DR. WALKER

Managing Stress

What exactly is stress?

In simple words, stress is emotional or mental tension. It is how your body responds to a certain type of demand or perceived threat. Some types of stress may be considered good stress, such as things that drive you or motivate you to new heights or a higher level. Chronic/long term stress, on the other hand, results in increased cortisol level which disrupts important things like focus, drive, and restful sleep, which could result in chronic illness, anxiety and memory loss. This chronic “fight or flight mode“ lends to an unregulated release of hormones, resulting in increased blood sugars, increased blood pressure, and increased heart rate. Additionally, every time there is this “perceived threat” your body maximizes adrenaline and cortisol so that you are able to fight off the offending item or flee from the threatening scenario. While cortisol and adrenaline have been maximized, it will take more than an hour to get back to your baseline. This would not be a bad thing if this only happens once or twice daily, but when considering all the added stressors: finances, health, work, violence, and worrying about the future, these hormones are chronically elevated and circulate much longer and at higher levels than they should. This serial unrecognized elevation in cortisol and adrenaline result in a multilevel organ system damage, sickness, and disease. Most patients visiting their medical provider reports some recent experience relating to stress. Stress has a link to diabetes, malignancy, cardiovascular disease, and importantly, suicide.

What are some complications of stress?

Heart racing/palpitations. Remember that when your body feels threatened, there is a release of stress hormones, putting the body on alert for emergency action. When this happens your heart pounds faster, blood pressure rises quickly, and breathing becomes more rapid. All of this would be wonderful if a true life-threatening situation was eminent. However, this is not usually the case. Know also that from a physiological standpoint, it is not sustainable to have heart rate greater than 100 for long periods.
Stroke. Chronically elevated, unmanaged, blood pressure can result in leaking or bursting of a blood vessel resulting in a hemorrhagic stroke.
Headache/migraine. This is a common complaint of people who are chronically stressed. This in part due to elevated blood pressures.
Insomnia. Chronically elevated cortisol levels also result in sleep deprivation, which results in memory loss. As sleep deprivation worsens, your ability to problem solve and thinking becomes compromised resulting in an even greater degree of stress.
Weakened immune system. This results in an inability to adequately fight off simple infections. People with a weakened immune system are prone to simple things like cold and flu. Chronic stress affects almost every organ system in your body.
Muscle tension. Muscle tension is probably one of the the most common and obvious physical symptom of stress. People may feel tension in different areas of their body and may also experience various degrees of muscle tension. Commonly, people often feel tension in the shoulders, neck and back. This is the body's way of guarding against injury and pain. As the stressing source continues, the associated muscles learn to remain in a more or less constant state of rigidity.
Abdomen / gastrointestinal problems. Abdominal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and diarrhea, are common symptoms affecting people suffering from chronic stress.
Increased risk for diabetes. Chronic stress can result in increased cortisol levels which increase blood sugars. Chronic elevation of blood sugars could result in diabetes and heart disease.

What are some common stressors?

It is very important to know what are your particular major stressors, and ways to manage them. Here are a few tips:

Finance. People from all walks of life experience, some degree of financial stress. These could include daily financial concerns, monthly bills, and even whether or not there is enough put away for retirement. Financial concerns usually top the list regarding common stressors. Sometimes doing simple things like creating a budget or looking for debt reduction options could be the answer. But perhaps the most important thing is to do your best to live within your means. It is very important, especially during hard times, to know the difference between needs and wants and live accordingly.
Work. Some degree of stress at work could be beneficial; like aiming for a particular goal, benchmark or performance standard. But the reverse is also true, in that excessive work stress, could result in poor job performance, missing deadlines or simply failing standards. If work stress continues to be uncontrolled or unmanaged then sometimes it may be beneficial to look at your current position and gauge if this is the right thing for you to do or look for alternatives. Stress related to work may sometimes be maximized on Monday morning prior to returning to work, typically known as the “Monday blues”. This is a condition in which people feel depressed, anxiety, or dread going to work on Monday morning. If this happens for you on a daily basis then we should consider all of our job options.
Health stress. Sometimes the anxiety experienced from a past medical event, or seeing the suffering of a loved one can bring on a certain degree of stress. Interestingly, the same health concerns that keeps you perseverating about your own health condition, could likewise result in the worsening of your own overall global health. The best remedy is to manage the things that you have control over, for example, eating a healthy diet by reducing ultra-processed foods and sugars, while simultaneously maximizing other things, like vegetables, fish, and good fats. Additionally, increasing things like exercising/walking, and practicing self-care, all have their own individualized benefits.

What are some remedies in managing stress?

Exercise/walking. Getting outside to get fresh air and sunlight exposure works exceptionally well. Additionally, having a daily exercise routine helps to maintain a normal weight, normal blood pressure, and boosted confidence.
Hope. Having the ability to look forward to some pleasant event helps reduce anxiety and negative thoughts.
Self-control. Stay in tune with things you like to do, for example, reading, writing, painting, and working out. All of these help you to get back to your normal baseline.
Set limits. Sometimes adding more tasks to your already packed list will certainly result in additional stress. Sometimes learning to say no to additional work or tasks may help. Sometimes practicing saying no to simple requests will help you manage not feeling guilty for saying no to “perceived“ bigger things.
Support system. It is always a great idea of having a close circle of trusted friends that you can discuss the concern with without judgment. This could include friends or family, church member, or other social networks.
Gratitude. Simply reflecting on and being thankful for the good things in your life. For example, your home, family, friends, health, church, or social group. Simply reflecting on these gifts will leave little room for anxiety.
Music. Listening to your favorite music and even dancing while listening will also reduce emotional stress and decrease anxiety.
Stop watching the news. News channels tend to present worst case scenarios with experts, corroborating their dismal point. Often the worst-case scenario never happens, however, you are caught in a daily media roller coaster resulting in anger, sadness, and emotional torment, which never seems to end. This is certainly true for news towards the end of the day, which will most assuredly affect your ability to sleep.

Self/care tips:

One suggested method of stress relief:

Lay down in a comfortable bed or recliner. Be certain that your hands are in a comfortable position. Be prepared to lay down quietly for about 15 minutes. To begin, take in a series of big deep breaths in and out while telling yourself to relax. Think about something that has brought you joy in the past, that could mean a wonderful vacation, a favorite holiday, a peaceful time on a lake that you visited, and use those as your focal point. While thinking about this peaceful time, tell yourself to relax your forehead, then relax your chin, then relax your neck, then your chest, then your belly, then your pelvis, then your legs, then your feet. Now reverse the whole process, starting with your feet up to your head. If there is a particular part of your body, that holds tension, for example, your shoulders, think about your peaceful time while relaxing that specific part of your body. A shorter version of this could be utilized while sitting in a chair at work, while on a train, or while sitting in your car while on a lunch break.