Random Stress Question

[Daisy_Girl]

Reading about how everyone is so stressed out about various things and then feeling better when they take medications and/or P7 got me thinking. This is totally just a random wondering, but, in the average stressed person - one with no chemical imbalance, just dealing with normal daily life stresses - getting the kids to school, running errands, doing school work, minor relationship issues, etc is it GOOD to medicate oneself? Especially self-medicate.

I say this because I was totally stressed out (mostly about school and work), I started P7 and almost immediately felt much calmer and more even. I stopped this week because I am retaining MAJOR water (period week too). Now, I am about to lose my mind I am so stressed. I'm back to freaking out. I feel like I can't keep my head above water!

So, does this mean that I am not dealing with my stress, just masking it, so therefore the underlying issues never get resolved, and then creating a cycle of stress? Is this what medications do (again, barring a chemical imbalance)? So are we just ignoring the reasons for stress because something (a drug) is making us feel better. Then we are fooled into thinking we are happy and dealing with life, when in actuality we are just burying the stress (only to resurface at another time)?

I feel like, while I loved the feeling while on P7, I should DEAL with the stresses and make my life better so as not to need ANYTHING to help me. Maybe learn some kind of meditation, better scheduling skills, better organization (although I don't know if that is possible for me!), deep breathing, SOMETHING!

Or am I just reading too much into stress and medications? I think I need a nap....

 

[JJFigure]

I feel the same way you do. I have a tendency to just try and ignore the issues I'm stressing over, pretending they'll just magically go away. Then, I start having stress nightmares at night (bugs in my bed). That's always a sign I need to deal with my stress. Once I deal with whatever is stressing me out, the bug nightmares stop. I used to think I could just go for a run or throw the weights around and all my stress would be relieved, but that's just temporary relief, and that's all medication provides, as well. You're better off addressing the issues you're stressing over, and finding ways to resolve them.

 

[FitFossil]

I agree, when possible, it's better to try and address the causes of stress versus blindly self-medicating. Otherwise we're lured into the trap of taking on even more stressors. Human bodies weren't designed for constant stress. It's a product of modern times.

While many of our stresses can't be avoided, and that's where the self-medicating should come in, our other stressers (the optional ones) should be cut loose. For instance, the drive to accumulate more "stuff", a bigger house, car, etc. is a huge source of stress for many people, because they go into debt or have very little savings. Then if they get sick or lose their job, it's even more stress. Worst of all is if they waste their lives working at a job they hate, just to support a lifestyle they don't get time to enjoy.

That saying "some of the best things in life are free" is true. Topping that list for me would be 'free time'. Come to think of it, working out is free too!

 

[MS]

What FitFossil said

That's why they call the western lifestyle the 'Rat Race', because it has been recognized as long as people have been keeping rats together in cages that it induces an artificial stress that makes them ill and shortens their life span. The drive to accumulate more 'stuff' and spend half you days doing stuff you hate with people you despise rather than worrying about important stuff is just a symptom of being that rat in that cage.

Having said all that, once you've exposed rats to this environment, some of them will experience anxiety which they recover from once they are removed from that stressful situation. Others (seems to depend both on genetics and their 'rank' in the cage) will aquire a condition known as 'learned helplessness' which they often DON'T recover from without medication. This is closer to depression in humans than acute anxiety. So it may depend on which kind of rat you are whether or not you can get out of the rat race without props such as counselling and anti-depressants etc....but step number one in either case is to deal with and eliminate the chronic stressors in your life, though sometimes these stressors can actually be your drug props!

 

[Sassy69]

Something also to keep in mind is that stress may be present, but it may be being aggrevated by your diet or lack of exercise too. By supplmenting you may be re-establishing a chemical balance that was lacking. For ex, when I stress, I always manage to start pounding diet cokes. Caffeine. Whatever the hell is in nutrasweet. Sodium. All the other weird stuff in there - dehydrates you, possible headaches, etc. from the aspartame, funky aftertaste, gassy stomach from the fizz.

I think to a certain degree, "stress" isn't just something you have to deal with only mentally - it could be partially how you deal with things and also partially the body chemistry. As with everything, moderation! You can mess yourself up even more if you think that you should be able to deal with all sorts of stress situations but you don't feel that you are and thus you are failure.

Eh, screw it -- anyone care to join me as a "beach bum" in Tahiti? If I have stress problems there, then I would KNOW they were biochemical and not how well i "deal"!

 

[Nonerz]

I never realized what a tremendous amount of stress can do to you until recently. I always thought that stress was a word that weak people use to explain why they couldn't hang...I was wrong! Stress is very real and very detrimental! Even with all the exercise that I do, I often feel that things are getting out of control...time to step back and look at the big picture...

 

[velvett]

Stress is a lot like making return phone calls to someone you don't want to speak to. (whatever the reason)

Oddly enough, as with return calls, it is best to keep up with them daily, immediately and head on no matter what you have to face.


Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.




Sassy69 - I'm packed and ready to go.