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Practicing Safe Stress
In the complex "Chaos Theory," a butterfly flapping its wings in China can affect the weather patterns in the Gulf of Mexico! The butterfly by herself does not change the weather pattern, but rather triggers something else that triggers yet another thing and the next thing you know Hurricane Charlie just went across the Yucatan. According to this theory, "attractors" are always in motion and almost all these patterns are out of our control.
Complex systems, like the job site, are in tension between many attractors that can have an affect on what happens on any given day. Since I do not understand "Chaos Theory," nor the flying dynamics of the butterfly, let us just call this phenomenon "stress."
According to Ceridian Performance Partners, one out of six employees have personal problems that directly affect productivity and, in another study, the Holmes-Rahe Scale reported a 44% increase in life's complexity in the last 30 years! When personal problems on the job are compounded by the ever-increasing complexities of daily living, it's no wonder stress can develop into a life crisis.
Stress has a $300 million dollar negative effect on the US economy according to the World Labour Report. Those statistics are magnified by a MIT study that stated depression adds another $12.4 billion negative impact on productivity.
Most stress is not all that bad for us. However, harmful effects of stress begin when we become negative, enraged, and/or feel overwhelmed. When that happens, life turns from Technicolor to dull black and white numbness--creating toxic stress. Everyone has experienced the "blues" for short periods, which are usually not that harmful--but when these symptoms become systemic, real problems can develop.
Actually, it is not so much the stress that creates the problems, but rather our attitude toward the stress-producing event--plus what we did with all the other stressful incidents we previously experienced. Did we deal with yesterday's anger or is this new stressor going to be the triggering event for the critical mass causing depression, worry, paranoia, or hostility? Are the butterfly wings of unhealthy attitudes toward life beating around in our heads creating harmful stress?
Harold Stephens says, "There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem and the concerned person solves the problem." All of us have experienced a decrease in tension when we solve a problem. A healthy attitude is knowing problems are not the cause of stress but are, instead, just "learning opportunities." Viewing a crisis as an opportunity to learn something can help take the unhealthy stress out of any experience. My grandfather, Eli Earle, had a sage philosophy, "Half the things you worry about don't happen and the other half aren't worth worrying about!"--a perfect example of attitudinal stress management.
When problems in how you react to a given situation occur, Jane Cole-Hamilton, a registered nutritional consultant, recommends switching the side of the brain you're most accessing. For instance, if you are depressed, your problem is in the right side, so switch to problem-solving, like doing math, in which the activity is predominantly on the left side. If you feel pressured by schedules and overburdened, switch to the creative side by singing, drawing a picture, or playing.
Unmanaged stress can be corrosive to our system, harmful with illness-producing effects and, if left unchecked and untreated, it can become quite debilitating. Being a supervisor is hard enough, so change your attitude, relax in the back yard, watch butterflies fly, and contem-plate the typhoons they area causing in the South China Sea!
About David Walton Earle, MFT...
David Walton Earle, MFT, is a therapist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, specializing in anger management, adult children of alcoholics, marriage/couples issues, addiction, and more.
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