habituated to react to situations. The habit remaining calm in whatever you do is more a matter of persistent efforts because you can hardly do anything about your profession or professional hazards.

March 30th, 2008

Brain under the severe hammer of stress

Perhaps this part of body feels the heat of stress first. Then all your physical symptoms follow. Ever feel so stressed out that you seem to skip the obvious things, be less attentive and forget things like wedding anniversary, certain time commitment etc.

Research shows that stressful situations over which a person feels he or she has no control activate an enzyme in the brain called protein kinase C (PKC). This enzyme affects the prefrontal cortex, a higher brain region that regulates thought, behavior and emotion using operations often referred to as “working memory”. High PKC impair your ability to concentrate, leading to distractibility, impaired judgment, impulsivity and thought disorder.

PKC may also be a factor in the problems faced by people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia whose psychotic episodes can be triggered by stressful situations.

The nervous system which coordinates the brain functions gets seriously damaged under stress. We have two nervous systems, sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

Sympathetic (SNS) system triggers the danger bells in the body to take action and when the action is taken Parasympathetic nervous system relaxes the body. Trouble is some stress hormones released by SNS don’t know when to quit pulling even after the stress causing event has gone. They remain active in the brain for quite a long time injuring and killing cells in hippocampus, the area of your brain needed for memory and learning. Because of this effect of SNS, it often requires conscious effort to initiate the relaxation effects of mind to reduce the killing effect of stress hormones.

The deep relaxation methods like meditation or hypnosis helps a lot. But simple relaxation methods like listening to soothing and slow music, spending enjoyable time with family, a funny soap on television also relaxes the mind.

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