Stress
Short-Term Stress
You’re already late trying to get yourself out the door when your wife starts freaking out about a lost set of papers, your kids start whining, food gets spilled and the dog starts barking. Oh, and did we mention it’s all happening as your mother calls to say she’s planning to visit—and wants to stay with you—for several weeks?
What's Going On
Your body’s stress response called fight-or-flight kicks into gear. It dates back to prehistoric days, when a quick pick-up-and-run reaction meant the difference between life and death.
Once you’re exposed to a stressor, your body releases a surge of hormones including adrenaline and cortisol, which divert blood flow toward your muscles, heart and brain and away from other areas. That enables you to get away from danger as quickly as possible. Depending on how much adrenaline you’re producing, your heart rate may increase and you may start sweating.
What You Can Do
Breathe. A common gut reaction is to jump in and try to fix the situation ASAP. But this will just exacerbate that harried, out-of-control feeling. Instead, take three deep breaths—5 seconds in, 5 seconds out—to slow your heart rate and reduce the pace at which stress hormones are flying through your system. While focusing on your breath, remind yourself that the anxiety you’re feeling is a chemical response, or just visualize the phrase “I’m strong and I’m capable.
Lighten up. If you can take a step back and laugh at yourself and the situation, great. If not, try to think about something else that’s funny. Like deep breathing, laughter helps scale back your physical and psychological reactions to stress, which gives you more mental resources to devote to the actual problem. (As soon as you stop fixating on what an idiot you are for misplacing your set of papers, you’ve got a lot more energy to focus on finding them.) A study by The American Journal of the Medical Sciences found that just anticipating laughter can reduce the presence of stress hormones by half.
Put it in perspective. Say you’re late for school drop-off, which means you’ll be late to work and possibly just about every other deadline that day. It may seem like the end of the world, but try to think about the situation in the context of the rest of your life: Focus on how great it is to have a job and a loving family - even if they’re getting on your last nerve at that moment. You can also focus on a mental picture of a loved one, a goal or a favourite place. If the problem is an interpersonal one - say your boss is driving you crazy - try to think about the other person’s big picture, too. If your boss is going through a divorce, that may explain why they've been hypercritical lately. Empathy helps defuse tension.
Take steps to solve the problem. The ebb and flow of worry can affect your focus, so if possible, make a written, step-by-step outline of what to do to deal with the situation. Then tackle things in bite-size pieces; productivity combats stress.
Get with the stress rhythm. If immediate action isn’t possible - say you’re waiting for a test result or answer - you may need to settle into it. In this case, calming yourself by looking for a pattern in your heartbeat, or imagining the butterflies in your stomach actually flying in formation. Deep breathing recommended can also help here, as can defaulting to a few simple soothing habits: A 2009 study found that chewing gum markedly reduced stress hormones and promoted feelings of calm, while another study found that drinking hot black tea seemed to double the rate at which people were able to calm down after a tense situation.
Long-Term Stress
If only stress stayed short-lived and in the moment. But more often than not, those crazy mornings of juggling family and work (and yourself!) can turn into weeks of constant go, go, go. Meanwhile, you’re trying to balance your budget, make meals and do all the other things that need to keep happening no matter how hectic life gets. Not only can it feel overwhelming to spend day after day with a knot in your stomach, but over time you start feeling more and more exhausted, worn-down and emotional.
What’s Going On
The body’s stress response is meant for short-term situations. If you’re constantly pumping out stress hormones, that’s going to take a toll. When high cortisol levels cause blood flow to be constantly directed to parts of the body that control the fight-or-flight response (muscles, heart and brain), crucial nutrients won’t get to where they need to go. Toxins can build up in your system, making you feel lacklustre and tired, not to mention prone to insomnia and weight gain.
