How to beat stress

By Grant Hackett

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

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"Don't sweat the small stuff." It's a saying that we are all too familiar with, but for most of us it's easier said than done. So how important is it to keep our stress levels low and what are the benefits if we stress less?

Dr Craig Hassed, a GP and senior lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, is an expert in stress management. "When we use the word stress, people often mean completely different things by it," Dr Hassed says. "We could mean anxiety and tension, we could mean feeling tired and exhausted. Stress is most simply defined as a perceived inability to cope."

So where does stress come from?

According to Dr Hassed, it's important to notice that when we look at our own stress and anxiety that we're often getting stressed long before the event even happens. "It may never happen," Dr Hassed says. "We stress minutes, days, years before an event based upon what is going on in our own heads [occurs] rather than what's going on in reality."

He adds that the big stressors that tend to affect people are relationships, when they go wrong, a major illness or loss of job and for many the recent financial crisis.

To see how much stress we experience, we took a look at three individuals, who lead different lifestyles. This includes Ben Polkinghorne, a stockbroker, Hannah Gair, a mother of two and Reverend You, a Buddhist monk.

As a stockbroker, Ben Polkinghorne is all too familiar with the daily stresses involved with the job. "A small mistake can cost a lot of money. Any error on a client's account has to be worn by the broker, so your accuracy has to be 100 percent. That can be stressful at times," Polkinghorne says.

Meanwhile, for mum Gair, looking after her two young children can take its toll. "I've been a stay-at-home mum and full-time employed and I really believe that being a stay-at-home mum is more stressful. It's constant. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week, "Gair says. "I don't think people understand how stressful it can be."

For Buddhist monk Reverend You, living in the moment, where he doesn't think about the past or worry about the future is part of the fundamental practice of Buddhism. "I think meditation comes in a great deal to help eliminate stress," Reverend You says. "I actually look at the faces of other people and see how stressed they are and I feel for them."

Is stress harmful?

Dr Hassed explains that unfortunately there are more things that are causing stress today than there should be. "It places a lot of unnecessary physiological wear and tear on the body", Dr Hassed says. "Chronic stress will accelerate the progression of just about any chronic disease you care to name. If there is a heart attack waiting to happen this can be a trigger."

To see how much stress our stockbroker, mum and reverend were putting on their bodies, we measured their levels of cortisol, a key stress hormone. After taking samples of their saliva, they were sent off to the lab for processing. The tests revealed some surprising results. Dr Hassed indicates that if our three subjects continue to have ongoing high levels of stress they could risk serious damage to their body, such as a weakened immune system, heart disease and even depression, which could possibly cause them a premature death.

Whether we like it or not, stress does exist and is one of the leading causes of diseases which can lead to a reduction in longevity and quality of life. But if we appreciate living in the moment and engage in activities we enjoy, these can actually help reduce the impacts of physical and mental stress.

Dr Hassed explains that the most important thing is to learn to see what's really in front of us and not get caught up in the imaginary stressors that we often create. In fact, according to recent studies, the key to managing stress and living a healthy life is actually much easier than you might think.

Let's take golf as an example. Fresh air, good mates and focusing on the ball, and not life's annoyances, make golf a great stress reliever. Meanwhile a healthy, happy marriage can add about 10 years to your life, as can owning a pet.

But regardless of the science, a group of centenarians reveal that despite people handling stress in their own way, they attribute their long, happy lives to lots of laughter and wonderful family and friends.

So here's to a long, healthy life.

Results

Ben's stress levels (stockbroker)