The Stress Protection Plan

The hardiness factor is a combination of things, including a sense of being in control of life and events, a feeling that the multiple changes which occur throughout life present challenges or opportunities rather than threats, and a wish to be involved in society and the lives of others (commitment). The good news is that, as with so many aspects of stress-proofing, these positive, stress-coping characteristics can be learned and acquired once you know more about them.

The whole subject of hardiness, as well as the importance of understanding the role of happiness and cynicism in your life and their effects on your health, are fully explained in Chapter (#litres_trial_promo).

The state of your health is the result of the complex interrelationship between the uniqueness of you and the challenges and stresses of your particular internal and external environment. Those stresses can be self-produced (e.g. anger, fear) or they can be externally generated (e.g. job insecurity, an unstable marriage etc.) Mostly your stress-picture will be an amalgam of internally and externally originating factors. Attitudes, beliefs, behaviour patterns, personality traits (the major features of the hardiness factor: control, challenge and commitment) and deeply entrenched habits of thought may all be partly responsible, and I shall explain several ways of examining and modifying them. The importance of correct nutrition, sufficient exercise and rest, as well as such things as adequate exposure to full spectrum light (daylight), will be other themes which I touch on in as much as they relate to stress reduction and to our aim of stress-proofing ourselves.

These areas are important, but the main point of this book is to show that there are defences which can be erected against stress, whatever form it takes, and that by the regular application of these methods great benefit can be derived in terms of health and well-being. We must certainly aim at reducing stress, but must also increase our resistance to it and learn to counteract its effects.

Effective stress-proofing, therefore, involves taking responsibility; which means incorporating positive action in various areas of your life. For, it is necessary and desirable to understand not just the causes of stress, but also the physiological and pathological effects which it can produce, and the ways in which its negative tendencies can be countered. For the very best results such strategies need to be combined with methods which effectively increase and enhance the natural defences against stress, which some people have in greater or lesser degree than others. The importance of reviewing, and altering where necessary, your diet, exercise and rest patterns, lifestyle and personal attitude, as well as behaviour patterns (many of which are within our conscious control) are all features of this comprehensive protection plan which can deflect many of the potentially harmful effects of hectic modern-day life.

Next, I present a number of different breathing exercises and patterns, and relaxation methods, as well as a selection of meditation techniques, together with a résumé of current thinking on the use of mind/body therapies, such as visualization, which emphasize the power of the mind in promoting good health.

One of the quickest ways in which your blood chemistry can be disturbed under stress conditions, producing a host of symptoms – ranging from feelings of intense agitation and weakness to anxiety and panic attacks, as well as physical effects such as numbness of the limbs, nausea, stomach cramps and shivering – is by hyperventilation. In Chapter (#litres_trial_promo) I give a detailed explanation of this widespread phenomenon of over-breathing, and show how it can usually be dealt with swiftly by using special breathing techniques which almost anyone can learn to apply to themselves.

Whilst the process by which hyperventilation affects us is relatively easy to grasp, there are other aspects of stress’s interaction with our minds and nervous systems which are quite complex. One is the effect of the state of mind on the immune (defence) system of our bodies. The new science which concerns itself with this side of things is called psychoneuroimmunology, and it deserves to be more widely understood, for it holds the key to many common and some serious health problems.

The discovery and proof of the existence of this mind/immune system link was made as far back as 1975 by Dr Robert Ader, a psychologist at the University of Rochester in the USA. He had been studying the effects of giving laboratory rats an unpleasant drug-induced sensation of nausea every time they drank water which had been sweetened with saccharine. He was in fact studying the phenomenon of conditioned response, made famous (some would say notorious) by Pavlov in his dog experiments half a century previously. Just as Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate whenever a bell was rung (through having been conditioned by a bell being rung whenever they were fed), so did Ader’s rats learn to feel sick whenever they were allowed to drink sweet water.

