If you’re feeling stressed these days, you’re not alone. In a time of unprecedented stock market fluctuations, rampant unemployment, and shrinking retirement funds, many of us are feeling overwhelmed with anxiety and worry. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2008 Stress In America Survey reports that eight out of ten American’s say that the economy is a significant cause of their stress. Everything I watch on television seems to kick-start me into a full-blown, adrenalin charged fight-or-flight response. The problem is that there is no one to fight and nowhere to flee, so my body just stews in the adrenalin and cortisol generated by anxiety.

 

As you read newspapers and watch the daily news on TV, you are reminded on a daily basis of all the things over which we have no control. It is one thing to have occasional stressors that speed up your heart and rate raise your blood pressure a bit. Most of us have figured out ways to get those things under control. But chronic stress lasting over long periods of time takes a toll on your health.

 

If the stress continues, health related issues can worsen, including increased symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, and complications of other health issues such as heart disease and diabetes.

 

While there are many things you can’t control in these times of threat to your financial security, there is always one thing you can control: Your response to the situation.  A take-charge approach, a positive attitude and proactively taking steps to reduce your stress levels and protect your greatest asset of all – your health – is your best course of action. Here are some tips to help you regain a sense of control in an out-of-control world.

 

Reframe your stressful situation. When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity. What you tell yourself about your situation can have a powerful effect on your physical and mental well-being.

 

Focus on “the good stuff.” No matter how bad things get, there is always good stuff – our health, our loved ones, the beauty of a flower in bloom. 

  

Avoid people who are energy drains. Spend time with people who support you and care about you. 

  

Avoid becoming “glued” to the TV. Keeping up with the news is fine, but focusing on every up and down of the stock market only increases your stress. 

 

Remember the serenity prayer. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change” is very good advice in these times of economic uncertainty. You can’t prevent or change certain stressors (the death of a loved one or a national recession), so the healthy alternative is acceptance and making the best of a tough situation. 

  

Make time for self-care. You are doing everything you can to make your situation better. Now it’s time to reduce your stress by taking time for you.

  

Create a “worry time.” Break the habit of continuous worrying, and instill a new habit of delaying worry. Worrying about all of the terrible things that might happen in the future will only keep you from enjoying the present. Choose a set time and place for worrying, such as 20 minutes each evening from 7:00 PM to 7:20 PM in the living room. If a worry crosses your mind during the day, write it down and postpone it until your “worry time.” This is one of my favorite strategies as in keeps me focused in the present moment for the rest of the day! 

  

 

Exercise on a regular basis. Physical activity plays a key role in reducing stress. 

  

Eat a healthy diet. Your body needs nutrition to be at its best. 

  

Get enough sleep. When you are well rested, you are better able to handle stress.  

  

Limit caffeine and sugar. Caffeine can increase anxiety and interfere with sleep.

Cut down on or avoid alcohol and other drugs, and cigarettes. These forms of self-medicating are only a way to avoid dealing with the issues at hand. 

  

  

Try belly breathing or heart-focused breathing. When you breath slowly and deeply, you gradually achieve relaxation of your body and then your mind. 

Try meditation. Mindfulness meditation shows promise for anxiety relief, and compassionate meditation is thought to promote smooth heart rhythms and coherence of functioning of the body’s physiological systems. 

Self-regulate emotions and reinforce relaxation by using one of the bio-feedback devices currently available to inform you of how your body is experiencing stress. I use a handy little hand-held device called an emWave to monitor my heart rhythms, gain a sense of control over emotions, and enjoy the mental and physical health benefits that accompany the coherence of all physiological systems.

Worry Less, Enjoy Life More