by Sohia Marcel
A few years back, Roberta Lee, M.D., co-director of the Integrative Medicine Felowship at Beth Israel’s Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York and author of The SuperStress Solution, did a study on patients who were showing telltale symptoms of post tramatic stress disorders, anxiety and sleep disturbance. She said these patients hadn’t been through any terrifying ordeal and in fact denied feeling overly stressed at all.
What she found out was that these people had been living under such extreme stress for so long, they didn’t know they were stressed, she said, ” it had become an invisible part of the landscape of their lives”.
According to, Stephanie McClelan, M.D, and Beth Hamilton M.D., co-authors of So Stressed: The Ultimate Stress Relief Plan for Women, we each have our very own stress personality. The stress response is influenced by many factors, and I tend to agree we all don’t process stress in the same way.
Just recently I read an article in one of my new favorite magazines Body+Soul, written by Teri Trespico, that the key factor behind our stress response is our level of cortisol, a hormone excreted by the adrenal glands during moments of heightened anxiety. Someone who underproduces cortisol may feel sensitive to stress.
Trespico lists 7 things you can do to relieve stress:
1. Reframe stress positively. Don’t get derailed from your larger goals. Rather ran viewing the world as unfair, acknowledge that are events which are largely out of your control.
2. Get moving. Exercise produces serotonin and norephins, which create a sense of euphoria.
3. Get plenty of sleep. The importance of sleep is beneficial for more than just stress.
4. Find Meaning in work. Job pressure tops the stress list. The key to coping is to find meaning in what you do. Look beyond your daily tasks to how you personally contribute to your team.
5. Stay connected. There is a reason we reach for others when we are stressed.
6. Hit the brakes. The capacity for rest important. Give yourself at least a 10-15 minute time out.
7. Eat the right foods. Whole food sources of tyrosine and tryptophan, animon acids help produce balancing neurotransmitters. Try avocados, spinach, nuts, oats and yogurt.
share
Loading ...
we invite you to