Photo courtesy of Jason O’Callaghan.
Psychologist Jason O’Callaghan from the D4Clinic recently suggested, through the media, an innovative way of encouraging workers to give up smoking.
He informed the Irish public about a policy Japanese companies are adopting at the moment that allow non-smokers to take the equivalent time off that smokers get on their smoke breaks, which equates to roughly six days a year, according to Jason.
Obviously, the health benefits stand out with this idea, with extra time off and the reduction in toxic substances entering your body, but it’s easier said than done in this rat race, where stressors are part of our everyday life. So NewsFour went to find out more about stress and what can we do to process it naturally, especially at this time of the year and at Christmas.
Q: How destructive is stress if it is not dealt with properly?
Jason: Stress is responsible for 75% of heart attacks and strokes. So untreated it’s pretty serious. Just because you can’t see stress compared to a physical injury does not mean it is any less serious.
Q: What is the neuropathway of stress?
Jason: Stress is psychological but can cause somatic psychical effects. This is due to the brain kicking in your natural flight or fight responses, which is innate in our DNA and aims to protect us from psysical dangers. However, in modern society with daily stressors such as traffic, work and money issues, the fight or flight response gets confused and kicks in unnecessarily, causing physical damage to the mind and body.
Q: What can people do to reduce stress?
Jason: There are two types of stress, good stress (or eustress) this is when we get a little stressed to help us pass a test or doing physical exercise, have a new-born baby, a new job, but bad stress can be reduced by therapy, hypnosis, mindfulness, diet, exercise, talking to friends, sleep and other day to day things that make your day run smoother.
by Paul Carton
