By now most people living in the US has understood that stress
is a real problem. This is not a disease itself but can trigger multiple physical
and even mental illnesses if not taken care of in time. As a popular tool,
brain stress balls are believed to be highly effective to reduce stress level when
it is at its worst. People, who are too busy to follow a balanced diet and fail
to rest properly, have to rely on this tiny piece of soft material for keeping
their mind calm in heated moments. This makes custom stress balls highly popular
item as a promotional gift.
Looking into the origin of these balls we come to know that they
have originated in China. Strangely, the stress balls used to be absolutely
different from what we see in the US today. Ancient stress balls were made of
wood or metal. For reducing stress one didn’t have to squeeze them but roll
them. A bell fixed inside the hollow ball started chiming when someone moved
the ball. The soothing sound relived the mind eventually.
The structure of modern stress balls are based on pure
science. As per scientist’s observation, when our brain is under pressure we
take information from two different channels. A sensory channel (its functions for
seeing, listening, feeling, and smelling in that situation) and an intellectual
channel that understands, tries to makes sense and put it into words and context
when we talk. Researchers have found that by blocking the basic sensory channel
you can restrict your experience of events from being clear and intense. The
act of squeezing the ball would engage a large part of the brain in receiving
the information coming from the hands. This way the custom stress balls
divert the mind from the reason of stress by concentrating on the hand movement
and moving the concentration away from intellectual activities. Also, the
action of repetitive squeezing and releasing the ball helps the muscle fibers
in the arms to relax, thereby reducing tension.
