How to Get Your Stress Under Control

Life #1

Life #2

Take-A-Ways

• Identify your major stressors

• Understand how chronic stress harms your body and brain

• Identify ways to reduce stress

• Commit to one SMART stress-reduction goal

What is Stressing You Out?

Look Familiar?

It Could Be Worse

Calling all Workaholics & Perfectionists

Quiz: Are You a Workaholic?

The Bergen Work Addiction Scale

• 7 criteria test

• Based on core symptoms of drug addiction

#1 Your Focus is Work

• You think of how you can free up more time to work.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#2 Work Consumes Your Life

• You spend much more time working than originally intended.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#3 Work is Your Happy Place

• You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness and depression.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#4 You’ve Ignored Reprimands

• You’ve been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#5 You Suffer From Work Withdrawal

• You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#6 You Do Nothing Other Than Work

• You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and exercise because of your work.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

#7 Your Health Suffers

• You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

Are You a Workaholic?

• Results:• If you answered “often” or “always” to 4 or more of the questions, you

are a workaholic.

How Much of Your Life is Work?

• Working at home and on vacation

• Most workers only use only 51% of their paid vacation time

• 61% of Americans work on vacation

Quiz: Are You a Perfectionist?

7 Ways to Tell if You Are a Perfectionist

Trait #1

You are highly conscious and hyper-critical of mistakes.

Trait #2

You have to be the best at everything, even if it’s something you’re not interested in.

Trait #3

You spend a lot of time to make everything absolutely perfect.

Trait #4

You are your harshest critic.

Trait #5

You mull over a less than optimal outcome and wonder what you did wrong.

Trait #6

You react defensively to constructive criticism.

Trait #7

You focus exclusively on achieving the goal at all costs.

Are You a Perfectionist?

• Results:• If you answered “yes” to 4 or more of the questions, you are a

perfectionist.

Let’s Talk Stress

What Color is Your Stress?

Good Stress v. Bad Stress

Optimal Stress

Secondhand Stress

• It’s contagious and easily transmitted

• Babies catch it from their mothers

• Students catch it from nervous speakers

Stress Hormones Are For Survival

Your Body on Stress: Fight-or-Flight

Stress Hormones

• Adrenaline (immediate)

• Cortisol (prolonged)

What % of ER Visits Triggered by Stress?

• 90% CDC Estimate

Chronic Stress

The Effects of Chronic Stress

• Anxiety

•Depression

•Digestive problems

•Heart disease

•Sleep problems

•Weight gain

•Memory and concentration impairment

The Scary Science

You Get Sick More Often

• 2012 study of 276 healthy adults

• Those with chronic stress were more likely to get sick

• Immune system cells were unable to properly respond

You Gain Weight

• 2014 study of 58 women

• Those with experienced a stressful event in the last 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than after eating fast-food than those who were stress-free

• Adds up to 11 lbs. per year

• Stressed women had higher insulin levels,

contributing to fat storage

You Heal Slower

• 2012 study of older women caring for relatives with dementia

• Took 24% longer to heal from biopsy wound

• Slow healing most apparent in first two weeks, when infections happen

At Risk for Heart Disease

• 2014 study of stressed-out medical students

• They had an excessive number of white blood cells

• Previous study in mice found that cortisol changes white blood cells so they stick to artery walls

It May Shorten Your Life

• Chronic stress shortens length of telomeres: the agent of death

Stress Shortens Telomeres

• Finnish Health Study: work-related exhaustion

• Mothers caring for disabled children

• Boys who were raised in stressful home environment

• 4-8 years: Ohio State: caregivers for relatives with dementia

How it Happens

• Changes gene activity of immune cells before they enter the bloodstream

• Cells are permanently primed for fight or flight

• Leads to chronic inflammation

• Associated with heart disease, depression, cancer

What it Does to Your Brain

• Impairs communication among neurons

• Slows production of new neurons

• Creates elevated levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s

How to Get Your Stress Under Control

Tip #1: Journal Your Stress Level

• Identify your stressors

Tip #2: End Technoference

• Are you being paid to work 24/7?

Tip #3: Learn to Say “No”

• Stop being super-mom or super-worker

Tip #4: Schedule Relaxation

• Make an appointment on your smartphone

Tip #5: Go Drug-Free

• Ditch the alcohol, caffeine, and other drugs

Tip #6: Practice Mindfulness

• Try mediation, tai chi or yoga

Tip #7: Exercise

• Work out your stress

Draft a SMART Goal

• Aim: Be a little imperfect

Examples: Set SMART Goals

• Too vague: I will spend more time with my family

• SMART: I will eat dinner with my family on Mon., Wed., and Friday

• Too vague: I will relax more

• SMART: I will download the Calm App and listen to Session #1 on Saturday at noon

Create Accountability

• Set one stress-reduction goal for this week

• Create a means of self-accountability

Get Real. Get Healthy.®

EberLorie@gmail.com

714-357-9946

www.LorieEberWellnessCoaching.com

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