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DIAL DOWN STRESS W
How to Stay Calm and Cool by Lisa Marshall
hether from natural disasters, divisive politics, unmanageable workloads or a smartphone
culture that makes it tough to unplug, U.S. adults are feeling more strain now than they have at any other time in the past decade, according to the American Psychological Association’s 2017 Stress in America Survey. One in three say their stress has increased in the past year and one in fi ve rate the level at eight or more on a scale of one to 10. About three in fi ve, or 59 percent, say they believe this is “the lowest point in the nation’s history” and nearly two-thirds say concerns about our nation’s future (including its health care, economy and international relations) are key sources of their stress. “We’re seeing signifi cant stress
transcending party lines,” notes Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., the association’s CEO. All that stress is having a powerful
impact on health, with as many as 80 percent of visits to primary care physicians characterized as stress-related, according to the American Medical Association.
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Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative
stress into a positive one. ~Hans Selye
Workplace stress accounts for 120,000 deaths a year—more than infl uenza, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease combined—according to a 2015 Stanford University study. Yet, empowering news has emerged
amid this epidemic of anxiety-related illness. Research shows that by eating right, exercising and changing our mindset about stress itself, we can buff er our bodies from many health hazards. “Unfortunately, you can’t always avoid the
things that stress you out. But you can control how you respond to stress before it takes over your life,” says Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D., a Mill Valley, California, psychologist and author of the recent book The Stress-Proof Brain: Master Your Emotional Response to Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroplasticity.
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Our Brain on Stress Whether it’s an urgent email from the boss or a rude motorist driving unsafely, tense situations elicit a physiological response remarkably similar to what might occur if we were chased by a lion. Deep inside an almond-shaped region
of the brain called the amygdala, an alarm goes off , signaling the release of hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that boost heart rate, usher extra blood to muscles, hasten breathing and spike blood sugar to provide more fuel for the brain to react. Evolutionarily, this response was key to
early human survival, providing the energy boost needed to fl ee predators. Even today, it has its upside, says Greenberg. “In the short term, stress can be exciting and even benefi cial, revving you up so you can put your passion and energy into something.” But chronic excess can lead to
high blood pressure and blood sugar, infl ammation, cognitive problems and a hair-trigger response to stress, in which our body overreacts even to mild annoyances.
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