In itself this result was not sufficient to attract attention, but what Ader observed next was of profound importance. He saw that not only did his rats dutifully become sick whenever they had sweetened water (even after the drug injections had ceased), they soon began to really sicken and to die. The reason, he found, was that the drug he had been using to induce a feeling of sickness was an immune depressing substance. So, not only had the rats learned to feel sick when they drank the sweet water, they also mimicked the other immune suppressing effects of the drug, even long after the drug administration had ceased, producing in themselves a reduction of immune function. As a result they went on to die of auto-immune diseases or overwhelming infection allowed to occur through their self-induced immune response suppression.

This was surely proof positive that the mind can control immune function directly, and that it could switch off the defence mechanism sufficiently to allow serious illness and death to occur. Much additional evidence has subsequently been produced which supports Ader’s original observations. Does this also apply to humans? Indeed it does, and many medical studies have proved it to the extent that researchers are being led to the conclusion that it is not stress which does the damage, but how we handle it. This is something we should be sure to take heed of.

A leading article in the 27 June 1987 edition of the Lancet, one of Britain’s most prestigious medical journals, under the title of ‘Depression, stress and immunity’, came to the conclusion that ‘it is the individual’s response to stress that determines the effects on immunity rather than the stress itself.’ This statement is of profound importance and deserves illustration.

One easy measurement of immune function can be made by studying the efficiency, or otherwise, of a group of defensive cells which go by the name of ‘natural killer cells’. Their function is termed ‘natural killer cell activity’ (NKCA). When this was measured in groups of medical students before an important examination, NKCA was found to be depressed in some but not in others. These observations were then compared with psychological profiles previously conducted on the same students, and it was discovered that they related directly; that is, those students who were known to be ‘poor copers’ (high levels of reported life stress accompanied by health distress), or subject to loneliness (social isolation) were also the students with poor NKCA at exam time. In contrast, those who were good copers (high life stress but little health distress) had continued high performance in the NKCA when confronted by examination stresses.

It is no surprise that the poor copers were the ones who became ill with colds, ‘flu etc., since their immune function was inadequate when faced by infectious agents. The stress of exams was the same for all the students, and this presents a clear picture of where the cause lies – not with stress alone, but with the way it was handled. Numerous studies confirm this. As the famous American surgeon, Bernie Siegel, MD, states: ‘The medical profession is going to have to confront this thing we call the mind.’

Research at the National Institute for Mental Health in America by Candace Pert, a neuropharmacologist, has shown that substances called neuropeptides, which are messenger molecules which interact between the nervous system and the immune system (in all animal and plant life) appear to unify the multiple interacting systems in the body so that they act in concert to survive, unless negative health-destroying factors are at work. This may well be the way psychological factors interact with the immune system. This new knowledge is summarized quite graphically by the words of another American researcher, Robert Cathcart, MD, who says: ‘All the vitamin C in the world won’t make up for a lousy attitude.’

Among the chemical changes found to take place in the brain in response to stress, sometimes within seconds, are increased production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, epinephrin (what used to be called adrenalin), acetylcholine and dopamine, all of which increase the excitability of nerve cells.

It is therefore abundantly clear where we need to focus our attention if we are to avoid those aspects of ill-health which relate to stress. As the Lancet puts it: ‘The efforts of psychologists, counsellors and indeed general practitioners may be of more value … were they to concentrate on improving coping skills and increasing people’s sense of self-efficacy … for fortunately all these procedures [learning of coping skills] can be taught.’ So, according to the most respected medical opinion, we can learn to handle stress and many of its negative influences on the body chemistry and immune function.

A variety of techniques exist in this field, some more suited to a particular person than others. The main aim of this book is to enable the reader to find those methods that best suit him or her, and to explain how important their regular use is in regaining and maintaining health. Whether active or passive relaxation methods are employed, or whether meditation alone, or together with creative visualization and guided imagery, is found to produce the desired results, is immaterial.

What matters is that we learn to harness the mind’s latent force towards positive rather than negative goals, and that the mind/body complex is insulated, as far as possible, from those internally and externally generated stresses which, left unchecked, will first weaken, then cripple and finally destroy the body.

