Know Your Stress Levels so You can Reduce Stress
November 15th, 2008 by Dr Jeff
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Several years ago my wife and I were concerned that students who had significant reading disabilities might show undetected but high levels of stress. We were worried that no one seemed to have done any research on the impact of a reading disability on emotional well-being, specifically stress. We identified a cohort of fourth graders who had a serious reading disability and we measured their stress levels using a ’self-report’ system, that is, a pencil and paper survey. We were delighted to find that at least in this sample of boys in this particular school that while the boys were significant underachievers in reading, their stress levels were normal and no stress relief program was necessary.
Many people ask me to measure their levels of stress to provide stress relief. There is no difficulty in measuring levels of stress. The simplest way is to report your level of stress, depression and anxiety to a psychologist. Self-report is the usual method for explaining your levels of stress. If you are self aware, you can be very accurate in describing your symptoms, feelings and behavior.
Apart from self-report, you can also measure stress through an analysis of a urine specimen. Blood analysis continues as levels of cortisol which is a market for stress levels. Cortisol increases as your stress increases. As well as cortisol changes, there are other physical changes as well. Flushing, skin blotching, increases in heart rate and blood pressure are other signs of high levels of stress. Some people experience what is called an aura and they might also have headaches and migraines.
There are many online testing program to help you work out your levels of stress. Of course, you don’t know if these tests are reliable. I rely on a structured interview and a self report scale to measure elevated stress. By repeated measures over a period of months I can get a feeling for how stress levels increase with my patients. As I provide stress relief therapy, I need evidence that we are reducing stress.
Typical questions when testing stress include references to feeling worried and upset, noting changes in sleeping or eating, responding to questions about feeling refreshed after sleep, being able to relax, feeling physically ill, being inattentive and unproductive and having mood swings. These responses can be grouped under four main headings: Physiological and Physical Responses; emotional responses, inter-personal responses; and cognitive responses.
Why is it important to know your levels of stress? The more you know, the easier it is to manage the stress and anxiety. I believe that we should know and understand ‘the enemy’. High levels of stress, being stressed out, experiencing burnout are all symptoms of a system that is disordered and unproductive. Small amounts of stress can be very helpful to us but excessive stress levels are seriously disabling. So we need information on stress. We need to know how stressed we are. We need to be able to identify the stressors. To get the best out of stress relief therapy, we need to know how to respond to stress. I have identified 15 ways that people typically respond to stress. The trick is to choose those responses and stress management strategies that work best and fastest. Life is too short to waste valuable time being miserable.
When we are stressed, our relationships suffer. The danger of relationship breakdowns is that we lose the capacity to seek social support from our loved ones, one of the most effective stress relief interventions. Talking with others and sharing feelings is great for stress relief. Social support equals free therapy. Sharing worries and concerns reduces the stress. Some people are so worried that social support does not provide stress relief. One good example is mortgage stress and impending foreclosures. Professional help is essential in these cases.
There is a lot written about stress but I hope that my particular view about stress relief and stress management is helpful. I really want to be able to help people manage their stress. If you can engage in effective stress relief programs, even if you run them yourself, you will have a happier and more successful life.
