Online Stress Management Programs Found Effective

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on May 1, 2013
Article from http://psychcentral.com/news/

Online Stress Management Programs Found Effective Improving access, enhancing quality and lowering the costs of health care services is a central tenet to health care reform.

Policymakers and providers believe health information technology and web-based platforms can accomplish these goals. However, definitive proof of concept has been a work in progress.

Now, a new study shows that the use of an Internet-based stress management programs (ISM) can effectively reduce stress for a sustainable period.

As reported in the in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Cleveland Clinic researchers discovered online stress management programs increase accessibility for individuals affected by chronic stress at a lesser cost than traditional methods.

Furthermore, the stress reduction achieved by an ISM is comparable to face-to-face stress management.

Researchers evaluated three-hundred study participants after completion of an eight-week ISM program.

Participants received online relaxation practice materials, strategies to help cope with life’s stressors, stress assessments at the beginning and end of the program, and daily topics to inspire participants to continue the meditation and relaxation techniques.

Upon comparison of program participants to individuals placed in a control group, ISM recipients showed a significant decrease in perceived stress from high levels to average, as well as greatly improved emotional wellbeing.

Results confirmed a positive correlation between the number of meditations completed per week and perceived stress reduction.

“Our recent findings provide individuals and employers with a new option to consider for themselves or their employees’ stress management,” said Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer at Cleveland Clinic.

“Unmanaged stress causes some of the highest healthcare costs for employers and has a lasting impact on everyone; this study implies such health effect may be readily reduced.”

Using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to measure a person’s perception of stress, individual results were based on a 0 (best) to 40 scale.

Study participants’ stress levels prior to ISM averaged 23.05, much higher than the U.S. norm, 13.7 for females and 12.1 for males.

Active participants demonstrated a substantial stress score improvement of 4.04 after the program. Individuals who completed five meditations per week were likely to experience a 6.12 decrease in perceived stress scores vs. practicing once per week.

New research identifies chronic stress as a major public health issue and a factor associated with increased health risk and chronic disease.

Comparable to smoking, psychological distress is more significant in terms of health risks to blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

A national survey from the American Psychological Association (Stress in America) showed that 75 percent of American adults continue to report high levels of stress despite an improving economy, with little accessibility to a feasible stress management program.

And, for most Americans, work is the most stressful life factor.

ISM focuses heavily on achieving a state of mindfulness through relaxation and meditation, and guided imagery wheras face-to-face stress management programs often include massage therapy, exercise, diet modification, acupuncture, and meditation.

Researchers used standard outcome measures including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, and the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory, to compare the two approaches throughout the 12-week study.

The General Electric Corporation (GE) offered the ISM program to employees in three of its sites as part of the trial.

“Understanding consumer behavior related to health and healthcare is critical to advancing care delivery,” said Mitch Higashi, chief economist for GE Healthcare.

“In this case, demonstrating how workplace stress management programs could be delivered effectively in online formats provides important insights for future innovation.”

Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on May 1, 2013
Article from http://psychcentral.com/news/

Stress management tips

By Cedar Crest Hospital & RTC / Special to the Herald
Article from http://kdhnews.com/stress-management-tips/article_5ffb8272-b5a2-11e2-bea0-001a4bcf6878.html

• Progressive relaxation (start at your toes and work up to your head, tightening and releasing the muscles in each area).
• Squeeze a ball or lemon.
• Take a deep breath, tuck in your tummy and count to 10. Then, breathe out slowly and count to 10. Think the word, “calm”, then the word, “serene.” Other calming words work, too.
• Exercises such as muscle stretching, yoga, sports.
• Meditation and/or prayer.
• Visualize a scene that is pleasant, soothing, or brings back happy memories.
• Express yourself through art, writing or a hobby.
• Plan your time and prioritize.
• Pace yourself. Take one step at a time.
• Cognitive restructuring — changing your perception of the situation can reduce or eliminate stress.
• Tell yourself that this, too, shall pass.
• Understanding and managing the stress you can’t avoid (permanent situations).
• Stand up and stretch.
• Stand up and smile!
• Find humor in situations.
• Positive social interactions — do something fun.
• Take a short, brisk walk.
• Spend time enjoying nature and the outdoors.
• Dance or do aerobics.
• Games and puzzles.
• Do something that changes your focus, e.g, take a bathroom break, get a glass of water. When you come back to the problem, chances are it won’t seem nearly as insurmountable.
• Sleep on it. Take a second look tomorrow.
• Create time for self-reflection.
• Discover your vision, values and purpose. Take responsibility for creating the life you want.
• Take time to smell the roses. Do something enjoyable each day.
• Positive thinking — find the “silver lining.” Find the good in your stressful situation.
• Dare to say, “No.” Set limits.
• Be assertive but not aggressive (express your feelings without offending others).
• Quit blaming yourself when you really had no control over the situation.
• Be pro-active in finding peace
• Find people who can nurture and support you and learn to trust appropriately
• When you need help, get help. Counseling can help you to understand the root causes of stress and find solutions.
• Get a good night’s rest
• Eat healthily. Avoid sugar and caffeine. Drink water and juice instead.
• Listen to your favorite music
• Talk to a friend about your problem, don’t hold it in
• Get a massage
• Take a warm bath — use your favorite bath fragrance, candles, lotions
• Read a book

