Learn the five deadly myths about stress
April 6, 2009
By Morton C. Orman
Each year, millions of Americans die of stress-related illnesses. Heart disease, strokes and even some forms of cancer may be caused by stress in certain individuals.If we include the considerable damage done by smoking, overeating, alcohol and drugs — all commonly used to cope with stress — we can see that we are in the midst of a major epidemic with serious, often fatal, consequences.
Many of these deaths could be averted. The No. 1 cause of stress today is not overcrowding, gridlock, stressful work conditions or the economy —it is misinformation. We have many myths and misconceptions about stress that are widespread in our society. Unfortunately, these myths and misconceptions are shared by most stress experts and health professionals as well.
Thus, a major problem we all face today is that much of what we’ve been taught about stress isn’t really true!
Myth No. 1: Stress is inevitable — there’s little we can do to prevent or eliminate it.
Fact: Stress is not an inevitable part of life. Millions of people lead relatively stress-free lives. When exposed to identical situations, some people experience high degrees of stress while others experience little or none. More importantly, many people have successfully changed themselves from “high-stress” to “low-stress” individuals.
Myth No. 2: Stress is something we can cope with or deal with directly.
Fact: Stress is not something you, I or anyone else can cope with directly. Contrary to popular belief, stress is not some “thing” that exists or afflicts us like a disease.
“Stress” is merely a word that we use to stand for hundreds of specific problems and conflicts we experience from time to time.
Some of these problems exist outside our bodies, such as relationship conflicts, work-related pressures, and other external obligations or demands. Others occur inside our bodies, such as feeling tense, angry, worried or depressed.
This means we have all been trained to think about stress incorrectly. Instead of asking, “What can I do to cope with my stress?” you should be asking yourself, “What specific problems or conflicts are troubling me, and how can I deal with each of these problems effectively?”
Myth No. 3: Some degree of stress is good or healthy for us.
Fact: There is no such thing as “good” or “healthy” stress. Also, there is no truth to the rumor that some degree of stress is necessary for us to be happy, successful or maximally productive in our jobs.
These myths arise from failing to appreciate that stress is just a word.
While many experiences in life can excite us, such as movies, plays and athletic events, these experiences have nothing at all to do with stress (i.e. problems and conflicts that are painful or troubling to us).
Instead of encouraging people to believe this myth, we should teach our children that much of the pain and suffering people endure in the name of “good stress” is unnecessary. The truth is most of this stress could be eliminated without any adverse effects on our health, happiness or productivity.
Myth No. 4: The best way to deal with stress is to manage it — i.e. make it go away with physical exercise, meditation, biofeedback or other relaxation techniques.
Fact: The most damaging belief we have today is that the best way to deal with our stress is to manage it. Most people have already discovered, however, that stress management techniques are often ineffective. They are poor strategies for dealing with certain types of problems, such as the death of a loved one or the loss of your job.
But the biggest drawback to managing stress is that it only deals with the symptoms of our problems. It rarely helps us to clarify or deal with the underlying causes of our difficulties. Since we never correct the root causes of our problems, they will continue to occur, over and over again.
Myth No. 5: Our mind plays a role in much of the stress we experience.
Fact: While you probably believe that your mind plays a role in much of the stress you experience, this is also a myth. If you’ve ever wondered, “Why do I keep feeling bad?” or “Why do I act the same way over and over again even though I know better?” you probably believe the answer has something to do with your mind. In addition, if you’ve ever tried to change any habitual thought, feeling or behavior pattern, you’ve probably tried to do so by using some type of mind-control or mental-change technique.
Biolinguistics shows that our bodies, not our minds, are responsible for much of the stress we experience. As we grow and develop, certain stress-producing conversations, such as “I’m no good” or “There’s nothing I can do about my problems,” and stress-producing action patterns, such as “failing to ask for help” or “failing to admit you may be wrong,” become programmed into our bodies.
Dr. Morton C. Orman is the author of “The 14-Day Stress Cure.” Learn more at www.stresscure.com.
Warning
Before changing or abandoning any stress-reducing practice, discuss your plans with a physician, therapist or other health care provider. Hopefully, the information contained in this article will cause you to question some of the coping strategies you are presently using. But if you abandon these strategies prematurely, that is before you have mastered ones of equal or greater value, you could cause yourself harm.
Stress facts
75 percent of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks, according to a National Health interview survey.
Half of those experience moderate or high levels of stress during the same two-week period.
Millions of Americans suffer from unhealthy levels of stress at work. (A study several years ago estimated the number to be 11 million —given events since that time, this number has certainly more than tripled. Studies in Sweden, Canada and other Westernized countries show similar trends.)
Worker’s compensation claims for “mental stress” in California rose 200 percent to 700 percent in the 1980s, whereas all other causes remained stable or declined.
Stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and other illnesses in many individuals.
Stress also affects the immune system, which protects us from many serious diseases.
Tranquilizers, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications account for one-fourth of all prescriptions written in the U.S. each year.
Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction and other harmful behaviors.
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