Noise Pollution: Society in More Stress

Three hundred years ago, actual noise as we know it was confined to natural events over which humans had no control. America sounded like wilderness – wolves howled, trees toppled, and water rushed over waterfalls and ran down mountain streams.

Today, surrounded by sounds difficult to escape – jetliners, motorcycles, snowmobiles, lawn mowers, chain saws, tractors, traffic, sirens, jack hammers, – we step inside our homes to be bombarded further by televisions, radios, electric razors, hair blowers, air conditioners, and even phones, At the office, it may mean another eight-plus hours of uninterrupted din. In our society, we move from one deafening environment to another.

We’re so accustomed to the clamor that we don’t even hear it, not really. People exposed to the same noises each day, especially loud ones, adapt so well that after an adjustment period, they don’t consciously “hear” it anymore.

Unfortunately, our “desensitizing” of noises doesn’t make them any less harmful. Even when we’re not aware of them, sounds – especially sudden ones – evoke a rapid, increased blood flow, raising the heart-rate and, ultimately, elevating blood pressure. This is the body’s method of responding to stress in what is called a stress reaction.

Researchers Dr. Ernest A. Peterson and Dr. Jeffrey S. Augenstein experimented with the effects of the noise. Two rhesus monkeys were selected for the test because their hearts and circulatory systems were “the closest [they] could get to humans.” The doctors subjected the monkeys to the same kinds of noises heard daily by the typical blue collar worker in America. At the end of three weeks, the animals’ blood pressure had jumped 43 percent.

What is a safe noise level? Although researchers aren’t yet sure, it is obvious that what many of us consider “normal” is not safe. Even people who believe they’re handling stress and the everyday pressures of life well aren’t as tension-free as they think they are.

Can you remember the “good old days” when the still, small voice within us used to be called “conscience” instead of “transistor radio”? Pursuing the sounds of silence will enhance your health.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/mental-health/how-noise-affects-your-stress-level

Severe Overweight: Deadly Health Complications

Cardiovascular

Overweight increases risk for heart attacks and heart failure. This can occur on the left side of the heart from having to pump blood through so much tissue or on the right side from an inability to lift the chest wall because of weight. Obese people don’t oxygenate well because the blood vessels in the lungs squeeze down and the right side of the heart has trouble pumping. This also leads to strokes from high blood pressure.

Cancer

Obesity increases cancer risk, especially of the colon, breast, or uterus. This is primarily because of the increased estrogen production from fat tissue.

Lipid Problems

Increased triglycerides lead to pancreas and heart diseases. Increased cholesterol levels lead to heart disease and gall bladder problems.

Type 2 Diabetes

Eighty percent of those who suffer from adult-onset diabetes are overweight. The great majority of the sufferers of this disease could cure themselves by getting down to their ideal body weight, watching their diet, and exercising properly.

Joint, Tendon, and Back Problems

Such problems are far common in heavy people. Knees, ankles, and back are especially vulnerable.

Pregnancy Complications

Overweight mothers are more prone to having large, difficult-to-deliver babies, gestational diabetes, blood pressure problems, and convulsions. Obesity presents a risk for both mother and child.

Surgical Risks

Obese patients are poor surgical candidates. They don’t heal well, they are prone to infections, they are anesthetic risks, and they are more at risk from blood clots.

Aging

Because of these stresses on the body, overweight people do not age well.

A diet is a lifestyle change, and any lifestyle change – even a healthy one – will put stress on the body. Therefore, it’s important that your doctor give you a physical examination before you begin dieting.

Risk factors to watch for including heart attack or stroke history, blood clotting history, liver or kidney disease, cancer not in remission, acute psychiatric disorder, type 1 diabetes. Being overweight puts patients with these disorders at a much higher risk than losing the weight would, but these patients should be monitored very closely.

State of Attention: Worry and Stress Combined

Imagine a stressful situation. It will, I hope, show how important it is to avoid the cause of internal imbalance and to release accumulated tensions inside the body.

