Don’t let stress affect your health
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By Suzanne Laurent
Staff writer
Everyone has some stress in their lives, between juggling work, children’s activities, caring for elderly parents, keeping appointments and meeting deadlines.
Some stress is healthy. In small doses, it can actually help as a motivator to get the job done. But when you’re constantly on high-alert mode, stress will take its toll.
“Chronic stress causes more wear and tear on the cardiovascular system,” said Dr. John Sharpe of Parkland Internal Medicine in Londonderry, N.H. “It can also cause digestive problems, worsen depression and cause flare-ups of autoimmune diseases.”
Sharpe said stress causes the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and another hormone called cortisol.
“This can be good in life-threatening situations,” he said. “But when people are stressed too often, some become oversensitized, and if they constantly find themselves in periods of high physiologic stress, they need to look at lifestyle changes.”
Sharpe said he has been practicing medicine for 29 years, and has seen the overall stress level in the United States go up.
“We see people with a lot of medical conditions exacerbated by stress,” he said. “In my practice, we ask patients all the time about how things are going for them, especially now in light of the economy. People used to have better support systems with friends and family, but now they tend not to talk with people about their problems.”
Sharpe said exercising on a regular basis — three to four times a week — can do wonders for stress.
“It doesn’t have to be anything fancy,” he said. “Walking is a start.”
Sharpe said if people are not able to cope with a situation and feel out of control, they should seek medical attention.
Stress solutions
Constant stress can also cause anxiety and sleeplessness.
Sue Ann Devine of Salem, N.H. is recently divorced. The 40-year-old mother of four children aged 4 to 13 works two part-time jobs and was finding it hard to relax and unwind at the end of her day.
One thing she has found to help her deal with stress is taking yoga classes twice a week at Yoga Balance of Life in Salem.
“This is a healing year for me,” Devine said. “I find that prayer and yogic breathing have helped me find that peaceful place at the end of each day.”
In the 1970s, Boston cardiologist Herbert Benson researched the mind/body connection when he noticed his patients had elevated blood pressure during regular check-ups.
He went on to develop the “relaxation response” that can be elicited by a variety of meditative techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing, repetitive prayer, chi gong, tai chi, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, jogging, even knitting. He was on to something.
Today, there are many yoga centers springing up, and people are seeking other ways to complement medical care with alternative therapy to help them deal with stress.
Camille Flaherty, owner of Yoga Balance of Life, said many of her students come to class to relieve the tensions of day-to-day life.
“I am very stressed right now,” said Debbie MacCallum, who has been taking yoga with Flaherty twice a week for 2-1/2 years.
MacCallum, 48, of Derry, N.H., said her husband is disabled and can’t work, and they have one child still in college.
“I am trying to support the three of us,” she said. “The nights I come to yoga, I sleep well and am totally refreshed in the morning.”
The style Flaherty teaches, Hatha yoga, incorporates deep breathing and meditation as well as yoga poses. As Benson discovered with his “relaxation response,” deep breathing is very restorative.
Let go of the ‘little things’
David Sollars, owner of First Health of Andover, said he is seeing a growing number of patients coming to his integrative health center with stress-related complaints.
“There are more headaches, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, menstrual irregularities and anxiety,” he said.
In addition to offering acupuncture and reflexology treatments for stress, First Health has a new modality called Alpha-Stim.
This is a small medical device the size of an iPod with little ear buds that attach to the patient’s earlobes. It delivers tiny electrical currents similar to those found in the body that, according to Sollars, can reduce anxiety, insomnia or depression.
Jason Henson, an acupuncturist at First Health, said that he will combine Alpha-Stim in conjunction with acupuncture to see if it helps in some patients.
A treatment with Alpha-Stim can last 20 minutes to an hour.
But Sharpe, of Parkland Internal Medicine, said part of the solution is not to let yourself to get so stressed out in the first place.
“There are a lot of things that people can ignore nowadays, like letting the little things take care of themselves,” he said. “Like in the old Rodney Dangerfield movie where he’s a big executive and he says to his secretary, ‘Hold some of my calls.’”
Symptoms of stress overload
Hurrying everywhere. Walking, talking and driving faster, trying to get it all done.
Feeling depressed, bored or apathetic the majority of the time.
Feeling chronically dissatisfied with life, no matter what you do or try.
Different eating and/or sleeping habits.
Becoming a slave to time-saving devices such as cell phones and e-mail.
Valuing how much you get done rather than how well you do it.
Strategies for mastering stress
Say no when you mean no if your dance card is already full. Keep a 3-by-5 card in your desk drawer with the word NO printed on it in large black letters. This will help you say no when you are struggling with that powerful two letter word.
Give up the victim role. Take responsibility for your part in the stress.
As Clint Eastwood said: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Remember that you are human and have limits on your time and energy.
Take good care of your machine. Eat, exercise, sleep.
Organize your time.
Take mini-vacations. Whether it’s a 10-minute break or a 3-day getaway, taking a break can be incredibly refreshing.