Stress Management With Dr. Fritz Huber

On today's program, Dr. Huber and I discuss stress and managing stress.  Dr. Fritz Huber has authored several text books including "Essentials of Physical Activity" which is in its 6th. edition. Dr. Huber has served in the past as Chair of the Health, Leisure, and Sports Sciences Department at Oral Roberts University for approximately 21 years.   

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

For more information, go five. Storing and healthy welfare 5k. And thank you for listing the story and health and welded with Dr. Steve Wells. Dr. Wells is a chiropractic position with the bachelor to help individuals reach new levels in health and wellness. It has been involved in the health and wellness field for over 30 years. Dr. Wells received his Bachelor of Science degree from Robert University in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Health and Exercise Science. He received his second Bachelor of Science degree in general sciences, along with his Doctor of Chiropractic degree with others from Elmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. Storing in health and wellness is a tool to help educate individuals reach new levels in health and wellness and a passion to live with a sense of purpose and vitality. Dr. Wells and his guests ranging from doctors from all areas of healthcare to educators, nurses, personal trainers, counselors, and pastors will discuss and inform you on how to improve all dimensions of wellness from a biblical worldview perspective with one goal in mind team you store towards optimal health and wellness. If you're ready, let's get started with today's program with your host, Dr. Steve Wells.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Welcome again to another edition of Story to Health and Wellness. Today's guest is Dr. Fritz Huber with Orr Roberts University. And I'd like to welcome Dr. Hubert to the program.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm glad to be back with you. It's been quite a while, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

It's been about a year. But I tell you what, those who do not know, as far as Dr. uh Hubert, Dr. Huber was my first guest approximately about a year ago. And uh we still have those episodes. Uh he did two-part series on the title was Got Health. And uh Dr. Huber was my first guest, and he's always been there for me as far as uh willing to donate his time. And I'd like the Dr. Hubert to kind of introduce himself and also kind of where he's come from, his expertise, and what he's doing today. So, Dr. Huber?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Okay, well, I'll try to fulfill all the things you've asked me to do. So a little under stress, maybe, okay. Well, my background is in exercise physiology, that's what my doctorate is in, and I've been at Oral Roberts University for 32 years now, and I just recently retired from the care position, which I held for 21 years. So talk about stress. I I experienced a little bit of that. So, but I've been involved in the field of exercise and fitness and dealing with things that affect the body and how exercise helps the body. And I've worked with a number of different organizations and been at different places, and I at one time was working with indie car racing, and we were doing stress testing and and looking at driver performance and how driving a car over 200 miles an hour around a circle can affect the physiological systems of the body. And then I migrated into the chair position, which then my total focus became trying to help students here at Earl Roberts University develop the whole person and become healthy lifestyles, which will hopefully help them to be able to complete God's work for them in their adulthood.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

I tell you what, today's program and it's something because we're actually talking about stress and stress management. And you know, the sources that that we use and I've been using consistently is some of the textbooks that you all do there at premature Roberts University, and which you have kind of uh told me about. And the source of basic studies, again, is the Health to Basics by Rebecca Donatelli. Connect Course Concepts and Health by Roth and Ensel. And the Essentials of Physical Activity, which is written by you, Dr. Huber, and it's actually gone into, I guess it's sixth edition, is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

All right. And also we're using Total Fitness and Oneness by Powers, Dodd, and Jackson. So a lot of this information uh will be coming from your book, The Essentials of Physical Activity. Are they still using your book at O'Roberts University?

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Uh yes, yes, we still we still are. I did um a little bit of a revision on the uh sixth edition that we're using now, but it's you know, from year to year, it's hard when you're using a book for classes that as you know research is constantly constantly showing us new and different and some variations of things. So it's always hard to try to keep updated versions and I I struggle with redoing the entire book, so every once in a while I I just do a little a little revision in just a few places. So Well.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

I tell you what, you know, it's that time of year again. For you it's probably more stressful because you got uh final exams coming up at Four Roberts United.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Yes, they're coming up in just two weeks, they'll be here.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

And as our conversation that we talked earlier throughout the year and so forth, you're actually teaching more, I I hear. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 5:36

That is correct. Since I'm no longer have all the responsibilities of a chair, I get to teach and do the things I enjoy to do. Wow. Not as much of things that I have to do.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Right. So what what classes are you teaching there?

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Well, I'm doing more of the self-fitness classes now. I still teach my exercise physiology and kinesiology, but then I have some of the uh freshman classes, which I really enjoy because the freshmen come in, they're all real excited and and they're wanting to learn, which is which is always great, motivating for the professors as well. So I really enjoy teaching them.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Well, I tell you what. And uh actually, Dr. Huber, actually, you came in one year after I I attended Old Roberts University. You came in nineteen is it?

