Life is either a daring adventure Part 1 or nothing at all. —Helen Keller The Nature of Stress Photo © Inspiration Unlimited. Used with permission. 9781449688448_CH01_PASS02.indd 1 09/11/13 4:09 PM Chapter 1 Photo © Inspiration Unlimited. Used with permission. TheArt Therapy Nature I cannotDraw andme how should not be rt, as a mode of self-expression, dates back several thou- you feel. sands of years to the cave drawings in Lascaux, France, and perhaps much earlier. But just recently in the devel- cured– Sharlene of my Gin stress, of opmentStress of modern civilization has art become a recog- Anized coping technique in the eld of stress management. Art therapy but merely taught is based on there youpremise stressed? that manyIf the answerthoughts, is yes, feelings, then considerand insights yourself are verbally inexpressible.to be in good Several company. abstract Several constructs recent of Harris the human and Gallup mind to enjoy it. lack the necessarypolls have vocabulary noted anto adequatelyalarming trend describe in the the psyche focus, of the AAmerican public and beyond—to nearly all citizens of the —Hans Selye 9781449688448_CH01_PASS02.indd 2 09/11/13 4:09 PM The Nature of Stress global village. Across the board, without exception, people However, today the rate of change has become so fast admit to having an increasing sense of anxiety, frustration, and furious, without an adequate reference point to unease, and discontent in nearly every aspect of their lives. anchor oneself, that stress holds the potential to create From the lingering effects of the Great Recession and sub- a perpetual sense of uneasiness in the hearts and minds sequent job market challenges to fracking issues, geneti- of nearly everyone. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. cally modied food allergies, increases in autism, overpop- Where there is change, there is opportunity. Where ulation, climate change weather incidents (e.g., Hurricane there is opportunity, there is comfort. Sandy and severe droughts), world banking issues, and gun At one time, getting married, changing jobs, buying a violence and terrorist attacks (from Sandy Hook elemen- house, raising children, going back to school, dealing tary to the Boston Marathon), the symptoms of global stress with the death of a friend or close relative, and suf- can be found everywhere. Ironically, in a country where fering from a chronic illness were all considered to be the standard of living is considered to be one of the high- major life events that might shake the foundations of est anywhere in the world, the Centers for Disease Control anyone’s life. Although these major life events can and and Prevention estimates that nearly one-quarter of the do play a signicant role in personal upheaval, a new American population is reported to be on antidepressants, crop of social stressors has added to the critical mass and current estimates suggest that one in three people suf- of an already volatile existence, throwing things fur- fers from a chronic disease, ranging from cancer and coro- ther out of balance. Consider how these factors directly nary heart disease to rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and inuence your life: the rapid acceleration of technology lupus. Something is very wrong with this picture! (from software upgrades to Internet downloads), the Furthermore, since the start of the Great Recession, use of (if not addiction to) the World Wide Web (e.g., a blanket of fear and anger has covered much of the Facebook), the proliferation of smartphones and Wi-Fi country, if not the world, keeping people in a perpet- use, an accessible 24/7 society, global economic woes ual state of frustration and anxiety. Global problems (e.g., unemployment, food prices), global terrorism, car- only seem to intensify our personal stressors. It doesn’t bon footprints, and public health issues (e.g., the latest make a difference if you’re a college student or a CEO epidemic of bedbugs). Times of change and uncertainty of a multinational corporation, where you live, or how tend to magnify our personal stress. Perhaps the big- much money is in your checking account; stress is the gest looming concern facing people today is the issue of equal opportunity destroyer! But it doesn’t have to be personal boundaries or the lack thereof. The advances this way. Even as personal issues collide with social and of high technology combined with a rapidly changing planetary problems, creating a “perfect storm” of stress, social structure have eroded personal boundaries. These we all have choices—in both our attitude and behaviors. boundaries include, but are not limited to, home and This text will help you connect the dots between mind, work, nances, nutritional habits, relationships, and body, and spirit to create positive choices that empower many, many more, all of which add to the critical mass you to navigate your life through the turbulent waters of of