Stress causes - or the reasons we get stressed include...
Working in a hierarchical culture
Perceiving we don't have enough time
Feeling out of control
Understanding stress causes - or why we get stressed - can help us make better choices and decrease our stress levels.
When you're stressed your body has activated the fight or flight reaction - in other words, you've perceived a threat - physical or emotional... real or imaginary.
So how does this work?
Scientists have provided us with some useful information that helps us understand why we get stressed.
Check out this video with Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D. talking about stress causes.
He's been studying stress for over thirty years and his work has shown two things...
Sapolsky's work and the Whitehall studies that took place in England, indicate that in a hierarchical culture, the people on the lower rungs, who have no control - or perceive they have no control, over what's expected from them or what's happening, have the highest levels of stress.
Sapolsky's studies also suggest that in a culture where the people care and support each other... all the people have a greatly decreased level of stress. This indicates that a non-supportive environment causes stress.
It seems to me that we live in a culture that is drenched in stress.
Why in this day and age do we activate the fight or flight response if we're late or think we might be late for a deadline?
Why do people who are long-term caregivers experience high levels of stress?
Why do people who work in fast paced jobs get stressed?
Why do people who are out of work feel stressed?
Why do people who get a divorce experience stress?
In my opinion it's because we're too isolated... We try to do everything on our own... And we don't know how to be helped or help others.
Check out this somewhat entertaining video made by LinkedIn (an online networking site) with Robert Sapolsky. It has information about the importance of fostering friendships - or not - on stress.
I also think our whole society is so focused on work that we're not living... we're just doing - most of us going from one thing to the next - not really here, experiencing this moment.
I think we ought to actually pay attention to all that we're learning about stress and it's impact on health... And make some big changes...
We could... spend more time outside, support our friends, do work that feels meaningful, relax more and... create a culture where when we ask for help we get it.