Cedar Crest Hospital & RTC / Special to the Herald
Article from http://kdhnews.com/stress-management-tips/article_5ffb8272-b5a2-11e2-bea0-001a4bcf6878.html

Manage Your Stress Before Your Stress Manages You

By Lorenzo Cohen, Kira Taniguchi, and Alejandro Chaoul
Posted: 05/03/2013 8:28 am
From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorenzo-cohen-phd/stress-management_b_3165673.html

Feeling stressed? There is a common misconception that stress is derived from a particular negative event that occurred. However, your spilled cup of coffee (the stressor) is not what caused your stress; rather it was the response to the stressor, known as the fight-or-flight response. While we cannot always control the stressors we encounter in life, we can learn how to control our reactions to the stressors.

Controlling our stress is critical. Research shows that chronic stress affects almost every biological system in our bodies. According to studies conducted on humans and animals, stress can alter the way genes get expressed and can affect the tumor microenvironment, creating a hospitable terrain for tumor growth.

Under chronic stress, it becomes more difficult to switch between the stress response, which is associated with sympathetic arousal, and relaxation, associated with parasympathetic arousal. Over time, the body will struggle to recover after a stressful event, even if the stressor is no longer present. Unmanaged chronic stress can literally speed the aging process, and it increases your risk for heart disease, and can cause sleeping difficulties, digestive problems, and even depression. Moreover, it can also cause you to forego healthy eating and exercise habits that help prevent cancer and other disease.

A key ingredient to managing chronic stress is to engage in behaviors that decrease sympathetic and increase parasympathetic arousal -- in other words, learning how to relax in stressful situations. Mind-body practices are one way to achieve better balance. Research shows that mind-body practices have a positive effect on all systems in our body, improving quality of life, reversing the harmful effects of stress, and creating fundamental changes in the way the brain functions. A recent study of cognitive behavioral stress management found this technique led to decreases in inflammatory gene expression.

Mind-body practices to help manage stress include meditation, different forms of yoga and practices like tai chi and qigong, what one could call movement-based meditations. These practices affect neurotransmitters, which are essential in maintaining a healthy balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic arousal, therefore, helping to manage our stress response.

Mind-body practices can help decrease chronic stress by bringing balance to our bodies, and ultimately, our lives. It is clear from multiple studies examining mind-body interventions that it is important for people to consider participating in some kind of program to manage their stress and improve their quality of life. There are many different mind-body programs that can be useful. People often ask which mind-body program is the best for reducing stress and improving quality of life. The answer is the one you will do every day and make it a part of your life.

Dr. Alejandro Chaoul, assistant professor at the Integrative Medicine Program in the Department of General Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, lists some simple, very brief mind-body techniques that can be helpful during those stressful moments. The next time you become stressed, remember how important it is to manage stress and how influential our behaviors are on our brain function and our overall health and well-being, down to every cell in our body.

• Pause and take a break. Just breathe with soft focus on your breath for a few minutes.
• Take a moment (sitting if possible, or standing) to stretch your arms upward. As you lengthen your back, breathe deeply through your nose into your belly and back out through your nose. Lower your arms, place them on your lap and take a few deep, long, slow and calm breaths.
• As you breathe normally, imagine your breath as light that nurtures you. When you breathe in, breathe in nurturing qualities -- feelings of joy, love, calm, connection to others. Each time you exhale, exhale tensions, pain, fear, anything that you do not need. Breathe in and out a few times using this technique.
• When the traffic light turns red, it is a great opportunity to connect to yourself; put down your smartphone, turn off/down the radio, and pause to breathe in peace and release your thoughts and anxiety.
• Whenever you wash your hands, wash your mind. As you focus on washing your hands, breathe and feel you are also clearing your mind.

Take any of the above as a "meditation pill" that you can always have with you, as techniques to help you find calm and focus in the moment.

Enjoy!

By Lorenzo Cohen, Kira Taniguchi, and Alejandro Chaoul
Posted: 05/03/2013 8:28 am
From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lorenzo-cohen-phd/stress-management_b_3165673.html