Time to Chill
The effects of stress on heart health At 28, I got into an argument with my boyfriend and ended up collapsed in my apartment stairwell, clutching my chest. I wasn’t being dramatic. My heart was racing at about 200 beats per minute — two to three times faster than a standard heart rate. It was […]
6 Foods to Ditch for Less Stress — and What to Eat Instead
Stressing out? You’re not alone; in fact, stress affects all of us. Over the long term, it can increase inflammation in your body and mess with your mood, sleep, eating habits, and overall well-being. Fortunately, there are some small things you can do that might help. Getting outside, moving your body, taking a screen break, […]
Countering the Stress and Loneliness of Covid-19
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the Chicago area, our winter weariness is gradually lifting, but the stress and loneliness continue to mount. Stay-at-home orders, quarantining, and other public health measures have forced people indoors, leading to increases in loneliness and mental health issues. In a study of 18- to 35-year-olds in April and May 2020, […]
How to Prevent Overeating When You’re Working from Home
If your eating has been a bit erratic while working from home, here are five strategies to help create some balance and consistency. 1. Develop a set eating schedule. In addition to preventing mindless eating, settling into a consistent routine will help regulate blood sugar and insulin levels, mental and physical energy, digestive health, and […]
Why Covid-19 Affects Kids’ Mental Health — and How You Can Help
While adults have been the hardest hit by Covid-19 infections, children of all ages remain vulnerable to the pandemic’s many social consequences. In Illinois, the recent uptick in newly diagnosed cases has families buckling down for a long winter without outdoor activities and traditional holiday gatherings, leaving children particularly at risk to the adverse effects […]
How COVID-19 Impacts Teens’ Mental Health
Since the end of January, Isa Sanchez, a senior at Whitney Young High School, had been working on her senior project: choreographing a dance to the song “Dreams” by The Cranberries. The dance involves more than a dozen performers, but Illinois canceled in-person school before her group had a chance to perform it. “I wanted […]
Ask the Harvard Experts: Lower Coronavirus-Related Stress with the Relaxation Response
Q: The coronavirus outbreak has raised my stress level. I am worried that it is making me more susceptible to infection. What can I do now to feel calmer? A: The stress response is also known as “the fight or flight” reaction. It’s what the body does as it prepares to confront or avoid danger. […]
Friends Can Help Your Health
Human beings have a built-in need for friendships. Friends help us through the pressures of everyday living and the havoc that stress can wreak on our health. Especially around the holiday season, we often draw closer to friends and family. “Humans are predisposed to bond emotionally with significant others [because] our brain cannot survive without […]
Check In Instead of Stressing Out
The other day I was speaking with a friend, the father of a sophomore at one of our prestigious Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high schools. His son is achieving a 96 percent to 98 percent in most of his academic subjects. In one class, he has only a 90 percent. The student is also involved […]
Why Persistent Anxiety Leads to Other Health Problems
The Medicine Cabinet: Ask the Harvard Experts Q: My wife says that I worry too much and it’s bad for my health. Does worrying really cause health problems? A: Feeling anxious now and then is perfectly normal. In fact, worrying can spur you to take positive actions in your life, including some that might actually […]
Gray Hair: Age Isn’t the Only Reason it Starts to Happen
For many men and women, spotting a few strands of gray hair is a reminder that as you age, your body begins to change. Although the thought of aging and going gray may be daunting, an expert at Baylor College of Medicine says there are several factors that play a role in developing gray hair. […]
8 Positive Skills for Stress Relief
How do we cope with stress from caregiving or health-related issues? Positive feelings can counterbalance stressful experiences, changing the emphasis from struggling to thriving. Some key skills that foster positive emotions can help caregivers and people with health problems get there. Social psychologist Judith Moskowitz, PhD, MPH, director of research at Northwestern Medicine’s Osher Center […]
Your natural ‘love hormone’ helps relieve stress
The Medicine Cabinet: Ask the Harvard Experts Q: Do humans really have a love hormone? A: Yes, we do. It’s called oxytocin. It’s one of the many hormones released into the blood stream from the pituitary gland, a small structure at the base of our brain. It got the name “love hormone” because of its […]
Simple strategies to relieve stress
Your misplaced wallet. A dead car battery. It’s easy to encounter situations that can make you feel stressed. But it’s just as easy to arm yourself with approaches that can help you relieve stress without getting your stomach twisted in knots or losing sleep. What can you do to feel better? Try these techniques to […]
Traumatic News Events Can Affect Your Physical and Psychological Health
The news can be hazardous to your health. Distressing headlines about traumatic events such as school shootings, hate crimes, terrorist threats and even the contentious presidential election are so constant that it can rattle some people to their core. “Unfortunately, we’re living in a traumatic world right now and there’s no escaping it,” says Michael […]
De-stress your life
How stressed-out are we? Consider this: In some cities, “rage rooms,” sometimes known as anger rooms, allow customers who are fed up with work, politics or the stress of everyday life to smash old furniture, TVs, dishes and other breakable items. At the Anger Room in Dallas, prices range from $25 for five minutes of […]
Stress raising your blood pressure? Take a deep breath
Harvard Health Blog Stress is rampant, and high blood pressure (what doctors call hypertension) is on the rise. So it’s no wonder patients often ask if stress is causing their hypertension. We have no proof that stress alone can cause persistently elevated blood pressure. (Part of the reason is that high-quality studies quantifying stress are […]
Neuroscience can help you live a healthier life
Harvard Health Letter Healthy behaviors clearly make sense from a rational standpoint, but they can be a drag — and difficult to maintain. For example, there are few people who doubt the beneficial effects of exercise, yet one study found that close to 75 percent of people either do not exercise at all or seldom […]
How stress affects seniors and how to manage it
Harvard Health Letters We all experience a little stress from time to time. It’s not so hard to handle when we’re young. But as we age, coping with stress isn’t as easy anymore. “We tend to have less resilience to stress, and older adults often find that stress affects them differently now,” says Michelle Dossett, […]
What happens to your body when you don’t get enough sleep?
