I’m Not Stressed. Or Am I??

Recently, I met a young girl of about 24 and when she learnt about what I do, she asked, “What can I do about these pimples? Is there something I can apply to make them go?”

Now of course, pimples occur due to bacterial infection but the root cause of it is wrong lifestyle and stress. Wrong lifestyle includes irregular sleep habits and wrong food which affects the digestive system. When the digestive system is irregular, it manifests in many ways, one of them being pimples. Another cause is stress, which affects all the systems of our body and weakens the immune system, thus leading to infections, like pimples.

External applications are practically useless if this basic root cause is not tackled. When I explained this to the girl, she was confused. “But I am not stressed. My exams are long over.”

This is when I realized that most people associate ‘stress’ with some external stimulus or event. Thinking that stress occurs only if there is a stressful situation is a common misconception. Stress is a state of mind. A person can be stressed even when they have nothing to do.

Psychological tests show that ‘Type A’ personalities are more prone to stress. People of this personality type tend to be perfectionists, want to keep in control of any situation, worry about work, think and procrastinate a lot, etc. These are stressful personalities and they get affected, whether the situation demands it or not.

Stress is a defensive response of our body. It is a fight and flight response to a situation that the body considers a threat to itself. For example, if there is a bomb blast near us, we will become jumpy, our pulse rate increases, blood pressure increases, adrenalin rushes through our body and that helps us to cope with the situation and run away from the danger.

However, in present times, our way of thinking has changed and we worry about everything. Our negative thoughts and state of mind signal the brain into thinking that there is a constant threat to the body. Due to this, it is continually in fight or flight mode. This is the reason that prolonged stress leads to chronic diseases like Hypertension, Diabetes, PCOD and other symptoms like pimples.

What is really required is not some medication or external application to remove the symptom, but some relaxation techniques and de-stressing therapies on a regular basis that can help relax body and mind. Over time and regular treatment, one learns to be more relaxed in their approach to life and so balance is restored in the body.

So be aware, watch yourself and your thoughts in any situation. It is said that an idle man can be more stressed than a busy man because his thoughts can turn negative and lack of physical exercise weakens the body and mind.

So be active and stay healthy.

Writer:

Ms. Ankita Shah

Director & Trainer

Pristine Senses Academy