What You Can Do
Keep a stress diary. If you can’t quite pinpoint the source of that always-harried feeling, write down every time a situation makes you feel stressed. After one week, scan your notes for patterns and brainstorm ways to deal with the circumstances. For example, if you find yourself getting anxious right before the commute home from work, think of ways to make the trip more relaxing: Download an audio-book to listen to in the car or bring a booklet of Sudoku puzzles on the bus.
Control what you can. You may not be able to do anything about choices other people make, but there are always some aspects of a situation that you can take charge of. Make a list - from cutting out jitter-producing caffeine to making sure you’re spending your time with positive people. Seeing just how much you can control will calm you, not to mention provide a blueprint for you to get to a productive endpoint.
Take sleep and relaxation seriously. Sleep, is a major anxiety-buster. One study found that even a short nap can slash stress hormone levels. To help your body wind down at day’s end, shut off gadgets such as cell phones, computers by 9-10 p.m. at the latest. If possible, get them out of your bedroom completely! Also try to keep a regular bedtime. If watching a little TV (even in the bedroom) helps you wind down, that’s fine; just stick to something light and relaxing, like a comedy (skip the slasher flicks and evening news). Although TV sets should really be placed anywhere else other than the bedroom. Bed's are intended for two purposes, one of them being sleeping.
Sit up straight. Breathing controls your heart rate and oxygen flow, and we tend to hunch when we’re stressed, which slows oxygen and blood flow (not to mention creates tension in your neck). An easy way to correct your breathing is to keep good posture. When your shoulders are back, you open the chest and you’re automatically more oxygenated, which helps relieve anxiety. Keep tabs on posture by straightening up and dropping your shoulders every time you send an e-mail or talk on the phone.
Walk it off. Exercise burns through nervous energy and counters tension by pumping your body full of feel-good endorphins as well as norepinephrine, a hormone that may help us better manage anxiety. One study found that a simple brisk walk five days a week can significantly reduce stress levels in women.
When It's More Than Stress
If you find yourself worrying excessively to the point that it’s interfering with your everyday life, you may be suffering from anxiety. Many people have some form of anxiety disorder. Among these are panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
How to tell when you’re more than just stressed out? For most people, when a stressor is removed, they feel better. The difference with anxiety is that it tends to revolve around abstract things that haven’t happened yet. For example, worrying about a hurt child is stress; worrying constantly about whether a child might get hurt is anxiety. Try these tips to combat it.
Challenge the way you’re thinking. If a loved one is late and you start worrying about an accident, ask yourself, ‘What else could have happened?’ Right there, you’re opening your mind to alternate possibilities. Once you’ve expanded the outcome list a little, ask yourself what has typically happened in the past when you’ve had this worry. Has the result been what you feared?
Finally, if you’re still feeling unsettled, try making a bet with yourself. Would you be willing to give up something valuable on the wager that your fear will live itself out? If you wouldn’t, you’ve caught your own bluff.
Invoke other parts of your brain. When worry is chronic, it’s easy to let it dominate. Minimize its role by making space for plenty of other things in your mind. Likewise, group activities will fuel you with outside energy, and nature can help you reach a meditative state. This strategy can work for both in-the-moment and long-term anxiety.
As soon as you start feeling anxious, distracting yourself by calling a friend or browsing your favorite websites can help. And picking up a hobby - taking a language or writing class, for example - keeps you busy and engaged in general, leaving less time for worrying.
Seek outside help. Psychotherapy can be enormously helpful. One type, cognitive behavioral therapy (in which you gradually change your habits and thought patterns) can be especially effective for people with anxiety. The idea is to learn strategies to combat thinking patterns that lead to anxiety. For some people, anti-anxiety medications can be helpful, usually when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Relieving stress through a healthy dietary approach.
We all know that tension can wreak havoc on our eating patterns. But the right healthy foods can often help tame mindless munching and cravings and, better yet, actually lower overall anxiety and its symptoms.
Dark Chocolate
High in flavonoids, which are regarded for their relaxing properties, chocolate also contains phenethylamine, a chemical that enhances your mood. The darker the chocolate, the more healthy substances you're getting in your diet, so look for bars that are 70 percent cacao or higher.
