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A decade or so ago, stress was just another word in the dictionary, and, at best, it was negatively used only in the context of a few people (e.g., corporate executives) and conditions (e.g., ulcers, strokes, heart attacks). Today, however, stress is mentioned in the context of all types of people and conditions. In short, our modern-day society has been labeled as part of the "stress age." The sad truth is that many people are not fully aware of this stress epidemic and, are therefore, not doing anything to protect themselves. In short, may people are either heading for the "stress trap," not aware that they are already in the stress trap, and others, for a variety of reasons, are in denial that they are in the stress trap. The tiger is used as an indication of a "symbolic" potential threat
or stressor to man, thereby causing him stress. This point is conveyed in the
first section of the book dealing with Identifying Your Stressors. Historically, the tiger, especially the saber-tooth tiger, has played a very important role in explaining how our cave-dwelling ancestors, the cave men, either fought or fled (i.e., the "fight-or-flight" reaction, which is discussed in a later chapter) from existing threats. As a brief history goes, tigers, whose Latin name is Panthera tigris, are the biggest cats in the world, and they live in steamy hot jungles and icy cold forests of selected countries of the world (e.g., China, India, Cambodia). Although today's tigers are an endangered species, with only approximately 5,000-7,000 tigers left in the wild, they are known for their speed, hunting skills and ferociousness. The two main types are the popular Siberian and Bengal tigers which are found in Siberia and India, respectively. Tigers are referred to as the largest cats because fully grown adults have weights that are in excess of 500 pounds. It is based primarily on the unique characteristics of the tiger that he is used in this book, both as a symbol of stress (i.e., when it is stalking and silently menacing its prey or when it is ferociously chasing and attacking its prey at great speeds and persistence) and as a symbol that can be controlled (i.e., when it is tamed, domesticated by man). In many ways, the ferocious nature of the tiger, especially when hunting other animals, is very synonymous with the extreme stresses modern-man faces. In another respect, the lurking behavior of the tiger, again seen in hunting behavior, and the persistence it demonstrates in getting its prey, is very synonymous with the variety of chronic stressors and stresses modern-man faces. In a related manner, the speed of the tiger is very synonymous with the acute (i.e., the swift-like nature) of a variety of stressors and stresses modern-man experiences.
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Taken From the Following Book: "Managing
Stress the Easy Way: Taming the Beast and Controlling Your Life"
(Written by Dr. Ivor L. Livingston and due to be published in Spring 2006).
