We all hear about how the fast pace of life today, and how economic pressures have increased stress levels. While the bad news about stress is familiar to most of us, the good news about stress is rarely heard.
Deborah Kotz, in a great article in the U.S. News and World Report June 5, 2008, talks about a businessman who feels his heart race in a good way every time he thought about his profits rising in the equity research company, or in a bad way when he was faced with project deadlines he knew he couldn’t make. He was probably used to those kinds of stresses, until his daughter faced a life threatening case of anorexia. Then he learned a new perspective on stress from his daughter. She learned how to achieve small victories each day, and celebrate them with gratitude.
Life can cause stress, and that’s normal for most people. But pressures that are too intense or last too long, or troubles that are shouldered alone, can cause people to feel stress overload.
First the bad news about stress.
Most of us have read about the dangers of stress–headaches, stomach pain, high blood pressure, insomnia and even “mind freezes.” In lesser and moderate doses, the stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenalin, actually improve our performance and overall health by improving blood flow to your brain and bolstering your immune system.
According to the American Psychological Association survey, 50% of the respondents say their level of stress has increased over the past 5 years and 30% routinely experience extreme agitation. An estimated 50-80% of people who develop clinical depression have faced several major life stressful events–divorce, losing their job, death in the family. In October, 2008, the American Medical Association reported hat heart patients battling chronic job stress were twice as more likely to have another heart attack than those who were not chronically stressed. Similarly, studies have shown that chronically elevated levels of stress hormones lead to more colds and infections and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
In an article by Susan Berfield in Businessweek, she cites research from the Center for Work-Life Policy about the effects of stress in the workplace, indicated that they found that employee’s loyalty to the company had declined significantly (from 85%to 53%) during he recession, and trust in their company had declined from 79% to 37%, and engagement was done from 91% to 71%. Even if the numbers seem exaggerated, obviously workplace stress is causing changes in attitudes and behavior of the employees still working in organizations.
Now the good news about stress.
Research by Dr. Suzanne Segerstrom and Dr. Gregory Miller published in the journal Psychological Bulletin examined some 300 scientific papers on stress involving almost 19,000 people. They found that a short burst of stress, such as that caused by giving a speech, may strengthen the body’s immune system by triggering the immune system-boosting ‘fight or flight’ instinct that dates back to when early man was threatened by predators. Researchers at the University of Texas recently found that people who are engaged in challenging creative work enjoy better health equivalent to being 7 years younger.
Esther Sternberg, a researcher at The National Institute of Health and author of The Balance Within: The Science of Connecting Health and Emotions, says that not all stress situations are damaging, but it’s important to have our emotional and physiological system connected positively–it’s a matter of calibration. She joins a number of researchers and experts who are increasingly pointing to the connection between mind and body, emphasizing that you can’t solve physical problems only by addressing the physical symptoms. The psychological and emotional bases for those problems also have to be addressed.
Robert Rosen, author of Just Enough Anxiety, argues that anxiety can contribute to success in the workplace. In a unique turn of perspective Rosen cites a spiritual perspective of Buddhism which advocates acceptance of change–whatever happens, just is, and not being anxious over things that can’t be controlled. Rosen’s arguments reflect the work of psychotherapist, Steven Hayes, whose work I outlined in my August 3, 2009, National Post article, Why Don’t I Feel Better.
Psychologists and life coaches alike would assist their clients by encouraging them to develop a balance between acceptance of what happens in life and the need to feel like they’re in control of their lives. How much control do you have in your life? Neuro-Linguistic (NLP) experts would argue that you need to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life, either directly or indirectly, and not blame others or events and thereby becoming a victim. Isn’t it a matter of perception? Otherwise, why do some people get stressed and others don’t over the same life events?
Experts like Sternberg and Hayes would argue that those people who can control stress better, program their brains into believing they have control–and therefore responsibility. Here’s an example. You can get stressed (and be consciously unaware of it) by constantly checking your email or Blackberry. So as Bob Newhart in his famous therapist video would say, “JUST STOP IT!” Make a decision to stop checking for significant blocks of time. This amounts to a conscious decision to control your life.
Another stress reducing strategy advocated by positive psychologists is doing something purposeful and selfless–such as donating blood, helping the homeless or volunteering for a charity (note here: just giving money doesn’t do it).
Many Type A, driven, successful people are perfectionists and often experience high stress hormones on a consistent if not constant basis. Dr. Alice Domar, psychologist, researcher and author of Be Happy Without Being Perfect, argues that the secret to controlling stress and anxiety is to reprogram our thinking, which is an attention version of what spiritual guru Eckhart Tolle advocates.
There is another perspective on stress–living a life with not enough challenge. If the stress system isn’t activating often enough, it can produce higher levels of stress hormones when it does get turned on. Like a muscle, it needs to be used regularly to stay in proper working condition. Being bored with virtually no stress or being overwhelmed with stress are the two extreme ends of the spectrum.
Another well-known stress cooping and reduction strategy is regular exercise. A 2007 study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, found that people who exercise at least 2-3 times a week have smaller increases in blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormones. Exercise releases the “feel good” endorphins in the brain, one of which is enkephalin, which prevents the release of excessively high levels of adrenaline and cortisol. Finally, any treat that activates your brain’s pleasure centers–a massage, a piece of chocolate, a funny movie, sexual activity –can dampen your stress levels.
What about the workplace? The Center for Work-Life Policy study cited the behavior of managers as being critical to whether an atmosphere of trust, loyalty and engagement would decline or not. Leaders in best practice companies sought ways to protect their employees from the stresses of the economic downturn, including such simple things as regular recognition, allowing employees to volunteer during working hours, and regular town hall style of meetings to discuss company developments. And rather than immediately going to layoffs, best practice leaders used shortened work weeks for everyone, unpaid sabbaticals, shared work and other more creative alternatives, to demonstrate their caring for employees.
So it seems that stress may not be such a bad thing after all. The reality is that stress will always exist in our individual lives and also in organizations. It would be far more productive for individuals to focus on reframing stress, and developing strategies that focus on a balance of accepting what can’t be controlled in life, and taking responsibility for what can be controlled. Second, do something meaningful and charitable in life beyond self interest in addition to the typical stress coping strategies.
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