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| Photo by Vera Arsic from Pexels |
WHAT IS DISTRESS?
How much can we continue to suffer?
Whenever we use the word stress, we mean distress. As
mentioned earlier, distress is negative stress that
becomes painful for the individual. It is associated with negative emotions
like fear, anger, sadness, jealousy, anxiety, depression, frustration, guilt,
helplessness, loneliness, hopelessness, etc.
The person is
unhappy, restless, and annoyed. It is easy for the person to get irritated. And
normal things seem highly distasteful.
There are hundreds
of remedies available to alleviate distress and some of them work
effectively. However, what should be understood is that it is impossible to
live without stress. All three types of stress, Eustress, Neustress,
and Distress are necessary for survival. Hence, there is no permanent
remedy for stress and there is no need to completely eradicate stress.
Why are we Distressed?
Consider the tiger, for example.
It has to do two things to survive in the forest: protect
itself from being attacked and hunt for prey to satisfy hunger. It needs extra
energy to do both.
Contrary to our belief that the tiger is the fiercest
animal, there are many chances of it being attacked by a pack of wolves, hyenas, or other tigers. It always has to be on guard. This is especially so
when it has to keep the food it has killed.
The tiger requires extra energy to do this, and the stress
provides the energy. Two basic emotions are initiated during this condition:
fear and anger. The arousal level is very high so that the tiger can discern
small sounds or movements. It can run faster than normal and will be able to
chase the animal it is trying to hunt. There will be changes in the hormone
levels in the body and the autonomic system gets activated.
The flight and fight reactions become suitable for the
tiger’s protection. Thus, whenever the tiger sees a threat to its survival, its distress level increases and the tiger can ensure its survival. Both are
considered a threat – attacks from other animals and dying out of hunger or thirst.
Kinds of Survival
However, things are very different with human beings. They
have to ensure not only their physical survival but also their psychological
and social survival. Whenever they feel threatened, their reaction, stress, and
anxiety are centered around their protection.
These are explained in detail in the article: Is
Thinking Necessary to Survive?
Humans are not concerned about whether the threat is real or
not. The moment they feel the threat for whatever reasons, they engage in ‘offensive thinking’ and it results in anxiety.
This anxiety encompasses every aspect of life, and the existence itself becomes threatening. This is why almost everyone has health issues.
Traditionally, the continuum of stress adheres to a normal probability distribution as shown below.
Living itself is stressful
On any given day, most of the time was occupied by
neustress. A few minutes were spent in eustress and distress. This is the way
nature has designed our existence, and we see this happening among wild animals.
As we have manipulated nature and stepped into modernity, we
have a different permutation and combination.
We have learned to bring in distress everywhere. We
have tilted the natural ways of responding to the environment around us and the
normal probability curve is skewed to the right. Most of the time we are under distress and we try to convert both eustress and Neustress into distress.
Consider the following examples
- While attending a function or marriage ceremony, which should naturally induce eustress in us, we become more concerned about our appearance, who we meet, what they say, etc.
- Anyone can conduct this experiment: just take a video of people before they start a trip, and take another video at the end of their trip. Compare the two. We go on a trip wanting to enjoy, but we return with some unpleasantness or the other.
- How many times have we ended up with stress while throwing a party?
- Almost all competitions lead to distress.
- Simple things like taking a walk are not joyful anymore.
- Even consuming food has become painful. The greater the number of preferences, the higher will be our discomfort.
We have learned to worry about almost everything that happens in our life. The list is endless. Today, there is no situation in life that is devoid of distress.
Something New or Different
When you go to a hill station or a beach, ask a local person
if there is anything to see? Most of the time you receive a reply in the
negative. However, after you visit a few places, you realize that it is like
heaven. Why is it not a paradise for the local person? Have you ever wondered
about it?
The simple reason is that the person is acclimatized to the
beauty and the scenery doesn’t have the same significance as it has on a
visitor.
Suppose you spend a few days there! You may also start
losing interest and everything around you looks normal. Over time, you may start
complaining about the weather, the accommodation, the food, the service, the insects,
etc. You may start feeling homesick and you no longer can enjoy whatever brought you there.
Interference with nature
Now, there is a considerable shift from the normal curve and
no longer the natural laws apply to us. The modern way of living has taught us
to interfere with nature and manipulate it to our advantage without realizing
that we are entering a dangerous arena.
Observe the container below. Let us assume that it contains water colored differently.
A Melting Pot
In reality, the water in the container starts churning like
a melting pot, where Distress gets mixed up with everything else. Any new
experience will be unsettling and unpleasant.
As children, we would have enjoyed doing so many things, which look silly or harmful to us as adults, now. The joy a child gets playing with the puddle cannot be experienced by adults. The adventure of climbing a tree is lost in an adult. Thus, what was once Eustress, has now become 'Distress'.
In some cases, distress itself turns into neustress,
and gradually to eustress. For example, some people with depression, over time,
start getting used to it, and then they begin to enjoy their depressive state.
They refuse medication and other treatment methods, and the pain itself turns
into pleasure.
Thus, whatever we do or don’t do, there will be stress,
either neustress, eustress, or distress.
Does Stress Make You Abnormal?
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