SPEAKER_02 6:28

Or was it eighty-eight? I can't even remember anymore.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

I I was I I was there in uh from eighty seven to eighty-nine, and then you came in and I believe the year after I did, and Dr. Bernison was actually the chair at the time, and you came in, I I guess took Dr. Bernison's place. So for is that right, I think. All right. I tell you what, not only is it finals coming up, but also the the holidays. So we got Thanksgiving, we got Christmas, and of course, as we know, basically that time of season there's a lot of stress in the preparation of these holidays. In fact, um are you doing anything for the holidays?

SPEAKER_02 7:02

You going home or are you well that's usually the plan. So question always is is how are we gonna get there? Are we gonna drive? Are we gonna fly?

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

So it's always up in the air until someone makes a decision, either my wife or I.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

And where and where is it?

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Is it in Michigan or where you Yes, we go to my it's my in-laws because my parents both are dead. So uh I go to my wife's parents, and they're still both living. They're both in their mid-80s. So it's it's enjoyable to go up there, see some snow. We don't see much snow here in Tulsa.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

I tell you what, yeah, no, you see ice and wind. But I'd say we just actually we just uh my my wife just lost her her father just probably about a little bit over two weeks ago on the third. Oh. And that is a very uh difficult time for her. I mean, of course, you know, you're given two men in your life in general, your husband and also your your father, and and he was the rock that she looked to. And when he would come down to visit, he was the handyman. But uh there was such great love, and you know, so actually going through that situation is that last week as as he was dying so forth, she was there and the kids and I had gone up there and and gone through that. So very stressful, very just a very difficult time and so forth. So I'm thinking about uh next episode, not maybe this one, but uh definitely talking about the grievance aspect and so forth. But uh yeah, so this will be a this will be the first, I mean it'll be so close to holidays. And her birthday was on the 13th and he passed away on the 3rd of November. So it's one of those two. Well, thank you, so forth. So I think it's just a good time to actually talk about the stress and basically as far as what we can do to better manage this the stress situation in a healthier way. The American Psychological Association press release uh survey raises concern about health impact of stress on children and families. In November 9th, 2010, according to the results of a recent American Psychological Association poll, year after year, nearly three-quarters of Americans say they experience stress at levels that exceed what they define as healthy, putting themselves at risk for developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Paper are also saying that they have difficulty implementing the changes they know will decrease their stress and improve their lives. Nearly half of American adults, 44 percent, believe that their stress has increased over the past five years, affecting their personal and professional lives. Can you relate to that, just what you're what you do? As your stress increases?

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yes, the str my stress has decreased because I'm no longer chair, but this time of year, the students, you can see that they're all getting more and more stressed out as we get closer and closer to the end of the semester and finals. It's kind of nice to have the Thanksgiving break coming up next week, but then it's like the semester is ending now, and they really, if they procrastinate, they end up getting a little bit short of time, and of course that causes a lot of stress.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Right. I'd say and then they say basically the exact toll of stress exerts on us during a lifetime is unknown. But we definitely know, and from your book and from the other books that we mentioned, that stress is a significant health hazard, and it says it creates numerous negative effects on the body, which we'll discuss on the body and mind. In addition, stress impacts your relationships with friends, family, coworkers, and can have a significant impact on the well-being of children. As far as Or Roberts University, we have mentioned this earlier before when we talked about, you know, health as far as spirit, mind, and body. So if you can kind of tell us a little bit about as far as the the stress of the how it affects the body and the mind, that would be great.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

Well, our any kind of a stress, which happens all the time, you can't live life without having stressors. So it's a constant stress causes our body to move away from homeostasis. And what happens whether it's a perceived stress or just a real stress, like someone's trying to attack you or hurt you, well, what happens is the body gears itself up to what we call fight or flight. And when that happens, then a series of chemicals are released that causes the body to speed itself up, heart rate increases, respiration increases, so we are more alert, strength improves, so all these things start taking place, and which can be good if you're trying to run or fight for your life, but if it just means you're giving a presentation or taking an exam, then a lot of times all that increase can cause you to perform poorly. And of course that's not what you want to do. But if it's continues then, and it's long term, it's not just a test and it's over, but it's your occupation, your job, you're having struggles there, and it's day after day after day, then then it gets to the part point where the body is not able to deal with that stress, and that's where it starts to break down and you start to develop diseases and disorders that affect obviously your health.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

You know, you you mentioned that, and I pull up basically data from the American College Health Association, uh, from the American College Health Associate National College Health Assessment 2 reference group report involved in 2010, and it says in the most recent National College Health Assessment, 25.4% of college students reported that stress negatively affected their individual academic performance during the last school year, resulting in a lower grade, a dropped class, or an incomplete, and this was the number one factor that had an impact on student performance. And that's what you just said was basically stress as a big factor, is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 13:02

