Stress Management

Summary

• Go to the source.
• Consult your supervisor.
• Look inside.
• Cultivate your news sources.
• Choose your battles.

Have you ever been delayed this close (imagine your thumb and forefinger about one millimeter apart) to a deadline because someone still had not given you that last key piece of information you needed to complete your project? It may be somebody in accounting, marketing, or information services whom you can never seem to reach, and your “chair warmer” may be expendable if you fail to deliver on time. Worse, this kind of frustration can lead to burnout.

What started out as a challenging job somehow mutated into a stressful one. Most experts in behavior agree that challenge not only energizes us psychologically and physiologically, but also motivates us to learn new skills and master our jobs. After meeting a challenge, we feel relaxed and satisfied. That’s when we tend to be most productive. But when a challenge turns into demands that cannot be met, relaxation becomes exhaustion, satisfaction becomes anxiety, and we feel stress.

Here are some suggestions for avoiding burnout by getting the information you need and keeping an even keel:

• Go straight to the source. In today’s increasingly team-oriented corporate culture, it may be OK to approach the source of information directly. Explain your situation calmly and listen to the other person’s response. Perhaps there’s a creative solution you can find together.
• Consult your supervisor, if you can’t resolve this yourself. After identifying the person or department that has the information you need, go to your immediate supervisor and discuss in a positive, constructive way your situation. Recap the project you’re working on, describe what’s at stake, and recount the steps you’ve taken to get the information you need. Also convey what you are feeling and experiencing.
• Look inside. Realize that burnout is not always the result of overworking; it is the product of frustration over circumstances. Reassess and take account. Could you have headed this kind of crisis off with better planning? Do you need time-management training? Are you a type A person who insists on handling everything yourself?
• Cultivate your news sources. Socialize with colleagues and discuss experiences and ideas. You’ll gain information and insight into the company and the industry that could be helpful to you in your job.
• Choose your battles, weapons, and strategies carefully. Keep in mind a Quaker saying: “In the face of strong winds, let me be a blade of grass. In the face of strong walls, let me be a gale of wind.”

By Brian Cohen

©2000-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html; Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky. W.H. Freeman and Co., 1994; From Stress to Strength by Robert S. Eliot, MD. Bantam Books, 1994; Interview with Joyce Robbins, president and owner of Adams & Garth Staffing.

Everyone feels stressed from time to time, but what is stress? How does it affect your health, and what can you do about it?

Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand. Every type of demand or stressor—such as exercise, work, school, major life changes or traumatic events—can be stressful.

Stress can affect your health. It is important to pay attention to how you deal with minor and major stress events so that you know when to seek help. Here are five things you should know about stress:

Stress affects everyone.

Everyone feels stressed from time to time. Some people may cope with stress more effectively or recover from stressful events more quickly than others. There are different types of stress—all of which carry physical and mental health risks. A stressor may be a one-time or short-term occurrence, or it can be an occurrence that keeps happening over a long period.

Examples of stress include:

• Routine stress related to the pressures of work, school, family and other daily responsibilities
• Stress brought about by a sudden negative change, such as losing a job, divorce or illness
• Traumatic stress experienced in an event like a major accident, war, assault or natural disaster where people may be in danger of being seriously hurt or killed (People who experience traumatic stress often experience temporary symptoms of mental illness, but most recover naturally soon after.)

Not all stress is bad.

Stress can motivate people to prepare or perform, like when they need to take a test or interview for a new job. Stress can even be life-saving in some situations. In response to danger, your body prepares to face a threat or flee to safety. In these situations, your pulse quickens, you breathe faster, your muscles tense and your brain uses more oxygen and increases activity—all functions aimed at survival.

Long-term stress can harm your health.

Health problems can occur if the stress response goes on for too long or becomes chronic, such as when the source of stress is constant, or if the response continues after the danger has subsided. With chronic stress, those same life-saving responses in your body can suppress immune, digestive, sleep, and reproductive systems, which may cause them to stop working normally.

Different people may feel stress in different ways. For example, some people experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger or irritability. People under chronic stress are prone to more frequent and severe viral infections, such as the flu or common cold.

Routine stress may be the hardest type of stress to notice at first. Because the source of stress tends to be more constant than in cases of acute or traumatic stress, the body gets no clear signal to return to normal functioning. Over time, continued strain on your body from routine stress may contribute to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other illnesses, as well as mental health problems like depression or anxiety.

There are ways to manage stress.

The effects of stress tend to build up over time. Taking practical steps to manage your stress can reduce or prevent these effects. The following are some tips that may help you to cope with stress:

• Recognize the signs of your body’s response to stress, such as difficulty sleeping, increased alcohol and other substance use, being easily angered, feeling depressed and having low energy.
• Talk to your doctor or health care provider. Get proper health care for existing or new health problems.
• Get regular exercise. Just 30 minutes per day of walking can help boost your mood and reduce stress.
• Try a relaxing activity. Explore stress-coping programs, which may incorporate meditation, yoga, tai chi or other gentle exercises. Schedule regular times for these and other healthy and relaxing activities.
• Set goals and priorities. Decide what must get done and what can wait, and learn to say no to new tasks if they are putting you into overload. Note what you have accomplished at the end of the day, not what you have been unable to do.
• Stay connected with people who can provide emotional and other support. To reduce stress, ask for help from friends and family, and community or religious organizations.

If you’re overwhelmed by stress, ask for help from a health professional.

You should seek help right away if you have suicidal thoughts, are overwhelmed, feel you cannot cope or are using drugs or alcohol to cope. Your doctor may be able to provide a recommendation.

Anyone experiencing severe or long-term, unrelenting stress can become overwhelmed. If you or a loved one is having thoughts of suicide, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service is available to anyone. All calls are confidential.

Source: National Institute of Mental Health, www.nimh.nih.gov

Summary

• Plan for days when the office will be short-staffed.
• Prioritize what cannot wait until after the holidays.
• Simplify your holiday plans.
• Take care of yourself.

The holidays may be a time of joy, but they aren’t always a time of relaxation. Balancing your family’s expectations with work commitments and social obligations can make this the most stressful time of the year. At work, you may discover that the work is still coming in, but most of your colleagues aren’t. You may even be planning to take some time off yourself. Before the season gets too busy, try these strategies for reducing holiday stress in the workplace.

Plan

Create a calendar for the holiday period, noting who will be at work on which days. If you know in advance that your workplace will be short-staffed at certain times, you can make plans. This might include reassigning essential tasks, prioritizing duties or hiring temporary help. If most of the workplace is on vacation, just having an extra person there to answer the telephone could reduce your stress level dramatically.

Prioritize

What absolutely has to be done today, and what can wait until after the holidays? Ask yourself this question when you begin to feel stress at work. If a task can be held for completion in a week or two, set it aside.

Keep it simple

One reason for holiday stress is the desire to make everything “perfect.” If you’re working during this season, you may have less time for shopping, cooking, social events, or travel. Lower your stress level by simplifying your holiday plans. This might include choosing which holiday gatherings to attend instead of trying to attend them all, or buying gifts throughout the year instead of waiting until the last minute (also easier on the budget).

Organize your workspace

If you’re going on vacation, organize your workspace before leaving. Provide your supervisor or colleague(s) with an “at a glance summary” and file paths for projects you are working on in the event they need to access information during your time away. If something needs to be done in your absence, leave written instructions. Your voicemail message should include the date of your return and the name and telephone number of someone in the office who could take an urgent message.

Practice self-care

You can reduce symptoms of stress by taking care of yourself during the holiday season. Eat balanced meals, get plenty of sleep, avoid alcohol, and exercise regularly. Exercise is particularly important for energy and good health during the holiday season. Get a head start on your New Year’s resolution: Talk to your doctor now about creating the right exercise program for you.

