By Kylee Harris 

November 6th is National Stress Day this year! In this month’s  blog, you’ll find a little history about National Stress Day and how it came to be! 

National Stress Awareness day was established in 1998 by the chair of the International Stress Management Association (ISMA) by a woman named Carol Spiers. She originally created the day to be nationally recognized to raise awareness of stress management  in people’s personal and professional lives. This day is celebrated every first Wednesday of November! The International Stress Management Association provides training and programs particularly focused on healthy professional stress management, this includes de-escalation techniques and consulting to help people manage their everyday lives. 

Dating back as early as 1910, it was found that the “wear and tear of life” (or as we now know it “stress”) can be a contributing factor for heart disease. In 1920, The term “stress” was created by a scientist named Hans Selye from Austria. He stole the term from physics, where the term is used to describe the force that puts a strain on the human body. In the late 1930’s, Selye was performing experiments using rats, and determined that the cause of death of some of his subjects was stress. From there, he coined the diagnosis of “general adaptation syndrome”. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)  is characterized as the body’s response to stress. There are 3 stages to GAS. The first stage is Alarm or the body’s initial reaction to the stressor. The second stage is Resistance, where the body tries to fight off or cope with stress, but physical signs including irritability and frustration can occur. The third stage is Exhaustion, where the body enters if the Resistance stage lasts for too long. In the late 1950’s the experiments started ramping up. One in particular was called “The Executive Monkey Study”. Scientists were using monkeys to demonstrate the harmful effects of stress. They proved that the animals that were under more psychological and physical stress combined with hunger were less healthy than those who were only physically hungry. These experiments were cruel, but pushed scientists to think outside the boundary of mental wellness. In 1974, the “Tension Control” organization was founded. The foundation or the organization was meant to educate people on the health and wellbeing of their bodies. The organization aimed to help aid people in their everyday lives by providing information, and tips on how to slow the “tension” in their lives. In 1989, The Tension Control Organization went through a few name changes before the International Stress Management Association was decided upon. The UK was actually the first place to have a dedicated Stress Awareness Day, originally celebrated in April. This UK holiday inspired the USA to have a day dedicated as well! In 1998, The Stress Awareness Management Association declared the day to be the first Wednesday of November every year! To allow businesses and organizations time to celebrate their stress reduction programs, and to implement new protocols, Stress Awareness is now celebrated for a full week! You can celebrate Stress Awareness Day/Week any way you want! Remember to take time for yourself, listen to your body, and reflect on what YOU need.