17,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Ratgeber
- Sprache: Englisch
Lower stress and anxiety with accessible tips you can use today
Whether related to love, work, family, or other parts of everyday life, Stress Management For Dummies, 3rd Edition is dedicated to helping you stock up your wellness toolbox. This new edition will help you identify your stress triggers and ways to manage them, practice mindfulness and meditation, understand the mind-body connection and how this applies to you and your experience, apply quieting rumination, and more.
With straightforward advice incorporating scientific research on the relationship between stress and health, Stress Management For Dummies, 3rd Edition provides practical tips on how to use key techniques, including the power of gratitude and perspective, to transform your mindset and improve your resilience toward stress.
Inside:
- Explore the impacts that stress has on your biology—including sleep
- Find step-by-step guidance that demonstrates how to manage worry and feel less anxious
- Discover your mental health needs and ways to implement them in your everyday life
- Understand the effects of smartphones, social media, and world events on your mental health and ways to cope
Stress Management For Dummies, 3rd Edition is a trustable, calming handbook that helps you reduce stress and build the life you want.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 607
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
Ähnliche
Stress Management For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Stress Management For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Stress Management: Where to Start
Chapter 1: Stressed Out? Welcome to the Club!
Experiencing a Stress Epidemic?
Understanding Where All This Stress Is Coming From
Looking at the Signs and Symptoms of Stress
Understanding How Stress Can Make You Sick
Stressing Out Your Friends and Family
Can Stress Be Good?
Chapter 2: Stress Explained (in Surprisingly Few Pages)
So What Is Stress Anyhow?
How This Whole Stress Thing Got Started
Understanding the Signs of Stress
Understanding Stress Is as Simple as ABC
Managing Stress: A Three-Pronged Approach
Tuning Your Strings: Finding the Right Balance
Chapter 3: Identifying Your Stress Triggers and Responses
How Stressed Are You? Finding Ways to Measure Your Stress Level
Monitoring Your Stress with a Stress Journal
Facing Roadblocks
Practicing for the Long Haul
Chapter 4: Reducing Your Technostress
Living in a Technological World
Worrying about Cybersecurity
Stressing Out with Social Media
Managing Your Tech Diet
Part 2: Mastering the Basics
Chapter 5: Relaxing Your Body
Stress Can Be a Pain in the Neck (And That’s Just for Starters)
Breathing Away Your Tension
Tensing Your Way to Relaxation
Using the Power of Suggestion
Stretching Away Your Stress
Massage? Ah, There’s the Rub!
Taking a Three-Minute Energy Burst
Experimenting with More Ways to Relax
Chapter 6: Quieting Your Mind
Where Do All These Thoughts Come From!?
Turning Off Your Mind
Distracting Yourself
Using Your Imagination
What, Me Worry?
Doing Nothing: Meditation Is Good for You
Hypnotizing Yourself
Going Digital
Chapter 7: Cultivating Mindfulness
Understanding Mindfulness
Recognizing Mindlessness
Understanding How Mindfulness Can Help Reduce Your Stress
Developing the Skills of Mindfulness
Reframing Stressful Thoughts and Emotions
Chapter 8: Developing Stress-Reducing Organizational Skills
Figuring Out Why Your Life Is So Disorganized
Clearing Away the Clutter
Organizing Your Space
Organizing Information
Keeping Your Life Organized
Chapter 9: Finding More Time
Determining Whether You Struggle with Time Management
Becoming Mindful of Your Time
Becoming a List Maker
Minimizing Your Distractions and Interruptions
Crashing Through Time Management Roadblocks
Discovering the Benefits of Delegating
Buying Time
Chapter 10: Eating, Exercising, and Getting Your Zzzs
Stress-Reducing Eating
Incorporating Stress-Reducing Exercise and Activity
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Part 3: The Secrets of Resilience
Chapter 11: Understanding How Your Thinking Stresses You Out
Creating Your Own Stress
Remembering Your ABCs
Separating Thoughts from Feelings
Understanding Your Stress-Producing Thinking
Identifying Your Thinking Errors
Using Coping Self-talk
Chapter 12: Worrying Less
Do You Worry Too Much?
Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Yeah, Right!
