Have you noticed any generational differences in how people cope with stress?

 

Stress and Mindfulness.

Dr. C.V Alert, MB BS, DM. FCCFP.

Family Physician.

 

“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.”
Andrew Bernstein, American Philosopher.

 

Stress is your body and mind’s way of mobilizing you to help you respond successfully to challenges in your environment.  This stress response evolved to keep us safe and healthy. When our cave-dwelling ancestors encountered a tiger, their bodies readied for action to meet the threat. Stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine ramp up to provide energy. Breathing quickens, the heart pumps harder, the immune system gears up to be ready to respond to injury. Once the tiger is vanquished and the threat is over, the body returns to a state of rest and restoration.

 

Our fight-or-flight response is still protective today. There are times you must act quickly, for example when a driver cuts in front of you in traffic suddenly. If we didn’t have that system kick on when it needed to, we wouldn’t be here.

 

Chronic Stress.

 

Chronic stress results when what was meant as an occasional emergency response becomes a day-to-day occurrence. Modern life can feel like an endless stream of emergencies: daily bad news, increasing violence in your neighborhood, constantly rising prices, or concern that a hurricane(s) may decide to do a Caribbean island tour, while God is busy with Ukraine and Gaza. Today, many of our stressors often are not life-threatening, like a face to face encounter with a tiger. But it’s still that same biological response. We weren’t designed to be stressed constantly. Biologically, stress a very energy intensive state, and it’s very hard on the body and mind to maintain this high intensity on an ongoing basis.

 

A state of chronic stress takes a heavy toll on the body’s systems. Research has linked chronic stress to a host of physical and mental conditions from high blood pressure to weight gain to digestive problems. In fact, chronic stress is believed to be a major factor in the global (and local) rise in hypertension and its complications, and hypertension is the most prevalent chronic illness. When someone’s hypertension is triggered by chronic stress, in most cases unless we can reduce/eliminate the stress, we won’t be able to control the blood pressure.   Chronic stress actually makes us age faster and shortening our life spans.

 

Chronic stress also has profound consequences for our emotional health.  It can precipitate anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, and depression. Many adults are aware that stress causes them trouble concentrating, forgetfulness, headaches, or difficulty making decisions.  Your thoughts can become a stressor even in the absence of an outside threat.  In other words, just thinking about ‘something’ can cause you to be ‘stressed out’, and your heart starts to race and your stomach starts to churn.

 

Compounding the problem, we often turn to unhealthy ways of coping. Some people start seeking quick relief by eating more or drinking more or smoking more. These strategies may feel good in the moment, but can cause further damage to our physical and mental health in the immediate to long term.

 

Why doctors can’t diagnose stress?

 

Although stress contributes to various medical issues, diagnosing it is challenging because individuals respond to events in unique ways. For example, imagine a cricket match between Team A and Team B. If the best batsman on Team A gets out quickly, supporters of Team A may feel disappointed, while supporters of Team B may feel elated. The same event—the dismissal of Team A’s best batsman—triggers entirely different reactions among different groups of supporters. This variability in emotional responses makes stress difficult to diagnose, as it is highly subjective and influenced by personal perspectives.

 

 Successful Strategies for Coping with Stress.

 

Escaping forever to a hideaway with no telephones may sound like a tempting solution. But there are other strategies one can employ.  The stress may be here to stay, there is much you can do to boost your resilience.   

 

1.    Take stock of your situation.

 

Press pause and take an honest look at your day-to-day life. If you keep going 24/7/365 at 120 miles an hour, you're never going to get a handle on stress.  Reflect on how you are feeling physically and mentally and identifying the stressors that may be contributing, such as being on your phone constantly or skimping on sleep. Some people don’t want to take stock in this way as it increases their feelings of stress or anxiety. But recognizing your stressors is the first step to being able to do something about them. While you may not be able to eliminate your life’s stressors entirely, reflecting on those aspects you can control and doing something about them can be very helpful. If you are caregiving for an ill loved one, for example, you could ask a friend to do a supermarket run.

 

Taking a hard look at your priorities and then cut back. You may be thinking, ‘I’m doing these 100 things. I’m so important!’ We just take it as a part of modern life. But it’s not sustainable. Ask yourself, if today was the last day of your life, how would you spend your time?”

 

2.    Lean on Others.

 

Make spending time with family and friends a priority. People who have social support cope better Being around people you trust can calm your body and mind, but unfortunately, loneliness is another health crisis that is partially self-inflicted. During the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression went through the roof and isolation played a huge role.

 

‘Mindfulness’ is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling in a particular moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to offer a host of stress-busting benefits, from lowering blood pressure to easing anxiety. With regular practice, you can become less reactive. You’re able to sit back a bit, take a breath, and contemplate before you shoot back a reply to that distressing email. Another effective go-to: deep breaths. Simply closing your eyes and inhaling and exhaling five deep breaths can have an immediate stress-relieving effect.

To see benefits from meditation, experts suggest you aim for at least 10 minutes each day. However, each person responds differently, so try longer meditation periods if 10 minutes don't seem to make any difference for you. If you find this difficult, try meditating several shorter times throughout the day.

4. Practice Good Self-Care.

 

Stress saps your mental and physical resources, so good self-care can help you be more resilient. Prioritize sleep. Turn off your phone, listen to relaxing music, and take a bath, so your body knows it's time to rest.

 

Make regular exercise a priority. That doesn’t mean you have to have a full-out sweat session every day. Walking can be great exercise. Some of my patients use a step counter (pedometer), often on their smart phones. You can slowly increase your goal by 500 steps every few days. Other exercises that are particularly restorative for body and mind include swimming, yoga and tai chi, and there’s support for spending time in nature – stop and smell the roses- to reduce stress as well.

 

A healthy diet can also help you combat the toll of stress. That can start with eating more mindfully. Eat with a focused mind. Chew their food down to a liquid before they swallow. Once you really connect with your food, you tend to want to eat more nutritiously.

 

5.    Seek Help.

 

Sometimes, despite such efforts, we reach a state of complete overwhelm. Seeking professional help from your doctor or a mental health specialist can be an empowering step toward coping better.

 

“Doing what matters in times of stress. An illustrated guide. Adapted for the Caribbean” is a booklet produces by WHO/PAHO, is available for free on line, and offers simple advice about dealing with stress, and is particularly useful for persons who fear the stigma of being labeled ‘mental case’.

 

6.     Laugh more.

A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments. But it can help you feel better. When you laugh, it lightens your mental load. It also causes positive physical changes in the body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends. Did you hear about the man who walked into a bar and said “Ouch”? Well, it was an iron bar.

 

Minimizing the chronic stress of daily life as much as possible can support your overall health. Engaging in activities that support self-care may help reduce stress and anxiety. These can include getting more exercise, mindfulness practices, getting adequate sleep. and eating a well-balanced diet. By prioritizing mindfulness and self-care, we create space for calm, growth, and resilience.