I just got done watching this cool documentary on stress and the effects it has on the body. It profiled the average working joe who doesn't have much say in his job, has a heavy work load, and overall isn't satisfied with his position. The effect stress was having on them was terrible. It damaged artery walls and enabled plaque to build up there, weakened the immune system, literally destroyed brain cells and hampered their growth, to name a few of the more severe ones.

In watching this I realized I have pretty much zero stress in my life. I used to be somewhat stressed when I was 16 and 17, but not too bad. And once I discovered Satanism that pretty much just went away. Realizing you're not the only whack job in the world and you should be proud how weird you are really eases your social stress. So I was wondering what the stress level of other self respecting proud people such as Satanists were. What do you think yours is?

I used to be quite wound up.
I had a dead end job (19 years), relationship wasn't much to write home about and i felt because i was too scared to get out of the rut i was in i was doomed to be this way period.

Then i found the satantic bible.
The ideas within and following books made me realise that i can change things when/how i want them.

None the less i was still pissed at the world. . .
As for releasing stess i took up tradional Wing Chun Kung Fu.
This enabled be to enhance my focus (much the same a ritual would) and reduce the stress in my life.(no room for a ritual chamber where i live so this is the next best thing)

Since i was made redundant in Feburary, i have hopped in and out of a couple jobs and i am gearing myself up to move up to the city nearby and go to Uni to study Psychology in the new year.

I heard a qoute today that summed up the journey I/we undertake.
The Zen dog is in a boat, floating on the ocean, doesn't know what the future holds, but is out to enjoy the ride

I have a low stress level.

I do not let small things bother me and I work extremely well under pressure. I prefer it that way or I get bored.

I have several hobbies and a great wife and daughter that keep me motivated and happy with life in general.

I deal with many stressful situations on a daily basis, but I always seem to keep a cool head regardless of which sweat grenade is being tossed my way. Shit happens. You just have to know how to deal with it when it does. If you know your situation, know your potential outcomes, and have a contingency plan in place for each, I believe a person can handle just about anything...except for death. That shit's permanent.

Plus I think it feels awesome to have conquered an obstacle that would make an ordinary person quit. Victory makes the struggle worthwhile.

Everything I ever wanted to know about stress, I learned from Robert Sapolsky's amazing book, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. It's a must-read.

I would also recommend reading Christina Maslach's books on burnout, such as Burnout: The Cost of Caring and The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. Maslach has done ample research on the specific stressors and negative experiences that ultimately lead to the sense of disconnection and disenfranchisement that causes burnout.

In a nutshell, various forms of short-term stress can actually serve as a positive motivator for both your brain and your body, as it can stimulate the immune system and spark the release of endorphins.

Long-term, unabating stress, on the other hand, is what leads to that build-up of corticosteroids (stress hormones) that causes damage to the mind and body.

Additionally, when a stressor (something that causes stress) appears to be uncontrollable or unpredictable, and/or meaningless and purposeless, the resultant stress will be more severe, and more damaging, than if the individual feels that they have some modicum of control or power in their situation, or can derive some kind of meaning or purpose from the stressful event.

Me, I'm under constant stress, but that's just the name of the game I'm currently in.

Robert Sapolsky was the person in the documentary whose research they focused on. He studied a troop of baboons for 30 years. This troop only has to eat for 3 hours a day so the rest of the time is spent, as he said, being bastards to each other. The higher ranking members had very little stress in their life based on blood tests and whatnot, but the low ranking members, who got literally beat up for the sheer fun of it, had very high stress and were on their way to early graves. But after 10 years of study they got into eating garbage and all the aggressive alpha males died off because of diseases they caught. The group then became peaceful and very calm because there weren't any bullies left. For the 20 years after that happened they have had no really aggressive alpha males reestablish the old ways. In this time he continued doing stress tests on them and found that all members of the society, whether high ranking or not, had very little stress because everyone took care of everyone. And he said if baboons can do it, why can't humans?

The really fascinating part about the baboon culture when there were still alpha males was the members who were stressed were exhibiting the same illnesses and diseases humans had. Clogged arteries, damaged brain cells, high blood pressure, etc.

I've had to work on my stress level for years now. I've struggled with anxiety, too. I help oversee a large credit union branch, so there's a lot of responsibility on my plate. I've been in the field for roughly two years now & I'm still very green & learning new things every day. I am a perfectionist, so I expect nothing but greatness most of the time from myself. At times this can be a great motivator, others it can hinder my well-being & psyche. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing well, otherwise I wouldn't have held the position for this long.