By The Brain and Spine Team, Cleveland Clinic If you eat well and exercise regularly but don’t get at least seven hours of sleep every night, you may undermine all your other efforts. Sleep disorders expert Harneet Walia, M.D., says it’s important to focus on getting enough sleep, something many of us lack. “First and […]
Managing worry in generalized anxiety disorder
By Srini Pillay, M.D. Harvard Health Blog Everyone worries, but some people worry more than others. When worry is excessive, people may develop generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In fact, close to a quarter of people who go to their primary care physicians with anxiety suffer from this. In general, stressful events in childhood and adulthood, […]
Extra tired? Could be stress
By Rae Lynn Mitchell, Texas A&M Health Science Center Do you ever notice how stress and mental frustration can affect your physical abilities? When you are worried about something at work, do you find yourself more exhausted at the end of the day? This phenomenon is a result of the activation of a specific area […]
EatingWell: Check out 5 foods for stress relief
By Holly Pevzner EatingWell.com While we may feel better in the short-term after that hot-fudge brownie sundae, healthy foods are better choices when you’re feeling stressed out. Stress can take a toll on your body’s natural defenses, but eating these foods can offer relief: 1. Nuts. Stress depletes our B vitamin stores, and snacking on […]
Stressed Out
The importance of keeping cool can’t be stressed enough By Kate Silver Stress has been a lifelong problem for Claire.* For years, the 32-year-old has struggled with health problems—irritable bowel syndrome and endometriosis, for starters—plus the memories of abuse from her youth that began coming back to haunt her when she reached adulthood. Despite extensive therapy, she’s struggled […]
Stress In Chicago
Since 2007, the American Psychological Association has conducted a national survey on stress. In 2012, the survey charted stress levels in different cities and found that in Chicago, stress levels were at their lowest since 2008, putting residents on a par with the national average. The survey found that while Chicagoans have the same stressors […]
Know Your Panic
Understanding how to control the way you lose it By Nancy Maes When Richard Harper’s* oldest daughter flew off to college with her mother for her freshman year in the fall of 2013, he was left to make the nine-hour drive to campus to deliver her belongings. On the road, he could feel the stress […]
Want to Reduce Stress? Here’s How
Patricia Normand, MD, a psychiatrist at Rush University Medical Center and director of its Mindful Life Program, says that in order to reduce stress, she teaches students to focus on the sensation of their breath. When people know what it feels like to quickly shift focus away from what is causing them stress and onto […]
Cure to Stress Found in Canadian Waters
Last summer, my love and I canoed the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. It was beyond exquisite. The trip was truly life-altering, though not for the reasons you might assume, like the beauty, serenity, accomplishment, the unplugged, the man vs. nature. My life changed last summer because I experienced stress that threatened to ruin […]
What Your Body Is Telling You In Your 30s and 40s
By Morgan Lord When we women leave our 20s and enter our 30s and 40s, we finally peak—comfortable in our skin, we exude confidence. But although our minds, like whiskey and leather boots, become better with age, our bodies are working in reverse—bone mass declines, our metabolism slows, and we’re more susceptible to a slew […]
Too Hot To Handle
A reality check to help cool down summer stresses that can ruin the season and harm your healthBy Donna Shryer “During the summer, there’s more pressure to get out and enjoy every minute. But for many of us, we lose perspective.” So says Dr. Jennifer Klapatch, PhD, BCBA, director of Applied Professional Practice, department of […]
Coping with Kidnapping
How do our bodies react and recover from horrific experiences like the one in Cleveland? By Nancy Maes The names of recently released kidnap victims Amanda Berry, who is now 27, Georgina DeJesus, 23, and Michele Knight, 32, are imprinted on our brains. But how do we begin to understand the psychological impact that nearly […]
