We live in a society where the norm is to have 50 or more stress episodes daily, while each of us lives in a body designed to handle three or four stress episodes per week (read this sentence again). Some who read this are thinking, “I don’t have even close to 50 stress episodes a day,” while others are thinking, “I don’t think that 50 is a high enough number.”
The truth is that many of us have learned to tune out many of the stress events that happen simply because they are regular occurrences — they happen every day. However, just because a stressor takes place every day doesn’t make it non-stressful. It simply dulls our awareness of it. But the impact on our body is just the same.
An example of this is a ringing phone. Every time you hear a phone ring it produces a stress response — it startles. Phones are designed to get your attention in that manner. Just because you have heard a phone ring many times before, it still remains able to grab your attention just as before. Or consider the sound of flourescent lights buzzing in the background. Sometimes during the day they fade into the background, but the constant noise is there, providing us with a constant environmental stressor just the same. So just because you are used to something, doesn’t mean it is no longer stressful or causing dis-ease.
Just because a stressor takes place every day doesn’t make it non-stressful. It simply dulls our awareness of it. But the impact on our body is just the same.
Mind/Body, or Behavioral Medicine relies greatly on the individual’s awareness of self. Unlike medications that can be pumped into your body if necessary, Behavioral Medicine requires the individual to take charge.
The process of disease is simply a part of the human condition. In concert with the medical science of the last several hundred years, Behavioral Medicine provides healthcare practitioners with the latest and most up-to-date methods to keep each of us optimally well.
Remember to be good to you!
Copyright © 2013 by Gary L. Flegal, Ph.D.
•Dr. Gary Flegal is a Behavioral Medicine and Health Specialist with a doctorate in “Health Education and Human Performance” from Michigan State University. He is an exciting and accomplished presenter and keynote speaker, presenting seminars for groups and companies on location and at conventions. His advanced training in stress management came to him while working in affiliation with the original Mind/Body Medical Institute at Harvard under the direction of Herbert Benson, M.D. and his staff. In addition to corporate presentations, Dr. Flegal keeps a busy schedule working with individual clients for a variety of stress-related issues, including anger management, quitting smoking, learning to relax and manage stress, and learning self-hypnosis.
Dr. Flegal’s other passion is magic. He has been a professional magician for over 30 years and continues practicing his art at every opportunity. These two passions work together beautifully as he illustrates stress management concepts with fun, visual, and “magical” demonstrations in his stress management workshops and seminars. It also allows him to share stress management with his magic audiences wherever he goes because “Laughter is the Best Medicine!” Gary is a Reiki Master and a Certified Consulting Hypnotist, certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists.
Dr. Flegal’s specialties include stress management, anger management, positive behavior change, insomnia, smoking cessation, and exercise physiology. For individual appointments, speaking engagements, or more information, contact Gary at Professional Stress Management Services in Nashville, Tennessee, at (615)812-7280 or through his Web site: www.GaryFlegal.com.
Gary L. Flegal, Ph.D. 
Discussion
Comments are closed.