It sure is. It it really kind of affects you if you're not able to deal with it in a negative way.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

And you know, looking at Insel Roth and Encil, basically as far as how they define stress is a word that many people use without understanding its precise meaning. Stress is popularly viewed as an uncomfortable response to a negative event, which practically describes nervous tension more than the cluster of physical and psychological responses that actually constitute a stress. Stress is not limited to negative situations, it is also a response to pleasurable physical challenges and achievement of personal goals. And so Roth and Encel also continue to explain whether stress is experienced as pleasant or unpleasant depends largely on the situation and the individual. And that's a that's the question I have for you, Dr. Huber. You know, I was kind of reading it. Of person's stress, depending on how you look at it, can be either a good stress or a bad stress, but it could be like the same stress. Can you explain that as far as how someone interprets that as far as just basically what Roth and Intel were talking about as far as the individual himself?

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Sure. Stress, believe it or not, can be real or it can be just your perception. So how does someone perceive something that's going on if they perceive it whether it's stressful or it's not? So for an example, I'll see it in two weeks when we're doing final exams. We'll have students come in that are, you know, you can tell they're stressed out and they're nervous and they're sweating and and they don't know whether they're gonna do very well. And then you'll have other students come in that are, you know, kind of happy-go-lucky. They might even be whistling because that exam is not a big stress to them because they know they're gonna do well, they've done well in all their exams, it's it's not stress at all, but for another individual it's very stressful. So how you perceive it is how it really is to you. If it's even if it's not really a stressor, but for you, if you perceive it, then your body goes into the stress response and you're gonna try to get the body back into homeostasis because all the chemicals are being released in your and you're gonna be stressed out about the situation even though it may not really to most people even be stressful. So that's the problem, is trying to understand the stressors and how you perceive and react to it so that you can make many of the stressors not as stressful to you.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Right. In your book you you talked about four different types of stressors.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

Yes, they typically fall into one of four categories. We have the social stressors, which most of us, especially the college group that I deal with a lot, you know, they have to deal with all their interaction with each other and maybe going off and leaving home for the first time. These are all uh social stressors, and of course, now with all of our social media actually can make those social stressors even greater than what they were when you and I were back into college. Another one then is the environmental stressors, and these are the environments you live in. We all know stressors of the environment like pollution, air pollution, sound pollution, these type of things, water pollution. But also you could work in a your work environment may actually be part of this environmental stressor where you have co-workers or a boss that's causing you to have a lot of stress, they're putting a lot of pressure on you, or they're not being very nice to you, or whatever. So that is actually part of this environmental stress as well. So it could actually be your workplace. Another group is the physical stressors, and these are the stressors that actually are physically affecting you, like an illness. An illness when you catch the flu or getting into the flu season, that is a physical stressor. Your body's trying to defend and fight off that that viral attack. Uh such things as insomnia affects your sleep, affects your overall physical well-being, being in an accident, uh, alcohol, tobacco, even prescription drugs are a physical stressor. That's why it's so important for people when the physician gives you a prescription. You need to try to follow it, the directions exactly the way it's prescribed, because that decreases the amount of stress that it's going to place on the body. It's still going to place a stress, but it'll be more manageable than if you're taking it at the wrong time or not taking it with a meal or however it's been prescribed for you. And then the last one, of course, is the psychological stressors. And these are things like depression, anxiety. I see a lot of that in today's youth. I always, when I talk to my class about psychological stressors, I always bring up 9-11 and how that was a big psychological stress for the United States. When those planes crashed into the Twin Towers and they came down, it was just real, real psychological. I know for me even because one month after that occurred, I had to take a flight to go to a conference, and all of a sudden the airports were a different place than what they were before that. You know, you used to be able I tell the kids this that, hey, you know, we used to be able the whole family could go up to the gate and you could kiss your wife and say goodbye to the kids and just walk right onto the plane, and then all of a sudden it changed where now we have the security, and there was soldiers with their M sixteens and dog that were that dogs were walking around with bomb sniffing dogs with the soldiers and stuff. It was a drastically different environment, and of course, the physic the psychological stressors for that was tremendous at that time, as I'm sure you well know.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Oh, yeah, I tell you, I mean, before, I mean, to actually check your bags in and get onto a plane compared to what it was after 9-11. Uh, do you I guess you had to show up at the airport, what, a couple of hours earlier than the when your flight was departing? So forth. I tell you what, uh, Powers Dot in Jackson note some additional classifications of stressors, and each can affect our behaviors, health, and life. And some of the stressors that they talk about is stressors can be acute, such as uh the death of a levelance, which is we just went through and still going through, cumulative, such as a series of events that lead to a breakout with a boyfriend, girlfriend, or chronic such as the daily job skull-related pressures. And he says based in regards to the nature of the stress of the body's physiological and mental responses usually include feelings of strain, tension, and anxiety. And of course, Donatelli notes several factors that influence one's response to stress, including characteristics of the stressor, which he talked about. Can you control it? Is it predictable? Does it occur often? Biological factors such as age and gender, and also past experiences that you have happened to you or the consequences and how you respond. Can you relate on that as far as the biological factors and past experiences, how does that affect and actually makes us better to handle stress, or is it vice versa?

