Tools for Emotional Regulation When Life Hurts

"As the new year unfolds, I-along with many others-continue to struggle with painful levels of stress and anxiety. Beyond the evidence that political polarization is taking a toll on our collective mental health, waking up each day to alarming news only adds fuel to the fire. As Bob Dylan famously sang, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." When stress and anxiety reach these levels, our nervous systems are warning us loudly."

"The pioneering stress researcher Hans Selye defined stress as the body's response to a demand placed upon it. Stress is not the event itself, but our physiological and emotional response to it-an adaptive survival mechanism wired into us. Selye described three stages of stress, known as the general adaptation syndrome: alarm, adaptation, and exhaustion. While we cannot always eliminate stressors, research shows that it is not stress itself that harms us-it is the inability to shut off the stress response."

"Recently, I've been caring for our Chihuahua, Jilly, who has advanced heart disease. We are adjusting medications, monitoring her breathing, and watching for signs of decline. Anyone who has loved a pet through illness knows this ache-the anticipatory grief, helplessness, and fierce desire to protect them. The loss of a beloved animal can be profoundly heartbreaking. Layer personal pain like this onto collective distress, and it's no wonder so many people feel anxious, dysregulated, or numb."

Stress is the body's physiological and emotional response to demands, serving as an adaptive survival mechanism. The general adaptation syndrome comprises alarm, adaptation, and exhaustion stages. Harm arises primarily from inability to shut off the stress response rather than from stressors themselves. Chronic activation erodes mood, cognition, immunity, and capacity for pleasure and connection. Tools are needed to downregulate the stress response. Caring for a pet with advanced illness produces anticipatory grief, helplessness, and acute protective instincts, intensifying personal pain. When personal suffering combines with societal stress, the convergence—the Traumademic—reactivates old wounds and strengthens fear learning, increasing anxiety and numbness.

Read at Psychology Today