Understanding Stress: It's Not an Emotion
In this segment, Dr. Jeffrey Gladden explains that anxiety is an emotional experience triggered by the physiological stress response, whereas stress itself is not an emotion and cannot be directly felt. He illustrates this distinction with a client case: a caregiver juggling a dying parent, a demanding job, and a young child. Despite successfully completing homework on nutrition, exercise, and sleep hygiene, the client could not lower her stress and reported that she "doesn't feel stress." Dr. Gladden emphasizes that stress manifests as a physiological overload that may cause one to "keel over," rather than a feeling that can be consciously perceived, highlighting the need for strategies that address the underlying physiological load rather than merely seeking an emotional awareness of stress.