Identifying Your Worries
Understanding Your Worries
Controlling and Stopping Your Worrying
Thinking Straighter and Worrying Less
Correcting Your Thinking Errors
Escaping Your Worries
Chapter 13: Overcoming Your Anger
Figuring Out Just How Mad You Are
Considering the Pros and Cons of Anger
Tempering Your Temper
Becoming Mindful of Your Anger
Modifying Your Mindset
Chapter 14: Reducing Interpersonal Stress
Identifying Your Interpersonal Stressors
Developing Stress-Reducing Communication Skills
Becoming a Better Listener
Turning Tension into Connection
Discovering What It Means to Be Assertive
Becoming More Assertive
Coping with Difficult People
Losing the Battle but Winning the War
Chapter 15: Adopting Stress-Resistant Values, Goals, and Attitudes
Recognizing the Value of Your Values
Clarifying Your Values and Goals
Confronting Your Happiness Myths
Actualizing Your Values, Reaching Your Goals
Harnessing the Power of Acceptance
Expressing Gratitude
Cultivating Optimism
Finding Your Sense of Humor
Doing Something Good for Someone Else
Adding a Spiritual Dimension
Gathering a Little Wisdom
Part 4: The Part of Tens
Chapter 16: Ten Habits of Highly Effective Stress Managers
Learn How to Relax
Eat Right and Exercise Often
Get Enough Sleep
Let Unimportant Stuff Go
Practice Acceptance and Express Gratitude
Get Organized
Manage Your Time Efficiently
Develop a Strong Support System
Live According to Your Values
Have a Sense of Humor
Chapter 17: Ten Events That Trigger Stress
Losing a Loved One
Experiencing a Major Illness or Injury
Divorcing or Separating
Having Serious Financial Difficulties
Losing a Job
Getting Married
Moving
Fighting with a Close Friend
Having a Child
Retiring
Chapter 18: Ten Apps That Can Reduce Your Stress
Calm
Headspace
Breethe
Insight Timer
Happier
MindShift CBT
CBT-i Coach
Moodnotes
Sanvello
Oak
Chapter 19: Ten Self-Help Books That Reduce Your Stress
Meditation For Dummies
Mindfulness For Dummies
The Worry Cure
The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anger
Goodnight Mind
The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Stress Reduction
The Myths of Happiness
Couple Skills: Making Your Relationship Work
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Index
About the Author
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 3
TABLE 3-1 Using the Stress-Symptom Scale
TABLE 3-2 Determining Your Stress Rating
TABLE 3-3 Using the Stressor-Identification Scale
Chapter 9
TABLE 9-1 Time Log for Monday
TABLE 9-2 Sample Master To-Do List
TABLE 9-3 Do Today: Tuesday, January 5
Chapter 11
TABLE 11-1 The ABCs of How Your Thinking Affects Your Stress
Chapter 13
TABLE 13-1 Rating Your Anger
TABLE 13-2 Your Angry Thoughts and the Experiences That Triggered Them
Chapter 14
TABLE 14-1 Escalating Assertion with a Noisy Neighbor
TABLE 14-2 How Labels Can Distort a Situation
List of Illustrations
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: How stress affects you.
FIGURE 2-2: A comparison of healthy short-term stress and unhealthy chronic str...
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3-1: A simple ten-point scale can help you quantify your stress level.
FIGURE 3-2: A ten-point scale can help you figure out the relative importance o...
FIGURE 3-3: This scale can help you determine how much a particular stress trig...
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5-1: A good position for body scanning.
FIGURE 5-2: Evaluating your breathing.
FIGURE 5-3: Balloon breathing.
FIGURE 5-4: Relaxing your feet and legs.
FIGURE 5-5: Hand-held massagers are a cheaper alternative to the massage spa.
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: Isn’t this relaxing?
FIGURE 6-2: Sitting in a relaxed, comfortable position.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10-1: Creating a menu for a healthier diet.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
About the Author
Pages
i
ii
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
Stress Management For Dummies®, 3rd Edition
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2026 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Media and software compilation copyright © 2026 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
The manufacturer’s authorized representative according to the EU General Product Safety Regulation is Wiley-VCH GmbH, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany, e-mail: [email protected].
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2025944147
ISBN 978-1-394-35022-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-35024-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-35023-0 (ebk)
Introduction
Just about everyone feels they have too much stress in their lives. Daily, I hear people complaining that stress is getting to them, robbing them of many of life’s pleasures and depriving them of life’s satisfactions. And that’s not just from the people who walk into my office or show up at one of my stress-management workshops — stress seems to be everywhere. Just take a look at your local newsstand. You’re bound to see more than a few cover stories on stress, warning you of its dangers and telling you what you can do about it. These days more and more people are signing up for stress-management workshops, taking yoga classes, and learning how to meditate, massage their bodies, and quiet their psyches.
You may think that modern advances in science and technology should have resulted in lower stress levels. Clearly, this hasn’t happened — for anybody. Life has become more stressful, not less. Your stressors may take the form of work pressures, financial worries, political issues, time constraints, the demands of new technology, or the responsibilities that come with being part of a growing family. You may have more specific stress triggers — illness, unemployment, loneliness, or a new mortgage.
Whatever the source of your stress, having a guide would be helpful, right? Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with an instruction booklet or a user’s manual. You need to find your own help. Your stress can be managed. And in fact, much of your stress can be eliminated. You just need the right stress-reducing tools. In fact, you need an entire toolbox filled with a wide variety of stress-management techniques, strategies, and tactics. This book was written to give you these tools.
About This Book
Stress Management For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is your guide, helping you navigate the often-confusing array of stress-management options. It gives you the skills and expertise you need to effectively manage and minimize the stress in your life. Virtually every important aspect of stress management is covered in these pages. The book helps you understand where your stress comes from, how it affects you, and most importantly, what you can do about it. It shows you how to relax your body, quiet your mind, and let go of the tension that comes with too much stress. It shows you how you can control your anger, worry less, and create a lifestyle that is stress resilient.
In these pages, I have been careful to ensure that your stress-management program doesn’t add to the stress in your life. I try to be practical and realistic, recognizing that you may not be able to meditate for 20 minutes twice a day and still keep your job. And, although I recognize that having a chauffeur, owning a fabulous house in the country, or having live-in help can lower your stress level, I also realize that this may not be an option for you (or for me, either!).