Chamomile Tea
Contains a high amount of flavonoids, which are highly regarded for their relaxing properties.
Skim Milk
Turns out that a glass of warm milk really is calming. One study found that women who drank four or more servings of lowfat or skim milk every day were about half as likely to experience stress-related PMS symptoms than those who drank less than one serving a week.
Oatmeal
Carbohydrates help you produce serotonin, a calming hormone that helps fight anxiety's negative effects-which is probably why many of us crave them when we're stressed. Go with the craving and choose healthy sources. Oatmeal is high in fibre, which means that your body will absorb it slowly. In one-fell-swoop, you'll prolong the serotonin boost, keeping yourself feeling full for longer (and on less) and making sure your blood sugar's in check.
Salmon
Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids-abundant in fish like salmon-can help reverse stress symptoms by boosting serotonin levels, and that an omega-3-rich diet can also help suppress the production of the anxiety hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Omega-3 fatty acids also appear to help reduce blood cholesterol and increase high-density-lipoproteins (the body's good fats).
Walnuts
They've been shown to help lower blood pressure, which is critical for those whose hearts are already working overtime thanks to high adrenaline levels. In fact, research so strongly backs their health benefits that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration goes so far as to recommend 1 & 1/2 oz per day.
Sunflower Seeds
A good source of folate, which helps your body produce a pleasure-inducing brain chemical called dopamine.
Spinach
Studies show that magnesium, which you'll find in dark leafy green vegetables like spinach, improves your body's response to stress.
Blueberries
Blueberry antioxidants counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol on your body.
Clinic telephone +86 (0574) 86000000 (Mon-Fri closed)
Website designed and maintained by Dr D Middleton, Hospital Consultant, NETD Central Hospital
All content on this website in its entirety is subject to copyright. No part is to be copied without express written permission of Ningbo Development Zone Central Hospital 宁波开发区中心医院
You’re already late trying to get yourself out the door when your wife starts freaking out about a lost set of papers, your kids start whining, food gets spilled and the dog starts barking. Oh, and did we mention it’s all happening as your mother calls to say she’s planning to visit—and wants to stay with you—for several weeks?
What's Going On
Your body’s stress response called fight-or-flight kicks into gear. It dates back to prehistoric days, when a quick pick-up-and-run reaction meant the difference between life and death.
Once you’re exposed to a stressor, your body releases a surge of hormones including adrenaline and cortisol, which divert blood flow toward your muscles, heart and brain and away from other areas. That enables you to get away from danger as quickly as possible. Depending on how much adrenaline you’re producing, your heart rate may increase and you may start sweating.
What You Can Do
Breathe. A common gut reaction is to jump in and try to fix the situation ASAP. But this will just exacerbate that harried, out-of-control feeling. Instead, take three deep breaths—5 seconds in, 5 seconds out—to slow your heart rate and reduce the pace at which stress hormones are flying through your system. While focusing on your breath, remind yourself that the anxiety you’re feeling is a chemical response, or just visualize the phrase “I’m strong and I’m capable.
Lighten up. If you can take a step back and laugh at yourself and the situation, great. If not, try to think about something else that’s funny. Like deep breathing, laughter helps scale back your physical and psychological reactions to stress, which gives you more mental resources to devote to the actual problem. (As soon as you stop fixating on what an idiot you are for misplacing your set of papers, you’ve got a lot more energy to focus on finding them.) A study by The American Journal of the Medical Sciences found that just anticipating laughter can reduce the presence of stress hormones by half.
Put it in perspective. Say you’re late for school drop-off, which means you’ll be late to work and possibly just about every other deadline that day. It may seem like the end of the world, but try to think about the situation in the context of the rest of your life: Focus on how great it is to have a job and a loving family - even if they’re getting on your last nerve at that moment. You can also focus on a mental picture of a loved one, a goal or a favourite place. If the problem is an interpersonal one - say your boss is driving you crazy - try to think about the other person’s big picture, too. If your boss is going through a divorce, that may explain why they've been hypercritical lately. Empathy helps defuse tension.