Health and disease, and all the grey area between, are states which reflect the ability, or otherwise, of the body to maintain equilibrium (known as homoeostasis) in the face of a host of environmental threats and hazards. At any given time the individual represents a culmination of all that has been inherited, and all that has been acquired and developed up to that moment. The degrees of susceptibility and of resistance that the body can demonstrate, will be absolutely unique to him or her. With so many variables, it should be obvious that no one method, system or prescription can apply to everyone, even if similar outward manifestations of ill health are evident.

Because of this, less emphasis should perhaps be placed on outward signs and symptoms of ill health. Whilst these are important, they indicate no more than how the individual is responding to a health threat. The same symptoms (e.g. headache) can result from a variety of causes. The same apparent cause (e.g. anxiety) can produce quite different symptoms – say insomnia in one person, palpitations in another and headaches in a third.

Treatment of the symptoms alone can never bring more than short-term relief. To remove the symptoms and ignore the cause is patently wrong, for they or other symptoms will surely re-show themselves sooner or later. Only by improving the general level of function of the total organism and by removing, where possible, the causes of the condition, can a successful outcome be anticipated.

Since causes of anxiety are often outside the control of the individual, it is necessary to provide ways of altering the ways in which such problems are viewed. In addition, techniques are necessary whereby, even if such stress remains to some extent constant, the individual can nullify and counteract its ill effects by positive action. This is where relaxation, meditation and other exercises of the mind come in.

Additional methods, which will be explained in Chapter (#litres_trial_promo), are derived from the work of a remarkable researcher, L.E. Eeman. The approaches which he evolved include application of the knowledge that we all have what appear to be specific ‘polarities’ in different parts of the body, and that it is possible to use this fact in a practical way in order to enable deep relaxation to be achieved.

Using electromagnetic terminology, Eeman proved that ‘when different parts of one human body, or different or similar parts of different human bodies are connected by means of electrical conductors, such as insulated copper wires, these bodies behave as though (using an electromagnetic analogy) they were bi-polar.’ The polar opposites which Eeman identified most strongly were the head and base of the spine, and the right and left hands. The effect achieved by holding a piece of insulated copper wire in one hand, attached to a copper grid lying under the spine or head (with no connection whatever to external electrical supply) is to produce either an increase in relaxation or tension, depending upon whether the hand and the part of the body involved had similar or opposite polarities.

For example, should the right hand (of a born right-handed person) be linked with the base of the spine (these being polar opposites) the result is a ‘relaxation circuit’, while connection of the right hand with the base of the head (here the polarities are the same) causes a ‘tension circuit’. ‘The relaxation circuit automatically promotes relaxation of the voluntary muscles and stimulates functional activity. It fosters sleep, recovery from fatigue and disease, capacity for work and health in general. The tension circuit reverses these effects, more or less. Both circuits affect not only organic, but also nervous and mental health.’

In Chapter (#litres_trial_promo) a number of useful methods, based on Eeman’s work, are described, including two self-help approaches, one of which calls for the use of copper wire and gauze, and another which does not.

Stress-proofing is all about choices. No one pattern of relaxation exercise can possibly suit everyone, and this is the reason for the presence in this book of a wide variety of options. Try the ones that appeal to you. Drop those that do not work easily, and hold fast to those that do. There is certainly no sense in trying methods which just do not appeal or those that you feel uneasy with. Remember, though, that there is a rule of thumb which, stated simply, insists that until you know how to breathe adequately relaxation is difficult, if not impossible, and that it is virtually impossible to use the methods of guided imagery and visualization until you can meditate.

This means that whichever choices you eventually make in terms of which methods, or patterns, of relaxation, meditation and visualization you use, there is need for that sequence (breathing-relaxation-meditation-visualization) to be respected, if good results are to be hoped for.