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Well, it actually can be a little bit of both. Uh the more you're experienced with something, then you know what's taking place, you know what's going to happen, it alleviates a lot of your stress. However, if for an example I always use, like I already had already about students taking the test, if a student always struggles with exams, then that's actually makes them experience it and have more stress because they know they have a habit of doing poorly on exams, and then they take that into the situation, even though you know they may have prepared well for it, they still have this stress that of of past performance. So it can be, you know, one or the other. Hopefully, with the experience, you can learn how to prepare better so that you will do better on those exams. But sometimes the negative feelings come back, and that's one of the things we try to do to change a stressor is by thinking at it in a more positive way as opposed to letting those negative thoughts run into our mind.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Right. And that's something we'll talk about as far as uh what you talked about as far as the perception of stressors. But I wanted to mention that you, but also Donatelli basically is playing that stress. May be tangible. And like you said, such as on a grade on a test, intangible could be such as the anxiety associated with meeting a significant other parent for the first time. Or basically, in as you pointed out, I believe also stress is in the eye of the beholder. And each person's unique basically combination of heredity, life experiences, personality, and ability to cope influences how that person perceives an event and what meaning here she attaches to it. And what stresses me out may not stress you out, and what stresses you out may not stress me out. But anyway, I wanted you to go ahead and explain. You know, you did you did an awesome job on the perception of stressors. And you had talked about notes of perception that you mentioned as far as the perception of the significance of a stressor, it often determines the body's response to it. And if you can complain, perception that is influenced by several different factors, and you talked about the spiritual dimension and so forth. So if you can kind of relate, explain that to our listeners, that would be super.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Well, sure. The you know, stress we can't uh avoid. So spiritually wise, you know, relying on on God and understanding and believing that He's in control, and most of the time we have no control, little or no control, and we have to understand that, especially in when we're talking about big stressors, that you have to rely upon God to handle the situation. He's gonna give you clues on what you should be doing and how to deal with it, and you're still gonna have to deal with it, but it's comforting to know when someone there is by your side guiding and leading you as opposed to going into a dark cave and trying to figure it out on the fly as you go.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Right. That's a good point. And you also talked about the perceptions influenced by the intellectual ability as well. Can you explain that?

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Right. Well, you know, if you think about a situation and think about what all is happening, you can sometimes alleviate some of the stress by logically going through the process of what's before you. If you've had experience with it, then that can help you even more because you know, well, this comes after that and this is going to cause that, so that it's not new and it's not a surprise, because a lot of times the stress comes from the surprise of what's happening. Even if it's a good surprise, it still can cause us some stress, but not nearly the same amount as if it's a negative surprise.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Such as, you know, a good example of that would be the other morning, I was running a little late, and of course I went out to start my truck to drive in, and wouldn't you know it, the battery's dead. So obviously I had some stress there, but fortunately I knew my wife didn't need the car, so I just ran in, got the other keys, hopped in and go, and I made it fine. But you can imagine if the situation was where there was no other vehicle and something I had to get to something very quickly, and if I didn't get there, there was going to be some other consequences where then everything starts to unravel. So trying to think through things and logically understand what's going on really helps a lot.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Right. I'd say you make a great point here in your text as far as you you kind of note that the tendency too often is to think negatively, dwell on the problems, and focus on the aches and pains. And you say twelve dwelling too long on negative thoughts can cause the subconscious mind to begin to take control and paralyze the conscious mind. The body will react, and sickness and depression can result when negative thoughts occur. A healthy response is to capture them, control them, evaluate them, and change them into positive thoughts for meditation.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

Yes, that's so true. If, you know, it sometimes people laugh and say, Oh, yeah, look at something in a positive light. Well, there is always that silver lining. And and if, you know, a lot of times when you have a lot of struggles going on and you're wondering where is God in this, you know, and a lot of times people will comment and say, Well, you know, when God closes a door, he opens a window somewhere. And that to me is so true. I've found that many times in my life, that if you don't get so focused on that closed door and you start looking around for the open window, it's you know, that's that positive statement. Okay, yes, this isn't going well, but if I work at it, if I you know take care of business, if I do this, then I'm going to be able to get through this. And I know God's going to help me if I can just focus and get on task and not let all the negatives pull me down.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