Breathe

If work becomes too stressful, stop and take a number of slow, deep breaths. Inhale, count to three slowly and gradually exhale. After four or five breaths, you probably will feel much more relaxed. Deep breathing can be done anywhere and anytime and is a great way to keep your stress down throughout the day.

Get in the spirit of the season

When your co-workers are on vacation, the phone’s ringing off the hook, work is piling up, and you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping, the season may not seem quite so jolly. Nevertheless, do something to remember the real spirit of the holidays. Consider donating gifts to a needy family, collecting canned food for a local shelter, or sponsoring “Santa’s visit” to a local children’s hospital. Volunteering not only makes you feel good but it makes others feel appreciated as well. You might find this is the best “stress reliever” of all.

By Lauren Greenwood

©1999-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Releases anxiety and tension
• Recording thoughts helps escape pressures
• It can handwritten, typed, etc.

After a taxing day, a great way to let go of worry and stress is to write in a journal. It doesn’t matter if you are a good writer or not—you are the only one who will see your journal (unless you choose to share it with others).

Whether you put pen to paper or type on a computer, a journal is a healing place to collect your thoughts and ideas. Recording your thoughts—especially during a stressful period—lets you get away from everyday stresses and worries.

Setting aside a short amount of time to write in your journal about the strains of the day, how they made you feel, and how you reacted to them, can help you relax.

Organizing your journal writing

After a hectic and harried day, you don’t want to come home anxious to pour out your thoughts, only to search a messy desk for a written journal or look through files on your computer hoping to find the one that holds your journal entries. Here are ideas for organizing your writing:

Handwriting

• Have a home for your journal. If possible, make this space close to where you like to write. If you carry your journal during the day, have a place to store it when you come home.
• Have plenty of your favorite pens on hand. Store pens with your journal and remember to put them back each time you stop writing.

Keyboarding

• On a computer, decide how to store your entries. Will you keep your entries on the computer’s hard drive? Will you make a separate file for each entry, for each day (if you write more than one time a day) or for each month? The more files you make, the more organizing you will have to do.
• Make a back-up copy of your journal entries in case your computer crashes and files are lost. 

No rules

The main thing: Don’t let your journal become a stress in itself. There are no rules for keeping a journal—if you don’t feel like writing each day, that’s OK. Also, you are not being graded for proper spelling or good grammar. Writing in full sentences is not a requirement—sometimes jotting down a fragment or quick thought is all you need.

Keeping a journal can be a fun way to learn about yourself—what stresses you and how to deal with that stress. Your journal-writing experience can be exactly what you make of it.

By Shauna Gellerman

©2001-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Avoid extreme thinking.
• Stop “rehearsing” negative thoughts.
• Use “thought” stoppage.

It’s normal for stress levels to rise during or after a crisis. You can bring down your stress level by taking control of the way you react. 

Manage stress levels with these tips

Avoid extreme thinking. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Since the crisis, my life is going downhill,” you are practicing extreme thinking.

Extreme thinking is not only gloomy, but it also is inaccurate. Try replacing every extreme thought with something more realistic.

For instance, you could say: “This crisis is horrendous, but I will find ways to make my life better because of it.”

Stop “rehearsing” negative thoughts. Remember that the quickest way to bring on feelings of depression is to repeat the same negative thoughts over and over.

Imagine that every negative thought you repeat over and over is like using a shovel to dig yourself into a depressed mood. Instead, reflect on positive thoughts and ideas every day and use positive wording in conversations with others.

Use “thought stoppage.” If grim thoughts and images fill your mind, try wearing a rubber band around your wrist. When a thought you want to get out of your mind appears, flip the rubber band hard and say, “No!” Then focus on something more pleasant. After two or three days of doing this exercise, you should find that you are able to steer your thinking away from disturbing thoughts.

Emergency responders often use this technique in getting over a critical event that resulted in a grim scene they can’t forget. While this will not work on general stress or vague feelings of worry, it will help you to stop thinking about a specific thought or image that keeps playing in your mind.

Find “control buttons” to control stress levels

Place all of your worries into different “baskets.” Do not lump all of your problems—money worries, job concerns or marriage problems—into one giant basket. If you do, you will feel overwhelmed trying to deal with them all.

Manage your problems in bite-size pieces. Split each problem into small chunks. For example, if you have money worries, ask yourself: “How can I make one minor improvement in my finances every week for 10 straight weeks?”

Address the crisis, but keep boundaries around your personal life. You will want to do what you can to resolve the crisis.

However, resist linking too many personal problems and private thoughts to the crisis. In other words, don’t use the anxiety associated with the crisis as an excuse to neglect personal goals. Getting caught up in a crisis can help you avoid addressing important issues that you needed to deal with before this all came about. Focusing too much on the crisis will only hinder you from living productively.

Make all future decisions with caution instead of fear. Although you can learn from the ordeal you went through, don’t let fear of another crisis paralyze you. Learn, grow and press on.

By Judi Light Hopson

©2001-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Some people look forward to the holidays all year, while others see the holiday season approaching and are overcome by a sense of dread. Will life become so hectic that I can’t enjoy the holidays? How will I buy what I need to buy and not overspend again this year? How will I ever get everything done that I need to do? How many pounds will I gain this year? Will the family get along? The list could go on and on, but all these questions, if left unaddressed, lead to the same thing…stress! Try these tips for managing the stress that seems to be built into the holiday season.

Set priorities.

People tend to get wrapped up in trying to create perfection at this time of the year. Set reasonable goals for what you will do to celebrate. Decide in advance what is most important to you and your family, and focus your celebrations around those things. Try to avoid replicating everything your parents did when you were young. Hang on to meaningful traditions, but avoid doing something solely because it is what your mom or dad did.

Don’t over-schedule! Both you and your kids need downtime to enjoy this special time of the year. Be careful to choose activities based on what you want to do rather than what you think you must do.

Make a plan.

Once you have decided what your priorities are for holiday celebrations, plan how you will organize yourself to get the important work done. Make a calendar and include all important dates on it (the school play, the neighbor’s open house, the drive through the neighborhood to enjoy the holiday decorations, and so on). You may even want to schedule time for any shopping, decorating, baking, writing cards, or other holiday traditions that you have decided will be part of your holiday. Carefully plan your menus and do your shopping in an organized fashion, with a list. You will be much less likely to forget important ingredients and eliminate the last minute running that leaves you exhausted and frazzled.

Keep expectations realistic.

It is not your responsibility to be sure that everybody has a perfect holiday, so don’t put that demand on yourself. Holiday joy is something that comes from within a person—you cannot create something that is not there.

Make a budget and keep it.

If gift buying is part of your holiday celebration, decide in advance what you can afford to spend this year. Create a list of all the people you will shop for and allocate a portion of your total holiday budget to each person. That is the easy part—the hard part is sticking to the budget you create! Try to think of less expensive gift options—a baking mix, a nicely framed photograph of a shared memory, or the gift of your time. Overspending during the holidays is a major source of stress, so be careful. Remember that all the gifts in the world cannot buy happiness.

Care for yourself and your family.

During the holidays, when stress can really take its toll, people tend to neglect doing those things that reduce stress. You may overindulge in food and drink, and leave such things as rest, relaxation, and exercise out of your daily life. Make it a goal to change that this holiday season. Be realistic about the types and amounts of foods you choose. Avoid sugary and fat laden snacks that may give you a quick boost, but will be followed by a drop in energy. Get outside for a brisk walk and take the kids. Think about what is causing your stress, and make a plan to change the pressures you may be putting on yourself. Rest, relax, and reflect on the meaning of the season—peace!

©2005-2021 Workplace Options

Coping positively with difficult situations and life’s ups and downs reduces distress and improves psychological health. Here are the key elements that experts found to help manage stress and improve resilience:

• Use positive distracting activities (games, music, books and movies).
• Talk to someone for support.
• Take time every day to calm yourself.
• Exercise.
• Spend time with others.
• Stay busy — mentally and physically.
• Actively apply coping skills and strategies that have worked in the past.
• Learn to recognize reminders that may upset or bother you. Prepare how you will deal with them, such as using positive self-talk, distracting and breathing.
• Focus on something practical that you can do right now to manage the situation better.
• Use relaxation methods regularly, such as breathing, visualization and muscle relaxation exercises.
• Draw upon religion, spirituality or personal beliefs.