The individuality of each person must be recognized; this leads to a realization that the particular factors which enable successful adaptation to the environment will vary. Stress-proofing involves gaining understanding and insight into the nature of the problems of stress, as well as a determination to make changes, alterations, modifications and efforts in accordance with this knowledge. Through this apparent maze, I would urge you to hold fast to one concrete thought: given the chance, the body is a self-healing, self-repairing and self-regenerating organism. The aim is to give it that chance, and at the same time to erect barriers which will provide protection against future hazards.

CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_d4b16acc-2814-554b-980c-7158bdefcb8a)

The Causes and Nature of Stress (#ulink_d4b16acc-2814-554b-980c-7158bdefcb8a)

Stress-induced illnesses now cause more deaths and diseases than do infections, which used to be the predominant killer in industrialized countries. Among those conditions now known, in many instances, to involve the interaction of stress and particular personality ‘types’ are arthritis, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer and depression. It has also been shown beyond doubt that ‘noxious’ factors, such as negative emotion, anxiety, grief, loneliness and depression are actually immune suppressive, contributing in large part to subsequent illness and often death.

Excitingly, and of major importance in our quest for better health, research has also revealed that whatever it takes to create a ‘distress-free’ mind produces as a consequence beneficial immune-enhancing effects. Indeed, just as Ader was able to show that he could condition rats to become immune compromised, so can improved immunity be conditioned (R. Gorcynski, ‘Conditioned immune response associated with allogenic skin grafts’, Journal of Immunology (1982), Vol. 220, pages 821–2). Animals and humans can ‘learn’ to become healthier and to have improved immune activity.

It is of only partial value to concentrate on just one side of the picture, to think only of stress avoidance or of better stress handling. Ideally, both elements of the stress/health equation should be looked at and, if possible, dealt with. You need to be aware that stress is at its most harmful when you respond to it inappropriately.

Most stress situations in today’s life are not as simple as the ‘fight or flight’ reaction, when the stress is matched by a straightforward immediately executed response. There may be no obvious choices to make, and in many instances there is no on-the-spot ‘caveman’ solution – for example, when you are exposed to someone’s rudeness or aggressive behaviour, and you metaphorically have to ‘take it on the chin’. Repeated exercising of pretended patience may indeed result in stress-induced damage. Many stressful events in life, such as divorce, bereavement, loss of a job, etc., present no opportunity for a simple and immediate ‘fight or flight’ response, and how they affect us depends very much on our emotional coping skills.

Equally damaging are reactions which are inappropriate. For example, when anger is the response to an incident which someone else would treat as being of little importance – in other words, an over-reaction. The question is: how is it that some people can cope with all these things, whilst others cannot? The answer is a matter of attitude, belief and habitual behavioural patterns.

Many of our attitudes derive from the imprinting we receive in our early formative years. Unconsciously we are ‘programmed’ by what we hear and see as children, and these attitudes then become the blueprints, the beliefs, which dictate how we will ‘feel’, act and respond in a multitude of situations, including stressful ones.

It is our acceptance when very young, usually without question or critical judgement, of the attitudes we see and learn from our parents, relatives, friends, schools etc. which mould our later behaviour and responses to stress. To alter entrenched attitudes and behaviour in later life we first must recognize that we may be ‘programmed’ in a manner which leads to inappropriate, self-damaging behaviour, and that just as we first learned attitudes when we were very young, so can we re-learn a different view of life later if we wish to.

The key to such a change is awareness of where the key to improving things lies, to a realization that there are other ways of seeing things, that these may be more life/health enhancing than our current approaches, that we need to challenge our present attitudes and beliefs. As you alter your attitudes so will your feelings change, and this is because it is your thoughts which govern your emotions. If you can learn to see your emotions as a mirror of your thoughts, and if you are aware that your emotions are in turmoil, or that they lead you to inappropriate responses, you can see that it is the way you think which needs to be addressed before changes will come in your emotions and stress-coping skills.