No one single idea or technique can magically relieve all of your stress; nor does every technique or approach work equally well for everyone. You need to put together a package of ideas and methods that you can integrate into the various aspects of your life. This extends from caring about what goes into your mouth to thinking about the kind of chair you sit in, from monitoring how much sleep you get to knowing how to turn off your racing mind. Effective stress management really comes down to effective lifestyle management. That’s why, in these pages, you can find a variety of stress-management approaches. You fill up your stress toolbox with the techniques in this book, and then you can take out the tool you need, when you need it.
If you can find someone — a friend, family member, or coworker — to whom you can teach your newly mastered skills, that’s great. Most people learn best when they can teach someone else. If you can find someone to work with you on your stress-management program, even better. Having a stress buddy can help keep you interested and motivated. Most importantly, see your involvement with this book as an ongoing journey that will take some time — and some effort — but that is well worth the trip. Good luck!
Conventions Used in This Book
I use a few conventions in this book to help your reading go smoothly:
Italics
emphasize and highlight new words and terms that I define.
Boldfaced
text indicates keywords in bulleted lists and highlights the action parts of numbered steps.
When I want to make a topic more easily understood, I break the essential points down into bulleted lists (like this one) so that you can follow them easily without being confused by too many words.
Foolish Assumptions
When I wrote this book, I made a few assumptions about who you, the reader, are
You want less stress in your life, and you’re willing to devote a little of your valuable time to achieve this.
You already know a lot about stress but welcome additional methods and strategies for coping with your stress.
Your time is valuable and limited, and you want realistic and practical ways of reducing stress.
You’re willing to try some ideas and approaches that are new to you and may require some openness and experimentation.
Icons Used in This Book
This book has lots of little round pictures in the margins, calling your attention to various details in the text. Here’s what these icons mean:
I use this icon to flag a particularly good idea that you should consider.
When I speak from my own experience or have a personal anecdote, you'll see this icon.
When presenting a concept that I feel you shouldn’t forget, I use this icon.
When I need to give you a word of caution, I toss this icon your way.
This icon defines technical and psychological terms. The details might be informative or interesting but are not essential to your understanding of the concept at hand.
Beyond the Book
You can find an easy-to-access online Cheat Sheet that offers quick reminders on easing your stress. You can download this from www.dummies.com by typing Stress Management For Dummies into the search bar.
Where to Go from Here
Although it’s possible to read this book sequentially, you don’t have to do that. You can dip into any part that interests you. Most of the material stands alone and isn’t dependent on the other chapters — with one exception. The chapters that show you how to relax your body and quiet your mind, Chapters 5 and 6, are particularly important, and they are central and pertinent to several other chapters. Try to read these chapters earlier on.
Don’t try to master all of the material presented in one shot. Or even two shots. It takes time and practice to learn how to become comfortable with, and competent in, many of the exercises described. Don’t rush yourself. After all, it took years to develop many of your stress-producing habits, so you can’t expect to get rid of them in a flash. Every day, allow yourself at least some time to devote to some aspect of your stress-management program. It may only be a few minutes, but those minutes add up and can result in some impressive stress-management skills.
GETTING MORE HELP
After reading Stress Management For Dummies and actively mastering and applying many of the ideas and suggestions in the book, your levels of emotional distress may persist. Feeling stressed is a common and an expected part of our lives. However, if you feel that your level of anxiety, depression, anger, or any other form of emotional suffering is excessive, you may want to consider professional help. Speaking with a licensed clinical psychologist or a mental health counselor may make sense.
In these pages I have avoided recommending using alcohol or pills to reduce your stress. However, in many cases, medications prescribed by a health professional may be appropriate and helpful. I advise consulting a medically licensed professional.
Part 1
Stress Management: Where to Start
IN THIS PART …
Learn that you’re not alone.
Look into the human stress response.
Understand your stress triggers and responses.
Use technology wisely to reduce stress.
Chapter 1
Stressed Out? Welcome to the Club!
IN THIS CHAPTER
Figuring out why you feel more stressed
Determining where your stress comes from
Understanding how stress affects you
Looking at the good kinds of stress
Are you feeling more tired lately than you used to? Is your fuse a little shorter than normal? Are you worrying more? Enjoying life less? If you feel more stress in your life these days, you aren’t alone. Count yourself among the ranks of the overstressed. Most people feel that their lives have too much stress. Your stress may come from your job or lack thereof, your money worries, your personal life, or simply not having enough time to do everything you have to do — or want to do. You can use some help. Thankfully, you can eliminate or at least minimize much of the stress in your life and better manage the stress that remains. This chapter helps you get started.
Experiencing a Stress Epidemic?
You probably can’t make it through a single day without seeing or hearing the word stress someplace. Just glance at any magazine stand and you’ll find numerous cover stories all about stress. In most larger bookstores, an entire section is devoted to books on stress. TV, radio talk shows, websites, social media apps, and newspapers regularly feature stories reporting the negative effects of stress. Why all the fuss? Hasn’t stress been around forever? Is all of this just media hype, or are people really experiencing more stress today?
One good way of finding out how much stress people are experiencing is to ask them about the stress in their lives. Here are some findings from recent polls and surveys that did just that:
A Harris 2024 poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association found that more adults are now feeling increasingly stressed. In that poll, 43 percent of adults said they feel more anxious now than they did the previous year, up from 37 percent in 2023 and 32 percent in 2022. The poll found that adults are particularly anxious about current events (70 percent — especially the economy (77 percent), the 2024 U.S. election (73 percent), and gun violence (69 percent).
