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BY DONNA KIESLING
Times Correspondent | Monday, November 13, 2006 | (No comments posted.)
D-1 chatter:
Getting the best of stress
Feeling stressed? Blame it, at least in part, on that coffee and doughnut you had for breakfast.
Poor nutrition can contribute to stress, experts say, along with myriad other factors. Some stress can benefit you, but chronic tension can have a negative effect on your entire body.
The good news is that while stress can't be eliminated entirely, there are ways to keep it to manageable, nondangerous levels.
Experts say it's in how you view what is going on in your life and how you prioritize the demands on you.
With the holidays coming up and everyone feeling obligated to do more than ever at home, at work and for family and friends, it might help to take stock before the madness shifts into high gear and set the tone now for behavior that can keep you healthy all year.
How to reduce stress:
* Get up 15 minutes earlier
* Prepare for morning the night before
* Never arrange a meeting place without a phone
* Count your blessings
* Give up perfectionism
* Do at least one nice thing a day for yourself
* Every now and then, go through an ordinary day as if it were your last on Earth
* Remember, “stressed” is “desserts” spelled backwards!
Recommended readings:
* “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Disease and Coping,” Robert Sapolsky
* "Guide to Stress Reduction,” L. John Mason
* “Flowers are Forever,” Kathy Lamancusa
* “From Stress to Strength: How to Lighten your Load and Save your Life,” Robert Eliot
SOURCE: Diane Ball and Nancy Boyd
D-3 STORY:
"When we're under tremendous stress, we go into 'fight or flight,' " Diane Ball, a Hobart mental health counselor, said.
"That could save our life. With chronic stress, you're constantly getting adrenaline pumped through your system."
That can lead to all manner of physical problems, such as ulcers, migraines, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome, she said.
Other physical responses to stress include sweating and brain waves, dry mouth, muscle tension, decreased blood flow and dilated pupils.
"We are in a society where we're highly stressed," Ball said. Aside from daily challenges, there are outside factors that also worry us. Some of Ball's clients are so bothered by outside events they temporarily stop watching TV news or reading newspapers, she said.
Nancy Boyd, manager of St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers' pain management centers, defined stress as "the way we react to any change in our life" whether uncomfortable or pleasurable.
Boyd listed three sources of stress:
* environmental (such as traffic)
* your body (aging, lack of exercise, poor diet)
* mental (worrying about others' opinions, fear of not meeting deadlines).
"You have to be able to recognize what stresses you," she said.
But stress "can be positive or negative, and individual for each different person," Boyd said.
"A person can be told she's going to be a grandmother. For you, that might be wonderful stress. Another may think, 'I'm not old enough.' "
Boyd said we have to take control ourselves, sometimes.
"When your neighbor rings the doorbell, you can answer or ignore it. Concentrate on happy things. Avoid negative people and thoughts. Laugh more, lighten up."
She also recommends prayer, music, isolating oneself and exercise, as well as biofeedback, hypnosis, yoga, tai chi and Pilates.
To this end, Schererville resident Mindy Erickson said she's reduced anxiety in the past two years by prioritizing all she has to do.
"I try to turn things over to God and let Him handle them for me," Erickson said. "It's easier as I get older. I no longer lie awake all night long."
Erickson, who is married and has a 7-year-old son, works in collections for an office supply company and is active in church and school groups. She also visits a chiropractor weekly.
"They can feel where my stress is building," she said. "I can feel the knot being moved out. I am learning to avoid situations -- I will not feel the urge to keep saying 'yes.' I've learned to let things go and that I don't have to be perfect."
Erickson said she still experiences stage fright when accompanying her church choir on the piano but that she enjoys that too much to ever give it up.
Which brings Ball, the Hobart counselor, to a crucial point: "If people are looking for a stress-free life, there is no such thing. It can be triggered by a life situation, or can be taught. My mother was a worrier."
But another way to reduce stress is to pay attention to nutrition.
"A cup of coffee and a doughnut for breakfast is the worst thing you can do to your body. You get a surge of energy, then you drop. Complex carbohydrates (toast, oatmeal) release sugar" more evenly, Ball said.
Eat six small meals a day rather than three big ones. Fruits and vegetables have lower amounts of fat.
"We're not always aware of stress," St. Margaret's Boyd noted.
"Sometimes we adapt if it's prolonged, like when a loved one is ill. That can lead to adverse effects, usually a decrease in the immune system. Don't be surprised if illness strikes right after the stress ends."
Ball also is a proponent of hypnosis (thinking oneself into relaxation), noting she became a therapist because she learned self-hypnosis, although she acknowledged some people aren't able to learn the technique.
Other stress-relievers include meditation (stopping all thoughts) and progressive relaxation (in which a person tightens and relaxes various muscle groups in turn, starting with the feet and moving up the body).
Deep breathing and imagining oneself in a pleasant setting also can help, as can biofeedback (learning to raise and lower so-called involuntary functions, such as one's body temperature).
"Exercise is one of the healthiest things we can do," she added.
"Take five minutes out of your day. Any type of relaxation will renew you."
"Avoid overscheduling," Boyd added.
"(We need to) congratulate ourselves on our small successes, reward ourselves. Learn to be flexible. We as adults don't utilize humor as much as we should. Learn to relax and take a break. Deep breathing, read a good book -- we should be doing this all the time.
"At home, set time aside for quiet reflection and solitude. Have a consistent bedtime for children. If it's been a bad week, get a facial."
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