What About Stress?
With the holiday season around the corner, stress is on many of our minds, and even felt in many of our bodies. Disability claims due to depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns are the leading cause of long term disability in Canada. More and more stories are emerging of people stuck at home because they are suffering from chronic stress or burn-out. As the epidemic continues, employers are noticing lower productivity and increases in sick days, while some employees are dealing with physical pain, anxiety, and depression. Here is a brief overview of what (chronic) stress really is, how it differs from burn-out, and a little inspiration on what we can do about it.
What is Stress?
Despite what you may originally assume, stress is not necessarily a bad thing. Rather, it is our body’s way of providing the necessary resources to rise to the occasion. Our stress responses, the way we react to a situation that evokes stress, have provided us with a tremendous survival and evolutionary advantage.
Imagine this: you are out picking berries and you see a lion approaching you. You will need to either fight the lion or flee from it. Your stress response is designed to prepare you for survival. In this example, more blood would flow to the muscles in your legs, allowing you to run faster; less blood would flow to your stomach because digesting food would not be necessary for survival in that moment. After the lion is out of sight and you feel safe again, your body should adjust itself in order to find balance. Your breathing and heartbeat would return to normal, your stomach would start working again, you’d stop perspiring, your blood pressure would lower, and you would feel a general sense of calm washing over you.
However, our stress system has not changed over time. When facing stressors, our bodies are still reacting as though we are in a life or death situation, even if we are not truly in immediate danger. That being said, some stress hormones, such as adrenaline, may help you rise to the occasion during crunch times and allow you to perform better than you usually would.
What is Chronic Stress?
Chronic stress occurs when our body is not able to properly recover and destress. When stress is not removed from the body, it doesn’t decline over time, but slowly increases. Chronic stress may develop from any of the following situations:
When a stressor persists for a very long time
When the stressor is extremely overwhelming (ex. the death of a loved one)
When one has to deal with multiple stressors at the same time (ex. experiencing stress at work and having to take care of a sick family member at the same time)
Under normal circumstances, you are faced with a stressor, so your stress level goes up. However, as your stressor disappears over time, your stress levels decline. Your body has activated its recovery mechanism and restores itself to a baseline level of stress. This looks like:
Now, how does this image change when we talk about chronic stress? You will see an accumulation of stress, leading to a diminished ability to recover, ultimately leading to a higher baseline of your stress levels:
What are the signs of chronic stress, besides ‘feeling stressed’? Here are a few examples of what you might notice:
Having a hard time making decisions
Inability to empathize with others
Unable to see the bright side of things
Difficulty structuring your day
Feelings of depression, anxiety, or even panic attacks
Physical symptoms such as digestive issues, heart palpitations, headaches, muscle aches, etc.
This is why chronic stress often gets wrongly diagnosed as depression or anxiety.
What is Burn-Out?
Burn-out happens when the source of our stress response is located at work. Generally speaking, you could say there are two causes: having too much on your plate or having a dysfunctional relationship with a co-worker or supervisor. If this goes on for a very long time, you may experience chronic stress. At some point, your body’s recovery mechanism is totally depleted and you crash: when this happens you are having a burn-out. You are not able to function anymore and rational thinking seems like a skill you lost. It can happen to all of us, although it seems that people who are ‘on fire’ at work (feeling engaged, passionate about their work, and ambitious) run a higher risk to burn out.
How can you prevent stress, chronic stress, and burn-out?
Our bodies know how to recover from stress, and you can take action to help your body do so. Here are a few things you can do to combat the effects of stress to prevent a burn-out:
Do at least one thing you love everyday, even if it’s just half an hour
Exercise
Take a nap
Go for a nice walk
Get a massage
Cuddle with your pet
Get more hugs from your friends and family
Play a board game
Have a meaningful conversation with a friend
Meditate
Cook a nice dinner
Many employers also offer access to an Employee Assistance Plan through their employee benefits package. These programs greatly help employees in dealing with stress both at work and at home. Reach out to us to see about adding this to your existing group benefits plan!