A second 2024 survey conducted for the American Psychological Association — called Stress in America 2024 — found that more than seven in ten adults said the future of the nation (77 percent) is a significant source of stress in their lives, with the economy (73 percent) and the 2024 presidential election (69 percent) following closely behind.
When asked about a list of lifestyle factors potentially impacting mental health, adults most commonly say stress (53 percent) and sleep (40 percent) have the biggest impact on their mental health. Younger adults (18–34 years old) are more likely than older adults (50+) to say social connection has the biggest impact on their mental health.
Despite the increasing anxiety, most adults have not sought professional mental health support. In the Harris 2024 poll, just one in four (24 percent) adults say that they talked with a mental healthcare professional in the past year. Notably, younger adults (18–34) are more than twice as likely as older adults (50+) to have done so.
The survey data also showed that when it comes to stress management, many are struggling to cope and bear the burden alone. Around three in five adults (62 percent) said they don’t talk about their stress because they don’t want to burden others.
Our lives, it seems, have indeed become far more stressful. But why? The next section provides some answers.
Individual or personal stressors
It’s useful to make a distinction between personal/individual stressors and shared/collective stressors.
Personal/individual stressors are most often associated with personal stress triggers. These are the situations, feelings, and events that routinely punctuate your daily life. You know what’s on the list: health issues, a difficult boss, not enough time, not enough money, relationship issues, loss of a loved one, job insecurity, or the being Wi-Fi down (did I mention not enough money?). And that’s for starters.
These stressors are more subjective, more tied to the person’s life situation as well as their resilience and personality.
Shared or collective stressors
These stressors affect groups of people, often at the same time and in similar ways. They have a larger impact. They can affect a community, an entire city, and even entire countries. Consider, for example, our shared response to COVID-19. Here are some other examples of shared/collective stressors:
Floods and hurricanes
Earthquakes
Wildfires
Recessions
Inflation
Foreign wars
Political instability
Climate change
Discrimination
School shootings
Healthcare
Pandemics
Famine
Crime
These two categories of stressors often require different coping behaviors. For example, trying, without any luck, to find a parking spot can be frustrating and somewhat stressful. Having a conflict with the spouse of a good friend can be even more stressful. The level of stress you might experience depends on your personality, the situation, your mood, and many other factors. Other people facing similar stressors might feel less stress, or even no stress.
STRESS CAN BE TAXING
A number of studies have shown that when you’re under stress, your cholesterol level goes up. In one now-classic study, researchers looked at the stress levels of accountants before and after the month of April, a notoriously busy time for tax accountants. They also looked at cholesterol levels in corporate accountants, who had stressful deadlines in April and January. The researchers found that for both groups, cholesterol levels rose significantly before the April deadline and fell after the deadline. They observed a second rise in cholesterol levels for the corporate accountants as their January deadline approached. Again, after the deadline passed, blood lipid levels fell back to normal.
Shared or collective stressors generally affect many others, who, for the most part, share in the emotional reactions. They, too, are stressed. Addressing these collective stressors most often requires outside intervention, mainly utilizing external coping resources (the community, the police, the government, and so on). These larger social and political bodies become important resources that can be part of the stress-reduction process.
Understanding Where All This Stress Is Coming From
In his prophetic book Future Shock, Alvin Toffler observed that people experience more stress whenever they are subjected to a lot of change in a short span of time. If anything characterizes people's lives these days, it’s an excess of change. They’re in a continual state of flux. They have less control over their lives, live with more uncertainty, often feel threatened and, at times, overwhelmed. People's stress levels are higher than they have ever been. The following sections explain in greater detail some of the more common sources of stress in people's lives.
The lingering pandemic
That latest APA “Stress in America” survey (2024) reported that although the number of COVID-19 cases has declined significantly, many people regarded the improved statistics as a “return to normal.” However, the findings from the APA survey paint a rather different picture. The data suggests that the pandemic has had a significant psychological effect on people’s emotional health and the levels of stress they experience, and that for many, the effects still linger. For many, COVID-19 has created a general confusion about public health, economic uncertainty, and personal resilience:
Many people feel that there still is a very high probability of contracting COVID-19 or a newer variant of COVID.
Some continue to cope with the symptoms of long COVID.
The pandemic has resulted in changes to the ways people conduct work life. This has added to the stress.
Many still restrict their social life, becoming increasingly isolated.
Confusing health guidelines about how to prevent contracting COVID — vaccines, masks, gloves — add to the stress. COVID has become a political issue.
A nation under stress
That 2024 survey conducted for the American Psychological Association, Stress in America 2024, found that more than seven in ten adults said the future of the nation (77 percent) is a significant source of stress in their lives, with the economy (73 percent) and the 2024 presidential election (69 percent) following closely behind.
When asked about a list of lifestyle factors potentially impacting mental health, adults most commonly say stress (53 percent) and sleep (40 percent) have the biggest impact on their mental health. Younger adults (18-34 years old) are more likely than older adults (50+) to say social connection has the biggest impact on their mental health.
Despite the increasing stress, most adults have not sought professional mental health support. In 2024, just one in four (24 percent) adults say they talked with a mental healthcare professional in the past year. Notably, younger adults (18–34) are more than twice as likely as older adults (50+) to have done so.
