Monday, May 6, 2013

Chronic Stress: How to Cope in a Down Economy (Part 1)

The following is the first part in a series on how small businesses can reduce chronic stress in the workplace.


They may lurk in a back office hazed in a ring of smoke sitting next to a cold cup of caffeine. They may be hunched over a calculator and a keyboard crunching numbers, or they may be out at the counter making sure that everything gets done “just right.” Often, they coexist with the equally anxious hired hand in charge of keeping daily operations going and the lights on. Either way, with slim pickings for profit margins and given the generally-negative economic atmosphere, is it any surprise that many small business owners and executives exhibit signs of chronic stress? With that said, what are the signs and possible symptoms of chronic stress and what is its overall impact on the viability and longevity of small businesses in the area and the health and well being of the owners and staff? Once identified, aside from buying a fishing boat and moving to the bahamas, what can be done about it?


This three part article will be an interesting read. It may even take you down memory lane and serve up a few “aha” moments that will better your life and hopefully your health. After all, a happier staff is a more productive staff and “if the boss ain't happy, ain't no one happy.” Your health and the health of your staff is the bottom line.


The disclaimer


Many people read articles like this one, see the list of symptoms, and feel the affliction known to University Clinics around the world as “Medical Student’s Disease” or at doctor’s offices as “cyberchodndria.” In that, armed with the new knowledge of possible symptoms, you begin to see them everywhere. Rest assured and take a deep breath, this article is meant to educate, not diagnose. It’s meant to help you ask questions of yourself, start conversations at work, and then take those questions to your primary care provider.


Am I covered? Wait... if you’re having chest pain signs or other signs of a heart attack, call 911 or go to the emergency room.  So, with that in mind and the lawyers off of speed dial, let’s move on.


Warning! Science Content.


In order to understand abnormal reactions to stress we must first understand our body’s normal reaction to it, which begins with a brief history lesson and some basic physiology.

Only in the last few hundred years, has mankind been able to worry more about what new iPhone app to download than about running away from large predators while looking for food. If you want an excellent primer on the subject, watch the new animated movie “The Croods” with your family. In it, the patriarch of the cave-family uses the motto “Never not be afraid.” His only job is to keep his family alive. He is big and strong and only has to react to threats. No “ideas” necessary.


Physiologically and chemically, not much has changed since the stone-age. In order to outrun the saber-tooth tiger at your heels or fight the bear at your front door, two chemicals do most of the heavy lifting and it starts in your brain.

Think of the amygdala as the alarm bell in your brain. Tucked away in the back of the medial temporal lobes of the brain, this almond sized piece of the basal ganglia is responsible for receiving perceived threat information from the frontal cortex and signaling the adrenal glands (housed atop the kidneys) to begin production of a host of hormones. Just the sight or sound of a perceived threat sets off an unconscious signaling process. Most people identify this as “getting tense” or feeling agitated, but they seldom know why.  


Enter the hormone adrenaline. If the amygdala gets the engine primed, adrenaline revs it through the gears like a Japanese drift racer. It constricts peripheral blood vessels, which decreases the possibility of limb hemorrhaging. Core blood pressure goes up, to fight possible hemorrhaging, and it takes the brakes off your SA node to increase your heart rate to pump needed fuel to running legs. If you’re not already on the run, you’ll feel your heart race, beads of sweat gather on your arms, and you’ll get a headache from too much light entering your dilated pupils.


While adrenaline recruits massive amounts of muscle fiber for fast action, the corticosteroid Cortisol feeds them by elevating the amount of glucose in your blood. It also stalls your immune system and its inflammatory response to protect muscle cells during extreme use. If you haven't been eaten or mortally wounded, the system is designed to save you and then reset itself and return the body to normal. You, however, at the cash register or on the couch after a hard days work will feel completely drained, possibly lethargic, and have no motivation to get into the sunlight you crave.  

Granted, Wolves and Vikings are negligible threats in most of Ohio, but the system still serves its purpose. Cars get pulled off of kids by superhuman moms. Trauma victims make it to the Emergency Room alive and first responders function at top gear, but what happens when the intermittent stresses of wolves, vikings, and overturned cars are replaced by the unending stress of bills and payroll? What happens if the system doesn’t reset itself?


We'll get into this next week and focus on the negative effects of chronic stress over a period of time and begin to delve into practical (and free) ways to begin to identify and combat those effects in your everyday life. In the meantime, check out the references below for more in-depth reading on the subject as your time permits.



References:


Lemonick , M. (2003, October 06). How to heal a hypochondriac. Time, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005818-2,00.html


U.S. Census Bureau. (2007). Retrieved from U.S. Census Bureau website: http://www.census.gov/econ/smallbus.html


Mayo Staff. (2010, September 11). Stress: Constant stress puts your health at risk.. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001


McEwen, B. S., & Mirsky, A. E. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Retrieved from http://physrev.physiology.org/content/87/3/873.full


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