Thoughts on stress
I have a very broad definition of stress. I define it as a signal that indicates to a being that something in its environment needs to change. This signal is meant to drive the animal to "correct" the flaw in the environment. As such, stress is state that wants to be resolved. The thing which the stressful signal is originating from is called a stressor.
Using this definition, stress is at heart a purely mechanical phenomenon and is not related to sentience. The same principle can occur in machines as well as in simulations such as consiousness.
In sentient animals, there are different modes of stress; There is stress that occur when a stress-resolving action has been initiated that persists until the action has been completed. This rewarding stress is perceived as pleasurable. For example, eating tasty food until becoming full. The stressor in this scenario is having an empty stomach, and the resolution of the stressor is becoming full. The animal is resolving the stressor "hunger" by the act of "eating", which will finally be resolved into the stable state "full". Throughout this process, the animal will experience the punishing stress of being hungry, the rewarding stress of eating, and finally experience the dissolution of the stress altogether. Another similar example is having sexual intercourse, where the pleasure derived from procreating is resolved by the orgasm.
The second form of stress is "punishing" and is what is most commonly referred to in everyday speech. This stress is perceived as displeasurable until being either transitioned to rewarding stress or being resolved completely. For example, being in a room that is too cold to uphold homeostatis will cause humans to suffer until they have either moved to a warmer location or have established a micro-climate around themselves, most commonly by using clothes. In this example there is no rewarding state invloved, the stressor is just gradually becoming less demanding as the temperature starts to increase.
The previous examples were very obvious to demonstrate the basic mechanics of stress. My main point is that I do not see stress as a human emotion, I see the stressful emotional sensations as a human interpretation of a purely mechanical concept. While stress itself can be present in any system as a state that wants to be resolved.
All stress is characterized by being catabolic in nature. A system under stress wants to expend energy to resolve the stressor. When a tiger suddenly appears before a human, the body needs to spend energy to rectify the hostile environment, either by defeating the tiger with force or by moving to a position outside of the tigers sensory-range.
The opposite of stress is when the body enters into a anabolic state. Where the environment is fit enough for the system to recuperate from any previous stressors. I refer to this state simply as a "resting" state. The system now wants to preserve energy by digestion. These states are very similar to rewarding stress because they are both pleasurable, but the difference is that rewarding stress is catabolic while resting states are anabolic.
Why is vegetation, running water and tweeting birds effective as an antidote to stress? I believe that these signals are very refined attractors to resting states. A thing that emits a resting signal is called a relaxor. Running water is indicating a steady supply of clean water, which is an indicator of an appropriate environment. Vegetation and chirping birds both imply high biodiversity and availability of nutrients. The result of this conditioning has been that locations that fulfil these requirements are perceived as paradisiacal, while barren lands appear infernal.
Is it possible to live without stress? How does stress relate to life from a philosophical standpoint?
The first question can be translated to: is it possible to remain in an predominantly anabolic state forever? Which leads me to the most enigmatic stressor; the stressor that wants to spend accumulated energy. The reason we want to accumulate energy (i.e. digest) in the first place is to be able spend that energy. Otherwise all other stessors would ultimately be pointless. Once a being has lingered in paradise for too long, the system instigates a will to adventure and appropriation. This stressor might be considered the most fundamental drive in life — the will to grow.
The purely anabolic state is to me equivalent to Nirvana or Gnosis. It would indicate that the system is "done" and has no need to exist anymore. In essence wanting to "resolve" life could paradoxically be seen as both misanthropic and life-affirming. Life is literally the process of resolving stressors, and if all stressors disappear there is no need to do anything anymore, there would be nothing to respond to with an action. Even the pleasurable sensation itself would lose its purpose.
While this could be interpreted as life merely being a prolonged death-wish, its important to acknowledge that we do not know what motive the Allfather (i.e. the first biological cell) had for existing or being created.
To return to a more practial discussion, how has this framework of thought translated to me handling more acute symptoms of unresolved stressors, such as anxiety and depression? I think the only general answer that could be given to this question is that a balanced metabolism is key. To live a bearable life, all stressors in the environment has be periodically resolved. Any major unresolved stressors, such as the thought that the end of the world is imminent, will lead to an overabundance of catabolism that will eventually degenerate the livelyhood of the system.
It is impossible to live completely without stressors, since life itself is a system that wants to to be resolved. But the inability to resolve stressors can be fatal.