And you say controlling one's thoughts is imperative for good health. Again, the negative thoughts can lead to feelings of defeat, anxiety, distress, depression, and these emotions can spark many health problems. So, what we're going to do, we're going to go ahead and take a break, and uh. When we come back, we'll continue our discussion with stress and stress management with Dr. Fritz Keeper.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

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SPEAKER_01 27:50

Welcome back to Titorian Health A lot of today's guest is Dr. Fitz Hubert from Orb Robert University. He's the associate professor that teaches a lot of the exercise physiology health classes at the university, and he is our today's guest. And today's topic is we're discussing stress and stress management due to the holidays going around the corner as far as college students, as well as probably high school students as well. This is the time of the year that they're getting ready for their final exam. So there's a lot of stress out there. So I thought it'd be a great idea to go and talk to someone and help us to handle stress a lot better and healthier than what we may be used to. And so I basically want to go ahead and open up as far as many of us are aware that chronic and extreme stress is unhealthy. But some degree of stress is required to maximize performance. And if you remember Dr. Huber basically dealing with NASCAR, his biggest uh thing I believe is if I'm correct, was dealing with how the body handles stress. Is that correct, Dr. Huber?

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Uh yes, that's correct on the stresses placed upon it from driving at those high speeds.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

Okay. And what did you find out?

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Well, the stress upon the body is for a race car driver is not much more diff uh different than what it would be for other professional athletes. I mean, you talk about, you know, we have football now going on, professional as well as college football, which I love. I love football. And they have a lot of stress and demands, and people think, well, just driving a car can't be too stressful, but there are a lot of G forces when they go around the corners at 200 miles an hour, and it does affect the heart and the lungs, and of course, circulation of the blood. And then on top of that, they're in clothing to protect them in case they get in an accident and there's a fire or whatever. So car races are typically in the summer when the track is a hundred and maybe a hundred and twenty-thirty degrees, and then they're wearing this clothing, which and then the engine's giving off heat, so they have all the heat stress to try to deal with as well. So it's quite a complex uh body has to do a lot of things during that time. And then, of course, on top of that, you've got to make reaction to cars that are cutting you off or getting an accident right in front of you, and you have to respond to it very quickly, so you have that stress as well. So it's amazing, quite amazing how God has created the body and how it adapts and how it is able to deal with a lot of stress that we place on it. But of course, we know that too much stress consistently can actually cause the body to break down instead of build up. You know, athletes work their body, they stress their body to get stronger, faster, quicker, more explosive. And that's good. That that type of exercise builds it and makes it stronger and more able to deal with that kind of a stress. But even an athlete, if they train too intense too many days in a row, they can actually break the muscle down to the point where it's not going to function as well and can actually cause some serious problems.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Right. And I tell you, and of course, you just mentioned there before, as far as so any type of performance activity, sports-related, basically an optimal level of stress that pushes us to perform and excel. And you, we we we you talk about there's two different types of stress. We got youth stress and we got distress. And I guess the stress that is positive and that is associated with improved performance is what they call eustress. And Donatelle explains go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Well, I was gonna say that yeah, that's correct. That's the good stress, that's the stress we want, because that builds us, that makes us better, makes us perform better. Yeah, a lot of times people don't realize that if you don't have some stress, you're not gonna perform as well. And you'll see this since I love athletics, you know, you'll see it time to time in athletics, even now in the football season with college football, where an underrated team, not doing very well, hasn't won very often, plays a higher ranked team that's just has much more talent and everything. And they end up getting beat, the higher ranked team, because they did not get stressed out, not stressed out, but they didn't get their body with huge stress ready to perform at a high level. They were taking the the other team as not very good. I don't have to worry about them. This is gonna be an easy win. And the other team, of course, wants to win very badly, and they are gonna play very hard, and it ends up the poorer team beats a better team just because of a lot of times the stress level wasn't where it needed to be.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

Right. And I guess what you're saying basically is the same thing as far as Donatelli, as far as that use stress can bring as a present an opportunity for personal growth satisfaction and can actually improve one's health. And you kind of gave some an examples as far as you know, getting married when an event can give a raise to pleasurable rush associated with use stress. So you have e-stress, which is definitely something that we need and actually makes us healthier. And then you got the opposite. And powers Dodd and Jackson explain that some levels stress is desirable and beneficial, but too much stress or poorly managed stress can have a negative impact on health and lead to poor performance indecisions. You mentioned that earlier. But that negative stress is called distress. And that distress is caused by events that result in debilitative tension strain, such as financial problems, the death of a loved one, academic difficulties, and the breakup of relationship. So you got good stress, use stress, bad stress, distress. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 33:39