I also suffered from some anxiety with one of my favorite hobbies/passions...skydiving. I've ridden the plane down a few times now & I really beat myself up about it. I've since overcome the illogical fears I was having & look forward to enjoying the blue skies once again this weekend! The philosophy of Satanism has absolutely helped shape me into being a better person. I held these values before I even knew of Satanism, but to have a philosophy that I hold in such high regard, it keeps me in check to challenge & push myself into new territories.

Stress is one of the worst things for your body! I too watched, from what I can gather, the same documentary. It's amazing what the mind can do (we see it every day in conventional society) & the physiological effects it can have on our bodies. I have to keep myself in check every day, but I've overcome this beast without medication or professional help. Through ritual & a rational worldview I have been able to keep it in check & continue to be successful in my earthly endeavors.

Thank you so much for this post, Witch TrojZyr! I've had the Zebra book on my "to read" list forever and I know I would've gotten to it eventually but your recommendation bumped it to the top. Also, "burnout" is something that hadn't even hit my radar, something I've never even considered learning about. The books you listed look very useful!

Are there really people out there who are not stressed? And are not fullblown sociopaths? That is such a foreign concept to me. I've always looked at stress as something like air. It's a constant, a given. It's not something you have zero of, it is always there. Sometimes the quality changes though, sometimes the pollen count is higher, sometimes it's practically code red radioactive nuclear fallout. Sell stress relief and you've got as much job security as the IRS, gravediggers and bartenders.

I'm one of those nervous disposition types, like perpetual hay fever, very allergic to real and imagined stress. Always fidgety, facial tics, muscle spasms, diagnosed with hypertension at age 16, chronic insomnia since... birth, indigestion, headaches, blah de blah blah. So, stress management is big chunk of my toolbox.

Unfortunately, discovering Satanism wasn't some magic Benadryl bullet for me, it did not instantly lower my blood pressure. It was still totally Sinatra though.

Ah! Yet another thing we have in common.

I view stress as something akin to nuclear waste.

You have a nuclear power plant, you get waste, period.

It's just there. You try to design the plant to make as little as possible in the first place, and try to manage the waste as best you can. And one better damn well pay attention to the little meters that tell you when it's reaching really dangerous levels.

But not having it is not an option. That's like a cruel joke.

I guess some peoples lives are more like windmills or solar panels.

Lucky bastards.

Or, perhaps it's self-deceit.

I've certainly had periods where my stress level was low or negligible, but yes--I view stress more-or-less as a fact of life.

This is largely thanks to that darned ol' hedonic treadmill. Whatever highs or lows we may experience, our standards and expectations adjust accordingly over time, and we find ourselves back at or near the emotional "zero point" sooner or later.

I'm not really a nervous type--especially compared to many people I know--but I am rather conscientious, and quite future-focused. Fortunately, I also have a sense of fun and play, so I have ways of managing or releasing stress. I also try to remind myself of what I can control, and what I can't, and I make an effort to break larger tasks or problems into manageable bite-sized pieces.

On average? Fairly high. I wouldn't want to have it any other way. It gets shit done.

There is stress, and there is eustress.

Then there's "joyful stress"! A Satanic lesson from The Jeffersons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn1bqemvzXQ#t=3m50s

I can dig that. I inherit hypertension from my father, but that is easily counteracted with meds.

"Joyful Stress" can be alleviated with exercise and meditation!

According to those books that rate the stress levels of different events in your life, I should have been dead last Tuesday. But I’m not. I don’t claim to hold any secrets as to why I am not in a straight jacket; but, I do hold to three keystones…1) Reframe, reframe, reframe. Events that take place around me, I generally cannot control. How I view those events is all up to me. 2) Never go out of my way to read “the news”. It isn’t. 3) Regular bowel movements. The quality of a BM tells you a lot about how you are dealing with stress. Like a two year old, I know I’m doing things right as long as everything is coming out right. These are my secrets. I have no idea how anyone gets along in life without stress. Seriously…I mean, when really great things happen…that is also stress! That’s why kids cry so much at Disney World. There is too much cool shit going on around them. Got a raise? That is stressful. Met someone great? That is stressful.