Shutting down may help during stressful circumstances. However, afterward, when out of the threatening situation, opening up and relaxing with others is often helpful.

Cultivate a positive attitude. Promote patience, hope, fortitude, decorum and the will, in the worst situations, to do your best:

• Celebrate successes, and take joy in completing tasks, even small ones.
• Do not be discouraged by setbacks.
• Create an ongoing feeling of motivation, and give yourself small breaks from the stress of the situation.
• Accept that the environment is constantly changing.
• Embrace the world that you find yourself in, and see opportunity in adversity.
• Identify and concentrate on building strengths.
• Accept circumstances that cannot be changed, and focus on circumstances that you can alter.
• Consider the stressful situation in a broader context, and keep a long-term perspective.
• Look for opportunities to learn something about yourself, and find self-growth in some way.
• Control self-defeating statements.
• Realize that life is not fair, and find a place to make peace with that for yourself.

Source: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center, www.med.navy.mil

Summary

• Take care of yourself.
• Accept that the holidays will be busy.
• Cut down on cards and gifts.

Everyone knows that kids tend to get excited and adults tend to get stressed over the holidays. After all, the potential sources of stress are many—family feuds, time crunches, the “perfectionism” syndrome, travel, work, and school schedules, and of course money, money, money. But steps can be taken to remove the excess and get down to what most people really want—fun, companionship and a break from the routine.

• First, take care of yourself, because your mood, good or bad, will trickle down to the rest of the family. 
• Accept that the holidays will be busy. The same things that stressed you out last year will likely appear again.
• Make a plan. Jot down what you expect from the holidays and then what you think your family expects. Ask your loved ones to do the same. You may be surprised by their answers.
• Manage time. Shop in advance, stock up on goodies, throw out the junk mail. Plan for at least one activity that you’ll know you’ll enjoy and be prepared to say no to the things you don’t.
• Cut down on cards and gifts. Maybe the best gift you can give a friend is to let each other off the present-go-round.
• Build relaxing time into every day and know when to give up and go to bed.

Prepare your children

• Keep a limit on gift giving and receiving when children are young.
• Ask yourself if your child will really enjoy a busy shopping center or a formal dinner.
• Have a story prepared for when they ask: Is there really a Santa?
• If you know you can’t buy them that pony or puppy, tell them.
• Discuss the glut of commercials they’ll see on TV.
• Practice with them how to accept a gift graciously.
• Help children manage their schoolwork over the holidays.
• Create family rituals for kids to have a sense of predictability and familiarity with holidays.

Dealing with teens

Teens present another set of challenges—you want to attend Aunt Frieda’s annual potluck and they want to go to a party. You can avoid some problems in advance if you:

• Agree on the type and amount of gifts, even if it eliminates an element of surprise. Talk to them about money, or the lack thereof. Teens are often more sympathetic than we think.
• Discuss and negotiate rules. For example, no parties or sleepovers on short notice. But have optional activities ready.
• Tell them which family events are must dos and then allow them to skip the less important ones.

Travel expectations

Expectations for family to all be together can lead to feelings of guilt and pressure, especially when travel is involved. Add to that the expense of travelling, the logistics of packing, potential bad weather, and lack of sleep, and you have a recipe for exhaustion. Try the following to avoid travel stress:

• Accept that you can’t be everywhere. Many couples face the dilemma of whose family to visit.  If possible, consider visiting one family for one holiday and the other family for another holiday each year.
• Make travel plans well in advance, and let your family know of your plans. The sooner they know whether you are visiting, the easier it will be for them to adjust their expectations.
• Pack ahead of time and allow extra time for traffic or long security lines at the airport. Pack snacks and make plans for keeping kids entertained.
• Once you’ve arrived at your destination, don’t overdo it. Spending time with your family is more important than meeting everyone’s expectations.

All in the family

Having agreements will avoid a lot of undue stress, and will prevent assumptions, expectations, and misunderstandings ahead of time. Family arguments still erupt over the holidays despite everyone’s wish for peace, love, and understanding. Try to let the little things go and focus on a relative’s good points. Also, learn to respect other people’s choices even if you disagree.

Remember, holidays are especially difficult for new relatives and stepfamilies. Be prepared to accept new traditions and let others fade away.

By Amy Fries

©2022 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Managing stress is vital to your health and well-being.
• Lifestyle changes, relaxation techniques and changing your outlook can help you to manage stress.
• Making small changes will keep you from feeling overwhelmed.

Nonstop stress is a reality for many people. Some people choose to live a fast-paced lifestyle. Others have ongoing burdens, such as chronic illness, marital conflict or money problems. Others take on caregiving roles that demand time and emotional investment.

Your body and mind are designed to recover and recharge after periods of stress. But this cannot happen if stress persists. That is why finding healthy ways to manage stress is vital. Here are some ideas to help you take control of your stress:

Find the cause of your stress and make a change. Not all stressors can be avoided, but many can. For instance, let’s say that you tend to overcommit. Set limits and be ready to say “no” without guilt or excuses. If you have job stress, ask your boss to set clear priorities. Be willing to work out conflicts and misunderstandings with the people in your life. Built-up anger or resentment is a stressor you don’t need. 

Reframe your stress. People can build up stress in their minds to the point that they lose perspective. Setting expectations that are too high can have the same result. Try to take an objective look at the stressors in your life. Are they really so bad? Are you seeking perfection where perfection isn’t needed? Can you view a stressful challenge as an opportunity rather than a burden? How would you advise a friend in your situation?

Get enough sleep. This may seem impossible, especially if your stress keeps you lying awake at night. Your sleep troubles may stem, in part, from poor bedtime habits. Try these tips to improve your sleep quality:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
• Avoid late-night snacking, alcohol or rousing activities.
• Don’t read, work or watch TV in bed.
• Make your bedroom cool, dark and comfortable.

Take time to relax. Find a few minutes each day to let off steam and wind down. Relaxation techniques, like deep breathing, have been proven to induce your body’s relaxation response. This is how your body naturally recovers from stress and restores normal body function. Prayer and meditation are other ways to return to a calm state and shore up the inner strength to manage stressful moments.

Eat right and exercise. This is a toughie. Stress is very good at spoiling good intentions to eat right and exercise. So, as you can, make small changes to improve your lifestyle. First, avoid emotional eating—that is, eating too much or eating unhealthy foods to deal with stress. Second, find a physical outlet, such as brisk walking. Exercise is also a physical way to release stress and can improve sleep.

Lean on friends and family. People feel stressed when they don’t have the resources to cope with the demands they face. Ask people who love and care about you for help during stressful times. Ask others to help by listening to your cares and concerns or for help with household chores or with taking care of your kids so that you can have a few moments to yourself.

Get ready to manage your stress

Making a change—even one that is good for you, like taking steps to manage stress—is easier said than done. A study by the American Psychological Association found that participants reported lack of willpower and lack of time as the main obstacles to making lifestyle and behavior changes to reduce stress. Willpower or self-control is something we can learn.

If you are reading this article, then you are ready to start managing the stress in your life. Make a plan to deal with your stress. Take on one change at a time. Otherwise, making too many changes at once will become a source of stress. Don’t expect all your stress to go away. But do expect to feel less stress and more control.

When stress won’t go away

Some people feel trapped by stressful relationships or situations. If stress continues to be a problem for you even after making changes, get help. Talk to your doctor or a mental health provider. Your doctor may suggest medicine to help with stress and worry. Therapy can help you recognize and change behaviors and situations that contribute to the stress you feel. The good news is that you have options to deal with stress so that you can start feeling better.

