Hello reader, my name is Christopher E. Lord and I am a Doctor of Medicine with a specialty in Psychiatry. I was delighted to have the opportunity to share what I know about mental health concerns with you all in an effort to assist you in meeting your personal goals during your journey through Lent.
I was given the topic of “Stress” to cover and like many of you; I am no stranger to stress! But I figure what is “stress” to me might not be stress to another, so I thought I might start by defining what stress means to me as a medical doctor.
The modern medical concept of stress was developed by a Hungarian endocrinologist named Hans Selye, who began research in this area in the 1930’s. He defined stress as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change". I really appreciate this (arguably oversimplified) definition of stress because as I enter this Season of Lent with the goals I have set for myself I notice “stress” as I make demands for change in my own personal habits!
Dr. Selye later offered another definition for stress: "any event which may make demands upon the organism, and sets in motion a non-specific bodily response which leads to a variety of temporary or permanent physiological or structural changes". Although people who study the modern concept of stress would argue that even this definition is too narrow or antiquated, it is the one that I have studied the most and therefore is the definition with which I am most comfortable.
I will devote future blog entries to sharing with you some of what we know of these “bodily responses” and “temporary or permanent physical changes” due to stress and also (time and space permitting) some new treatments under development to remedy some of these changes.
Thank you for reading!
Yours most sincerely,
Christopher E Lord
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The Purpose Driven Life - Finding Your Purpose
CHAPTER 9 - WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE
The smile of God is the goal of your life. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do that. So how do we make God smile?
- God smiles when we trust him completely
- God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly
- God smiles when we praise and thank him continually
- God smiles when we use our abilities.
Verse to Remember: "The Lord is pleased with those who worship him and trust his love." Psalm 147:11
Question to Consider: Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him most?
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