Mataupu
Le eseesega i le va o le "faʻalavelave lelei" ma le faʻalavelave e faʻaumatia ai
mataupu tau le mafaufau
Doing sports, eating correctly and resting helps us not to get carried away by nerves and anxiety
We associate the word “stress” with anguish, regret and overwhelm, and when we experience this sensation we usually feel fatigued, harassed … that is, we feel discomfort. But, there is a nuance to this state, the called «eustress», also called positive stress, which is an essential element in our life.
«This positive stress is what has allowed human evolution, has allowed us to survive. La tension increases innovation and creativity “, points out Víctor Vidal Lacosta, doctor, researcher, labor specialist and Social Security inspector.
This type of feeling, which is what moves us and motivates us every day, plays a very important role in the workplace. Dr. Vidal explains that thanks to «eustress» companies «increase their productivity, as well as creativity is encouraged among employees. Likewise, the professional argues that these positive nerves achieve that “the levels of absenteeism fall, there are fewer casualties and, above all, the workers are excited.”
But it is not only this. The psychologist Patricia Gutiérrez, from the TAP Center, argues that experiencing a small level of stress, a tension that our body generates as adaptation response to a specific situation, can “help us increase our motivational level, as we need to apply, and even expand, our skills and resources.”
«The answer in itself is not bad, it is adaptive. I evaluate what my environment demands of me and I have a mechanism that warns me that I must start some skills, some resources, some competences that I do not have and I must seek and manage », says the professional and continues:« Positive stress generates an activation, we have a motivation, and that helps us to achieve the achievement of a challenge ».
Even so, sometimes it is difficult for us to get channel our nerves into this positive goal and we end up experiencing a level of nerves that restricts us and prevents us from reacting well. In order to fight against these reactions, it is very important that we recognize what is the origin of this stress and how it acts on us.
“If my environment requires me to use skills that I have not acquired, my stress level increases because I have a higher demand from outside than I can assume,” says Patricia Gutiérrez. It is at that moment when the “Bad stress”, that which destabilizes us, and that generates reactions that many are familiar with, such as sleep disturbances, tachycardia, muscle aches or tension headaches. “There are times when we are so saturated that we are not able to carry out tasks that are easy for us in principle and we make many more mistakes,” says the psychologist.
The four causes of “bad stress”
- Finding ourselves in a new situation
- Make it an unpredictable situation
- Lagona ua le taofiofia
- Feeling a threat to our personality
And what should we do so that the positive stress prevails over the negative? Víctor Vidal gives specific advice, starting with taking care of our diet: “We must eat well, with products such as nuts, white fish, and vegetables and fruits.” He also explains that it is important to avoid processed foods, as well as fats and sugars that “in high amounts are harmful and make stress less manageable.” Likewise, Dr. Vidal recommends music, art, meditation, and activities that help us escape.
The psychologist Patricia Gutiérrez focuses on the importance of “emotional regulation” in order to overcome this harmful state of nerves. «The first thing is to have located what is happening to us. Many times people have pictures of stress or anxiety but he does not know how to recognize them», Says the professional. “It is important to identify it, name it and from there find a solution,” he says. It also confirms the importance of having good sleep hygiene and doing sports in order to regulate our state of stress. Finally, he talks about the benefits of mindfulness to alleviate this negative feeling of stress: «Anxiety and stress are greatly nourished by anticipation and fears, so it is very important to have full attention to what we are doing in a given moment”.
How stress affects our body
“We do not need to have extensive psychological knowledge to see that everything that gives us neurochemical stability works,” explains psychologist Patricia Gutiérrez when commenting on how stress, both positive and negative, has an impact on us.
“Negative stress has symptoms, it affects our neurological system, a destruction of neurological endings is generated, it weakens our immune system and also the endocrine system, that is why we get gray hair, for example,” says Dr. Víctor Vidal.
Also, the professional talks about how “eustress” has a positive impact on our body. “There is an endocrine, neurological and immunological benefit, because it increases the defenses, the neurological connections improve and the endocrine system adapts so as not to get sick,” he clarifies.