By Christine Martin

©2023 Carelon Behavioral Health

Political conflict and change are normal features of life, but in times of heightened tension and polarization, they can cause widespread anxiety. The more closely a person‘s political stances are tied to their core values and beliefs, the more they may worry about the consequences of elections and other political changes. When “your side“ loses, it can feel like the world is going off track in terrible and permanent ways. You can feel personally threatened in ways that trigger deep and uncomfortable emotions. 

Compounding the emotional effect of political polarization is the constant access to the news through smartphones and other technology, often amplified by social media. It can feel like there‘s no escape from jarring and disturbing headlines. This year in particular, political anxiety is being added to baseline levels of worry that are already elevated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many people, it can be a toxic emotional combination. 

How can you manage your anxiety in times of political conflict and change while also remaining engaged in positive ways? After all, civic engagement is the cornerstone of democracy. The more people are involved in positive ways, the healthier our society and our communities will be. Following are some suggestions from mental health experts about how to stay involved while attending to your own wellbeing. 

Stay informed, but set boundaries on your news intake

If you find the news to be emotionally upsetting, set limits on how much you take in. Set aside a short block of time in the morning and early evening to catch up on political developments. Resist the temptation to check the headlines constantly throughout the day. Turn off nonemergency alerts from news feeds so they don‘t constantly grab your attention and distract you. Limit your exposure to political exchanges on social media. 

Instead of waiting for the news to come to you, do research on issues that matter to you, looking at well-researched and reliable sources. In the United States (U.S.), in the fall of 2020, make an extra effort to understand how to vote during the pandemic—how to register and what your options are for mail-in or in-person voting. Early voting might be an option to avoid lines and crowds, for example. If you are worried about mail delays, find out if your community is setting up drop boxes for mail-in ballots. Look at the election pages of your state‘s and community‘s websites to learn about the different ways to vote and any deadlines. Contact your local election commissioner if you have questions.  

If there are delays in tallying final results after the election, try not to focus on premature and changing predictions. Give the process time to come to a conclusion, knowing that in a democracy it‘s the result that matters.  

Be respectful in conversations about politics

In a polarized world, people may sometimes attach evil motives or negative attributes to those who disagree with their positions. Accept that people have different opinions—based on their life experience, their understanding of the world, and their values. Be open to listening to and learning from the views of others. Share your own views, when appropriate, in respectful and thoughtful ways. A good way to hear another person and to be heard is to share the life stories that lie behind their (and your) views and opinions. This gives you an opportunity to connect at a human level and to explore the gray areas of difficult subjects, instead of simply disagreeing based on oversimplified assumptions. Look for the areas where you agree and the experiences you have shared, and build from that.

Be mindful of your surroundings, too, when you express your political views. It‘s generally not appropriate to debate political differences at work, for example, or to force a political conversation on a coworker. Even when you have an interested listener, be aware of who else is within range to hear your conversation and who might be offended or upset by your views. Political discussions among family members or friends with different views can also become emotional. Given how difficult it is to change a person‘s views, consider whether it‘s worth risking important relationships to have those conversations. It may be better to focus on shared interests.

If a conversation about politics becomes heated and unproductive at work or socially, politely step away from it or change the subject. Resist the temptation to get in the last word.

Get involved

One of the most important actions you can take to maintain a sense of control in a turbulent world is to get involved. You can try these ideas:

Find opportunities to volunteer in your community or for a cause you care deeply about.

• Engage in small acts of kindness to neighbors or people in need.
• Attend a city council or town hall meeting to listen and learn about local issues.
• Share your ideas with elected officials and others in your community.
• Volunteer to help with a political campaign.
• Sign up to help your local election board as a poll worker.
• Educate yourself on an issue you care about, and find ways to help organizations that are working to make a difference in that area.

When you take positive and responsible action, it helps your community and society at large. It also helps you overcome feelings of helplessness and powerlessness. 

Take a long-term perspective

One side will win and one will lose in every election, just as one argument will win and one will lose in every court case. But each election and court case are just a step in the longer arc of history. Opposing forces push in one direction, then another, and somehow countries, communities, and individuals get through troubling times. When you find yourself caught up in anxiety about today‘s news, think back to other contentious times and the progress that has been made from generation to generation.

It‘s appropriate to be impatient for changes you think are important and to get involved in pushing for them. But it‘s also important to understand that big changes take time, and that progress rarely follows a straight and steady line. 

Seek calm in your community, mindfulness, faith, or nature

Different people have different ways of finding calm in stressful times. Turn to your circle of supportive friends, practices like mindfulness and meditation, or your faith and community. Time in nature can also help you remove yourself—even if only for a few moments at a time—from the turbulence that is causing stress. With a calmer mind, you‘ll be better able to engage with the world as it is and find some peace. 

Take care of yourself

Take time to enjoy family and friends. This is important even when you can‘t be together in person. Supportive, social connections are key to maintaining physical and mental health.

• Get enough sleep. Follow a consistent bedtime routine, and avoid the stimulation of screen time, alcohol, or caffeine as bedtime approaches.
• Eat a healthy diet. Incorporate plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Include fish, poultry, and nuts for protein. Avoid packaged foods and foods with added sugar.
• Be physically active. Include a walk or other activity in your daily routine. Physical activity is vital to staying healthy and has an important calming effect.
• Pursue interests and hobbies. Engage in activities that give you pleasure and absorb your full attention. Take an online class to learn a new skill or delve deeper into a lifelong passion.
• Find ways to laugh. Watch a funny movie or TV show. Spend time with friends who can make you laugh. Humor is wonderful medicine to counter worries.
• Avoid ineffective and potentially harmful coping mechanisms. This includes alcohol or substance abuse.

Seek help

If stress feels overwhelming and anxiety, sadness, anger, or other emotions make it hard to cope with your daily routine, seek help. Some emotional challenges are too big to tackle by yourself. A trusted friend may be able to help as a sounding board and sympathetic ear. Or you might benefit from the help of a professional mental health counselor or therapist. Your employee support program can help with short-term strategies for coping with anxiety, and most can help you find a therapist for in-person, telephonic, or video support sessions.

©2020 Workplace Options

Summary

Meditation

• Reduces anxiety and fatigue
• Can be done almost anywhere
• Involves focusing attention and controlling breathing

With a little guidance, anyone can meditate almost anywhere. An ancient Eastern method of gaining self-awareness, meditation can produce real benefits in just 10 to 20 minutes per day—including reducing anxiety and fatigue, increasing self-confidence, and normalizing blood pressure.

People may practice meditation in different forms. But it generally involves carefully focusing your attention in order to alter your state of consciousness. People use meditation to become more connected with themselves and a “higher power” or “guiding presence.” Those who succeed often report feeling more peaceful and happy, meditation experts say.

Reap the short- and long-term benefits

Meditation experts can tick off long lists of the benefits of meditation, both long- and short-term, including:

• Relaxation and reduced stress
• Increased energy
• Normalized blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol levels
• Increased mental clarity, concentration, and a sense of emotional balance
• Enhanced creativity
• Ability to handle life situations more effectively
• Feeling more connected and “in the flow” with life
• More harmonious relationships
• New insights and perspective about the meaning and purpose of life
• Increased intuition
• Feeling more supported by a “higher power”

For some people, regular meditation can even lead to other positive lifestyle changes. These changes tend to enhance the process of becoming more conscious, including improving diet, choosing new forms of entertainment and reading selections, eliminating unhealthy habits, and starting new forms of exercise such as tai chi or yoga.

