May 25, 2013

Resource Center: Stress

Stress is a fact of life. It can affect our body, our mind, and mood. The nervous system goes into overdrive during a stress response, shutting down digestion, altering breathing, and increasing our heart rate. This can help us quickly avoid an oncoming car, but the physical toll of being revved up for too long can also leave us vulnerable to illness.

Anxiety, depression, and alcoholism can be related to stress. People who have experienced extreme, traumatic stress, as the result of rape or combat are vulnerable to PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. But the daily hassles of life – traffic jams, crying kids and unemployment can also wear us out if we don't know how to cope and calm ourselves. Meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), biofeedback and relaxation training can all help reduce the effects of stress.

Stress Basics

Are You Teflon or Velcro When It Comes to Stress? Some people shed the negative effects of stressful events more easily than others. Stress can be a sign that a person's life is filled with hardship, but it can also mean that you have a rich and busy life.

The Cost of the Economy: Financial hardship can erode health and happiness, as well as bank accounts. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, a psychiatrist a specialist in anxiety Disorders offer practical suggestions for ways to cope with the stresses of the economic downturn.

Stress News

Stress Across the Generations :Every generation has its own stressors, but the millennial generation seems to have more stressors than generations before and are less able to cope with them.

Stress and the Immune System :Inflammatory markers called cytokines increase when we are under stress.

Reducing Stress Improves IVF Results: Problems becoming pregnant are stressful and reduce your fertility. Learning stress reduction techniques can improve the odds.

Managing Stress

Dogs in the Workplace Reduce Stress
There's nothing like the comfort of a furry friend — even for non-dog owners.

Chronic Pain
The mind-body solution.

Performing Under Stress
How we interpret our physiological responses determines our performance.

Adversity Builds Resilience
Hard times may actually make you stronger.

Sleep Deprivation Helps Prevent PTSD
Preventing the formation of fear-based memories.

Anxiety and Depression

Alcohol and anxiety
Alcohol rewires the brain, making it harder to recover from stress.

Stress, Neurons and Depression
The birth of new neurons buffers the stress response.

Cortisol Eases the Fear of Heights
Boosting exposure therapy improves results.

Anxiety Basics
Types of anxiety disorders and treatments.

Treating Depression
Even mild depression should be treated.

Stress and the Body

Stress Ages Kids
The cells of children who are exposed to stress show premature aging.

A New Step in the Stress Pathway
An important connection suggests new treatments.

Stress Ups the Risk of Death...to a Point
There's a limit.

Exercise Reduces Anxiety
Just 40 minutes a couple times a week helped people coping with chronic illness.

Responding to Stress
The stress hormone cortisol; how allostasis causes stress to echo throughout our bodies.