Yes, that is correct. And unfortunately, most of us typically have more distress than we have used stress. And of course, the distress is what causes that alarm reaction, and all those hormones are released that gear our body up. And and unfortunately, if the stress is a long term where we're dealing with it day in and day out, you know, whether you're having a parent that or a loved one that's struggling with a disease or disorder, and and you're trying to do whatever you can do to help them, and and that stress can just be long term, and that stress just turns into such a negative for you that it's going to affect your overall your health and well-being, which is not good.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Right. I tell you what, I want to go ahead. We had mentioned a little bit earlier as far as the different types of stress, the acute stress, the episodic stress, the chronic stress. If you could just touch a little bit about that before we actually get into the symptoms of stress, that would be excellent.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

Okay. So well, acute stress obviously is something that occurs very quickly, and it's not long term. That could be anything from like my truck wouldn't start, the battery was dead, uh, you run into somebody on the street that you used to know, but you really don't know them anymore, and you really didn't like them that much to begin with, but now you ran into them on the street and you want to try to be pleasant with them or whatever, that's just going to be a little stress for a little period of time, and then you know, you go on. So the the chronic stress, you know, that's that's the more serious long-term. And and that's a real those are the chronic stresses what causes the long-term problems as opposed to just an acute stress.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Right. Okay. But as far as the symptoms of stress, you basically in your book, you said symptoms include feeling tense, having cold and clammy hands, sleeping difficulties, you continue uh to note recognizing when the body is not responding satisfactorily to stress is the first step to overcoming poor stress management. And if a person does not successfully manage the stress and positively adapt to the stressors, the stress response will lead to health problems. And Selee, would you get uh Selee, he's influenced you is that correct? I thought that that was correct. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:13

Well, you know, most of us with stress symptoms, you know, when you can feel your heart feels like it's beating in your throat or whatever, or you're getting a headache, that type of thing, or you're starting to perspire. You know, it's a cold room, but you're perspiring, and of course, then it can lead to uh at night when you lay down. I remember that unfortunately I don't have that problem anymore, but when I was younger, I would go to bed tired, exhausted, and I couldn't turn my mind off. And it would just go, go, go. And of course, you look at the clock and you see, well, an hour just passed and I'm still not sleeping, I'm laying here in bed, and and then it just makes it worse. So it continues on and on and on. So those immediate symptoms are keys that you need to be able to alleviate whatever stress it is that's bothering you. And if you don't, then then you're gonna have to deal with more long term. And of course, those are the more serious types of stress symptoms.

SPEAKER_01 37:16

I'd say as far as what what I do here, as far as my uh profession, as far as chiropractic, and we do a lot of soft tissue work, a lot of some of the immediate symptoms of stress can also be pain in the lower back. We see a lot of that in our my office, pain in the neck, another big common one. But also pain in the neck. Yeah. But as far as uh, you know, you you see some other symptoms of the stress as far as immediate stress, you see dizziness, you see fatigue, uh, you see depression, uh, you see irritability, uh, you have a nervous tick, sweating, lack of concentration. So those are the immediate symptoms of stress. But then you were talking about some of the symptoms of that actually from long-term stress. And if you can kind of explain to those to our listeners, that would be super as well.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yes, un unfortunately, long-term stress really can have some dire consequences for the body. Uh, such things as like high blood pressure and which can lead to uh heart disease, cardiovascular uh problems. We know that atherosclerosis, which is the building up of plaque inside of your coronary arteries, uh, which leads to heart attack or as as well as stroke, are those are all elevated under stress. So you end up causing more plaque to be built up and and uh the vessels start to close down quicker. So big negatives there. Depression, of course, we've talked about, and and depression is unfortunately in today's world seems to be more prevalent than it's been in past decades. And so it's a real real concern, a real problem. And of course, you know, your typical headaches along with insomnia, having difficulty to sleep, and then even chronic fatigue. Some individuals have so much stress that they're just always exhausted, and they never can get as much accomplished, which then leads to more stress, and then their employer or their professor is getting on them because they're not turning things in on time, and it just keeps more stress coming, and ultimately the body is going to break down, and that a lot of times can be an illness or something more serious like your heart attack, where you're gonna have to slow down now because you've had a heart attack, you're gonna be in the hospital and they're gonna have to decide whether they're gonna do a coronary bypass or maybe put in some stents or whatever. So it's it's very serious. But you know, a lot of times people don't realize that even an eating disorder can be due to stress. You know, sometimes people eat uncontrollably when they're under stress, or sometimes people won't eat at all when they're under stress. So it's it's a real, real, real problem.

SPEAKER_01 40:07

Well, I tell you what, I want to go ahead and change gears a little bit. I want to talk about some of the in your book you talk about some of the roles of physical activity in stress management. And you kind of note as far as the American National Institute of Mental Health, physical activity has both immediate as well as long-term benefits. When engaged in physical activity, immediate benefits could include, and if you can kind of go some of the immediate benefits that physical activity can have on stress, that'd be sure.

