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Anxiety and Managing Stress
The stresses we experience, both internal and external, are part of our daily living. Anxiety is the signal that our mind is telling our body that the stresses are dangerously close to overwhelming us. Stress that is cumulative causes anxiety and depression, as it draws upon our personal and physical resources. Each person has their own level of tolerance for stress and anxiety. Excessive stress and anxiety can lead to lowered self-esteem and depression. The goal of psychotherapy is to validate your emotional experience, regulate your negative self-assessment, and help you through support to find ways to a positive change. When one must choose between our own life and people we love, sometimes fear, anxiety, and stress are heightened.
If you are feeling very distressed and your life is suffering, there is no substitute for talking with a professional. Here are some tips to alleviate anxiety/stress at least temporarily.
- Learn to be flexible by knowing what you can and what you cannot change, try to go with the flow and be open to changes.
- Laugh more: watch a funny movie; tell a joke, read the comics.
- Relax through breathing slow and deep from your diaphragm.
- Learn to say "NO;" recognize that you cannot do everything.
- Accept mistakes as the natural process of growing in wisdom.
- Have fun; it is the natural way of lowering the body's stress hormones; stress tenses, and play loosens.
- Exercise; it brings out the body's natural endorphins, painkillers and pleasure-producing substances.
- Eat a healthy diet; it makes the body strong and increases a sense of well-being (remember, using caffeine and nicotine put more stress on our musculature and nervous system).
- Talk about life's difficulties and problems: whether with a co-worker, friend, spouse, lover, or counselor; it allows one to shed the weight of burdens shouldered alone.
- Tackle problems as they arise: letting problems and tasks mount can make them seem overwhelming; your day will seem lighter after tackling a dreaded task.
- Allow yourself to mourn good and bad changes: you have the right to grieve loss and, in fact, everyone needs that time . . . to adjust, to reminisce, to care, and to process.
If you suffer from excessive stress, anxiety, or panic attacks, you may wish to consult with a mental health professional. Anxiety and stress problems are especially open to therapeutic help.
To manage anxiety /stress of a chronic disease, you must be involved actively in decisions about your treatment. Traditionally, the doctor's role was to diagnose and prescribe, while the patient's role has been to comply with the doctor's orders. This approach may still work for acute problems, but is far less effective in dealing with a chronic disease.
- Effective management of a chronic disease requires a partnership between you and your doctor.
- Your doctor's role is to provide medical advice, offer treatment options and recommend resources.
- Your role is to monitor your symptoms, report them accurately, and manage the disease on a day-to-day basis.
- Self-Management is a way of living well with chronic disease.
- Self-management includes the decisions and actions an individual takes to cope with or improve their health.
- It also includes managing the following aspects of their condition, pain, fatigue, medication, diet, and exercise to reduce stress.
- Good self-management skills maintain and improve your sense of well-being. They provide you greater independence and confidence in dealing with the physical and emotional challenges of a long-term illness.
- To avoid anxiety and stress the following areas need attention.
- Developing a suitable exercise program
- Managing cognitive symptom
- Managing nutrition
- Doing breathing exercises
- Solving problems
- Using of medication
- Communicating with family, friends and health care providers
- Dealing with emotions such as depression and anger
- Many caregivers with chronically ill relatives suffer perceived stress that lead to depression. The consequences of chronic care giving affect the psychological, physical function, self-esteem, and marital satisfaction of the caregiver.
- Depression is experienced by 31–55% of caregivers of chronically ill or elderly relatives.
- Low social support is a predictor of higher perceived burden and is associated with increased stress.
- Younger caregivers experience more distress than older caregivers do and they express more subjective burdens than older caregivers do.
- Gender effects depression; female caregivers report more distress and higher psychiatric problems than male caregivers do.
- Caregivers provide many kinds of help to care receivers, from grocery shopping to helping with daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
- A recent survey found that almost 26 million family caregivers provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or chronic illness.
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- Studies show that more than half of caregivers are women.
- About 20 hours per week, on average is spent on care giving.
- Care giving for the chronically ill can be physically demanding, especially for older caregivers.
- One third of all caregivers describe their own health as fair to poor and often worry that they will not outlive the person for whom they are caring.
- Caregivers often suffer from depression. Caregivers are also more likely to become physically ill.
- Caregiver stress is a struggle to balance care giving with other responsibilities including full-time jobs and caring for children. Constant stress can lead to "burnout" as well as health problems for the caregiver and they may feel guilty, frustrated, and angry from time to time.
- Caregivers often need help caring for a chronically ill individual. Sometimes other family members or friends and neighbors are able to help. Research has shown that caregivers often are at increased risk for depression and illness, especially if they do not receive enough support from family, friends, and the community. All of us may feel stressed or overwhelmed at times; this is a normal part of living; however, these feelings, whether acute or chronic, may be excessive and unhealthy.
- Here are ways to recognize when stress is becoming harmful:
- Feeling tense or on edge
- Having excessive muscular tension/chronic pain, headaches
- Being unusually hyper-reactive, irritable, or angry
- Having difficulty sleeping
- Feeling chronic physical fatigue
- Feeling “burned-out,” overwhelmed, or mentally exhausted
- Having diminished ability to think, concentrate, or remember information
- Feeling depressed or anxious
- To prevent stress and burnout caregivers can call upon others for support and assistance. It may not be easy to ask for help and you may need to make very specific requests. Nevertheless, getting help from others will not only benefit you also the person you are providing with care giving.
Respite-care programs can be a good way to get a break from constant care giving. If other caregivers are not available to fill in for the main caregiver, respite-care services may be available in the community.
As a caregiver, you can take steps to take care of your own health:
- Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in saturated fat.
- Try to get enough sleep and rest.
- Regular exercise can help reduce stress and improve your health in many ways.
- Talk to your provider about symptoms of depression or illness that you may be having; get counseling if needed.
- Social activities can help keep you feeling connected and help with stress; faith-based groups can offer support and help to caregivers.
- Find a support group for caregivers in your situation; many support groups are available online through the Internet.
Included on the website you will find a Stress Test. Doctors at the University of Washington designed this test after their research showed that illness often followed stressful changes in their patient lives. Your score though not definitive is a good predictor of becoming seriously ill in the next two years.
Pat Slavin, LCSW biography here.
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