You all know about the half empty or half full glass of water. By saying how you see it, you will understand if you are an optimist or not.
And if you would like another perspective on a half empty or half full glass, you can read Wynne’s post The Glass Is Refillable.
But what you are going to read here is something different that I saw recently in a simple, short but very effective video.
A professor during a lecture surprised his students by showing a full glass of water in his hand. The students, who thought he would talk about the classic concept of a glass half empty or half full were amazed when he asked them about the weight of the glass. His intention was quite different, in fact he did not want to explain the concept of glass half empty or half full.
The answers were different and most of them could be considered acceptable. However, the explanation given by the professor was different and much deeper.
The weight of the glass depends on the time you will have to hold it. If you hold it in your hand for 5 minutes, it is very unlikely that you will have troubles. However, if you hold it in your hand for 2 hours, the arm will get tired. And if you hold it even longer, let’s say one day, the arm will be as if paralyzed and eventually the glass will fall.
The same happens with stress. If you are under stress for a relatively short period of time you will have no side effects. But if you experience stress for weeks and months, you may eventually get sick.
The disease in this case would be of psychosomatic origins.
What is a psychosomatic disorder?
The word psychosomatic comes from the Greek psyche “soul” and soma “body”. A psychosomatic illness occurs when the mind creates an alteration of the body.
For example, imagine that you have a colleague, or a person you know, who often criticizes you.
Their criticisms are not sporadic, on the contrary they are recurrent enough to become a habit. This behaviour also creates a negative environment around you.
If you can’t get rid of this stress in time, you’ll accumulate so much negativity that it could cause side effects on your health. It would be like holding a glass full of water for a whole day.
This reality is unfortunately so common that it is even believed that some physical illnesses can worsen due to mental factors such as stress and anxiety. It is believed, for example, that conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, gastric ulcers, hypertension and many heart diseases can occur due to psychosomatic problems such as stress or anxiety.
Would you like to learn some techniques to reduce stress: have a look at the conclusion on this article published on wiseandshinezine.com.
What about you? What are the solutions you adopt to fight your stress?
Crisbie Coach 