SPEAKER_02 40:34

Well, physical activity is really the best way to effectively handle stress, stress and many and how to manage stress. Uh the reason for that is many. Uh some of the real simple ones that everybody probably even realize is that you know, when you go out and exercise, work out, after you finish your workout, your body has to relax. It goes into relax mode. And of course, if you have stress, you've worked out, now your body is forced because of the workout to go into relaxation, which is good. It helps to relax, lower blood pressure, lower heart rate, respiration, and all those things. So that natural relaxation is a big benefit. But also exercise actually helps to break down and burn up some of those stress hormones that have been released, so you can metabolize them and get them removed out of your body, so that helps your body to relax and recover as well. Some other good things are when you're you typically when you exercise, you can take your mind off of what's stressing you. You know, you can be focusing on you know playing tennis, or if you're just going out for a run, you're playing more focused on how fast you're running or what your pace is or things of that nature. Sometimes people do actually, and this is me, I'll think about my problems while I'm running, but it allows me time to actually come up with solutions. I don't know why it works that way for me. I can think about it and come up with a solution while I'm working out, and I get two things accomplished at the same time. Also, obviously, all the benefits, just the long-term benefits of exercise, is great. And then you also hear from time to time people have what's known as the exercise high or the runners high, which is a a real response because you have some endorphins that are released from exercise. People that exercise regularly, they actually get that feeling of you know euphoria, which is what endorphins are kind of a morphine-like natural substance that's released that makes you feel good. So obviously it's hard to be stressed out if you're feeling good. So it's a lot of good benefits. And the great thing about physical activity is for most of us, you can do it just about any time, and it works great. If you've had a stress, then go work out, and then you're gonna be able to recover from that stress a whole lot quicker than if you just try not to think about it or go on to something else.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

Right. You know, you mentioned in your book, it says exercise has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of depression. Therapists prescribe exercise as a therapeutic mode to treat depressed patients. However, not all physical activity will necessarily provide the same benefits. Can you explain that to our listeners?

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Sure. More and more research has been coming out over the last decade of how physical activity really helps in the treatment of depression and anxiety. It's really the first choice for most uh behavioralists when they're working with individuals that they gave. Encourage them to start doing some exercise because of all the positive benefits that come from it. And a lot of times that is enough on its own to help be able to control and work with depression. Now, I'm not telling anybody that's on medication for depression to stop it and just exercise, but start exercising with it, and then you might be surprised or you might be able to decrease the dosage amount or how often, and which are beneficial because we all know medication, even though it's very good and we need it and helps us, there are always some side effects from that. So the less medication you can have, then typically a lot of times it's you know you're better off. But once again, if a physician is prescribing you medication, you do need to consult with them and see if exercise would be something that could really help you in your area of depression. But then also, I'm sorry I lost my train of thought here. You you asked me to do another. Yes. That's what happens. You know, I have a my birthday's coming up soon, so I turned 64 on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 45:14

Well, I tell you what, I was just we were just asking there were some benefits, you know, as far as the aerobic exercise having a difference compared to some other activities and so forth. But as far as the you had mentioned some long-term benefits of physical activity in your book, uh, which include uh basically improving the health and fitness of the body, basically regular exercise helps the body to better withstand day-to-day stressors. And secondly, a positive self-concept, regular exercise promotes an improved self-confidence, it does decrease the number of stressors.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

Right. And I remember now what you did ask me about the different types of exercise, and obviously any type of exercise is beneficial, but you want to make sure, however, that you're not too intense consistently at it, because the high intensity of exercise could actually become a stressor on its own. And you do need to have exercise, but you do need to make sure you're doing it appropriately. I know sometimes when people are stressed out, they'll go and play a game of basketball or whatever, and they're putting it all into that. And and that's fine, you just have to be careful that the winning of it, if it's just a pickup game, is not so important that it's stressing you out because you're not winning. If you're doing it just for fun and relaxation and exercise, then that's much more beneficial for you to alleviate stress.

