Second-Hand Stress
We’ve all been warned of the dangers of second-hand smoke, but do you know the risks of second-hand stress? Think of a time when you found yourself feeling nervous for no other reason than your co-worker was rushing around like a maniac. When your taxi driver honks angrily, you can carry his anxiety all the way to work. When a boss hurriedly stalks into a room, you can pick up her stress as you try to present your ideas. Even bankers on trading floors separated by glass walls can pick up the panic of a person across the room working in a separate market just by seeing their nonverbal. Most people have experienced spending time with someone who triggers a stress response just by walking in the door. This means negative emotions and stress become even more contagious as we have high exposure to negative comments on news articles and social media, stressed body language of financial news shows, stressed out people on our subways and planes, etc. This is second-hand stress, and it’s rampant in our productivity-obsessed culture.
Researchers have long known about the phenomenon of contagious stress. Partly, it’s a function of our brains being wired to mirror the actions and emotions of others. Even if we’re not physically imitating what we see, mirror neurons still fire off a simulated version of the activity in your brain as if you actually did it. Now taking that into consideration….when watching violent movies, video games, etc. Other researchers found that while watching stressed strangers resulted in elevated cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, if it was someone you were emotionally attached to, the effect was considerably stronger.
Second-hand stress can affect children as much as adults. When we bring our work or relationship stress issues home and expose our children to them, they become just as stressed out as we are. Children are very empathetic to the feelings of adults and can carry on the stressors of their parents. Children are experiencing more stress at younger and younger ages. Even in the womb a child picks up the mother's stress – stress chemicals such as adrenalin and cortisol cross the placenta.
Researchers have long known about the phenomenon of contagious stress. Partly, it’s a function of our brains being wired to mirror the actions and emotions of others. Even if we’re not physically imitating what we see, mirror neurons still fire off a simulated version of the activity in your brain as if you actually did it. Now taking that into consideration….when watching violent movies, video games, etc. Other researchers found that while watching stressed strangers resulted in elevated cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, if it was someone you were emotionally attached to, the effect was considerably stronger.
Second-hand stress can affect children as much as adults. When we bring our work or relationship stress issues home and expose our children to them, they become just as stressed out as we are. Children are very empathetic to the feelings of adults and can carry on the stressors of their parents. Children are experiencing more stress at younger and younger ages. Even in the womb a child picks up the mother's stress – stress chemicals such as adrenalin and cortisol cross the placenta.
Are you suffering from second-hand stress?
Researchers say the effects of unmanaged and constant second-hand stress on the body
are the same as chronic stress and that's been linked to heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Researchers say the effects of unmanaged and constant second-hand stress on the body
are the same as chronic stress and that's been linked to heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
We can Help!
Even if you are in the "middle" of a stressful situation and don't have an immediate way out,
there are techniques and tools we can teach you to "truly" help.
there are techniques and tools we can teach you to "truly" help.