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How To Deal With Environmental Stress

by: Trevor Dumbleton

Copyright 2005 Trevor Dumbleton

An increasing problem in today's world is environmental stress. This is a type of stress caused by increasing pollution in air we breathe, the water we drink, and even in the sounds we hear. Though environmental stress seems to be simply a physical problem, it can actually alter the ways that our minds work. However, too much environmental stress can also cause physical problems that will ruin our health and lower life expectancy.

One of the most common, and most noticeable, types of environmental stress is air pollution. As factories churn out smoke and carcinogens, we are forced to breathe air that is filled with poisons. Whether we notice them or not, we cannot avoid them. Our lungs are constantly subjected to small particles that stick in the lung tissue and gasses that can find their way into our bloodstream. Obviously, this is not a good situation, because we cannot exactly afford to stop breathing.

As well, we are subjected to a whole variety of chemicals when we drink water. With all the chemicals that are used in farming, or sprayed on our lawns, or poured into our water supplies, the water we drink is filled with all sorts of poisons that are doing our bodies no good. Once again, we cannot afford to stop drinking water, but we do need to be aware that the water we are drinking contains a lot of things that we would not want in our bodies.

However, there is not much we can do to avoid this situation. Obviously, filtered water is superior to simple tap water, but even water filters cannot remove everything from our water. In fact, we do not want filters to remove all of the substances, as water contains many electrolytes that are essential to ensuring the proper functioning of our bodies. Even bottled water is not safe, as the water has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is usually either a stream or from the ground. Unfortunately, streams are filled with particulate matter and chemicals can soak into the ground. However, some water is simply taken from municipal water supplies and those are not safe either. Thus, this is a problem that needs to be faced in day-to-day life.

Unfortunately, these poisons do not only put stresses on our bodies, they put stresses on our minds as well. These physical forms of environmental stress put poisons into our brains as well, and can cause them to functions less effectively. Just as alcohol or drugs can affect the ways that our minds work, these subtle poisons are also seeping into our brains and causing mental changes. In fact, receiving too many of these poisons can slow down mental processes without our noticing the change. It will simply happen so slowly that we cannot notice the difference.

In addition, one of the most common causes of environmental stress is noise pollution. Anybody who lives in a large city is bombarded with a deluge of noise that can damage the ears, numb the senses, and cause a boatload of stress for our minds. With cars, busses, trains, factories, and people all screaming to be heard above the din filling the streets of the modern city. These pressures on our brains and our eardrums are enough to shut the mind down and send it into a cocoon of insensibility.

As well, simply being in a public place can cause us to have to deal with noise pollution. This is, of course, caused by the infamous "cell yell". Anywhere we go in public, we must deal with people yelling into their mobile phones. This is not only annoying, but it is a form of environmental pollution. Listening to someone yell at a phone causes our minds stress and, through that, causes our bodies stress. They are annoying, and annoyance is a form of stress. Thus, we find ourselves stressed by something that is simply a fact of modern life.

Environmental stress occurs to us every day and we should be aware that it is happening. Obviously, we cannot be aware of it all the time because to do so would probably cause us more stress just by simple worry. However, it is a fact of life while living in the modern world and we should have the presence of mind to know that environmental stress takes a toll on a body� and a mind.

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Mom's Job Stress May Spread to Kids
by: Rita Jenkins

Low job satisfaction in working mothers increases the stress levels of their children, but allowing them to spend more time in childcare can help overcome these effects, according to new research published in Developmental Psychobiology.

Children whose mothers found their jobs emotionally exhausting or otherwise less rewarding had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than children whose mothers reported more enjoyment from their jobs, researchers found in a study involving more than 50 nursery school children.

Levels of cortisol in the evening were more than double in the children whose mothers experienced less job satisfaction. Placing those children in childcare would help to significantly reduce their stress, the research suggests.

The researchers also found that children from families that were either highly expressive or very reserved exhibited higher than average cortisol levels.

Greater support is needed for working mothers to help improve their job satisfaction and increase the availability of affordable childcare options, says the report.

More Time in Childcare

Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb, a health psychologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, Dr. Christina Chryssanthopoulou from the University of Kent and Dr. David Jessop, a neuroimmunologist at the University of Bristol collaborated on the study.

To measure cortisol levels, they took saliva samples in the morning and evening from 56 children aged three to four years old. They also surveyed mothers about their workplace conditions and home life over a six month period.

"Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction," says Dr. Turner-Cobb.

"It can help protect children from the effects of their mother's low job quality and emotional exhaustion. Ensuring that mothers of young children have good support in the workplace is essential for supporting both mothers and their children," she adds.

"Improving the job satisfaction of working mothers means that they are less stressed themselves," says Dr. Jessop, "and extending the availability of affordable and adequate childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers but, in doing so, may improve the long term health of their children."

Healthy Adaptation to Stress

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates blood pressure and cardiovascular function and immune function. It also controls the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Cortisol secretion increases in response to stress, whether physical -- such as illness, trauma, surgery or temperature extremes -- or psychological. It is a normal and essential response without which we would not be able to function in everyday life.

When these levels remain high or become disrupted in some way over a prolonged period of time, however, they may have consequences for health. It is important to promote healthy adaptation to stress in children, and good quality childcare is one way of doing this, say the authors.

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