Helpful Information On Stress And It’s Affect On Our Health

Disclaimer: Notes recorded by Debby Blettner

What are fatal pleasures?

BBalya Lecture by Jason Han PhD, 1999

Psychologist, Jason Han PhD, began with a question:

“What are fatal pleasures? ”

Dying happy can also be dangerous..

Extreme joy can be stressful, but, “He died happy!”

The first lesson on Psychology is to observe. Watch other people in a queue, how they stand, waiting for their turn to pay for their goods. Dr. Han observed that one lady was reading a book. She was relaxing.

He suggested that we watch animals how they relax, for example cats.

Stress is beneficial up to certain point.

Up to this point, you increase your performance.

Past this point, your performance then deteriorates.

Eustress – with the stress of performance there is an increase in demand, the performance increases. Some people thrive on stress.

$50 -70 billion is spent each year on stress treatments in the US.

Coronary Heart disease, cancer and lung diseases, in fact the 6 major diseases known, are caused by stress.

Many people don’t admit to being depressed, they say, ” Me depressed, don’t make me laugh”.

There is such a thing as latent or hidden stress where people don’t realize they are getting into hot water. Dr Han gave the example of the frog in a pan of cool water that was placed on a stove. Unbeknownst to the frog, the pan was being heated. The frog didn’t realize until it was too late.

Worry, irritability, and sickness are all signs of stress.

What is stress? It is defined as the degree of arousal, how stirred up one becomes, if one is stirred up a lot, this is considered great stress!

Dr. Han drew a few graphs on the board to demonstrate. The greater the degree of stress, the lower the performance rate of the person.

Another graph was drawn to demonstrate the optimum stress level:

The level ‘A ‘ was the stress of boredom, not enough stress to keep any one excited about anything. Boredom can be stressful too.

Then there was the level “B”, which was a moderate level of pressure.

Level “C” was the stress of excess pressure. So the three categories were stress under-load, optimum stress, and stress overload.

Keep the stress in “B” level.

“A” level showed increasing ill health.

“B” showed increasing health, and

“C” showed increasing ill health.

Workaholics fit the “C” level.

When our bodies are under stress overload, our bodies start a distress response. It senses a threat and activates a distress response. The Hypothalamus is a part of the brain and the Pituitary Gland is the master gland that controls all hormone secretion.

ACTH Hormones are released when stressed. When these hormones are produced, and not used, they suppress the immune system. They produce corticosteroids, which give energy, glucose and carbohydrates. Adrenalines gets released first.

The body goes into a fight or flight response. This is not so suited to our modern lifestyle and to modern man! Stress affects lymphocytes.

Low stress should be a priority during radiotherapy treatments.

Spread things out, take your time. If you are building up too much stress take more time, slow down to be less likely to be in distress.

Why don’t zebras get ulcers? Because when they sense danger or are under stress, they use their flight response.

If you get stressed, go for a run or a brisk walk, or run around the block to use up all the corticosteroids.

The lesson is, if you get angry, use up these hormones, or don’t produce them at all. Chronic stress increases the chance of cancer. If you get angry it is good to go for a run and use up the excess adrenaline.

Cancer patients have weakened immune systems. Work on getting your immune system healthy, and watch out for stress.

“Time” is a very important word to high achievers. They are Type “A” personality. They talk fast, eat fast, walk fast and are agitated type people. It is good to reverse this!

Try to talk slowly, eat slowly, and spend a half an hour at each meal! Enjoy the food and be happy! Change the way we think about health and healing. Then hope and anticipation replace depression and despair.

Time can be very stressful – deadlines! The focus on the deadline for cancer patients can make them lose their ability to live.

One rule to remember:

Keep within Eustress – One thing at a time:

One step at a time

One day at a time

An efficient person never does anything in a hurry

The Precious Present

The past is history,

The future is a mystery,

And this moment is a gift.

That is why this moment is called

“The Present”.

By Dr Johnson.

The secret of enjoying life is to enjoy every moment and watch out for deadlines!

End of Lecture by Dr. Jason Han.

Read Next: