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Fighting and winning

The Unofficial Guide to Beating Stress

By Pat Goudey

Publishers: IDG Books, New Delhi

Price: Rs 179.

What is stress? Response to change, says the expert. If that is so then the modern world is a hot bed of stress. If you just look at your workplace, you will find changes taking place everywhere. In the corporate world workers from production lines to ma nagement suites face new theories of organisation, streamlined production, downsizing, mergers, acquisitions, consolidation and cost-cutting measures, and transitions from salaried employees to temporary hires and consultants.

Issues of job security alone have changed so much in recent times that most workers today worry not only whether they are doing well at work, but also whether their jobs will continue. Couple this with changes in the home environment, relationships with friends and family, death and illness, and innumerable physical and emotional challenges the body and the mind have to face on a daily basis and it is easy to admit that today's lifestyle is a breeding ground for acute or chronic stress. It could also le ad to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a physical/emotional condition that touches on almost all aspects of a sufferer's life, is difficult to treat and requires professional intervention.

Some stress in life is necessary and beneficial. It spurs one to greater achievements, tests and proves one's abilities, and adds spice to life. Problems arise when the stress is acute and one cannot return to a relaxed state to allow the body to rest an d recharge. The chemical and physical changes that occur during high stress were never meant to be the standard operating mode. They take a heavy toll on the body by accelerating the ageing process and play havoc with one's emotions.

How does one deal with this kind of unrelenting stress? The Unofficial Guide to Beating Stress, could well be a source for some valuable information. It provides useful advice to the reader on the vagaries of stress and the ways and means to counter it.

It is not we are not aware of stress and its negative affects. Despite this many of us are unable to avoid it. The book provides comprehensive coverage of necessary and vital information on identifying stress-related behaviour and discusses easy and usef ul ways to beat stress. it also outlines a few wrong practices that could be responsible for a stressful lifestyle.

The techniques discussed cover a wide range of disciplines, from religious and spiritual philosophies, to exercise and diet change. One can also use these techniques to banish unnecessary stress from one's life and reduce one's response to stress that ca nnot be avoided.

Some basic oft-repeated stress relieving tips are mentioned -- create a life that includes less damaging stress, cultivate a positive attitude, learn to see the path around the obstacle, appreciate the glass half-full, and stop to smell the roses along t he way.

Believing that good things await you does not elicit adrenaline surges that bring on stress. The pessimist, on the other hand, believes that the worst ia about to happen. Disappointment, danger, and failure all lie ahead in the mind of the pessimist.

At times, stress within the home may percolate down to the entire family. It can be brought into the home by a stressed individual whose mood spreads to other family members or it can be brought on by a change that the whole family is going through toget her. To navigate through these difficult times, families need to develop communication skills and trust in one another. Humour and finding succour in religion and spirituality are some tested ways to reduce stress.

Healthy eating too is an important tool in combating stress and is dealt with in detail. ``The best provision you can make to deal with a crisis or cope with long-term stress is to keep your body in top shape. A combination of exercise and diet is the be st means towards that end.''

Our diet provides the raw material that keeps our internal electro-chemical plant humming, and yet most of us are in the dark about the effects of diet on health. What should be an ideal, nutritional yet calorie-free diet? What should be the diet plan an d what should one eat at a given time of the day? Is it necessary to supplement one's normal food intake? These are few simple things which we mostly are unaware of.

Relaxation, discussed in detail in Chapter 9, forms the crux of stress relief. After expending resources to deal with the day's challenges, the body must be able to return to a state of rest so that it can repair, recharge, and get ready to respond to th e inevitable new challenges that will happen the coming day.

In short, proper diet and lifestyle choices, spirituality, a supportive community, and maintenance of good physical health are all central to dealing successfully with stress.

Several stress-related remedies ranging from prescription medications and psychotherapy to spinal adjustments and massage are in vogue. One also can turn to non-medical techniques such as exercise, sports, hobbies, recreational interests, spiritual pursu its, and meditation to help turn off the tension. The book under review sheds light on all these as well, but one must remember that all these techniques rarely provide instant relief and need to be pursued on a long-term basis for the beneficial effects to show.

Sleep or a quick nap could be one of easier options. Learning to use the relaxation techniques discussed in the book will help one handle anxieties and reduce one's physical response to them. By using stress-relieving techniques to induce relaxation at w ill, one can create small islands of relaxation in an otherwise highly stressful environment.

Aziz Haider