You’ve gone camping with your family and have just spent the day backpacking into the mountains. It was a rigorous but fascinating journey. The wild flowers were in bloom, and you even walked behind a sparkling waterfall.

Now it’s evening, and the fire has died into a few glowing embers. Everyone’s asleep, but you’re not quite finished relishing the peacefulness of this beautiful day.

You decide to take a short walk under a clear, star-bright sky. Walking up the trail a bit, you smell pine and feel an evening breeze against your face. You’re relaxed and more content than you’ve been in years.

Then, suddenly, ahead of you to the right, you spot a dark figure in a grove of trees.

It’s a grizzly bear!

Immediately an involuntary metabolic change occurs. A threat to your survival is perceived, and your body is instantly alarmed and alert. Without your even realizing it, your heart-rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing, blood flow, muscle tension, blood clotting agents, white blood cell count, and body metabolism increase dramatically.

Within six to eight seconds, your entire body is activated for one of the oldest, innate reactions of which the human body is capable – fight or flight. Your body naturally adapts to this new set of circumstances.

Without your conscious participation, your endocrine system releases thousands of full-strength hormones into the bloodstream, and your autonomic nervous system sends impulses filled with thousands of instructions to all parts of your body – and at tremendous speeds of 200-300 miles per hour.

Being of sound mind, you decide to run.

It doesn’t matter one bit whether there actually is a grizzly bear in those bushes or whether you just imagined one. Somewhere you’ve learned that bears can be hazardous to your health, and that knowledge along with the perceived threat to your survival, is enough to set off a whole chain of physical reactions.

Of course, the run back to camp releases some accumulated tension; that’s positive. But even after you get back to camp and relative safety, the tension isn’t over. You can’t get that grizzly bear out of your mind. You lie awake listening to every noise – the wind now sounds eerie as it whistles through the trees, and every crack of a branch is the grizzly bear coming to get you. Even as you’re snuggled safely into your warm sleeping bag, your vivid imagination races, remembering every gruesome bear story you’ve ever heard.

The familiar terminology for this type of imagination is worry, and as long as you keep worrying and replaying the incident in your mind, the alarm continues. Your body remains alert. Stress is prolonged as long as you harbor the thought of danger, Your body, including the brain cells, is unable to regenerate and regain its balance. Your system remains in a state of attention.

In this condition, you drain your own energy reserves, keep muscle attention mercilessly taut, and involve your brain, heart and liver in a complex chemical process that can push them to their highest capacity without relief.

This distress, whether from a real or imagined source, does two things: it sustains tensions and intense bodily changes, and it drains energy needlessly. These are tremendous demands on your body’s metabolism. When they are allowed to persist, imbalances like this sabotage your health.

Read More: http://scienceray.com/biology/human-biology/the-grizzly-bear-syndrome/

Fight or Flight Reaction: Tension Buildup

Stress’ common denominator is change. As long as we live, we will experience thousands of changes every day.

During any situation involving change, the body can create an enormous amount of pent up energy. As a consequence, a lot of wear and tear (stress) is expressed within. This causes an unnecessary drain on energy reserves.

Other, more obvious, circumstances cause us to react immediately and intensely, producing the fight or flight reaction. This response puts an extremely heavy demand on the body. Perceiving a serious threat, the body is put on red alert in order to make itself respond effectively. The stress producing this fight or flight syndrome is obvious, as the body reacts to a demand placed upon it..

In order to demonstrate how tension can build slowly and how this accumulation can affect the intensity of the fight or flight reaction, I’d like you to visualize a situation with me.

You are just returning from a pleasant and relaxing vacation. Having settled into your seat on the plane, you lean back to enjoy the memories of the recent days.

Suddenly, the captain’s voice over the intercom interrupts your dreamy thoughts: “We will be passing through the outer edges of a storm. There are reports of mild turbulence. To be on the safe side, please fasten your seat belts.”

The “Fasten Seat Belt” sign blinks on above your head, and a few minutes pass with the airplane bouncing you slightly.

Then you hear the intercom click again.

