10 ways to stop toxic stress: chronic tension takes a huge toll. Here's how to get your sanity back - Mind-Body Strategies

Shape, Nov, 2003 by Gail O'Connor

In a 24/7 world, we're flirting with total burnout. But as long as we treat ourselves well in our downtime, whether by getting a manicure or a massage, we're minimizing the toll of stress, right?

Well, not exactly.

Despite our growing awareness of the effects of stress, we're going about reducing it all wrong, say experts. Rather than trying the "a little here, a little there" approach to repairing the damage in short spurts over weekends and on vacations, we'd do much better, they say, to minimize tension over the course of a day, every day. "What you want are daily pockets of peace," says Pamela Peeke, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and author of Fight Fat After Forty (Penguin, 2001). "Exercise and self-massage are just a couple of examples of what we can do every day to keep stress levels from becoming toxic."

We can't eliminate all stress, of course, nor would we want to. Stress spurs us to meet demanding deadlines, or sprint to catch a bus. So, when does normal stress turn toxic?

"You've got toxic stress when three specific emotions are involved: The first is defeat; the second, hopelessness; and the third, helplessness," Peeke says. "When you have the toxic trio on board, it's ugly."

Toxic stress doesn't ease up over time, either; instead, it builds on itself. It's the kind that keeps you awake at night, or fills you with dread when you're commuting to work in the morning. "Toxic stress is being dragged around on a chronic basis--you're not letting go," Peeke says. "It becomes one with you."

Perhaps not surprisingly, for most people work is the major cause of this particular kind of tension. "Numerous surveys show that stress levels have risen progressively over the last four decades and that job stress is far and away the leading source of stress for American adults," says Paul J. Rosch, M.D., a clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College and president of the American Institute of Stress, a nonprofit clearinghouse for stress-related information in Yonkers, N.Y.

"'Technostress' is a major contributing factor," adds Rosch. In the era of cellphones, e-mail, faxing, call forwarding and voice mail, the boundary between our work and our personal lives is increasingly blurred. For many people, there are no boundaries anymore. (Rosch puts it this way: "It's now possible to reach anyone at any time anywhere in the universe, including the Gobi Desert and outer space.")

It's not news to researchers that chronic stress isn't just bad for your mental well-being--they've long known that it's physically harmful too. The effects of elevated levels of cortisol--the hormone you produce under stress--are virtually endless. For instance, stress can cause headaches, result in an erratic menstrual cycle, impair fertility and even weaken immune function, exacerbating the symptoms of conditions from asthma to gastritis. Over time, unrelenting stress also can contribute to the development of the big killers: heart disease and cancer.

With exposure to toxic stress at an all-time high, it's more important than ever to take stock of what you can control day in, day out. Following are 10 simple strategies from experts to help you stop stress now.

1] flee your computer. Just sitting in front of a desktop PC evokes a moderate fight-or-flight response in most people, says Erik Peper, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Holistic Healing Studies at San Francisco State University and co-author of Make Health Happen: Training Yourself to Create Wellness (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 2002). When using a computer, you automatically tighten your shoulders, breathe 30 percent more quickly and shallowly and blink significantly less. Further adding to the muscle tension: Your arm may be extended to the far side of you, with a finger poised on the mouse, ready to pounce.

To give your muscles frequent breaks while at the computer, drop your hands to your lap or by your sides every 30 seconds and get up and move around every 20 minutes. Blink every time you end a sentence, and make sure you don't have to reach for your mouse (a split keyboard or one without a number pad--which is narrower--can help). Remember too to stop occasionally and simply breathe. "You want a nice, deep yoga breath," says Peeke, who adds that deep breathing is an effective stress reliever in virtually any situation.

2] break your e-mail addiction. E-mail is the biggest time waster at work, according to professional organizer Julie Morgenstern, author of Time Management From the Inside Out (Henry Holt, 2000). "Limiting how much time you spend on e-mail will help you complete your more critical tasks," she says. First, turn off the e-mail alarm. ("So you're not hearing a bell and running to check it like Pavlov's dog," Morgenstern says.) Second, schedule specific times to check your e-mail, like every other hour instead of every 15 minutes. Third, don't use e-mail when in-person communication is more efficient.