Stress is universal—and manageable

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien, Catholic News Service

Stress, as pervasive as the common cold, can affect children, teens, adults—and even those who work for the Catholic Church.

Licensed clinical professional counselor Steven J. Stein recently led two dozen employees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington in a seminar, “Stress Management 101.” It’s a scene that is playing out at workplaces around the country, as well as in schools and individual counseling sessions.

“Stress affects us physically, emotionally and mentally, and can threaten our health if unmanaged,” Stein said. “But it’s natural, and it can be managed and used for growth.”

In their 2003 book “The Stress Owner’s Manual: Meaning, Balance and Health in Your Life,” Ed Boenisch and C. Michele Haney say that stress occurs “whenever your mind and your body react to some real or imagined situation.”

“Since every condition or event in your daily life causes some type or degree of stress, it is unrealistic and impossible for you to totally eliminate stress from your life,” they add. “You actually need moderate levels of stress to help you stay alert and perform well. The only people totally free of stress are those who populate our cemeteries.”

But too-high levels of stress—what Hans Selye, the so-called “father” of stress research, called “distress”—can be managed with a combination of healthy habits, positive thinking, relaxation, time-management techniques and common-sense rules about how many commitments a person takes on.

Breaking those rules by scheduling too many activities has caused high numbers of young people to experience stress, experts say.

A 2003 survey conducted by Liberty Mutual and Students Against Destructive Decisions (the organization founded as Students Against Drunk Driving) showed that 43 percent of those ages 13 or 14 and 59 percent of those from 15 to 17 years old said they were stressed every day.
The reasons they cited included homework, the pressure to excel, relationships with parents, driving, after-school jobs, puberty, and appearance and weight.

The survey found that teens who regularly feel stress or depression are much less inclined than other teens to avoid high-risk behaviors such as drinking, using drugs or engaging in early sexual activity.

Among adults, unmanaged stress can lead to health problems such as migraines or high blood pressure, work accidents and absenteeism, and difficulty with relationships. It is estimated that more than half of the 550 million working days lost each year to absenteeism in the United States are stress-related.

What’s the solution?

At the USCCB seminar, Stein outlined some healthy coping strategies:

• “Tune and maintain your body” with a regular exercise program, a well-balanced diet, and avoidance of alcohol and tobacco.

• Establish support systems, find time to relax with friends and family, and carve out private time for yourself.

• “Develop healthy perceptions, attitudes and approaches,” including a spiritual faith, a sense of humor and a healthy imagination.

• “Know your values and goals, both long-term and short-term,” and judge all your commitments by how they fit those goals and values.

• Try to maintain a balance among work, family, community or church obligations, and your responsibilities to yourself.

The solution to managing stress comes from your personal reaction to the event or condition, according to authors Boenisch and Haney.

“You can have more control over your physical and psychological responses than you may realize,” they write. “The power of the mind is the key. Your brain, through what you think, literally controls your destiny.”

The authors urge readers to ask themselves two questions: “What do you believe about your ability to deal with life, with stressors?” and “What kind of personal reaction to stressors are you willing to choose?”

“As you continue to take more responsibility for your life and the path it takes, you’ll have the skills to stop stress before it starts, recognize your physical and psychological symptoms of distress and use these personal warnings to adjust your attitude and take action,” they say.

Nancy Frazier O’Brien is deputy editor at Catholic News Service.