Stress management revisited

Many people find it helpful to periodically review some basic facts about healthy lifestyles. Because of the rapid pace of many segments of our society, it is easy to lose perspective on how we manage our lives.

Interest in and research on stress management is found throughout health care. In earlier columns I discussed some myths about stress. Today I will review some basic principles involved in managing personal stress.


• Stay in good health. Good physical health is essential to dealing with psychological pressures.

Nutrition research shows that a healthy diet includes an adequate breakfast, and requires avoiding too much caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt and junk foods filled with fats and chemicals. Other research supports avoiding too much red meat and eating more fish, poultry, vegetables and fruits.

Get enough sleep and exercise. Exercise is one of the cornerstones of good health. It consistently has been shown to be a great stress-management technique.

• Make periodic reviews of goals and expectations. Be realistic. Many people are overly demanding of themselves. Because they can’t be perfect, they end up being overly critical of themselves. This produces internal conflict.

Talking with a close friend or relative often helps check your perceptions of who you are and where you are going and helps analyze whether your thinking is realistic and healthy.

• Change your perceptions. Try to perceive new situations and problems as challenges and opportunities for growth rather than as threats, drudgeries and situations with negative outcomes. Reframing your thinking and viewing less-than-perfect outcomes as opportunities to learn rather than as failure can become a significant stress-reducer.

• Develop new interests. Seek activities outside of work that provide a change of pace. Hobbies, recreation and being with those you enjoy are a few examples of new or different activities.

• Learn to relax. Because many people have a problem letting go of tension and achieving a state of deep muscle relaxation, techniques such as yoga, meditation, biofeedback and other self-control procedures should be explored to achieve relaxation.

• Achieve a balance in your life. Excesses in work, eating and spending are a few of the situations in which imbalance can occur. Such imbalances can produce a great deal of stress.

• Keep a sense of humor. Learn to laugh at some of the situations in life that do not require such a serious evaluation.

• You should often review how you manage stress because daily hassles, large or small, are part of living. In future columns I will discuss other stress-management strategies that may assist you in leading a healthier, happier life.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1987