COLUMN: Let’s Talk Mental Health – Stress and its impact on mental health

Let’s talk again about stress and its impact on our mental health. Because we’re all different, we respond differently to stress and experience stress in different ways.

For example, Kathy is terrified at the thought of public speaking, while one her best friend loves to be in the limelight. Anita finds pleasure and relaxation in helping her elderly parents with basic needs but her sister, who also helps out, finds the demands of caretaking very stressful. Peter thrives under pressure at work and feels he does some of his best work when under a tight deadline. But a coworker shuts down when work demands increase. And Rick has no problem sending restaurant food back to the kitchen or complaining about poor service, but his wife finds it far too stressful to complain and chooses not to say anything about a disappointing dining experience.

Stressors are the situations and pressures that cause us to experience stress. We may be accustomed to thinking of stressors as being negative, such as an overloaded work schedule or an unstable relationship. But anything that puts high demands on us, or forces us to adjust, can be stressful. Positive events such as getting married, having a baby, buying a house, going to college, or achieving a promotion can also be stressful.

Which events cause us stress depends, at least in part, on our perception of them. Something that’s stressful to one person may be enjoyable to another. For example, one person’s morning work commute may make him feel anxious and tense because he worries he will be late because of traffic, while other people might find the same commute relaxing because they’ve learned to allow more than enough time for unplanned delays and then enjoy listening to their favourite music while they drive.

Stressors can be externally or internally caused. Common external causes include major life changes, financial issues, problems or conflicts at work, relationship difficulties, overloaded schedules, and the needs of children and family life. Some of the common internal causes might be an inability to accept uncertainty; pessimism; negative self-talk; perfectionism; unrealistic expectations; and a lack of assertiveness. These stress factors are self-generated.

Recent research studies have proven that long-term exposure to stress can be a factor in many serious health problems. We know now that chronic stress has a disruptive effect on nearly every system in our bodies. Stress can raise our blood pressure, increase our risk of heart attacks and strokes, suppress our immune systems, and speed up the aging process. Long-term stress can even change our brains’ functioning, leaving us more vulnerable to anxiety or depression.

People often ask

Q. What can I do if it feels like the stress in my life is out of control?

A. Even though you feel that the external causes of stress are out of your control, because you can’t change them or make them disappear, remember that you can always control how you respond to them. Though you can’t erase stress from your life completely, you can control how much it affects you. Managing stress effectively means taking charge of your thinking, your environment, your schedule, your emotions, and the way you handle problems.

This involves changing the situation when possible, changing your reaction when it’s impossible to change the situation, and making enough time for rest and relaxation. Yoga, meditation, and deep breathing are excellent ways to activate your body’s relaxation response. When practiced regularly, they help reduce everyday stress levels and increase your feelings of joy and serenity. These practices also enhance your ability to remain calm and focused under pressure, which is why many professional athletes include them as regular parts of their training regimes.

We all have the ability to reduce the impact of stress when it happens. With practice we can learn to spot potential stressors and choose to stay in control when the pressure starts to build. In future columns we will talk more about specific impacts of stress on our health and how we can learn to stay relaxed and restore our balance when life gets too hectic.