Take steps to solve the problem. The ebb and flow of worry can affect your focus, so if possible, make a written, step-by-step outline of what to do to deal with the situation. Then tackle things in bite-size pieces; productivity combats stress.
Get with the stress rhythm. If immediate action isn’t possible - say you’re waiting for a test result or answer - you may need to settle into it. In this case, calming yourself by looking for a pattern in your heartbeat, or imagining the butterflies in your stomach actually flying in formation. Deep breathing recommended can also help here, as can defaulting to a few simple soothing habits: A 2009 study found that chewing gum markedly reduced stress hormones and promoted feelings of calm, while another study found that drinking hot black tea seemed to double the rate at which people were able to calm down after a tense situation.
Long-Term Stress
If only stress stayed short-lived and in the moment. But more often than not, those crazy mornings of juggling family and work (and yourself!) can turn into weeks of constant go, go, go. Meanwhile, you’re trying to balance your budget, make meals and do all the other things that need to keep happening no matter how hectic life gets. Not only can it feel overwhelming to spend day after day with a knot in your stomach, but over time you start feeling more and more exhausted, worn-down and emotional.
What’s Going On
The body’s stress response is meant for short-term situations. If you’re constantly pumping out stress hormones, that’s going to take a toll. When high cortisol levels cause blood flow to be constantly directed to parts of the body that control the fight-or-flight response (muscles, heart and brain), crucial nutrients won’t get to where they need to go. Toxins can build up in your system, making you feel lacklustre and tired, not to mention prone to insomnia and weight gain.
What You Can Do
Keep a stress diary. If you can’t quite pinpoint the source of that always-harried feeling, write down every time a situation makes you feel stressed. After one week, scan your notes for patterns and brainstorm ways to deal with the circumstances. For example, if you find yourself getting anxious right before the commute home from work, think of ways to make the trip more relaxing: Download an audio-book to listen to in the car or bring a booklet of Sudoku puzzles on the bus.
Control what you can. You may not be able to do anything about choices other people make, but there are always some aspects of a situation that you can take charge of. Make a list - from cutting out jitter-producing caffeine to making sure you’re spending your time with positive people. Seeing just how much you can control will calm you, not to mention provide a blueprint for you to get to a productive endpoint.
Take sleep and relaxation seriously. Sleep, is a major anxiety-buster. One study found that even a short nap can slash stress hormone levels. To help your body wind down at day’s end, shut off gadgets such as cell phones, computers by 9-10 p.m. at the latest. If possible, get them out of your bedroom completely! Also try to keep a regular bedtime. If watching a little TV (even in the bedroom) helps you wind down, that’s fine; just stick to something light and relaxing, like a comedy (skip the slasher flicks and evening news). Although TV sets should really be placed anywhere else other than the bedroom. Bed's are intended for two purposes, one of them being sleeping.
Sit up straight. Breathing controls your heart rate and oxygen flow, and we tend to hunch when we’re stressed, which slows oxygen and blood flow (not to mention creates tension in your neck). An easy way to correct your breathing is to keep good posture. When your shoulders are back, you open the chest and you’re automatically more oxygenated, which helps relieve anxiety. Keep tabs on posture by straightening up and dropping your shoulders every time you send an e-mail or talk on the phone.
Walk it off. Exercise burns through nervous energy and counters tension by pumping your body full of feel-good endorphins as well as norepinephrine, a hormone that may help us better manage anxiety. One study found that a simple brisk walk five days a week can significantly reduce stress levels in women.
