Stress triggers, anxiety, and trauma processing—how do you deal with them and what resources are available to us? These are the great questions of our time. Medicom spoke in an interview with the renowned American psychologist Dr. Scott Lyons about these topics.
Medicom: People react very differently to stress triggers and challenging situations. Why is that?
Lyons: Stress is a completely individual element of our own being. There is no universal stress that is defined the same for all of us. There are external stress triggers to which we react in very specific ways. We call this response to an external stimulus "stress" (or stress response). Timing, origin, and desirability determine how we react to this stimulus. The stress response serves to prepare our body for action. And the degree of the reaction, as required by our perception, is very individual. It depends on an individual's attitude toward this preparatory response. If you feel heat rising or a contraction in your body, that is simply part of the stress response, which only serves to make you ready to react. We all have different attitudes toward what this preparatory response means.
There is no universal stress that is defined the same for us.
Medicom: So the stress response itself is not something negative, as we humans need it to survive. Is it therefore just about our individual interpretation?
Lyons: It is not just the interpretation of a stimulus that influences our reaction; there is also the interpretation of our reaction. And this is about whether we possess the ability to convert this preparatory energy of the reaction into activity. This is called mobilization. Should we not be in a position to mobilize this stimulus through action because we are paralyzed or cannot react according to our needs, it leads to a health problem.
Stress-related illnesses result from a suppression of this biological adaptation system. The aforementioned activation process, which prepares our body to do something, is therefore followed by mobilization. This mobilization enables us to adapt to what the current situation requires. And if we cannot activate this adaptation, it leads to illness responses or psychological stress situations.
Medicom: So it is necessary to recognize that we cannot mobilize. How can one free oneself here?
Lyons: The point is to recognize that you are having a reaction. So, if you feel excitement, heat rising, sometimes you feel nauseous or the muscles tense up. What we can do then is to see this as pure energy. A free energy that is looking for a channel through which it can move. And that channel is our body in action. These can be very simple movements: running, or punching a pillow, or having a pillow fight. Something that releases the energy within us through movement. You can imagine it like revving the engine of a stationary vehicle filled with fuel without moving the car. Eventually, it breaks down. It is the same for us. If the energy in us ramps up and we cannot mobilize it, it leads to states of illness.
Medicom: Is it really that simple? If we don't remain in this paralyzed, contracted state? If we don't just focus on the excitement within us, but set ourselves in motion, can we solve the problem?
Lyons: Well, at least the energy has been released. That is of course not the entire so-called biological adaptation cycle, but at least the first part. The mobilization of energy, because standing on the brakes at that moment is what causes the problems. The comparison to standing hard on the brakes of a car is a simple but illustrative example that I like to use.
The next step after mobilization is pausing. I pause to recognize the mobilization: what is new, what has happened? You can compare it to a computer update; you also need a little time there to understand what is new. And it is the same with our body; we must update our system according to the activation. In other words, integrate the change.
Exactly that is part of the deactivation of this initial energy that we have felt in our body. It prepares us to become active and adapt. The next step is therefore the deactivation of this energy, which allows us to build up reserves. We call this regeneration, which we need again for our next adaptation cycle.
It can of course feel negative to have a stress response. Nevertheless, it is part of an entire process, namely that of adapting to life, in which we can flourish. The inability to adapt leads to illness. This happens when the stimulus is greater than what we can mobilize or break through. This happens when we face major challenges or when it involves very intense stressors. Then we can no longer process it. Then, due to the inability to adapt, we feel overwhelmed. In the long run, cognitive problems, energy regulation problems, and also negative physical effects develop.
Medicom: We are all currently in a very strenuous state of emergency and do not have the same resources as usual to get help. How can we best get ourselves through this challenging time?
What you can do now is to exchange ideas via social platform tools and release pent-up energy.
Lyons: There are some fundamental support mechanisms and resources that we can apply here. One of them is recognizing that many people are in the exact same situation. We do not necessarily have the possibility of so-called co-regulation now. That means that a person who is well-positioned and stable can support someone else who is in a difficult situation. At the moment, there are fewer people who can offer this co-regulation, because we are in a situation called collective stress.
What you can do now is to exchange ideas via social platform tools like Zoom or Skype and release the pent-up energy together. For example, by singing together or meditating. So that we can see people in a collective process of activation and mobilization. Here, a process of co-regulation emerges from the healing process of every single individual. It is also important, for example, to pause briefly after an online yoga class to see what has been released and to feel into it. Another point is to stay as connected as possible via modern technologies. It is also by no means always necessary to talk about what is happening right now. You can play games and talk about other things, and that does not mean that we are ignoring or neglecting what is happening.
However, there is a maximum amount of information per day that we can tolerate and digest. It is highly recommended to withdraw from it at times and not watch the news and instead host a dance party with friends over Zoom. You can also talk about what is currently happening tomorrow.
It is highly recommended to withdraw from it at times and not watch the news.
Medicom: Another important point is probably also nutrition and lifestyle?
Lyons: At the moment, it is certainly not a good time to eat highly sugary foods or things that lead to physiological disruption. Most of us are likely already supplied beyond the peak of our energy regulation. I am referring here to the biological energy supply via ATP (adenosine triphosphate) energy carriers. In our homeostasis of energy regulation, our optimal PH level in the blood, and glucose levels, there is a window in which we can function optimally.
If we cannot digest and process stressors, we fall out of this optimal window and our energy balance is disturbed. Therefore, alcohol, highly sugary foods, and foods that we would generally call unhealthy should be avoided. In a time of stronger stimuli, which makes it harder for us to digest, it is better to maintain a lifestyle and diet that support this energy regulation. That does not mean, of course, that one cannot occasionally drink a glass of wine or eat no chocolate at all. For some people, these can be resources or small comforts when they feel lonely or insecure. But all this in moderation, of course, and with the knowledge that it does not really support our physiological system.
Especially in times when our adaptability is so strongly demanded, where nothing is as it was before, and we have to reorient ourselves on many different levels, it is important to support ourselves from as many different angles as possible.
Alcohol, highly sugary foods, and foods that we would generally call unhealthy should be avoided.
Medicom: It is about adaptation in the broad, wide sense, which also means evolution, further development for the entire collective?
Lyons: Yes, in this reaction to stressors or challenges, which we also call adaptation, we change. You cannot say whether for better or worse, but there is definitely the potential to grow.
For example, there is also so-called post-traumatic growth, which means that the potential and chance to grow and expand our resilience arise from challenging and dramatic experiences. Also, the possibility of recognizing a purpose and meaning already in the course of the healing process. What helps us here is the possibility of observing ourselves in this process. It is important to stay with ourselves. This is difficult in times when one is flooded with information.
There is post-traumatic growth, which means that the potential and chance to grow and expand our resilience arise from challenging and dramatic experiences.
Medicom: In order to be able to tap into the potential of post-traumatic growth in these current strenuous times, is it therefore important to withdraw somewhat from the media?
Lyons: I often ask the question: What is the minimum amount of information you need to feel safe? And I draw the line there. For example, I informed myself yesterday and know quite well what it will look like today. I don't have to go to a website again and read up on it. That is my very personal approach. Everything beyond that is simply adding too much wood to the fire; everything is fueled too strongly and the heat becomes too great.
Medicom: Thank you for the interview.
Editor's note: The original interview was conducted in English.
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