“The turbulence appears to be a little stronger than we originally anticipated,” says the captain, “so I’ll ask that you remain in your seats, keeping seat belts fastened, until further advised.”

During the next few silent moments, the ride becomes quite choppy. Again, the intercom interrupts.

“This is your captain speaking. Place your trays and seats in a forward position. We are approaching the most turbulent area — Oh! Oh my God!”

The plane lurches forward, you’re thrown against the restraints of the seat belt, and people around you scream out. Suddenly, the entire cabin is quiet.

In a few minutes that seem like hours, the captain returns to the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now past the worst of the turbulence. And let me apologize for that sudden outburst — I spilled a cup of hot coffee on my lap.”

Read More: http://socyberty.com/psychology/the-fight-or-flight-reaction/

Do Fast-Forward People Promote Death?

For those of you with persistent fast-forward personalities, let me save you a little time by giving you these tips:

• Make sure your job comes first and your personal and family life second.

• Go to work evenings, weekends, and holidays so you won’t be interrupted.

• When not at work, spend time at home thinking about or doing work to catch up or get ahead.

• Drive fast because you can’t waste time getting where you need to be.

• Consistently plan meetings for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

• Avoid time wasters like hunting, fishing, golf, gardening, and regular exercise.

• Be involved in as many organizations, committees, meetings, and banquets as possible.

• Take vacations only when absolutely necessary

• When out of town for work, schedule an early morning appointment for your first day back at your office to help keep you on track.

• Do not delegate responsibility; you can do it better and faster yourself.

One thing is for sure: You’ll never get too busy to attend your own funeral, whether or not it was in your schedule.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/advice/tips-to-an-early-grave/

The Workaholic Disease: Stuck in Fast-Forward

The way a fast-forward person lives adds to the stress and strain he or she is already experiencing.

Being out of balance is not in itself destructive; but to the extent an individual cannot let go and return to a healthy balance, she or he is no longer in control.

People with fast-forward personalities eat, walk, and talk fast. They are restless and impatient, have trouble relaxing, and thrive on deadlines. Typically they are compulsive, competitive, and power-seeking. They are clock-watchers and time-binders. Fast-forward types will try to cram eight hours of work into two and then become agitated when the work isn’t completed – especially if someone else was expected to do it.

They feel pressure even when there’s no need to. They burn a great deal of energy needlessly and have trouble unhooking. They are the high-rollers – big spenders – when it comes to energy use.

About 5 a.m. in an airport rest room, I was at the sink washing my hands. At first I thought I was alone in the room, but I kept hearing a faint mumbling. Turning to look, I saw a pair of legs at the end of a long row of stalls. Listening more closely, I quickly realized that the gentleman in the stall was dictating a letter to his secretary!

Some people might call that an efficient use of time. I say it demonstrates a number of points about fast-forward personalities: the need to do more than one thing at a time, a tendency to have trouble letting go, and an inclination to be stuck in the fast-forward mode.

Read More: http://socyberty.com/advice/are-you-stuck-in-fast-forward/

Mental Break - Regenerate Healthfully

Our society has become irreversibly noisy. We are rarely blessed with – or allow ourselves the luxury of – relative silence. When was the last time you relaxed by a fire to only the sound of a soft, comforting voice or gentle music?

By incorporating silence and relaxation into your day, you can control your environment and its effect on your life. Learn to spend time alone in restful, natural locations – the park, the mountains, or a wooded area. Create a relaxing environment at home. Turn off the TV. Pull the shades. You deserve a break.

Relaxation helps give clarity of mind. It enhances our thinking, planning, creativity, and our ability to make decisions. People who regularly practice relaxation talk of sleeping better and of having more energy and better overall health. They say they’ve actually watched their performance at work and their sense of well-being improve. They do more in less time and with fewer mistakes.

Taking time to relax gives us a mental break and turns off the harmful bodily effects of stress. It normalizes and tunes our bodies’ natural homeostatic or balancing mechanisms. It is vital to the body’s process of adapting and regenerating healthfully.

Read More: http://healthmad.com/mental-health/giving-your-mind-a-break/