Managing Stress

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Managing Stress

Stress is everywhere, and it's making us sick and unhealthy. That is not to say

our neuropathy is caused by stress, but it sure doesn't help it. The American

Psychological Association found, in a 2007 project, that for most of us, the

prime sources of stress are money and work; 33% say they are living with great

stress; 48% feel their stress has increased over the past 5 years.³¹ Stress,

good or bad, usually makes neuropathy worse. And think of the worry lines and

wrinkles you avoid when you stress less. Saying to people who are stressed,

" Don't worry about it, " or " Stop stressing, " simply doesn't work. " Chill out "

may really make them mad. Bottom line: To control stress, you have to make

conscious changes in your life--that stressed, burned-out feeling can happen

after months of working too hard or dealing with difficult relationships.

1. If you are constantly exhausted, or feel overwhelmed or anxious, don't let

yourself adapt to those emotional barriers to happiness. Do something about it.

Depending on what your angst is, you may need to plan to do certain things. If

you're exhausted, eating a hot fudge sundae isn't going to help; a nap is what

you need. When he is upset, Bill D. focuses on exercise. Betty D. takes anger or

stress out on her silverware and polishes like crazy, and Lilly gardens or

cooks.

2. Stress-proof your days by analyzing what you do. If you can eliminate

things, such as ironing, let it go. Delegate household chores. Make up a chart.

3. Plan on time for yourself. Instead of doing your tasks by starting with

things you don't like doing, start with the fun stuff. It might put you in a

good mood, so that you sail through the rest of the chores more easily.

4. Do something to soothe and relax yourself. Take a hot bath in winter, a cool

one in summer.

The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine, by Anne Harrington,³² delves

into a good deal of research on the subject of stress which was, in the 1950s

and I960s, shown to have a major impact on our health. In her chapter called

" Broken by Modern Life, " she says it was in the 1970s that researchers realized

it wasn't so much what the stress was, but rather how you handled it. The mind

has a lot to do with how we cope with stress. Harrington calls it " creative

coping, " and we humans have a tremendous capacity for being creative in this

area.

31. Scrimgeour, . LAC " Into the Calm. " Natural Solutions, April 2008.

32. Harrington, Anne. The Cure Within: A History of Mind-Body Medicine. New

York: W. W. Norton, 2008.

365 Tips is a weekly e-mail service brought to you by The Neuropathy Association

in cooperation with DemosHealth publications and author Mims Cushing. It is

based on and features excerpts from the new book, You Can Cope with Peripheral

Neuropathy: 365 Tips for Living a Full Life, by Mims Cushing and Norman Latov,

M.D., Ph.D.