Most people talk about stress and feeling the effects of stress, but until you understand what it really is, stress seems like something that happens randomly. In actuality, stress is a specific response from your body that can benefit you or harm you as you go about your duties as a caregiver.
Stress Is How Your Body Responds to Threats
What we all refer to as stress is a series of psychological and physical responses from within your own body. When your brain determines that there's some sort of threat around, whether it's a real threat or simply the idea of one, your stress responses kick in. You might recognize some of those responses under the description "fight or flight." Your body prepares to either take on the threat or flee from it.
It's a Form of Protection
All of these responses are your brain's way of protecting you as much as it can. It floods your body with hormones that make your senses sharper and boost your natural skills. From the outside looking in, your body's responses to stress are remarkable because a lot happens in a very short period of time.
Stress Can Be a Good Thing
Within certain limits, stress can actually be a good thing. That flood of hormones and other physiological changes get your brain and your body moving. You might find that you're more alert during a crisis or you feel more focused on what's happening around you. That's the good thing. But when you're stressed all the time, you're hyper alert.
Until it Gets out of Hand
Stress that is out of hand means that you're viewing everything as a threat or a crisis on a constant basis. Your body isn't meant to operate in a stressed out condition all the time and so you suffer from those effects. The same things that help you in the short term make you jittery and irritable when you're experiencing them all the time. That's why you have to find ways to release some of the stress you encounter and let it go.
As a caregiver, some of the stress you're experiencing can keep you sharp. But you don’t need to internalize every bit of the stress that comes your way. Develop a plan for reducing and for releasing the stress that you encounter so that you can focus on taking care of your aging family member.
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED ONE ARE CONSIDERING HIRING ELDER CARE IN HYDE PARK, IL, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT BRIGHTSTAR CARE CHICAGO. CALL TODAY: 312.382.8888.
Stress Is How Your Body Responds to Threats
What we all refer to as stress is a series of psychological and physical responses from within your own body. When your brain determines that there's some sort of threat around, whether it's a real threat or simply the idea of one, your stress responses kick in. You might recognize some of those responses under the description "fight or flight." Your body prepares to either take on the threat or flee from it.
It's a Form of Protection
All of these responses are your brain's way of protecting you as much as it can. It floods your body with hormones that make your senses sharper and boost your natural skills. From the outside looking in, your body's responses to stress are remarkable because a lot happens in a very short period of time.
Stress Can Be a Good Thing
Within certain limits, stress can actually be a good thing. That flood of hormones and other physiological changes get your brain and your body moving. You might find that you're more alert during a crisis or you feel more focused on what's happening around you. That's the good thing. But when you're stressed all the time, you're hyper alert.
Until it Gets out of Hand
Stress that is out of hand means that you're viewing everything as a threat or a crisis on a constant basis. Your body isn't meant to operate in a stressed out condition all the time and so you suffer from those effects. The same things that help you in the short term make you jittery and irritable when you're experiencing them all the time. That's why you have to find ways to release some of the stress you encounter and let it go.
As a caregiver, some of the stress you're experiencing can keep you sharp. But you don’t need to internalize every bit of the stress that comes your way. Develop a plan for reducing and for releasing the stress that you encounter so that you can focus on taking care of your aging family member.
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED ONE ARE CONSIDERING HIRING ELDER CARE IN HYDE PARK, IL, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT BRIGHTSTAR CARE CHICAGO. CALL TODAY: 312.382.8888.