The Age of Stress as a Precedent

The cover story of Time Magazine on June 6th, 1983 declared America “In the Age of Stress”. It depicted us as a society consumed by demands for our resources and threats to our well-being.
Since that time in 1983 when the official diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was first categorized by the Board of Medicine and Psychology there has been little effort made to define the parameters of stress, thus leaving us (the lay-person) to define ANYTHING with an overwhelming effect…. as stress.
Because stress is a natural form of physical reaction to our environment, I feel it vital to understand the nervous system, its fundamental (base) response, and its contradictions.
The word “stress” has been so overly used and emphasized, as to describe everything from marital discord to juvenile delinquency, that I find it prudent to discuss the implications of typical (physical) stress vs. the “stress scapegoat”.

Stress has now become a way to blame our fears and psychological malaise on every unpropitious occurrence. These situations could easily be handled if we understood our personal reactions and childhood traumas, and knew the difference between a natural Fight/Flight response or an overly stimulated psyche.

In the modern world, we face a variety of social and technical problems requiring the concentration and consideration of a rational thought process. So, the question at hand is how you make a decision under stressful conditions by using rational thought processes when your natural instincts tend toward a quick and possibly irrational decisions or responses.

The biggest difference in decision making under stress vs. decision making without stress is – irrational vs. rational thinking. When you are able to make a decision under a non-stress filled condition, you are able to think and act more rationally. A decision made under stressful conditions is much more irrational.

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Goals and Objectives for Neuro-Rhythm Audiology

Therapy (Advanced Work)

The objectives for working with your nervous system while studying consciousness, is to create a union with the body for optimal integration.

Our nervous system is like an antenna for it’s surroundings and has been primarily conditioned for threatening situations.It is natural for the nervous system to perceive non-ordinary states of awareness as “unknown territory” which in most cases creates a sympathetic response (a defense response) regarding this unexpected experience.

By training the nervous system to relax during these heightened states of awareness you are giving yourself the highest possibility of outcome for integration.

It is essential for the experience of awakening to be in a relaxed and neutral sate, something that our nervous system does not often feel. The integration of a non-ordinary state of awareness with the living body gives direct experience of a calm and integrated life in all situations.

After you have completed Phase One of the Neuro-Rhythm Audiology work, your experience of stress should have a noticeable detachment. This should not be confused with dismissal. You will continue to feel engaged, but this feeling will have space and a sense of choice as to the length of time you spend in a stressful situation.

Once you have completed Phase One and received your Alpha CD, you should continue to listen to this CD in combination with your choice of Advanced Brain States CD’s. Many of the Advanced CD’s are capable of bringing the brain into a desirable neutral awareness state, as well as keeping the body relaxed and open to the “unknown”.

The recommended Advanced CD’s are as follows;

Two Borderline CD’s – creates a calm state of focus and memory retention

Epsilon, Gamma, Hyper Gamma – Very heightened state of focused meditation, neutrality and openness to the unknown, Self-continuity.

Note: These CD’s are for on-going “core therapy” in combination with Kinesiology as your regular therapy work.

Stressors are events or situations that induce stress. It is found that stressors for high-level decision makers or corporate employees have been shown to be; time pressure, potential layoff threat, workload, and environmental conditions such as noise and weather.

Here are just a few significant stressors you may already be experiencing:

• Serious threat to important values and goals, life, health, environment;
• Danger and fear of loss for one’s own livelihood
• Strain of responsibility;
• Fear of failure-catastrophic consequences of failing to solve the crisis;
• Having reduced ability to be effective, resulting in less control over consequences;
• Rapid changes requiring continuing assessments;
• Time pressure which is not always accurate;
• Insecurity-regarding assessment of the situation and solutions;
• Little information-or information overload;
• Group pressure, and/or subgroups emerging.
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In the modern world, we face a variety of social and technical problems requiring the concentration and consideration of a rational thought process. So, the question at hand is how you make a decision under stressful conditions by using rational thought processes when your natural instincts tend toward a quick and possibly irrational decisions or responses.

The biggest difference in decision making under stress vs. decision making without stress is – irrational vs. rational thinking. When you are able to make a decision under a non-stress filled condition, you are able to think and act more rationally. A decision made under stressful conditions is much more irrational.

The “stress response” is aimed at an immediate physical reaction. For example; activities, which are planning, or situations that require your focused attention such as meetings or training workshops, will loose their importance and priority.

The reason for this is simple, under stress; the quickest physical reaction dominates the most appropriate action. There are natural tendencies under these conditions for the brain to reduce the search for, and acceptance of, new information, and to return to “dominant responses” which will oversimplify the alternatives available, to reduce the perceived time to make a decision, and to perceive threat and hostility more strongly than during normal decision making without the stress response activation.