Stress continues to be a part of a serious health issue in Singapore. According to the American Psychological Association, one-third of adults in developed countries report that their stress increased over 18% over the past year.
In Today Online, local news states that Singapore ranks 32 out of 40 for work life balance. That means we are the second in the whole world.
What is Stress?
Singapore Institute of mental health defines stress as simply “the brain’s response to any new changes in your life.” Therefore, not all stress is bad. it’s simply a new change that we need to deal with. Whether it is harmful or not is very personalized to every individual. It ultimately depends on intensity, duration and exposure to the stimulus on hand.
Stress comes in many types of forms. Some stress happens because of short-term event. One of the example is the change of economical situation and career lifestyle, due to COVID-19 — April 2020 in Singapore. Or it could be having an argument with a family member. Some can be chronic and long term, like managing a long-term illness or having a very demanding job. While all stress triggers physiological reactions, chronic stress is specifically problematic due to the many harm it can do to the functioning of the body and therefore the brain.
What Are The Causes?
Stress comes in a series of pattern. “When someone experiences a stressful change, the amygdala, which is part of the brain that plays a role in emotions, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus,”. “This area of the brain functions like a command center, signalling the body through the nervous system to trigger a fight or flight response.”
This stressful response is liable for the many physical reactions most of the people, which causes increased pulse , heightened senses, a deeper intake of oxygen and therefore the rush of adrenaline. Finally, a hormone called cortisol is released, which helps to revive the energy lost within the response. When the stressful event is over, cortisol levels fall and therefore the body returns to stasis.
While stress itself isn’t necessarily problematic, the buildup of cortisol within the brain can have long-term effects. Unfortunately, for people who are experiencing chronic stress, it develops into many forms of pains and chronic illness within the body. You are able to read this more in this article, “How pain and stress are related”.
Understanding How Stress Can Be Managed
In order to understand how to manage this effectively and understand how it affects the brain, let’s take a step back into the traditional Chinese medicine perspective.
In accordance to the ancient scripture, “Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor” our blood energies can be imbalanced due to stressful events in our lives. If left unmanaged properly, these are capable of causing many blockage within various meridian systems, like the liver, heart, stomach and lungs.
If you would like to understand more about what are meridians and how to manage stress effectively through proven methods.
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