The political divide
Politics has always been a reliable source of stress. However, social divisiveness and the accompanying stress seem to have escalated. More dependable analyses seem to agree:
A 2024 American Psychological Association-Harris poll survey found that the stress Americans feel around politics can harm their physical and mental health — and it’s only getting worse. In 2016, the presidential election caused significant stress for 52 percent of adults. This jumped to 69 percent during the 2024 election. Additionally, many U.S. adults said they were worried that the election results could lead to violence (74 percent) or that the 2024 election could be the end of democracy in the United States (56 percent).
Fewer respondents reported confidence about the direction the country was going (34 percent), or said they feel that their government representatives have their best interests in mind (31 percent).
After the 2024 election, a second the APA-Harris poll survey found that a large number of U.S. adults said that stress about the future of the nation had a physical or emotional impact on their lives in the past month, such as feeling nervous or anxious (31percent), having negative thoughts (22 percent), feeling depressed or sad (21 percent), or having a headache (15 percent).
Struggling in a struggling economy
Money may or may not be the root of all evil, but worrying about it certainly is a major source of stress. Balancing your checkbook at the end of the month (if you bother) reminds you that living is expensive. You remember that your parents bought their house for a pittance and now realize that today you couldn’t afford to buy that same house if you wanted to. The monthly rent or mortgage, repaying student loans, college tuition, higher prices at the supermarket, medical expenses, travel, taxes, savings for retirement, and let’s not forget the money for your dog’s surgery — it all adds up. And so does the stress.
The 2024 American Psychological Association survey study reported that money and finances are a top stressor. The largest increases in major stressors reported since 2019 for the 18–34 age group were due to the economy (from 52 percent in 2019 to 72 percent in 2023) and housing costs (from 57 percent in 2019 to 70 percent in 2023).
Even talking about finances was very difficult. In fact, only 52 percent of adults said they are comfortable talking with others about money/finances and more than two in five adults (45 percent) said they were embarrassed talking about money/finances or their financial situations in general.
Getting frazzled at work
Having a job may mean avoiding the stress that comes with concerns about job security. A lexicon of work-related stressors exist: downsizing, organizational redeployment, forced early retirement. Whatever the word or phrase, the effect is the same: insecurity, uncertainty, and fear. People are experiencing more stress at work than ever before. The major contributors to stress at work include
Not being paid enough
Too heavy a workload
Poor work-life balance
Unreasonable deadlines
Less control over the workload
Difficult coworkers
Job insecurity
Harassment on the job
Discrimination (gender, race, sexual orientation)
Layoffs
A 2023 workplace survey carried out by Harris Interactive for the American Psychological Association found that two in five employed adults (41 percent) typically feel stressed out during the workday.
Fewer than six in ten (58 percent) reported that they had the resources to manage stress effectively.
One in four workers has taken a “mental health” day off from work to relieve stress.
About a quarter (26 percent) of workers say they are “often” or “very often” burned out by their work.
The gender divide
Gender plays a role in stressors at work too. Despite all the movement toward women’s rights and sexual equality, women still face added pressures and limitations in the workplace. Women are paid less and promoted less frequently than their male counterparts, even when they are more qualified. If a woman has children, her career may be shunted onto the “Mommy Track,” a glass ceiling that limits career advancement.
A recent Gallup report (2024) indicates that working women experience higher levels of stress compared to men, with nearly half reporting daily stress. Factors contributing to this stress include competing demands from work and home, with many women managing personal responsibilities during work hours.
Many women also find themselves in the not-so-unusual position of having to cope with the problems of aging and ailing parents in addition to the problems of their own children. Caught in this generational divide, this “stress sandwich” can be incredibly draining, physically and emotionally. Although men increasingly help with the kids and the elderly (much more than their fathers or grandfathers did), woman are still the ones who most often take primary responsibility for these care-giving roles.
More subtle pressures also come from the prevailing notions of the roles and behaviors expected from men and women. Men and women can act in similar ways that may advance their careers — competitive, aggressive, and assertive — but a double standard is common. When such behavior comes from a woman, people often view the behavior negatively as unfeminine and inappropriate. But when that same behavior comes from a man, people see him as strong and in control. By the same token, men face societal pressure and stereotypes (traditional ideas of masculinity) that are damaging and difficult to live up to — and men don’t seek therapy at the same rates or get the same social support with emotions as women do. And this doesn't even begin to address the stress and pressure felt by people who identify as nonbinary.
Sexual harassment is also no small source of stress. Although anyone can experience sexual harassment, women are more likely to find themselves in no-win situations of either openly complaining or silently enduring the abuse. Both options can be highly stressful. Women who belong to a racial or ethnic minority often experience even more stress. Hiring and promotional practices may act in subtle and not-so-subtle discriminatory ways. Even where affirmative action policies are in place, women and people of color may experience the stress of feeling that others see any hiring or advancement as unfairly legislated rather than legitimately deserved.
Feeling frazzled at home
After you leave work, you may start to realize that the rest of your life is not exactly stress-free. These days, life at home, relationships, and the pressure of juggling everything else that has to be done only add to your stress level.
