STRESS: Is it Real or merely Myth?

Let’s take a walk down memory lane

Did you know that Stress is DEBATABLE?

It is!

You’re probably wondering, How could that be? Everyone on Earth is stressed out — now more so than ever.

You tell me, “Of course stress exists! It’s existence cannot be questioned. The only people who don’t experience stress are either brain dead or buried six feet under the ground.”

Well, I thought so, too, until I started to look into the history behind the scientific study of stress.

And guess what?

Stress was once a hotly debated topic!

Indeed, in his book The Myth of Stress, Andrew Bernstein provides a fascinating overview of this decades-long debate.

In the 1930’s, one of the earliest pioneers of stress, Physiologist Walter Cannon at Harvard Medical School, recommended that the medical community pay attention to stress and its effect on the body.

It did, with great interest after World War II, when stress consumed the United States. The military wanted to know the best way to train soldiers to handle stress and, of course, there was an influx of returning soldiers suffering from what we now know to be PTSD.

One researcher in particular — Hans Selye, at Montreal’s McGill University — made great strides in the field of stress research, by studying the effect of physiological stress on rats. By exposing them to heat and depriving them of food, among many other experiments, Selye found that all stress generated three symptoms, commonly referred to as the “Triad”:

1.) The adrenal glands, that sit on top of the kidneys and produce epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline), became enlarged;

2.) The immune system (specifically, the thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes) shrank in size; and,

3.) The stomach and intestines suffered from ulceration (bleeding ulcers).

Unlike situations where a specific stress response was produced via specific pathways — like shivering in response to cold, or sweating in response to heat — Selye believed that, underneath those specific responses, there was always this nonspecific physiological response.

As a result, Selye defined stress as “the nonspecific response to the body to any demand placed upon it,” because the type of stress did not matter. As long as an outside stressor was present, a physiological stress response would follow.

As a result of his work, including more than 30 books about it, Selye popularized the idea of stress.

To this day, we’re familiar with this concept of stress.

So much so, we’re all guilty of blaming outside events and people for “stressing us out.”

As if it’s an open and shut case; stressing’s inevitable; and the best thing to do is to find a way to accept the stress and cope with it, using different techniques, like relaxation.

Indeed, “Stress Management” became a popular movement in the 1950s and 60s, but then something shifted in the mid-1970s, when another research scientist, Dr. John Mason of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and later, the West Haven VA Medical Center, and Yale University, decided to challenge Selye’s theory by modifying Selye’s experiments.

Instead of subjecting the animals to acute stressors like a sudden blast of heat, Mason increased the temperature very slowly and subtly, little by little.

Likewise, in experiments where Selye had completely deprived rats of food at meal times as the acute stressor, Mason provided the rats with food that lacked nutrition, but still allowed the rats to maintain social contact and eat non-nutritive food at the same time as the other rats.

Using these and other experiments, Mason was able to demonstrate that the physiological stress response did not occur.

This flew in the face of Selye’s theory. According to Selye, because the external stressor was applied, the rats should have had a physiological stress response.

But, Mason demonstrated that stress did not result. Why? Because he’d controlled the rats’ psychological response, resulting in little to no stress response.

Ultimately, Mason wrote a series of published articles explaining why Selye’s physiological theory of stress did not work, but a psychological theory did.

So there you have it!

We may be subject to many stress-inducing scenarios in our lives, but STRESSING OUT is entirely optional!

Contrary to what we might have believed, when something bad happens to us, we don’t have to be victims.

We don’t have to lay down and succumb to an inescapable physiological Triad.

Instead, we can take…

PRACTICAL STEPS: Let’s Apply this understanding to our lives!

When something goes wrong at work or something negative happens in our personal life, let’s remember to control our psychological emotional response.

1. We can realize that external stressors need not stress us out.

But how?

We can’t stop outside factors from butting into our lives. And we cannot change other people, either.

The only thing we can control is our own thinking…

2. We can change our interpretation of the external event or person.

This may not be easy but, changing our interpretation is the only way we can prevent our minds, emotions, and bodies from suffering needlessly.