Establish a daily routine

Getting started requires a little effort, but try to establish a daily routine:

• Find a comfortable place to sit—in a chair, on a cushion or on the floor.
• Try to avoid as much noise and distraction as possible.
• Sit with your spine relatively straight. You can lean against a wall or other support.
• Prepare yourself for meditation by getting centered or by calling on a “higher power” for assistance, if that corresponds with your spiritual beliefs.
• Focus your attention on a phrase (or “mantra”), prayer, an object, your breath, or positive thoughts—whatever works for you.
• Gently shift your attention back to focus if your thoughts wander.
• Don’t worry about “doing it right.” Avoid trying to force a certain outcome or completely “blank out” your thoughts.

If you’re just getting started, meditate for about 10 to 15 minutes each day. Eventually you can increase this period to about 20 minutes.

Do it anywhere

You can meditate almost anywhere, including at work. It helps to have an office or cubicle, but if you don’t, slipping out to your car, a park or the employee lounge for a meditation break can work.

By Kristen Knight

©2001-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• Brainstorm what you liked/disliked about previous vacations.
• Find out as much as you can about your destination ahead of time.
• Leave work at work.

We think of vacation time as an escape from our everyday world, a chance to relax, have fun, try new things, or explore new possibilities. But too often, people return from holiday more exhausted than when they left because they tried to cram too much into too little time. Are we so eager to “have it all” that we exhaust ourselves in the name of relaxation?

Plan for success

You can help ensure that everyone in your family or group gets something close to the vacation of their dreams:

1. Brainstorm about what you liked/disliked about previous trips and what you want or need from this one. What is the goal for this vacation? A good holiday finds a balance between activity and rest, between comfort and adventure.
2. Do some research. Find out as much as you can about the chosen destination: What are the costs? What are the crowds like? Are options available for all family members?
3. Plan. Make a list of activities to do, places to visit, things to see. Remember that this is a list of possibilities, not demands. Choose wisely.
4. Once you arrive, remember your goal for the trip, and remember everyone else has a goal. If you need to rest and relax, stay behind sometimes. If you like to keep moving, don’t expect everyone else to be with you every minute. Get what you need from the holiday: Don’t do what you think you should do.
5. If possible, plan to arrive home early enough to spend a full day unwinding and making the transition back to reality.

Holiday time for the person who works all the time

For a person who works all the time, vacation time can be very stressful. Many Americans check in with their place of business while on vacation. Some dread vacations because they work overtime to prepare for their absence, then work to catch up after they return. Typically, business owners and managers find it difficult to leave work: They forget that the whole idea is to escape. If you live with or are a person who works nonstop, here are some tips for you:

• Keep family time and work time separate. A more balanced life will make it easier to judge what is a crisis and what can wait. You can be more productive both at work and at home.
• Remember that you are creating memories. Do you want your spouse or child to remember you frolicking in the waves with them or in the hotel room on the phone?
• Stop believing that your workplace can’t survive without you. Leave a clear list of projects and their status, prepare your co-workers for your absence, and empower someone to make decisions.
• Remember that the point of a vacation is recreation and renewal so you can return energized and with greater creativity.

Vacation at home

If you cannot afford to go away, or don’t want to, you can still have a holiday. With creative thinking and planning, it can be fun, eye-opening, and restful.

• Splurge on take-out foods so you can “pretend” you are in a hotel.
• Explore a new hobby you never had time for, or teach your passion to your kids.
• Visit relatives or friends you don’t see often enough.
• Return to childhood pastimes such as fishing, hiking, or biking.
• Explore your own city or countryside as a tourist would. Most people never experience the nearby sites that others come hundreds of miles to see. Start with the Visitor’s Center or Chamber of Commerce and learn the history and wonder of your own backyard.
• Send your kids to camp and stay home alone. You might rediscover your spouse.

The key to a great vacation is to be clear about what you need from it, then plan to achieve that goal.

By Allyson Johns

©2000-2019 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: For the Busy, Vacation Time Actually Means Stress Time by Bob D. McDonald and Don Hutcheson, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 1997; American City Business Journals, Inc.; www.bizjournals.com; Ideas for the At-Home Vacation, by Kimberly L. Keith, July 1997, About.com Network

Summary

• The stress response activates changes throughout the body.
• A prolonged stress response can alter or impair body systems in ways that increase risk of health problems.

Early humans relied on the body’s “flight or fight” stress response to survive. This response sets in motion body changes to help protect us from harm. Today, many daily strains can set off the stress response. While some is helpful, ongoing stress causes the response to stay “turned on,” which puts your health at risk.

Your body’s normal stress response

When the brain senses a threat to its well-being, a surge of hormones is released throughout the body. Adrenaline makes your heart beat faster and prepares your body to act right away. Cortisol, the stress hormone, boosts energy for your brain, heart and muscles by increasing blood sugar levels. It also slows down digestion, the immune system and other body systems that you don’t need in a crisis. The stress response alters feeling, judgment, mood and memory so that you can act fast. Once the stressor is gone, stress hormones return to normal. This is called the relaxation response.

Too much cortisol for too long

The stress response is meant to handle short-term stress. If your body’s stress response is active for a long time, cortisol and other stress hormones do not go back to normal levels. Many experts believe that this prolonged response can change or harm body systems in ways that speed up aging and increase the chance of health problems.

For instance, cortisol’s suppressing action on the immune system likely explains why people under chronic stress are prone to more frequent and severe viruses, like the common cold or flu. The flu shot also does not work as well in people under chronic stress.

The link between cortisol and inflammation in the body is also a topic of research interest. Some experts think that prolonged stress makes immune cells less sensitive to cortisol, enabling inflammation to get out of control. Chronic inflammation plays a role in many serious illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes and autoimmune disease.

Stress-related health risks

We don’t yet know exactly how and to what degree a prolonged stress response might affect specific health risks. But research has shown a link between mental stress and many health problems, including:

• Heart disease. Chronic stress can worsen high blood pressure and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Studies also suggest that stress can trigger spasms in the arteries that bring blood to the heart. Such spasms can block blood flow to part of the heart, leading to chest pain and possibly heart attack.
• Digestive problems. Ongoing stress can increase stomach acid and worsen stomach ulcer symptoms. Stress may also make it harder for ulcers to heal. Stress can worsen symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease. It can trigger symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
• Asthma. Stress often triggers attacks in some people with asthma.
• Anxiety or depression. Stress can trigger or worsen anxiety or depression.
• Diabetes. Cortisol can raise blood sugar levels, possibly increasing type 2 diabetes risk.
• Obesity. Eating patterns often change in times of stress. Overeating due to stress can lead to weight gain. Some evidence also suggests a biologic piece to stress-related weight gain.
• Memory problems. Memory problems and forgetfulness can be warning signs of too much stress.
• Fertility. For men, stress can lower sperm production and make it hard to have an erection. For women, physical stress can stop ovulation. The effects of emotional stress on fertility are not clear. Feeling stressed also can decrease desire for sex.
• Skin problems. Stress can make the skin more sensitive and reactive, worsening psoriasis, rosacea and acne flare-ups.

Also, stress can lead to habits that raise risk of disease, as well as undermine your willpower to make changes needed to improve health. 

By Christine Martin

©2012-2023 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

• We feel stressed when demands on our time and energy outweigh our resources and skills for coping.
• Too much stress shows up through our health, feelings and actions, and affects all areas life.

Stress is part of life for all people. Some people carry heavy burdens — either by chance or by choice. Some people cope with routine pressures and unexpected challenges better than others. All these things contribute to the daily stress you feel.

Stress becomes a problem when it takes a toll on your health or well-being.

Why do I feel so stressed?

We feel stressed when demands on our time and energy outweigh our resources and skills for coping. This extra “weight on our shoulders” shows up through our health, feelings and actions. For instance, you may notice that you get sick easily when you are stressed out. You may worry a lot or have no energy. Or, you may be cranky and snap at your kids or partner for no reason.

Our stress level goes up and down over the course of our lifetime, and we can’t always predict stressful moments. Some situations and stages of life tend to be more stressful than others, such as:

• Planning a wedding
• Having a baby
• Raising children
• Getting divorced
• Losing or changing jobs
• Moving
• Caregiving for an aging parent
• Dealing with a serious or long-term illness
• Death of a loved one

How can stress create problems in my life?

