| March 09, 2009 | HEALTH BEAT MAGAZINE |
 |
|
Strategies for surviving stress: Adapt, reach out, work out
By JIM STEINBERG
Photo by ERIC REED
Housing values are tanking.
The 401(k) is shrinking. There's another round of layoffs at work.
Stress has come home, big time. But what can you do about it?
Psychologists and other mental health professionals say during these uncertain times exercise, imaging, music and other positive experiences are needed to focus your energy.
Like many, Arturo Ruvalcaba, 22, a second semester MBA student at Cal State San Bernardino, is facing challenges on a variety of fronts. He recently relocated from San Diego to Diamond Bar, became jobless, broke up with a longtime girlfriend and is in a demanding graduate degree program.
After three months, his job hunt as an information security specialist is going nowhere, and the money he stashed away is dwindling.
Financial stress is invading the national consciousness. It is a time when people are losing control of their lives, says Nicholas Fittante, a licensed clinical therapist practicing in Ontario.
"People who have waited 30 years for retirement now have next to nothing," he said. "These are upstanding citizens that have spent years and years of sacrificing vacations to save, forgone new things, always tried to do the right thing, and now, all that is out the window."
Keeping your mental outlook in check is the key to managing even extreme stress, says Lois Krawczyk, supervisory psychologist at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center in Loma Linda.
"There is a whole area in the psychological literature called resilience," Krawczyk said. "It's about how we adapt to adversity, such as job loss, traumatic events in a war zone, losing a lot in the stock market. How we adapt in healthy ways and how we allow ourselves to grow instead of succumb."
Ruvalcaba said he hasn't heard of the psychology of resilience, but it's something he practices nevertheless. When he needs to escape, he closes his eyes and plays the guitar.
"I enjoy life. I've found many outlets," he said.Another note: Walsh says students' use of the labyrinth increases dramatically around exam time.
Daniel and Shawna Head of The Yoga Room of Redlands
-- Jim Steinberg