When It's More Than Stress
If you find yourself worrying excessively to the point that it’s interfering with your everyday life, you may be suffering from anxiety. Many people have some form of anxiety disorder. Among these are panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
How to tell when you’re more than just stressed out? For most people, when a stressor is removed, they feel better. The difference with anxiety is that it tends to revolve around abstract things that haven’t happened yet. For example, worrying about a hurt child is stress; worrying constantly about whether a child might get hurt is anxiety. Try these tips to combat it.
Challenge the way you’re thinking. If a loved one is late and you start worrying about an accident, ask yourself, ‘What else could have happened?’ Right there, you’re opening your mind to alternate possibilities. Once you’ve expanded the outcome list a little, ask yourself what has typically happened in the past when you’ve had this worry. Has the result been what you feared?
Finally, if you’re still feeling unsettled, try making a bet with yourself. Would you be willing to give up something valuable on the wager that your fear will live itself out? If you wouldn’t, you’ve caught your own bluff.
Invoke other parts of your brain. When worry is chronic, it’s easy to let it dominate. Minimize its role by making space for plenty of other things in your mind. Likewise, group activities will fuel you with outside energy, and nature can help you reach a meditative state. This strategy can work for both in-the-moment and long-term anxiety.
As soon as you start feeling anxious, distracting yourself by calling a friend or browsing your favorite websites can help. And picking up a hobby - taking a language or writing class, for example - keeps you busy and engaged in general, leaving less time for worrying.
Seek outside help. Psychotherapy can be enormously helpful. One type, cognitive behavioral therapy (in which you gradually change your habits and thought patterns) can be especially effective for people with anxiety. The idea is to learn strategies to combat thinking patterns that lead to anxiety. For some people, anti-anxiety medications can be helpful, usually when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Relieving stress through a healthy dietary approach.
We all know that tension can wreak havoc on our eating patterns. But the right healthy foods can often help tame mindless munching and cravings and, better yet, actually lower overall anxiety and its symptoms.
Dark Chocolate
High in flavonoids, which are regarded for their relaxing properties, chocolate also contains phenethylamine, a chemical that enhances your mood. The darker the chocolate, the more healthy substances you're getting in your diet, so look for bars that are 70 percent cacao or higher.
Chamomile Tea
Contains a high amount of flavonoids, which are highly regarded for their relaxing properties.
Skim Milk
Turns out that a glass of warm milk really is calming. One study found that women who drank four or more servings of lowfat or skim milk every day were about half as likely to experience stress-related PMS symptoms than those who drank less than one serving a week.
Oatmeal
Carbohydrates help you produce serotonin, a calming hormone that helps fight anxiety's negative effects-which is probably why many of us crave them when we're stressed. Go with the craving and choose healthy sources. Oatmeal is high in fibre, which means that your body will absorb it slowly. In one-fell-swoop, you'll prolong the serotonin boost, keeping yourself feeling full for longer (and on less) and making sure your blood sugar's in check.
Salmon
Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids-abundant in fish like salmon-can help reverse stress symptoms by boosting serotonin levels, and that an omega-3-rich diet can also help suppress the production of the anxiety hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Omega-3 fatty acids also appear to help reduce blood cholesterol and increase high-density-lipoproteins (the body's good fats).
Walnuts
They've been shown to help lower blood pressure, which is critical for those whose hearts are already working overtime thanks to high adrenaline levels. In fact, research so strongly backs their health benefits that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration goes so far as to recommend 1 & 1/2 oz per day.
Sunflower Seeds
A good source of folate, which helps your body produce a pleasure-inducing brain chemical called dopamine.
Spinach
Studies show that magnesium, which you'll find in dark leafy green vegetables like spinach, improves your body's response to stress.
Blueberries
Blueberry antioxidants counteract the effects of stress hormones like cortisol on your body.
Clinic telephone +86 (0574) 86000000 (Mon-Fri closed)
Website designed and maintained by Dr D Middleton, Hospital Consultant, NETD Central Hospital
All content on this website in its entirety is subject to copyright. No part is to be copied without express written permission of Ningbo Development Zone Central Hospital 宁波开发区中心医院