In the short-term, stress can help us to perform our best or overcome a challenge. But stress that builds up or lasts a long time can create problems at work or school, at home and with relationships.

The following stories describe real ways that stress can take a toll in your life. See if you identify how stress affects Jim and Nancy’s routines, feelings, choices and outlook.

Jim wakes up to the sound of his alarm every morning. He seldom feels refreshed because he often gets up in the middle of the night and has trouble falling back asleep. He skips breakfast so he can get a head start on his commute. Stuck in traffic for nearly an hour, Jim dwells on the many projects waiting for him at work. He tries to think about how he will tackle each task, but just feels overwhelmed. Once at work, Jim can feel his blood pressure rise as he enters the building. He feels unmotivated and unsupported. By evening, Jim is tired and cranky. He wants to engage with his family. But instead, he pours a drink and tunes out his wife and kids.

Nancy’s mother, Jan, moved in with her family about a year ago after Jan had surgery. The plan was to help Jan through the first part of her recovery until she could live on her own again. But Jan since has had new health problems come up. She also resists moving out. Nancy spends most of her day caring for Jan or taking her to and from various appointments. She has had to give up most of her own interests and has no time for herself. Nancy also had to cancel an anniversary trip with her husband. Nancy loves her mom, but she resents her situation. This makes her feel guilty. She turns to “comfort” food when feeling down, and she has recently put on weight. She feels trapped.

Jim and Nancy’s stories make it easy to see how stress can spill over into all areas of life. Stressful situations that go on and on can destroy health, relationships and lives.

What can I do if I feel trapped by my stress?

To reduce your stress level and reclaim your life, you have two choices:

1. Change your situation, if you can. Set limits. Plan. Prioritize. Get help.
2. Find ways to manage stress. Try relaxation techniques. Learn meditation skills. Learn deep breathing techniques. Start an aerobic exercise routine. Vent to friends or loved ones.

If you cannot cope with stress or if stress is creating problems in your life, call your doctor or a mental health provider. They can help you identify stressors you can control and come up with strategies to tackle stressors you cannot avoid. Consider cognitive-behavioral therapy to identify your automatic negative thoughts, feelings, and the behaviors your thoughts and feelings promote. Once you’ve identified your patterns, you can strategically generate more positive thoughts, feelings and outcomes.

By Christine Martin

©2012-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Some individuals are able to deal and cope with stress better than others. Hardiness is the ability to deal effectively with stress. People can become tougher and stress-hardy through encountering stress, coping and learning from experiences.

Everyone can learn to enhance stress-hardiness skills. Three Cs are the components of hardiness:

Control

• Believe that you have control over your life.
• You can manage any problem that you face.
• Your outlook is positive!
• Feeling in control helps to decrease stress.

Challenge

• View life as a challenge.
• Do not see it as a threat or an endless group of problems.
• Seek and take on challenges.
• Believe that you will learn from challenging experiences.

Commitment

• Have a mission.
• Be committed to what you do.
• Believe that what you’re doing is meaningful, purposeful and right.

Ways to improve stress hardiness

• Respond appropriately to change.
• Assess how you react to changes and to stress.
• Remember that not all types of change are negative.
• Downplay and minimize the effects of change through exploring the consequences of change.
• Change your self-talk.
• Watch and monitor what you say to yourself.
• Write your thoughts down. Often this reveals them to be illogical, incorrect, or harmful.
• Modify interpretation and the meaning of self-talk so that it is not negative.
• Switch your inner voice from “I can’t” to “I can handle it.”

You should also:

Practice relaxation skills: Relaxation strategies are used to reduce stress, relax and improve toughness. They allow time to regroup, recharge and reduce the physical and mental responses to stress. Relaxation techniques include muscle relaxation, breathing, imagery, visualization, meditation and prayer.

Get fit: Staying and maintaining physical fitness is a great stress buster. Keep your body tuned up and ready to go. This helps to buffer and immunize against the effects of stress.

Practice hardiness: Face tough situations, and handle the distress. Practice the coping skills of healthy responses to stress, positive self-talk and relaxation strategies. View the situation as a challenge, and believe that it will be okay. See yourself as stress-hardy.

Make a stress-hardy plan

• What is your plan to improve your toughness and stress-hardiness?
• When will you start to get tougher?
• How will you improve your hardiness?
• Where will you practice?

Remember the three Cs: Hardiness is viewing yourself as in charge, in control and positively challenged. Look at your aggravations and hassles as a quiz on how well you are handling stress.

Source: Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center

Summary

• Stress takes many forms and can be good or bad.
• Long-lasting or built-up stress can take a toll on your health and well-being.
• Recognizing symptoms is a first step to managing stress.
   

All people know what stress feels like. But it’s not nearly so easy to define.

Stress is how the brain and body respond to anything you sense to be a threat to your well-being. This “stressor” could be an event, situation or change. A stressor triggers the brain to release chemicals and hormones to nearly all the body systems: The heart beats faster. Muscles tense. Breathing is more rapid. The brain goes on high alert. The body’s “fight or flight” stress response happens very fast and gets you ready to act. Once the stressor is gone, your body functions return to normal.

Is stress good or bad?

Stress is “good” when it helps focus your energy and effort. For instance, stress can help you to:

• Act quickly in an emergency
• Meet a deadline
• Solve a problem
• Compete in sports
• Leave a dead-end job
• Avoid an accident
• Save a life

Stress is “bad” when it builds up or lasts too long and takes a toll on your health and well-being. Bad stress can interfere with your job, relationships and enjoyment of life.

Types of stress and common stressors

Stress takes many forms:

Short-term or “acute” stress. This common form can be harmless in small amounts and spurts. But too many short-term stressors at one time can make you feel spread too thin, worried and tense. Short-term stressors range from momentary hassles to big changes or transitions that last several weeks or months. Examples of short-term stressors include:

• Being stuck in traffic
• A leaky pipe
• Speaking in public
• Interviewing for a job
• A heated argument
• A job change
• Getting married
• Moving to a new home
• Having a baby

Long-lasting or “chronic” stress. Poverty or less severe money problems, unemployment, an unhappy marriage, long-term caregiving responsibilities, living in an unsafe neighborhood, and chronic illness are examples of stressors that can lead to long-lasting stress. People who cannot escape or manage long-lasting stress often feel powerless to change and like they have no way out, and, indeed, some problems are very challenging, even when someone is intrinsically resilient.

Traumatic stress. Seeing or living through disaster or violence causes extreme stress. For some people, trauma causes such deep emotional harm that they continue to feel afraid or stressed even when the danger is gone. This is called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a type of anxiety disorder. People with PTSD may relive the frightening event through dreams or flashbacks. They may be tense or easily startled. They may avoid aspects of life that remind them of the event. They may also feel emotionally numb and detached from others, as if life is without direction, purpose, or future. Treatment can help people with PTSD to heal.

Personality, patterns of thinking, and genes also can influence how a person responds to and feels stress.

Stress warning signs

No matter the type, stress that builds up or does not go away can harm your body, mind and spirit. Being able to recognize when your stress level is too high is important. You can look to your body, feelings and behaviors for clues. See if these signs apply to you:

Signs that I am stressed:

• Upset stomach
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Muscle tension
• Chest pain (angina)
• Neck or back pain
• Sleep problems
• Skin breakouts
• Short temper
• Crankiness
• Lack of energy
• Feeling tired
• Feeling sad or crying
• Constant worry
• Unable to focus
• Forgetfulness
• Nail biting
• Grinding teeth
• Clenching jaw
• Skipping meals
• Overeating
• Eating unhealthy foods
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Using drugs

Using healthy ways to manage routine and unexpected stress is part of a healthy lifestyle. If your stress is overwhelming you, the best thing to do is to get help. Your doctor or a mental health provider can help you find solutions and manage stress.