Life at home has become more pressured and demanding. True, technology and the take-out menu have made life a little easier, but the effort and stress involved seem to be growing rather than lessening. Meals still have to be prepared, the house tidied, the clothing cleaned, the bills paid, the chores completed, the shopping done, the lawn and garden tended, the car maintained and repaired, the phone calls and emails returned, the homework supervised, and the kids chauffeured. And that’s for starters. Did I mention the dog?
Less leisure time
The stress of not having enough time to do everything that has to be done is enormous. Many people overwork at home and at their jobs. The result? They just don’t have enough time.
In her insightful book The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure, economist Juliet Schor points out that, in spite of all the new innovations and contraptions that could make things easier, people still need about the same amount of time to do what has to be done at home. In the 1910s, people spent about 52 hours a week on housework. Sixty years later, in the 1970s, the figure was about the same. Yes, some activities did become less time-consuming. Food preparation fell almost ten hours a week, but this was offset by an increase in the time spent shopping and taking care of the home and kids. Contrary to everyone’s predicted expectations, people have less leisure time now than they did 50 years ago.
Families have changed
Some of this stress comes from the ways in which families have changed over the years. In two-parent families, it is now common for both parents to work. One-parent families have even more stressors. These days, more women are the main earners in the home (almost 40 percent) or are bringing in essential income needed to maintain the family. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. The number of single-parent households is multiplying. Families tend be more fragmented, with relatives often living great distances away. Although in certain cases this situation can be stress-reducing (your annoying Aunt Agnes is moving to Dubuque?), more often it promotes a greater sense of disconnectedness and alienation.
Dealing with daily hassles
When you think of stress, you usually think of the major stresses you may face: death, divorce, financial ruin, or a serious illness. And then of course there are those so-called moderate stresses: losing your wallet, denting the car, or catching a cold. Finally, you face the even smaller stresses: the mini-stresses and micro-stresses. These stresses are what are known as hassles.
TECHNO-STRESSED?
People’s lives have become stressful in ways they never would have imagined even a decade ago. Whoever said there is nothing new under the sun probably never Googled the name of a restaurant or texted a friend. Changes in technology have brought with them new pressures and new demands — in short, new sources of stress. For example, one study of more than 1,300 people found that those who regularly used their cell phones or portable devices for communication experienced an increase in psychological distress and a decrease in family satisfaction, compared with those who used these devices less often. Chapter 4 takes a closer look at the ways in which technology can make your life easier but also adds to your stress.
Here is just a sample of the kinds of hassles you might face every day (a complete list would be endless):
Noisy traffic
Loud neighbors
Rude salesclerks
Crowds
Long waits for telephone customer-service representatives
Deliveries promised “sometime between 9 and 5”
New technology
Airport delays
Cell phones that go off in theaters and restaurants
Yes, I realize these things are relatively small. But the small things can add up. You can deal with one, maybe two, or even three of these at once. But when the number begins to rise, so does your stress level. When you reach a high enough level of stress, you overreact to the next hassle that comes along. And that results in even more stress. Alas, life is loaded with hassle. The funny part is that people often deal fairly well with the bigger problems. Life’s major stresses — illnesses, divorces, and financial setbacks — somehow trigger hidden resources within us. They rise to each demand, summoning up some unrecognized inner strength, and somehow manage to cope. What gets to people are the little things. It’s the small stuff — the little annoyances, petty frustrations, and minor irritations — that can ultimately lead to a continuing sense of stress.
Looking at the Signs and Symptoms of Stress
The signs and symptoms of stress range from the benign to the dramatic — from simply feeling tired at the end of the day to having a heart attack. The more serious stress-related problems come with intense and prolonged periods of stress. These disorders and diseases I save for later in this chapter. Here are some of the more benign, commonly experienced stress signs and symptoms. Many will be all too familiar to you.
Physical signs of stress are as follows:
Tiredness, fatigue, lethargy
Heart palpitations; racing pulse; rapid, shallow breathing
Muscle tension and aches
Shakiness, tremors, tics, twitches
Heartburn, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation
Nervousness
Dry mouth and throat
Excessive sweating, clammy hands, cold hands and/or feet
Rashes, hives, itching
Nail-biting, fidgeting, hair-twirling, hair-pulling
Frequent urination
Lowered libido
Overeating, loss of appetite
Sleep difficulties
Increased use of alcohol and/or drugs and medications
Psychological signs of stress are
Irritability, impatience, anger, hostility
Worry, anxiety, panic
Moodiness, sadness, feeling upset
Intrusive and/or racing thoughts
Memory lapses, difficulties in concentrating, indecision
Frequent absences from work, lowered productivity
Feeling overwhelmed
Loss of sense of humor
That’s just for starters. Prolonged and/or intense stress can have more serious effects: It can make you sick.
Understanding How Stress Can Make You Sick
Researchers estimate that 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary-care physicians are for complaints and conditions that are, in some way, stress-related. About 50 percent of those surveyed said that stress was affecting their health. Every week, 112 million people take some form of medication for stress-related symptoms. This statistic isn’t surprising given the wide-ranging physiological changes that accompany a stress response. Just about every bodily system or body part is affected by stress.
Stress can exacerbate the symptoms of a wide variety of other disorders and illnesses, as well. Stress is linked to the five leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung disease, accidents, and suicide. The following sections illustrate some of the more important ways stress can negatively affect your health and well-being.
