Stress (cont.)

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What's in the future for stress?

Stress is part of life and will always be around. The keys to dealing with stress are appropriate control of stressors and management of our physical (physiological) and mental (psychological) responses. In this regard, critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) involves discussing the traumatic event as soon as possible after the event. Although it is thought to help lessen extreme (pathological) reactions to stress and often prevent PTSD in its worst forms for some individuals, other research has called its effectiveness into question. Hopefully, of the circumstances in which CISD can be useful can be clearly delineated and this approach to stress management can be translated into helpful strategies for managing the more common (normal) types of stress.

Stress At A Glance

  • Stress is a normal part of life that can either help us learn and grow or can cause us significant problems.
  • Stress releases powerful neurochemicals and hormones that prepare us for action (to fight or flee).
  • If we don't take action, the stress response can create or worsen health problems.
  • Prolonged, uninterrupted, unexpected, and unmanageable stresses are the most damaging types of stress.
  • Stress can be managed by regular exercise, meditation or other relaxation techniques, structured timeouts, and learning new coping strategies to create predictability in our lives.
  • Many behaviors that increase in times of stress and maladaptive ways of coping with stress -- drugs, pain medicines, alcohol, smoking, and eating -- actually worsen the stress and can make us more reactive (sensitive) to further stress.
  • While there are promising treatments for stress, the management of stress is mostly dependent on the ability and willingness of a person to make the changes necessary for a healthy lifestyle.

Previous contributing author and editor:

Medical Author: Peter J. Panzarino Jr., MD, FAPA
Medical Editor: Leslie J. Schoenfield, MD, PhD

REFERENCES:

Bromet, E.J., M.A. Dew, D.K. Parkinson, et al. "Effects of occupational stress on the physical and psychological health of women in a microelectronics plant." Social Sciences Medicine 34.15 June 1992: 1377-1383.

Chiesa, A., and A. Serretti. "Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis." Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine 15.5 May 2009: 593-600.

Fliege, H., M. Rose, P. Arck, et al. "The perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ) reconsidered: validation and reference values from different clinical and healthy adult samples." Psychosomatic Medicine 67 (2005): 78-88.

Gore, T. Allen and Joel Z. Lucas. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." eMedicine. Dec. 15, 2009. <http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/288154-overview>.

Kagee, A. "Concerns about the effectiveness of critical incident stress debriefing in ameliorating stress reactions." Critical Care 6.1 (2002): 88.

McNally, R.J. "Psychological debriefing does not prevent posttraumatic stress disorder." Psychiatric Times 21.4 Apr. 2004.

"Stress." American Psychological Association. <http://www.apa.org/topics/stress/index.aspx>.

United States. National Institute of Mental Health. "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." Feb. 11, 2011. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml>.

Van Bockstaele, E.J., et al. "Topographic Architecture of Stress-Related Pathways Targeting the Noradrenergic Locus Coeruleus." Physiol Behav 73.3 June 2001: 273-283.


Last Editorial Review: 2/17/2011


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