Managing Stress

Stress and negative emotions can affect the immune system, increase inflammation and even increase the amount of physical pain a person feels.

But there are plenty of ways to short-circuit these harmful effects of stress. One of the best is physical exercise, which not only releases the feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins, but also helps use up excess cortisol and adrenaline.

Many experts also recommend getting plenty of sleep, eating regular, balanced meals and keeping up social connections — all things that people tend to forgo in times of stress.

Biofeedback, once considered alternative medicine, is now accepted in mainstream medical circles as a way for people to reduce the impact of stress. In biofeedback, patients learn to monitor and control basic bodily functions such as heart rates, respiration, temperature and other vital signs.

There is also new research going on in the field of “emotional resilience training” to help people learn to lower their anxiety levels and recover from setbacks. “People spend huge amounts of money, time and energy training their cognitive brains,” says one expert. “What we now know is that the emotional brain can be trained as well to become more resilient.”

Scientists have shown that that chemical gates in the spinal cord control pain signals from the body to the brain, depending largely on patients’ emotional states. Positive emotions diminished the perception of pain, while negative emotions kept the gates open — sometimes continuing the pain even after the initial cause had disappeared.

There’s a growing consensus that a treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy can be very effective at diffusing negative emotions. It works by examining, and challenging, the thoughts behind them. “We’d say, ‘I understand your fear, but fear is not a fact. Let’s look at the reality in your life,’” explains one cognitive therapist.

Many successful people find that low levels of stress and worry help them function. But at times, the stress can grow to the point where it begins to take a physical toll.

One therapist asks patients to keep a diary evaluating their stress level on a scale of zero to 10 several times a day and note what was happening at the time. That can help reveal unnoticed patterns in daily life that may be contributing to stress.