All of the symptoms, illnesses, and conditions I mention in this section can result from a number of medical conditions, not just stress. And for many of the disorders and diseases mentioned, stress may not be the direct cause of the condition, but stress may make these conditions worse. If you’re concerned about one or more of these symptoms, be sure to consult your physician. They are the best person to give you advice and guidance.
Understanding how stress can be a pain in the neck (and other places)
Your muscles are a prime target for stress. When you’re under stress, your muscles contract and become tense. This muscle tension can affect your nerves, blood vessels, organs, skin, and bones. Chronically tense muscles can result in a variety of conditions and disorders, including muscle spasms, cramping, facial or jaw pain, bruxism (grinding your teeth), tremors, and shakiness. Many forms of headache, chest pain, and back pain are among the more common conditions that result from stress-induced muscle tension.
Taking stress to heart
Stress can play a role in circulatory diseases such as coronary heart disease, sudden cardiac death, and strokes. This fact is not surprising because stress can increase your blood pressure, constrict your blood vessels, raise your cholesterol level, trigger arrhythmias, and speed up the rate at which your blood clots.
Psychosocial stress induces a physiological inflammatory response in blood vessels. When the vessel walls are damaged, inflammatory cells come into the vessel walls. Among other things, they release chemicals that may cause further damage. If the stress is chronic, the result can be chronic inflammation.
A growing number of studies show that individuals with higher amounts of psychosocial stress and depression display elevated C-reactive protein and IL-6 levels, both markers of inflammation.
Many researchers believe that stress, inflammation, and heart disease are all linked. Stress is now considered a major risk factor in heart disease, right up there with smoking, being overweight, and not exercising. All of this becomes very important when you consider that heart disease kills more men over the age of 50 and more women over the age of 65 than any other disease.
A BROKEN HEART?
Believe it or not, there is a real condition called broken heart syndrome (BHS) or stress cardiomyopathy. It can result when someone is experiencing extreme emotional or physical stress. The triggers can include a difficult breakup, extreme anger, sudden shock, or a major loss of a loved one. The symptoms are irregular heartbeat and chest pain, but unlike a heart attack, there are usually no clogged arteries. The good news? There is often full recovery within days or weeks.
Hitting below the belt
Ever notice how your stress seems to find its way to your stomach? Your gastrointestinal system can be a ready target for much of the stress in your life. Stress can affect the secretion of acid in your stomach and can speed up or slow down the process of peristalsis (the rhythmic contraction of the muscles in your intestines). Constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, and weight loss all can be stress related. Stress can contribute to gastroesophageal reflux disease and can also play a role in exacerbating irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, and Crohn’s disease.
Speaking of your belt, it’s important to recognize that people under stress usually experience changes in their weight. Stress can affect you in two very different ways:
When you’re highly stressed, you may find yourself eating less. You may even find yourself losing weight. This “stress diet” isn’t the best way to lose weight, and if the stress is prolonged, it can result in lower overall health.
For many others, though, stress, especially moderate stress, can result in overeating. In effect, you’re “feeding your emotions.” The intent, often unconscious, is to feel better — to distract yourself from emotional distress. The trouble is that “good feeling” lasts for about 12 seconds before you need another fix. And that means putting another notch on your belt. But it’s not just your caloric intake. When you’re stressed, your body releases a hormone called cortisol, which causes fat to accumulate around your abdomen and also enlarges individual fat cells, leading to what researchers term “diseased” fat.
Compromising your immune system
In the last decade or so, growing evidence has supported the theory that stress affects your immune system. In fact, researchers have even coined a name for this new field of study: psychoneuroimmunology. Quite a mouthful! Scientists who choose to go into this field study the relationships between moods, emotional states, hormonal levels, and changes in the nervous system and immune system. Without drowning you in detail, stress — particularly chronic stress — can compromise your immune system, rendering it less effective in resisting bacteria and viruses. Research has shown that stress may play a role in exacerbating a variety of immune system disorders such as HIV, AIDS, herpes, cancer metastasis, viral infection, rheumatoid arthritis, and certain allergies, as well as other auto-immune conditions. Some recent studies appear to confirm this.
The cold facts: Connecting stress and the sniffles
In that wonderful musical comedy Guys and Dolls, a lovelorn Adelaide laments that when your life is filled with stress, “a person can develop a cold.” It looks like she just may be right. Research conducted by Dr. Sheldon Cohen, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University, has concluded that stress really does lower your resistance to colds. Cohen and his associates found that the higher a person’s stress score, the more likely they were to come down with a cold when exposed to a cold virus.
Chronic stress, lasting a month or more, was most likely to result in catching a cold. Experiencing severe stress for more than a month but less than six months doubled a person’s risk of coming down with a cold, compared with those who were experiencing only shorter-term stress. Stress lasting more than two years nearly quadrupled the risk. The study also found that being unemployed or underemployed, or having interpersonal difficulties with family or friends, had the greatest effect. The exact mechanism whereby stress weakens immune functioning is still unclear. Tissues, anyone?
WHAT ABOUT STRESS AND ULCERS?
Once considered the poster disease for stress, ulcers have lost much of their stress-related status. Stress is no longer considered the primary cause of ulcers. It now appears that a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori for short, is the culprit.