If you can begin to see that a repetitive cycle occurs in which life stresses are poorly coped with, and that the end result of this is depression, and the risk of mental and physical ill health, the need to gain control of the underlying causes becomes clear. Control of the emotions comes through understanding and awareness that negative feelings can be replaced with positive ones.

It is no simple or easy task to make such changes, and it may well require professional counselling, for it is not enough to simply superficially ‘blot out’ negative emotions with an overlay of positive thinking. What is called for is a more fundamental change in which you come to understand your way of thinking, the place where your attitudes were born. The start of this process towards an upwards positive spiral is recognition of what is necessary, followed by the use of a method which leads to greater understanding or insight. This can be achieved by attending workshops or group therapy sessions, or one-to-one counselling with a therapist, whether the method involves psychosynthesis, voice dialogue, neurolinguistic programming, or any other humanistic psychotherapy tool.

In all of these methods, judgements are avoided, and understanding and awareness is encouraged. Once you come to understand and accept yourself, and learn why you think (and, therefore, behave) as you do, change comes naturally.

There are a number of defensive tricks which the mind can play in response to any challenge or stress. These include repression of thoughts and memories which might prove stressful, as well as ‘rationalization’, in which the individual makes up an account of his or her behaviour in response to stress, the true explanation of which would produce anxiety. Such common defences, if producing anxiety states or personality changes, require professional psychotherapy to provide insights into, and resolution of, the problem.

It is self-evident, then, that what is to one individual a major stress factor may to another be only a minor irritant. Recall the student doctors who I referred to earlier. Some became ill and some did not when confronted by the same exam stresses. It was their coping skills and attitudes which determined who would become ill and who would not. In a well-documented study (M. Linn, ‘Stressful events, disphoric mood and immune responsiveness’, Psychological Report (1984), Vol. 54, pages 219–22) it was shown that the psychological response to a stressful event can alter the ability of the immune system to function adequately. In particular, men who reported the most depression after bereavement or serious family illness had the greatest reduction in immune efficiency. Such changes are not confined to depressive illness, but may result in a variety of responses to unpleasant life events.

Now, it is clear that life-events are common to us all. We all experience many, or even most, of the sort of events which are listed below, and yet they do not provoke a negative effect in everyone. Dr Norman Cousins, writing in the American Journal of Holistic Medicine (March/April 1986, pages 1–20) gives his view of the remedy which saves so many from stress-induced illness.

‘If negative emotions like panic can create disease, what is the role of positive emotions – love, hope, faith, laughter, playfulness, creativity? I’ve come to the conclusion that the function of the positive emotions is to interrupt the negative ones. The positive emotions protect the body against the bolts of fear, anger, worry and despair. They are the blockers, magnificent blockers … blocking as they can the disease of panic, which can intensify virtually any underlying illness. It is not possible to entertain two contrary feelings. The positive emotions drive out the negative. You cannot panic and laugh at the same time.’

The difference lies in a person’s attitude towards the cause of stress. For one person, for example, the meeting of a deadline, the need to be at a particular place at a fixed time, is of vital importance, and the prospect of being late, of failing to meet the deadline, generates a great deal of tension and anxiety. To another person, such deadlines are mere guidelines, and no particular worry is felt at their being missed.

Attitudes depend upon a person’s concept of reality. The world as they see it is their own reality, and when this comes into conflict with the external environment stress results. To some extent, all change represents stress. Anything that calls on us to adjust or change from what is normal represents stress. Our concept of what is normal, what is right, how things ought to be is, therefore, the sounding board on which the external environmental factors operate. Beliefs and attitudes often determine the degree of stress, anxiety etc. experienced. For example, the death of someone close is undoubtedly a major stress factor, and yet to someone whose beliefs include a certainty of an after-life or a reincarnation, the death will be seen as part of a continuous process, not an end, and therefore the amount of stress will be minimized. Clearly, what you believe, what you think, and how you see both major and minor events, is linked to your learned responses, which in turn derives from your upbringing and the attitudes and beliefs of those who guided your early years, modified by all that has happened to you since then.

Stress and Changes in Lifestyle