Your Mind Your Body

There has been a lot of buzz about the American Psychological Association’s recent Stress in America survey. Some question whether it really represents the state of the nation’s stress, others question whether or not we can really do anything about our stress, and some wonder if it even matters.

After all, everyone always has to deal with some stress, right?

Deborah Kotz of the Boston Globe’s Daily Dose questioned whether the APA’s survey results were accurate. She did her own (though admittedly unscientific) poll online.

Interestingly at the time I wrote this post, her results  mirrored those of the APA survey, and in fact, made the situation even more alarming. Her results indicated that 34.28 percent of Americans described themselves as extremely stressed, have gained weight and are having other health problems. And another 29.32 percent of Americans feel frazzled a lot and don’t believe they are dealing well with stress.

Her article has generated lots of comments by people frustrated at the lack of available services. The stigma they feel is attached to a diagnosis of mental illness and the cost of getting help. Others have pointed out the need for increased education about  stress and mental illness and the benefits to individuals and their families.

Here are some very important facts:

• People with serious mental illness have a 25-year shorter life span than those who do not. Three out of five of these people die of mostly preventable conditions, such as obesity and heart disease.
• Estimates are that 11 percent to 36 percent of primary care patients have a psychiatric disorder.
• One recent survey of mental health conditions in urban family medicine practices revealed that more than 40 percent of survey respondents met criteria for a mental health disorder. But, many come to the physicians’ offices with complaints of headaches and stomach issues such as irritable bowel. Too often patients are told to lose weight, take it easy or handed a prescription with no follow-up.

The American Academy of Family Physicians noted the following:

Psychiatric problems are a major health issue. In the United States, neuropsychiatric disorders have now surpassed other disorders such as cardiovascular diseases and malignant neoplasms as the number one cause of disability as expressed as disability-adjusted life years.

According to the most recent data available, mental health expenditures in the United States, expressed as a percentage of total health care expenditures, were more than 6 percent.

Most family practice physicians are not well trained to manage psychiatric issues. As a result, lots of unnecessary and very expensive medical tests are performed when psychotherapy might be what is needed.

So the answer is yes, stress matters! And yes, we need to learn to better manage our stress.

We need to learn about mental illness and make sure we provide and receive appropriate treatment. Financially, we can’t afford not to. The loss of life is so often unnecessary. There is no price to put on the life and unnecessary death of a loved one.

While I recognize that simply taking a bubble bath, as one person commented, will not solve the tremendous financial and family pressures that  people currently are facing, reducing our stress levels in areas where we have control–such as exercise, breathing techniques, massage, meditation and even bubble baths–can clear our minds so we are capable of making better choices and decisions and can be more resilient.

And remember: This is today. It does not mean things will be like this forever.

Photo by isabisa via Flickr

Filed under: Lifestyle & Behaviors, Stress