Quotes About Stress

Our brains have decided that feeling tense, which is the appropriate response to being tense, is too unpleasant to bear and is not as socially acceptable as having something "physically" wrong. And so the brain makes a few adjustments in circuitry and instead of looking and acting like a nervous wreck, presto—a bellyache or a backache

these patients have little trouble recognizing that they are the kind of perfectionist, highly responsible people who generate a lot of subconscious anger and anxiety in response to the pressures of everyday life.

often difficult for people to admit to themselves, is that there are great sources of anxiety and anger in their personal lives, like a bad marriage, trouble with children, having to care for an elderly parent.

No wonder his father got drunk. He would get drunk too if he had to keep buying things without money.

A women under stress is not immediately concerned with finding solutions to her problems but rather seeks relief by expressing herself and being understood.

in 2010, a University of Alabama scientist gunned down six of her colleagues. Here's what made Amy Bishop snap.

By choosing reading you've chosen one of the best ways to reduce stress. It was found to be 68 per cent better at reducing stress levels than listening to music, 300 per cent better than going for a walk and 700 per cent more than playing video games22

Change, that all-encompassing word, has become a universal corporate mantra. We must change to survive. But change from what and to what? Change for change's sake is no solution to anything. Most people actually eschew change. It is emotionally disruptive, stress inducing and threatens that most fundamental of human needs - stability.

It should be stressed here again, however, that basic trend analysis is still the overriding consideration.

After a stressful event, we often crave comfort food. Our body is calling for more glucose and simple carbohydrates and fat... And in modern life, people tend to have fewer friends and less support, because there's no tribe. Being alone is not good for the brain.

An imbalance of these neurotransmitters is why some people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) come across as stress junkies. They have to get stressed to focus. It's one of the primary factors in procrastination. People learn to wait until the Sword of Damocles is ready to fall—it's only then, when stress unleashes norepinephrine and dopamine, that they can sit down and do the work.

For a short time, one or two hours, stress does wonderful things for the brain," Sapolsky told the conference. "More oxygen and glucose are delivered to the brain. The hippocampus, which is involved in memory, works better when you are stressed for a little while. Your brain releases more dopamine, which plays a role in the experience of pleasure, early on during stress; it feels wonderful, and your brain works better.

Dealing with a lion every now and again makes you better at dealing with lions. Allowing your life to surmount occasional challenges is inoculation—almost literally—against future stress. This brings us back to a central point in this book: variety. Remember, we argued from

A newer model, "allostasis," proposes that efficient regulation requires anticipating needs and preparing to satisfy them before they arise.

The paradox is that our wonderful ability to adapt and grow doesn't happen without stress—we can't have the good without a bit of the bad.

In the context of stress, the great paradox of the modern age may be that there is not more hardship, just more news—and too much of it. The 24/7 streaming torrent of tragedy and demands flashing at us from an array of digital displays keeps the amygdala flying.

Chronic stress is linked to some of our most deadly diseases.

The way you choose to cope with stress can change not only how you feel, but also how it transforms the brain. If you react passively or if there is simply no way out, stress can become damaging.

They are trying to live, but they have no room to breathe. So they try harder and breathe less.

It was a difficult day. Disorienting. What is it they say? Death, divorce, and moving are the three most stressful events for your heart. And your psyche, too, I'll wager.

Petunia only ever went to the doctor reluctantly, and her motive in doing so was always the same: she did it in order to feel less anxious about things. The doctor was supposed to make the worry go away; she did quite enough worrying without actually having something to worry about. When she came out feeling no less anxious, as this time, something had gone wrong. The basic contract had been broken.

The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?

A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work

Allie wondered why New Yorkers seemed to think that leaning on a horn might help clear a traffic jam. Many of them thrived on noise, she supposed. Maybe some people adapted to noise and then craved it.