However, the final word on the relationship between stress and ulcers has yet to be written. More recent thinking has begun to question whether stress plays some role after all. Stress can affect secretions in the stomach that may exacerbate ulcers. However, a majority of those who do carry the H. pylori bacterium do not develop an ulcer, and many who do not carry the bacterium still develop ulcers. And of course, there is that body of research that has linked stress to ulcers. For example, the bombing of London during World War II and the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, both precipitated outbreaks of ulcer disease. Stay tuned.
Stressing Out Your Friends and Family
Being stressed is a little like having a cold. Others can catch it. When you’re stressed, your moods change, your behavior changes, and you trigger a downward spiral of negative interactions. You may find yourself angrier, more upset, and more worried. You’re not the same you.
Your relationships
Work stress, money worries, health issues, or any other source of stress can result in relationship problems. In a recent survey, 21 percent of those responding said that stress was negatively affecting their friendships. Nineteen percent said that stress was hurting their marriages. When you are distressed — anxious, upset, worried — your happiness level tanks. Your fuse gets shorter, you become more impatient, and you become more irritable. People under stress can withdraw emotionally and communication breaks down. Friends and family may not understand what’s going on and in turn become stressed. The cycle can escalate, leading to even more distress.
Your libido
A headache is just one of the many ways stress can interfere with your sex life. For both men and women, stress can reduce and even eliminate the pleasure of physical intimacy. Stress can affect sexual performance and rob you of your libido. When you’re feeling stress, feeling sexy may not be at the top of your to-do list. Disturbed sexual performance for men may appear in the form of premature ejaculation, delayed ejaculation, and erectile dysfunction. For women the most common effects of stress are a lowered level of sexual interest and difficulty in achieving orgasm. The irony is that sex can be a way of relieving stress. In fact, for some people, sexual activity increases when they feel stressed.
Your kids
Yes, we love our children. But having children can be a source of stress. Being a parent means being largely responsible and constantly attending to the child’s many needs. If they are babies or very young, your sleep will probably be disrupted. Raising children can be expensive: daycare, schools, babysitters, doctor visits, strollers, and more. Juggling your job and working hours, dealing with tantrums, disciplining all add more stress. And then there are the teen-age years …
Most parents don’t think their stress affects their children. They are wrong. Just ask the kids. Ninety-one percent of children say they know when their parents are stressed. How do they know? They can see the worrying, yelling, complaining, and arguing. And they in turn become stressed.
But that’s only one side of the story. Children can give joy and emotional fulfillment. Families can become closer and new friendships with other new parents can develop. Watching your children grow can be incredibly satisfying.
Can Stress Be Good?
Not all the news about stress is bad. As Hans Selye, the pioneer researcher in the field of stress, said, “Stress is the spice of life.” He termed the good kind of stress eustress, as opposed to distress, or the nasty kind of stress. (The “eu” part of eustress comes from the Greek, meaning “good.”) Stress can be a positive force in your life. Watching a close playoff game, taking a ride at an amusement park, solving an interesting problem, falling in love — all can be stressful. Yet these are the kinds of stresses that add to the enjoyment and satisfaction of your life. People want more of this kind of stress, not less.
And even many of the less pleasant uncertainties and surprises of life can be a source of challenge and even excitement and interest. That nervousness you’re experiencing about that presentation you’re making tomorrow can actually improve your performance. The right amount of stress can motivate you, focus you, and get you to perform at your peak. Change and the pressures of modern life don’t necessarily create bad kinds of stress. Rather, how you view the potential stresses in your life and how you cope with them make all the difference.
The good news is that it’s easier than you think to reduce and manage your stress. This book explains how to do just that. Each chapter gives you tools and techniques to move you closer to becoming your own stress therapist.
“BUT I THRIVE ON STRESS”
“I’m at my best when I’m under pressure — a tight deadline, a major crisis. That’s when I feel most alive, most vital.” A surprising number of people claim to thrive on stress. They like to be challenged, to have their abilities stretched and tested. For them this is a good kind of stress that can be satisfying and rewarding. Many people who claim to thrive on stress are workaholics. They get stressed when they have nothing to do. Lying on a beach, sitting in the park — now that’s stressful for them!
Some research suggests that part of the addictive quality that some people feel about stress may be more than just psychological. It may be that people can become hooked on the adrenaline secretions that occur during a stress response. Like other addictions, this adrenaline boost may be experienced by some people as pleasurable. This can explain that feeling of being “truly alive” that some people feel when they are super-stressed. Most of the rest of us, however, can live quite nicely without this boost, thank you very much.
Chapter 2
Stress Explained (in Surprisingly Few Pages)
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding stress
Looking at a model of stress
Finding the right balance
You’ve heard the word stress a thousand times. But if you’re pressed to explain the concept, you may find yourself a little stuck. Intuitively, you know what stress is, but explaining it isn’t easy. This chapter helps you answer the question, “What exactly is stress?” The next time you find yourself at a dinner party and someone asks, “Does anyone here know what stress is?” you can grin knowingly, raise your hand, and proceed to dazzle and delight your tablemates.
So What Is Stress Anyhow?
Defining stress isn’t easy. Professionals who’ve spent most of their lives studying stress still have trouble defining the term. As one stress researcher quipped, “Defining stress is like nailing Jell-O to a tree. It’s hard to do!” Despite efforts during the last half century to assign a specific meaning to the term, no satisfactory definition exists. Defining stress is much like defining happiness. Everyone knows what it is, but no one can agree on a single definition.