By Christine Martin

©2012-2022 Carelon Behavioral Health

Summary

Exercise improves our physical and emotional response to stress and increases our sense of well-being.

As you step out into the street, out of nowhere comes a truck heading right for you. With lightning speed and almost superhuman strength, you jump out of harm’s way.

Isn’t it reassuring to know that your brain and body are wired for such a life-saving reaction? Too bad your body can react the same way even if you just imagine something threatening. If you need the fight-or-flight response for survival, can you do anything about your stress reaction when daily demands and worries trigger it? Yes: you can exercise regularly.

Move the body, soothe the mind

Exercise can increase a chemical in the brain that calms the stress response. Exercise also helps you:

• Handle stress with less damage to your health
• Develop a longer “fuse”: you are less over-reactive
• Practice dealing with stress: you get a physical demand without any threat

Other benefits of exercise are:

• Increased sense of well-being and relaxation
• Decreased anxiety and depression
• Improved sleep, energy and memory

Find what suits you

It’s important to find exercise that you enjoy. You can walk, run, bike, swim, take fitness classes — just get your body moving and your heart pumping faster. You can also try a machine such as a stationary bike or elliptical trainer and read a book or watch TV while you work out. Need help getting started? Work with a personal trainer for a program designed for you.

The bottom line is to be consistent. Try to get 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week. Be sure to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

Quick fix

Regular exercise helps change your brain and body over time so that you can cope better with stress, but what about right now? Same Rx — get moving, if possible. A quick walk around the block or up a few flights of stairs can calm your stress response in the moment.

By Laurie M. Stewart

©2003-2022 Carelon Behavioral Health

Some see self-care as all about indulging yourself, being selfish and giving full attention to your needs only. This perception could not be farther from the truth.

Consider what self-care is. It is simply taking time to care for yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. It means checking in with yourself, choosing to prioritize yourself and making sure you’re in a good place to take on day-to-day life.

Regular self-care allows you to navigate through ordeals in a calmer state while dealing with any challenges that arise. The benefits of being intentional with self-care are broad and linked to positive health outcomes. Practicing self-care:

• Enhances self-esteem
• Increases vitality
• Creates more joy and satisfaction
• Improves your emotional health
• Boosts your immune system
• Increases resilience

Taking part in self-care activities helps you pick the best course of action. Stop and ask yourself, “What do I need right now?” Making a conscious choice can make the difference between having a well-balanced day or a stressful, negatively charged day.

Self-care can look different for everyone, and it doesn’t need to be relaxing practices such as a spa trip or going on a retreat. The important thing is that whatever you decide to do as a self-care practice is something you think of as an act of self-love.

Here are some ways you can practice self-care:

• Set emotional, mental and physical boundaries
• Be sure you have a good work-life balance
• Say “no” to things that cause unnecessary stress
• Give yourself permission to take a break, meditate and spend time in nature or at home
• Set time to hit the gym, go for a run or take a walk
• Take time for yourself to do what you enjoy, like taking a bubble bath or dancing to your favorite tune
• Limit your spending to save up for something you truly want to purchase
• Schedule time to meet up with friends and do a weekly check-in

These are just a few self-care strategies you can practice. Keep in mind that this isn’t about what others do or say you should do. It’s about what you believe will help you prioritize your well-being.

Start by picking out a daily or weekly practice and slowly lacing it into your daily routine. To help you become conscious of how much that practice is helping, take note of any positive changes that result with the change in your behavior.

Self-care is critical to a happier and fulfilling life. Be sure that you prioritize yourself.

©2022 Workplace Options

Summary

• Repeated bouts of acute stress can harm your health.
• Relaxation techniques can release tension and help you regain control in stressful moments.

Picture this: You are taking a walk on a pleasant afternoon. Suddenly, a large dog barrels around the corner, barking and running straight at you. Your heart beat speeds up and your breathing quickens. You feel your face flush, your hairs stand up on end, and your mouth goes dry. You may start to sweat. This is the stress response, which helps you to flee or defend yourself from harm.

The stress response is triggered any time your brain senses a potential threat to your well-being. In this example, the dog is the source of the threat. This is called the acute stressor. Acute means that the source of stress won’t last long. You may be familiar with these acute stressors:

• Rushing to catch a plane or a bus
• A pending deadline
• A crying baby
• Having an argument
• Sitting in traffic
• Riding a roller coaster
• A job-related crisis
• A minor car accident
• Getting lost

How acute stress can harm

If the barking dog runs past you, your body begins to recover right away. Your heart rate slows, your blood pressure drops, your breathing slows, and you feel better. This is called the relaxation response.

But acute stress can be harmful if you have repeated bouts of it day after day. This can lead to tension headaches, migraines, trouble sleeping, back pain, upset stomach, depression, worry and other problems. Repeated bouts of acute stress also can contribute to problems at work and at home.

Tips to tame acute stress

You can’t avoid all the stress in your life, but you can learn how to consciously produce the relaxation response. Try one of these methods to release tension and regain calm and control in stressful moments:

• Deep breathing. If you can, find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Relax your stomach muscles. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. Breathe in as much air as you can, letting the air move downward into your belly rather than puff up high in your chest. If you do it correctly, your lower belly will expand. Next, breathe out through your mouth or nose. Do this for several minutes. As you inhale, think about breathing in peace and calm. As you exhale, imagine that you are letting go of your tension and worry.
• Guided imagery. Find a comfortable, private place to sit. Close your eyes and picture a peaceful, calming place and immerse all your senses. For instance, if your peaceful place is a beach, “listen” for the shore break; “feel” the sand and warmth of the sun; and “smell” the salty air. Dwell in the place for several minutes until your breathing is relaxed and you feel refreshed. Some people are able to guide themselves into this relaxed state. Many people use a sound recording, like a CD or podcast, as a guide.
• Progressive muscle relaxation. If you can, find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and take several deep, slow breaths. Starting with the muscles in your head, tense and relax your scalp, brow, jaw and so on. To tense your muscles, squeeze them tight for a few seconds. Then relax. Repeat two or three times if you need to. Notice how your muscles feel when they are relaxed. Work through the various muscle groups, tensing and relaxing, until you finally reach your toes.
• Mindfulness meditation and repetitive prayer. Close your eyes or focus on an object while silently repeating a sound, word, phrase or prayer. Stay focused “in the moment” without thinking about the past or future. Ignore distracting thoughts that come into your head. Breathe slowly and relax your muscles while repeating your word or phrase.

Relaxation methods are generally safe, but may take some time to learn. You may want to take a class or follow a guide to help you get started. Once you get the hang of it, you can use most methods whenever you need to release tension quickly. You may prefer to use only one method or to mix it up depending on the situation or time you have. These techniques also work well at managing ongoing stress, especially if practiced for 10 to 20 minutes every day.

Resources

American Psychological Association

Mental Health America

National Institute of Mental Health

Getting Started With Mindfulness

By Christine Martin

©2012-2022 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: National Institute of Mental Health; American Psychological Association;

What is stress?

People experience stress as they adjust to a continually changing environment. Stress has physical and emotional effects; it can create both positive and negative feelings. Positive stress can energize you and help you reach your peak performance. However, too much pressure turns into negative stress. Prolonged exposure to stress can be harmful to your physical and mental well-being. One of the first steps to managing stress is to understand what causes it.

Sources of stress

There is a wide range of sources of stress. These include daily hassles, major life events, home and work. What are the things in your life that cause you stress?

Home

Stress factors can include:

• Relationships
• Money problems
• Children
• Sickness
• Housework

Work

Work stress factors include:

• Overload
• Relationships
• Pace of change
• Deadlines
• Unrealistic workloads or demands

Stress management and prevention

In addition to managing your response to stress, it is helpful to identify ways to prevent harmful levels of stress and build stress resilience.