one’s personal stress. Even the ongoing war on ter- the human journey in the twenty-rst century. rorism appears to have no boundaries! Ironically, the lack of boundaries combined with factors that promote ◾ Times of Change and a fractured society, where people feel a lack of commu- Uncertainty nity and belonging, leads to a greater sense of isolation, which also intensies our personal stress levels. Believe Today the words stress and change have become synony- it or not, life wasn’t always like this. mous and the winds of change are in the air. Changes The stress phenomenon, as it is referred to today, is quite in the economy, technology, communications, informa- new with regard to the history of humanity. Barely a tion retrieval, health care, and dramatic changes in the household expression when your parents were your age, weather are just some of the gale forces blowing in our collective faces. By and large, the average person doesn’t like change because change tends to disrupt one’s com- Stress: The experience of a perceived threat (real fort zones. It appears that the “known,” no matter how or imagined) to one’s mental, physical, or spiritual bad, feels like a safer bet than the unknown. Change, well-being, resulting from a series of physiological it should be noted (particularly change one cannot responses and adaptations. control), has always been part of the human landscape. 3 9781449688448_CH01_PASS02.indd 3 09/11/13 4:09 PM Chapter 1 use of the word stress is now as common as the terms brought under control by vaccines and medications. The global warming and smartphone apps. In fact, however, post–World War II era ushered in the age of high tech- stress in terms of physical arousal can be traced back to the nology, which considerably altered the lifestyles of nearly Stone Age as a “survival mechanism.” But what was once all peoples of every industrialized nation. The start of designed as a means of survival is now associated with the the twenty-rst century has seen the inuence of high development of disease and illness that claims the lives of technology dramatically alter our lifestyles. Consumer millions of people worldwide. The American Institute of products, such as the washer, dryer, microwave oven, Stress (www.stress.org) cites the following statistics: television, DVD player, laptop computer, and even cell ■■ 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health phones, were cited as luxuries to add more leisure time effects due to stress. to the workweek. But as mass production of high-tech- nology items increased, so too did the competitive drive ■■ 80 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are to increase human effort and productivity, which in turn for stress-related complaints or disorders. actually decreased leisure time, and thus created a pleth- Stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, ora of unhealthy lifestyles, most notably obesity. including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, acci- Currently, the leading causes of death are dominated by dents, cirrhosis, and suicide. Some health experts now what are referred to as “lifestyle diseases,” those diseases speculate that perhaps as much as 70 to 85 percent of all whose pathology develops over a period of several years, diseases and illnesses are stress-related. and perhaps even decades ( FIG. 1.1 ). Whereas infec- Government gures compiled by the National Center for tious diseases are treatable by medication, lifestyle diseases Health Statistics in 2010 provide a host of indicators sug- are, for the most part, preventable or correctable by alter- gesting that human stress is indeed a health factor to be ing the habits and behaviors that contribute to their etiol- reckoned with. Prior to 1955, the leading causes of death ogy. Previously, it was suggested that an association existed were the sudden onset of illness by infectious diseases between stress and disease. Substantial research, however, (e.g., polio, rubella, tuberculosis, typhoid, and encepha- suggests that there may, indeed, be a causal factor involved litis) that, in most cases, have since been eradicated or with several types of diseases, particularly autoimmune 1900 2010 0 100 200 300 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Diseases of Influenza and pneumonia the heart Malignant Tuberculosis, all forms neoplasms Cerebrovascular (cancer) Gastroenteritis diseases (stroke) Diseases of the heart Chronic lower respiratory disease Vascular lesions of the Accidents, fatal injuries central nervous system Chronic nephritis Alzheimer’s disease All accidents Diabetes Malignant neoplasms (cancer) Influenza and pneumonia Certain diseases of early infancy Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis Diphtheria Septicemia FIGURE 1.1 Death rates for the ten leading causes of death per 100,000 population in the United States in 1900 and 2010. National Center for Health Statistics, Washington, D.C., 2010.