Most people are amazed when they discover that there are only ever two causes of stress. When you understand this principle and how it works, stress can begin to melt away. But before we get into that we need to distinguish the two different types of stress:
Distress is therefore a category of experiences that can be thought of as where there is a threat (physical or social) while the ability to cope with the situation is low. It relates to a difficulty or failure to adapt.
We all have periods where we feel ‘stressed’; the modern world is a complex place to live. There are work challenges, family challenges, societal challenges, governmental challenges all the way up to international challenges in the form of wars. These can be difficult to process at the best of times. But when trauma is added into the mix, everything becomes that much more difficult.
Trauma by definition is the response to something that overwhelms your ability to cope – which explains exactly why trauma is so stressful for those involved. Trauma often has accompanying symptoms such as anxiety or low self-esteem which make thinking clearly difficult and sometimes near impossible.
Trauma has significant implications for the nervous system. In general terms, trauma increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system – commonly referred to as the fight or flight system – which is designed for short term bouts of survival enhancing behaviour. But when the effects of trauma continue to cause emotional distress, this leads to prolonged and chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system, leading to symptoms such as burnout and fatigue.
All this change in the nervous system dramatically affects cognition. Research shows the stressful effects of trauma lead to changes in circulation in the brain which affect your ability to think clearly, to rationalise and to process emotions effectively.
So now we have a situation where you are biologically disadvantaged from the previous trauma, in addition to you trying to manage all the challenges that come with living in the world today.
The result of this? Overwhelm.
The bright side of this is that all stress is relative and based on your perceptions – which you are capable of changing when given the right tools and training.
After reducing and resolving childhood and relationship trauma, the ‘fog’ lifts and you can begin to use all of your cognitive powers to think things through and process emotions more effectively. At that stage, we then help you to learn there are only ever two causes of stress;
All stress fits into one of these categories, which is derived from our early ancestors and some may argue our brain evolution has not changed much, if at all since then.
Using cutting-edge tools to reduce and resolve trauma, combined with powerful psychological tools to dismantle and dissolve stress, in a very short space of time you can be living in eustress – and leaving distress behind.
To learn more about how trauma-induced low self-esteem can be resolved, download a free copy of ‘Accelerated Trauma Resolution’ by clicking the link below now.
