Stress, Stress & More Stress

I am currently working on a new stress coaching program. Stress is definitely one of my favourite topics to talk about because it impacted my life in such a BIG way. I really believe that stress is becoming an epidemic, especially here in the UK. I have read some interesting work-related stress, anxiety or depression statistics published by HSE during December 2021. You can read the report here at this link: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.pdf

The latest estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) showed:

• The total number of cases of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in 2020/21 was 822,000, a prevalence rate of 2,480 per 100,000 workers. This rate is not statistically different compared to the previous year.
• In the recent years prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the rate of self-reported work-related stress, depression or anxiety had shown signs of increasing. In 2020/21 the rate was higher than the 2018/19 pre-coronavirus levels.
• The number of new cases was 451,000, an incidence rate of 1,360 per 100,000 workers.
• In 2020/21 stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health cases.
• The main work factors cited by respondents as causing work-related stress, depression or anxiety were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support (2009/10-2011/12).
• Of the 822,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2020/21 an estimated 449,000 reported that this was caused or made worse by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Etc.

These are quite scary numbers. You can definitely go and read the full report. It is quite an eye-opener and really something to think about. Stress is individual and each person experiences stress in a different way.

A few years ago, I attended the UK health coaches association conference. Dr Rangan Chatterjee, a UK physician, was the keynote speaker. What did he talk about?  You guessed it, STRESS. He mentioned that 1 out of 3 patients that he sees on a daily basis is there due to stress related issues.

Like most of you, I knew that stress was bad for me. My studies at the School of Applied Functional Medicine (SAFM) were a BIG eye-opener for me. That’s when I truly started to understand how stress was impacting my body. Thinking back, the first question the neurologist asked me in 2017 when I ended up in hospital, was: “Are you extremely stressed?” I couldn’t help but have a bit of a giggle when he asked me that question. It felt a bit funny because at that stage of my  life stress was an understatement for what I was feeling. I was beyond the point of being stressed.

What I was experiencing in my body was ALL the signs of being completely overwhelmed, stressed out, and burned out mentally, physically and emotionally!!!

Now, let me say firstly. Stress isn’t ALL bad. We cannot actually survive without stress. Stress helps us adapt to our environment and it helps us to meet the overcoming challenges. We all are probably familiar with the Fight-or-Flight term, right? When the body experiences acute stress, a range of physiological responses occur to prepare us for fight or flight; our heart starts racing, our respiration increases, nutrients are mobilized, our immune system is activated, and our awareness heightens.

At the same time, resources are diverted from processes that are needed for immediate survival, such as digestion and reproduction. This perfectly regulated response to stress provided our ancestors with the energy they needed to survive in a dangerous natural environment. This type of stress is typically short-term, and it is perceived to be within an individual’s coping abilities.

Stress becomes a problem when it moves from being acute to becoming chronic. It starts exceeding our capacity to adapt. It then becomes negative stress. Distress feels unpleasant, it decreases our performance, and it can lead to mental, emotional, and physical problems. Your body can recover quickly from positive stress but with distress your body cannot maintain homeostasis (balance) because the intensity or frequency of the stressor exceeds its capacity to cope.

This might occur with the death of a loved one, a divorce, legal or financial problems or chronic injury or illness. In these cases stress is no longer adaptive it becomes destructive.

What happens when we are experiencing chronic stress?

• Cortisol is the hormone responsible for many of the physiological changes to the body. When cortisol production is too high for too long numerous problems follow such as health problems, anxiety, and depression.

• Stress depletes our nutrients. Especially our B-vitamins and B-vitamins are key nutrients for methylation and detoxification activities in the body.

• Stress increases inflammation in the body. Inflammation causes oxidative stress. Oxidative stress causes more inflammation. And this becomes a vicious cycle in the body.

• Stress hugely impacts our gut health. Did you know that 90+% of our body’s serotonin is made in the gut? And 50+% of our dopamine is made in the gut?  Stress depletes neurotransmitter production in the body. Is it then any surprise that we struggle with low motivation, interest, impatience, impulsiveness, or forgetfulness when we are stressed? Or with feelings of overwhelm, anxiousness, regret, or with moodiness? This can be all caused by low serotonin and dopamine.

• Following on from the previous point. Two thirds of our Immune System is housed in our gut. Our Immune System is highly informed about what is going on in our gut. Stress impacts our gut, so is it then any surprise that it also impacts our Immune System? Stress weakens the Immune System. Have you ever experienced a very stressful period at work and then when you go on holiday and finally calm-down and relax, you come down with a cold? Well, that shouldn’t surprise you 🙂

I think an important question to ask is: How do people currently deal with stress?

Most people’s coping strategies consist out of things such as: isolation, running away, seeking reassurance from the people around them, or they immerse themselves in work, smoking, alcohol, drugs and even food. Or they divert their stress by giving power away. They are frustrated, impatient and short-tempered.

Most of the time our coping strategies are not healthy. Mine surely wasn’t. I was struggling with my weight due to comfort eating. I was struggling with sleep. I just couldn’t “switch” my mind off. I was lying in bed thinking about everything I had to do the next day at work and all the problems I would have to deal with. I am sure you know what I am talking about.

Most of our coping strategies give us short-term relief. But we need to focus more on long-term relief. Learning to cope more effectively with our stress. One thing I know for a fact is that we cannot remove ALL the stress out of our lives. I wish it was that easy and simple to do. But we surely can learn how to cope more effectively with our stress and how to respond to our stress in a healthier way.

If you are interested to learn more about dealing with your stress in a healthier way, then sign up for my FREE 45-minute Quick Solution Session. This is just a taster session to learn more about my 8-week program.

During this session we will look at the following:

• Complete stress test
• Stress test result discussion
• Determine main stressor using a Venn diagram
• Look at the S-T-R-E-S-S-U storm
• Look at the F-R-E-E-D-O-M formula tool
• Introduction to my 8-Week Stress Management Program, where we will dive into the root causes of your stress and addressing the root causes.

Here are my TOP 5 suggestions for when you are dealing with Chronic Stress:

1. Include a good quality B-Complex supplement during stressful times.
2. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet to counter the inflammation being produced in your body.
3. Include healthy daily stress reduction activities. Such as: exercise, journaling, meditation, etc.
4. Make sure to get between 6-8 hours good quality sleep.
5. Prioritise eating in a parasympathetic state. Our body doesn’t prioritise digestion when we are stressed. When you are stressed, take time to do a relaxation activity before you eat. Communicate to your body with your actions that it’s safe to relax and let down your guard and focus on digestion and restoring your reserves.