Myths and Truth about Stress: Clarifying Causes

Stress is believed to be an explanation to all problems. Insomnia, weakness, languidness, fatigue and even gastritis with stomach ulcer are explained by doctors as outcomes of chronic stress. Indeed, the negative factors that affect the physical and mental balance of human organism play an important role in the deterioration of health, but you should not blame stress for all problems, which may appear.

Stress is the body's response to negative emotions or overfatigue, but it is not always a negative experience. It may have neutral, or in some cases even positive effects. The only problem is that stress has spawned dozens of myths that interfere person’s understanding the causes of the deterioration of health. This article will dispel some myths and show that stress is not as treacherous as it commonly believed, especially by young people. Here you may find some myths and theories which we will try to dispel.

You Should Fight Stress

Indeed, if stress were such a terrible and insidious thing, it would be right to take measures to combat this disaster. However, it is not so simple! It is worth considering. Would be our life without stress better than the present? Of course not. It would seem boring and flat because people would not be motivated to develop, the desire to learn and to achieve their goals without stress. Just think: deadlines at the university force us to find out ways of getting the result in a minimum amount of time; car, jumping out behind the corner teaches us to develop concentration and quick reactions. Even a disease that just has appeared makes us visit a doctor in order to find a cure quickly. Trying to eliminate the existence of stress is useless! It is much more useful to learn to gain benefits from stress and take only necessary experience from it.

Susceptibility to Stress Is in Our Genes

Indeed, because of our genes, people on Earth can be divided into stress-resistant and stress-affected. However, this does not mean that a person who is susceptible to stress often suffers from negative influences from the outside. It all depends on the environment and human ability to adapt to the given circumstances. A person whose body has deficiency of «hormone of happiness» may easily learn to adapt to stressful conditions and try to avoid situations that only deteriorate it. Thus, genes actually affect the resistance to stress; however, our "relationship" with these effects on the body is much more important.

Fatigue – the Main Cause of Stress

We are accustomed to thinking that stress occurs due to lack of rest, both physical and psychological. However, we know many cases where people had been working seven days a week for several months and did not feel tiredness and were fit and healthy. On the contrary, those who were working less than 40 hours a week often felt frustrated and complained of fatigue. Therefore, we can confidently say that stress is not caused by physical fatigue but by an attitude to work. Unpleasant work provokes the development of chronic stress. On the contrary, interesting and exciting activities accumulate strength and bring joy, happiness not giving stress the possibility to develop. The same thing with studies at a university. When you learn what do you like and desire to, you do not feel depressed; the only exception is the examination period, of course.

Finally, we got closer to the main question - what exactly the concept ‘stress’ means. Frankly speaking, this is not an emotion, but rather our response to the emerging circumstances. Mental or physical tension arises spontaneously, causing negative emotions such as anger, fear or anxiety. So, in order to make our lives better and improve health, it is necessary to learn how to react to stress and "battle" circumstances. Good health to you!