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“It’s been a rough week!" a neighbor said when I wished her a relaxing weekend. "Two people in my department were on vacation, and another had a family emergency...so my co-worker and I had to do their work as well as ours. I can’t wait to let go of my stress.”
The summer is not over yet, according to the calendar, but post-summer stress is already evident. The causes are numerous: Students are heading back in school, so working parents have to juggle their own schedules to align with those of their children. Vacations have ended for most, and people now have to return to their offices full time and face lengthy commutes. In short, time doesn’t seem to stretch sufficiently to take care of a too-long to-do list.
One response to the increased demands of the coming-of-September stresses is to announce to yourself (or anyone who will listen) the state of your stress. Anyone who hears the statement, “I am so stressed today!” should feel empathy because the feeling is so familiar. Indeed it is rather startling to realize that the concept of biological stress—i.e., the body’s response to situations that cause hormonal shifts—dates back to 1936 and was popularized only in the 1950s. No one in Shakespeare or in an operatic libretto filled with all sorts of calamities claims to be stressed (although many must be experiencing something that can only be described as stress). It was Hans Selye who observed symptoms in patients such as tiredness, lack of desire to work, loss of appetite, and needing to lie down as bodily responses to stress. In addition to identifying the hormones in the body whose activity are altered by acute stress, Selye wrote about how the behavior of an individual changes over time when confronted with chronic stress.
Today most of us recognize in ourselves how we respond to events we define as stressful. This could range from something trivial like traffic congestion to the more traumatic, such as sickness or job insecurity. Our reactions may include changes in our mood as well as a physical response. Our heart rate may increase; we may sweat, tremble, feel faint, be unable to process information, lose our ability to eat or even to sleep. A friend was a near-victim of a computer scam; she thought she would have to pay a ransom in order for her computer to continue to work. Fortunately, this did not occur but she described her response as visceral: "I almost fainted, my blood pressure must have been in the triple digits, and I was sweating. It took me a couple of hours to feel myself again."
There seem to be an unlimited number of commercially available stress relievers, especially for those experiencing chronic stress. Pharmacies, health food stores, the internet, and restaurants specializing in "healthy foods" offer dozens of remedies that can be drunk, swallowed, rubbed on, or smelled. An inhaler is available that comes with instructions to decrease stress by prolonging exhalations and then inhaling one of three available scents. A skin patch containing “premium hemp extract" Ashagandha ( a shrub that grows in Asia and Africa), passionflower ( a climbing vine grown in the U.S.), and other unnamed ingredients will also relieve stress, according to its label. Minerals such as magnesium, zinc, potassium, and B vitamin are sold as supplements to reduce stress. Other options include a device that sends gentle vibrations through the body, moisturizers that calm, and even stress relief dough that will help you relax as you knead and pummel it. (It unfortunately cannot be baked or eaten.)
And then there are traditional therapies: petting one’s dog or cat, of course, or taking walks, baths—perhaps with fragrant bath salts, meditation, exercise, playing or listening to music, coloring or making collages, and talking with friends or a therapist. Simply giving oneself time out from brain activity is an effective way of decreasing stress from the pressures of an overextended lifestyle. A Scientific American article suggested that removing oneself even briefly from the constant need to engage one’s brain can significantly reduce stress. The author quoted meditation teacher Michael Taft, who recommended giving one’s brain space and time to be idle. Relieving the brain from the need to process information, make plans, deal with constant problems, and simply think will not only decrease stress but, according to the article, possibly increase creativity and focus.
Eating is often used as a way of reducing stress. People often eat when they are upset, frustrated, anxious, bored, tired, worried, angry, or depressed—i.e., when they're stressed. Eating is a distraction similar to that offered by walking, talking on the phone, or playing with a pet. And it may be the default behavior when stress occurs, primarily because it works. If the effect of eating when stressed was unpleasant or had no effect at all, the behavior would not be repeated. But so-called emotional overeating is commonplace because the act of eating itself works as a distraction from stress and/or may actually improve mood.
High-fat foods seem to blunt emotional responsiveness, though the effects have not been well studied. But carbohydrates may decrease stress because consuming them increases serotonin in the brain. We found a carbohydrate-rich beverage significantly effective in decreasing the stress associated with premenstrual syndrome. The improvement in mood and relief from stress may be associated with increased serotonin activity; indeed, antidepressants that prolong serotonin activity have been developed to relieve more severe forms of PMS.
The good thing about eating carbohydrates to relieve stress is that doing so is natural, it does not require buying special exotic herbs or inhalers or patches, and high-carbohydrate foods are easy to find at home or at work. The downside of eating carbohydrates to relieve stress is that they often are processed with high-fat ingredients like oil, butter, or lard; they are not packaged in stress-reduction sizes; and instructions to wait 20-30 minutes after eating before experiencing calm and relaxation are missing. Perhaps one day soon, small boxes of low-fat snacks like breakfast cereal will be packaged in the appropriate amount for stress relief (25-30 grams of carbohydrate) with the appropriate instructions. Decreasing stress by eating breakfast cereal may not be as exotic as consuming an herb from southeast Asia or wearing a headpiece that vibrates, but it is certainly more convenient.
