Understanding Stress
By Dr. Christopher Kent, DC, Esq.
Originally printed in the March 26, 2011 edition of
Dynamic Chiropractic (dynamicchiropractic.com).
Interest in the role stress plays with the dynamics of health has resulted in a proliferation of strategies designed to minimize or “manage” stress. To many people, the very term “stress” elicits a negative response. Yet the notion that stress is an enemy we must resist or manage betrays a widespread misunderstanding of the nature of stress and how it affects our lives.
The Austrian-Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye pioneered investigations of the biological effects of stress in 1936 with the publication of his paper, “A Syndrome Produced by Diverse Noxious Agents.” Since then, more than 100,000 articles and books have been written on the subject. Selye describes stress as the nonspecific response to any demand.
Experimental studies by Selye and other investigators revealed that when physical, chemical, or emotional demands were imposed on an animal, three stages could be identified which characterize the response:
Alarm
Adaptation
Exhaustion
Although many individuals have concluded that stress is inevitably destructive, this view is incorrect. As Selye noted, “Stress is not necessarily bad for you. It is also the spice of life, for any emotion, any activity causes stress… the same stress that makes one person sick is an invigorating experience for another…Complete absence of stress is incompatible with life since only a dead man makes no demand on his body or mind.”