Managing Stress

Stress means something different to each of us. What causes you stress? Balancing your home life responsibilities and work? An upcoming assignment or presentation? Maybe it’s a hard day taking care of the kids and or a sick family member. I experienced stress performing risky procedures on sick patients when the schedule was overbooked and an unforeseen issue was encountered. In the late afternoon, with two more interventional procedures to go and patients to see, I succumbed to emotional eating of junk food and was so tired by the time I left, I was not a good family partner once at home.

Small amounts of stress are actually good for keeping our immune system functioning at a high level. For example, exercise causes oxidative stress acutely but that revs up our internal anti-inflammatory system which is good. Chronic stress, however, can overwhelm our immune function and lead to chronic disease due to inflammation. It also leads to a feeling of being overwhelmed and unable to cope with the pressure.

Stress means something different to each of us. What causes you stress? Balancing your home life responsibilities and work? An upcoming assignment or presentation? Maybe it’s a hard day taking care of the kids and or a sick family member.

I experienced stress performing risky procedures on sick patients when the schedule was overbooked and an unforeseen issue was encountered. In the late afternoon, with two more interventional procedures to go and patients to see, I succumbed to emotional eating of junk food and was so tired by the time I left, I was not a good family partner once at home.


Small amounts of stress are actually good for keeping our immune system functioning at a high level. For example, exercise causes oxidative stress acutely but that revs up our internal anti-inflammatory system which is good. Chronic stress, however, can overwhelm our immune function and lead to chronic disease due to inflammation. It also leads to a feeling of being overwhelmed and unable to cope with the pressure.

Life is Full of Stress and We Cannot Rid Ourselves of All The External Causes.

The good news is that once we become aware of the stress points, there are many ways we can counteract the negative physical and emotional effects caused by stress. The basic concept is to remind yourself of all the positives you do well and then, decrease distractions, decrease multitasking and let our brains (and body) rest and regenerate.

Some ways to do this:

Find short periods of time (10-30 mins) for physical activity like walking outside. Exercise when possible and spend time in nature.

Transition to more fruits, greens and veggies in your diet. This counteracts the inflammation.

Work on getting 7-8 hours of sleep. There are many recommendations for how to transition to better sleep. 

Practice purposeful gratitude. See link below.

Stay connected to positive people who are supportive. Take a friendly good listener out for coffee for example.

Find a therapist when you are completely overwhelmed with emotions.

Mind body activities like yoga, meditation or tai chi relax the mind and lower stress hormones.

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