3. This will strengthen our emotional muscle and, perhaps, over time, it will raise our immunity to outside stressors.

Is this achievable?

It is.

Just imagine the difference between two individuals:

When Mr. A was a young lad, he was nicknamed throughout the neighborhood as Mr. Politician. He loved to chat people up and was able to befriend anyone in 5 minutes. As an adult, he’s much the same. His boss asks him to make a presentation to 25 colleagues, and he’s immediately revved up and ready to go. He’s excited to show ’em what he’s got. There’s absolutely no nervousness, no fear. Yes, Mr. A’s someone who sees public speaking as an opportunity to shine, not a stressor that would generate a negative internal reaction — emotionally or physically.

Then you’ve got Mr. B. He’s always been the shy, quiet type. An introvert and deep thinker who doesn’t like to be in the spotlight. When his boss asks him to stand up and give a speech next week, he pictures all 25 colleagues staring him down and his throat immediately seizes up. It’s so jarring to his body and brain that the next morning, he’s got a terrible case of diarrhea, and he doesn’t report to work that day.

The only difference between these two individuals is the way that they interpreted the external scenario.

While Mr. B is clearly upset at the prospect of having to present, Mr. A is beyond excited. Mr. A eagerly counts down the days and, when the big day comes, he hits it out of the park.

What would the Experts say?

According to Selye, the mere presence of the external stressor (the presentation) should have produced a stress response in both Mr. A and Mr. B.

But, Mason’s research demonstrates that because Mr. A was able to control for his psychological response, the physiological stress did not follow. Sure, his heart rate may have increased, but he felt excited, and Mr. A’s body suffered no deleterious effects. He just had a great time and enjoyed presenting to his colleagues.

This is great news!

Because it means Mr. B has the power to change his story.

Let’s say the presentation’s not actually scheduled to occur until a conference, 6 months later.

What if Mr. B signed himself up for public speaking classes or joined a local Toastmaster Chapter?

He could slowly increase his comfort zone and, little by little, begin to see that he is capable of speaking eloquently in front of 25 people.

Perhaps a month before the conference, he’s gained so much experience, he’s spoken in front of a hundred people. In fact, his coach invited him to attend a Regional Toastmasters event, and he was selected as one of the best among the group!

Mr. B looks at his calendar. Sees the conference date circled in red and, for the first time, he’s not seeing red. Or brown in the toilet bowl…lol. Suddenly, the prospect of speaking to 25 colleagues is a piece of cake.

All because Mr. B took practical steps to control for his psychological response.

And it pays off! He comes back from the conference having changed a lot of people’s impression of him. He’s demonstrated that even though he’s introverted, he can speak eloquently at work. And, he’s done such an impressive job, his boss invites him to chair a series of future talks.

He may be a lil fictionalized man, but aren’t you proud of Mr. B?!

I’m even prouder of Mr. B than I am of Mr. A!

What does this mean for us?

It means there’s HOPE!

Be the HEROIC Rat you’ve always known you can be!

We can be our own hero!

We can remind ourselves that it’s extremely important for us to do whatever we can to change our psychological response to any outside stressor.

The next time we’re the ones giving a presentation…

Or asking someone out…

Or putting ourselves out there, to showcase our latest artwork…

No matter the scenario, we can completely change the dynamic in our minds and bodies when we reframe our interpretation.

We can remind ourselves:

It’s not what’s happening to us…

It’s what’s happening FOR US.

And we can do it, no matter how big or small the potential stressor might be.

Let’s try it this week, the next time we’re stuck in traffic.

Instead of allowing ourselves to be so pissed off by all the cars around us, wondering why people are slow to move when the light turns green or the turn signal changes, we can control our emotional, psychological reaction by doing things like listening to audiobooks to pass the time.

All in all, our stress-induced suffering depends on the STORY we’re telling ourselves about it.

So, let’s make sure it’s the best story we can tell, no matter the situation.

The Say-NO-to-Stress Storyteller in me honors & respects the Say-NO-to-Stress Storyteller in each of you,

Marisa