Stress Management
by Duke Duyck
Duke Duyck is the principal of Quali-Tech,
Management Consultants,
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
INTRODUCTION
Stress is a major factor in heart disease. People with aggressive type A personalities have 7x the chance to die of heart disease than do the easy-going type B's. Heart disease is serious: It claims annually some 80,000 Canadians, among who are 20,000 Ontarians; while 50% of the death of all males between ages 35 and 64 are caused by heart disease (Compare cancer only 19%).
Stress does not only cause heart disease but many other illnesses have been found to be stress related or psychosomatic. This is so because a body under stress will divert the blood to the extremities, thus starving the internal organs, while the blood pressure and the heart rate go up. It is like the body preparing for physical action. The action does not follow however and the stress is not dissipated.
Physically, initially the fists and the teeth are clenched and other muscles tensed, eventually a headache may follow while some people develop asthma, others may get ulcers or heart attacks or any of a long list of internal illnesses.
Psychologically, the mind first gets alarmed, then ready for fight and finally depressed (or flight).
This article shows you that stress management is important, no matter what your job is. It is also feasible and even economical. Stress Management is possible by learning to cope, to reduce stress levels and to improve your life style.
STRESS THEORY
Hans Selye , one of the foremost stress scientists, found that stress uses "adaptation energy" that depletes us of our resources. He also found that, in general, stress is good but that it turns against us when it is uninterrupted.
Alvin Toffler , a sociologist, found that in our present society many suffer from over-stimulation, too many changes, cognitive overload and decision overload, while our classical means of coping are not adequate for...