Prevention:

• Look at root causes of stress.
• Focus on building resilience to stress.

Prevention ideas:

• Keep a stress log—identify the sources of stress in your life.
• Identify your signs of stress—be aware of your stress level before it is unmanageable.

Building stress resilience

• Exercise three to four times a week to reduce muscle tension.
• Minimize intake of sugar, caffeine and other artificial stimulants.
• Get enough rest.
• Practice at least one relaxation exercise.

Stress signs

Know your stress signs. A second step to managing stress is to understand how you react to it. Which of the following signs of stress do you experience?

Common stress signs include:

• Muscle tension
• Headaches
• Indigestion
• Dry mouth
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Anxiety or excessive worry
• Difficulty concentrating
• Forgetfulness
• Irritability
• Tearfulness
• Depression
• Boredom
• Apathy
• Changes in sleep patterns
• Withdrawal
• Accident proneness
• Reduced sex drive
• Increase in use of drugs, smoking or alcohol

Some of these signs may have causes other than stress. Check with your doctor if symptoms persist.

Stress relievers

• Get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning (making morning mishaps less stressful).
• Listen to music.
• Make time for fun.
• Unplug your phone.

Stress strategies

Awareness: In order to manage stress, it is helpful to understand what causes your stress and how you react to stress.

• What are the sources of stress in my life?
• What are my emotional and physical reactions to them?
• What are my strengths in dealing with stress? (e.g., “I delegate well.”)
• What are my limitations in dealing with stress? (e.g., “I sometimes have difficulty saying no to work requests.”)

Plan: Develop a plan of action.

• What sources of stre.ss can I eliminate or avoid?
• What sources of stress are changeable?
• What one change could I start with that would make the most difference in my life?
• Who can I enlist in helping or supporting me with this change?
• How can I include taking care of myself in my plan?

Action: Put your plan into action.

• Choose one new strategy to add to or change about your current strategies for dealing with stress.
• Practice a relaxation technique (breathing is one of the most effective ways of reducing tension).
• Identify what you do well at in managing your stress (use your past experience as a resource).
• Deal with the sources of stress that you can change (create a plan to eliminate, reduce or avoid these sources).

Stress tips

• Share your concerns—talk to someone.
• Do something you enjoy.
• Take a brisk walk.
• Exercise.
• Take a break.
• Get a change of scenery.
• Set aside time for yourself.

Relaxation technique

• Find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes and begin to pay attention to your breathing.
• Take a deep breath in, and exhale slowly.
• Continue breathing deeply, and imagine a relaxing holiday spot.
• As you continue to breathe slowly, look around at the sights, imagine the sounds, the smells and the like.
• See yourself relaxed in this place.
• As you bring your attention back to the room you are in, remember that you can visit this place again anytime.

Other ideas

Additional ideas to reduce or combat stress include:

• Counseling
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Hypnosis
• Biofeedback
• Relaxation podcasts and videos
• Massage
• Complementary medicine

Action planning

• Set short and long-term goals.
• Plan to make one change at a time.
• Check that your goal is specific and measurable.

©2021 Workplace Options

Summary

• There are steps you can take to make a stressed-out person feel better.
• Listen, ask questions, shift the focus to the positive, and help her calm down.

We can feel helpless when someone we love is under stress. We many not even truly understand the cause or level of the stress.

While a certain amount of stress is normal, too much can lead to physical and emotional illness.

When we see a loved one struggling like this, we want to help. But what can we do? We may not be able to fix someone’s problem, and it is not our job to manage someone else’s stress. But if we want to help, there are steps we can take to help her feel better.

Listen

Experts say the first thing we need to do is listen. Put away your phone and turn off the TV and give him your full attention. Sit or walk with your loved one in a quiet place so there are few distractions. A mistake we often make with children is to try to offer solutions first instead of listening first. People need to vent. They want to feel heard. They probably know the solution to some of their stress but need to process it all emotionally first.

Ask questions

No one really knows what another person is thinking or feeling. The only way to find out is to observe and ask good questions. The questions should not make people feel bad or guilty but get them to open up. Ask things like—How are you feeling? What are you thinking? How is your sleep? Are you eating enough? Have you been to a doctor? What can I do to help?

Help her calm down

Try to get her to calm down by taking slow deep breaths with a long slow exhale. Get her a glass of water and some food. Get her moving. Take a walk outside. Sitting or walking in a park among trees and nature can be very soothing. Offer her a quiet space to lie down or sit quietly.

Shift the focus to the positive

Almost nothing is all bad. Help the person see some positive points. For example, if a co-worker is having a hard time point out, “You’re a good daughter, and you’re a good friend.” That will help her look at the bright side and the bigger picture.

People who are under stress often think the worst is around the bend. Help them see other options. Trouble at work does not mean he is going to be homeless. A breakup with someone does not mean she will be alone forever.

What not to say or do

Do not offer simple solutions like “relax” or “chill out” or “snap out of it.” Do not be tempted to say “a lot of people have it worse than you.” Stress and anxiety are real physical and mental conditions that take work, help, and time to improve.

Avoid taking him to stressful situations like loud parties or bars. Avoid alcohol and too much caffeine.

Help

Offer practical help where you can. Some ideas include:

• Babysitting
• Running errands
• Helping around the house
• Exercising with her

Remember, the most important thing you can do is listen, spend time with him, and keep in contact.

Some signs that someone needs professional help include:

• Misuse of drugs and alcohol
• Not eating or sleeping
• Expressing violent thoughts
• Feeling hopeless

For more information, call the toll-free number on this site.

By Amy Fries

©2018-2020 Carelon Behavioral Health

Thinking about signing up for a yoga class? Millions of Americans enjoy the physical and mental benefits of this 2,000-year-old exercise program. The word “yoga” is derived from the Sanscrit term for “union” or “joining,” and that’s what yoga aims to do—raise awareness of the connection between your body and mind through a series of stretches, positions and breathing exercises.

There are lots of different kinds of yoga, with some forms emphasizing meditation and others focusing on increasing flexibility, so ask a yoga teacher which is right for you. Pregnant women, or anyone with a special health concern, should speak to a doctor before signing up and let the yoga teacher know about special conditions before class starts.

Who should take yoga?

One of the great things about yoga is that almost anyone can do it, including children. Whether you’re in shape or out of shape, old or young, yoga is a great way to strengthen your muscles and your mind. Yoga is a nonaerobic form of exercise (you won’t be jumping up and down), but it aids flexibility, strength and relaxation.

What are the physical benefits?

Yoga is not strenuous but still has great health benefits. Though it can’t cure any condition, yoga may help lower blood pressure, cut cholesterol levels and cut the risk of stress-related health problems such as heart attack, ulcers and insomnia. It has been reported to help increase strength and reduce pain for those with carpal tunnel syndrome. The Mayo Clinic suggests yoga for people who have irritable bowel syndrome, restless leg syndrome, high blood pressure and migraines.

What are the mental benefits?

Yoga increases mental, as well as physical, flexibility. Most classes include a series of deep-breathing exercises, often ending with participants lying on the floor in a state of rest. Visualization techniques are also used to improve the balance between mind and body. Since feeling relaxed and peaceful is a main goal, yoga can lower stress and anxiety, improve memory and focus, and even ease some symptoms of depression.

Where do I sign up?

Most health clubs offer yoga classes, as do local YMCAs and YWCAs, community centers and universities. Ask about your teacher’s qualifications, since yoga teachers may not be medical professionals and aren’t licensed.

Yoga’s focus on the link between your mind and body means that both are strengthened. A weekly yoga class may be the perfect treat if you’ve got a busy schedule, so put aside time for yourself and make that self healthier.

By Lauren Greenwood

©2000-2021 Carelon Behavioral Health

Source: Wholehealth MD, www.wholehealthmd.com; Journal of the American Medical Association, http://jama.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx; Yoga Journal, www.yogajournal.com