Haha! That's me. Yelling over the phone and even yelling off the phone. But black people are just loud in general.

Just the other day I walked in the check cashing place to pay a bill and the clerk noticed that one of my $20 bills was the old version. I was like "THE ATM MACHINE GAVE ME THAT! THAT CAME OUT THE ATM!!!" She said "Wow man you don't have to get all aggravated."

I would go even further and say that I personally need some level of stress to be creative. I am constantly working in quite many different arenas in my personal life and stress truly helps me to focus.

I don´t see that the Satanism would have destroyed all my stress with some hocus pocus trick, cause I ,like Reverend here, also believe it is something which every creative persons do have as an side effect of their creativity.

I personally think stress as a tool, I use it to give me more power when I temporarily need it more and when I do not need it I just throw it away and focus on relaxing.

I agree with the comment of Shade about zero stress, I do not believe there is any zero level cause without stress you have no adrenaline and without adrenaline and the effects of dopamine in your brains you would be just phlegmatic drifter!

When I said 'are you stressed' I should have been more specific in my question by asking are you habitually stressed. Like day in and day out you cannot relax, you're always worried about something, there's always a problem or conflict on your mind.

For me where Satanism came in to get rid of that sort of stress is it gave me the mental emancipation I needed to put those worries and concerns and whatnot off to the side and enjoy life here and now. I was always mulling over negative situations and ideas in my mind nonstop, but after reading The Satanic Bible I found out I could tell those things to fuck off. I would come back to them when the time was right, if they were things I could help that was.

I agree totally with you Reverend, I also "like it hot" so to speak. I need certain level of Stress to get my shit done as well and when I have done the best I can it is not stress anymore, but joy..

I work in a commercial kitchen. :P

I try to balance out the stress of work by buying things I want with the money I earn and I try not to get caught up in the little things.

It's tough, but I like to think that I'm tougher.

Just wanted to say a parable because caught my eyes, and I thought it might be funny, and relevant.

Scientists put 3 monkeys into a cage, and put a banana at the top of the cage. One monkey gets curious and starts to climb up to get the banana, the scientists take a fire-hose and thoroughly dose all 3 monkeys. The next time the monkey goes up the other two monkeys beat the shit out of him. The scientists take out one of the monkeys and bring in a brand new one. They put a banana at the top of the cage, as soon as the new monkey climbs towards the banana the other 2 monkeys grab him and beat the crap out of him.

The scientists then take out another one of the original monkeys so there are the two monkeys who hadn't been doused and the original one who had with the same results of beating the new monkey who climbed for the banana. Then they take out the last original monkey so none of the monkeys who had originally been doused are in the cage, the newest monkey goes for the banana and gets beaten. He asks why did you beat me? The other monkey replied I don't know that's just the way we have always done it.

Hell yes, I'm stressed! I work way beyond the 40-hour week in America. Also, I'm surrounded by idiots who worship a fat man who sits on his ass. Still, I make time to do what I need to do. I deal with the stress by doing yoga, lifting weights and playing music. The stress must be used to power the engine, to push things forward. What's that line in Conan the Barbarian? "Plenty of time for peace in the grave." There is no peace in this world, and I wouldn't want it. Type A personality all the way!

Hey, Janina - where did you dig this diagram? I am asking because this is an image that I designed last year for a client who runs a magazine at Cote D'Ivoire.

To comment on the topic, I am usually stressed in two different ways: 1) stress coming from things (work and activities) I like and 2) stress coming from things that I don't like. No.1 is for example when I work on a graphic design project or compose and record a new song. Then stress is actually not standing in my way and I'm phisically and emotionally comfortable (sometimes even more creative as some of you said above). But when for some reason I have to deal with things I don't like (especially when it's for a longer period), this really affects my mental peace. When I can't handle it anymore and the right point is reached, I ritualize this. Actually, a few times I've missed that point when it's just the RIGHT TIME and the consequences have not been good for me... which, of course, creates more stress. I guess I am learning this the hard way (which is usually the case with everything I do).

Stress ROCKS! I love Stress!
HS!

Is that because you perform the most bad ass Satanic Rituals with it Magister Lang?

Hey, Janina - where did you dig this diagram? I am asking because this is an image that I designed last year for a client who runs a magazine at Cote D'Ivoire.
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Hi J.D. Bones, I found the diagram by simple google image search..