SPEAKER_01 46:40

Right. Well, I tell you what, so as far as what are some general guidelines that our listeners and I can do as far as to effectively manage our stress? You mentioned some of these in your book as well.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

Yes. Well, there's there's several things. Like I said, exercise is number one, but another thing you can do is, you know, plan ahead. You know, everybody now has no excuse not to have some kind of a day planner or on your phone, uh a calendar of events, what's going on, so that you don't overload yourself. I know for college students, that is one of their big problems is they get too much on their plate and they can't handle it all, and of course that's gonna cause a lot of stress. So if you plan ahead, then that's gonna keep you from double booking something or telling two different groups of people that you're gonna work or help them and which will cause more stress. Of course, the positive thinking we've already talked about is another big area where you have to realize if this is an area that's fearful to you, try to avoid those negative thoughts and just replace them with some positive things. I know that along with that, a lot of times we do uh well, what I call uh relaxation techniques. You know, you learn how to do relax yourself. When you know you're under stress, you need to relax. And there's many different t techniques that they use for this. Some just people listening to music can help calm them down. But you do have to keep in mind what type of music are you listening to. If it's a fast beat, up temp, oh, real loud, that may not be relaxing you. You may need to have something softer or a little bit slower beat or whatever. Meditating, meditating on scripture. Sometimes I do that. A couple verses I like is Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And then another one is 2 Timothy 1.7. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-discipline. So, and there's many other great verses out there that people can use. But if you're thinking about the verses and thinking about God and how He's going to help you and pull you through these situations, then that can really help you to alleviate or decrease some of the stress you're experiencing. One thing you do need to always keep in mind if you are under stress, this is not a good time to be consuming like caffeinated beverages because caffeine is a stimulant, so you're just adding more stress to it. Tobacco is another stimulant. Alcohol. It's funny, a lot of people think, well, I'm gonna go home, have a drink, because that's alcohol is a depressant, and that it will help relax my body. And it does do that for a very brief period, but then it it actually causes some other things that are are gonna occur inside the body that that ultimately doesn't decrease the stress. So it's just a very instant quick kind of a fix, but then the stress isn't gone, it's still there and you still have to deal with it. So it's not a very positive way of of dealing with the day's stress. I know my wife and I, whenever I get home from work, we grab the dogs and we go out for a walk. That's the first thing I do. Well, the second thing. First thing I change my clothes into comfortable clothes, and then I go out for a walk. So we get to talk and we catch up on whatever happened during the day, and I can talk with her what's been bothering me or what stresses I've had, and she tells me about this or that, and it's a good time. We're exercising, the dogs get out, they're running, and uh we help to talk with each other and stay connected. So it's it works out real well for me. One other big area, and people need to think about this because they don't always realize it, but everybody needs a support social group, some kind of a support group, and that can be just your friends. It doesn't have to be an actual counselor which they can help. When you do have some problems, sometimes you really do need to have someone that is away from the situation, can look at it in a logical and supportive means and can give you some ideas and things. So there are a lot of different ways of help. I know pets are to me a big social group. I love seeing my dogs. When I come home, they're always so happy to see me, and that's nice. You know, even if you had a bad day and you might have got a ticket on the way home because you were speeding, you get home and and the dogs are happy, they're wagging their tails, and they're ready to go for that walk. So it's real, real nice to have pets. I mean, some people they enjoy they have a fish tank and they just enjoy relaxing watching the fish swim. So, whatever it is, you need those social groups to help. And along with that social group, you need to see what are the type of people you're hanging around with. Are they, as I tell my class, I like to refer to, are they tiggers that are all happy and bouncy and everything, or are they like the Eeyores which got the dark cloud over their head, and you know, oh no, here we go, you know, that type of a thing. So if you're hanging around with people that are giving you energy, are happy and excited, then you're gonna do much better handling your stress than if you're with a group of people that are always negative.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

Well, I tell you. You know, I tell you what, we usually do a golden nugget, but I think you just give us six golden nuggets or even more than that as far as how to handle stress. But anyway, I I just want to basically thank Dr. Huber for again uh sharing his valuable time and that he could be spending with his wife and family. And thank you for taking your time, Dr. Huber, for uh sharing with us on what we can do to handle stress a little bit more healthier and actually what stress is and so forth. So thank you for for being a part of this program.

SPEAKER_02 52:59

Thank you for inviting me.

SPEAKER_01 53:00

I tell you, you you're always uh you know I can always count on you uh to go to if if you've have not heard or missed a couple of the podcasts, you can always go to Eaglesway Ministries.org and select a podcast. And you can see where Dr. Huber basically talked about got health. He did a two-part series we mentioned, and also uh some of the other podcast episodes that we do based on health. So again, if you need to review or want to listen to the podcast, you can always go to egosway ministries.org. And if not, I just want to wish Dr. Huber and your family a happy Thanksgiving and uh in a happy holiday season and uh get through the finals. Get through the finals. Yeah. Now the time. All righty. Well, again, thank you, Dr. Huber, and thank you. Until next time, uh keep advancing.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

Thank you for listening to the Torian Health and Wells with Dr. Steve Wells. We would like to thank our sponsor. If we'd like to sponsor health and five cats, equal three minutes three, equal three minutes three, and two, four, three four, four, six, five, eight five, six, six, two, four, three, twenty thirty five, six twenty, and increases the power of the week.