Too Busy for Your Own Good (12 page)

Crumple your whole face and relax.

7
. Drop your head to your chest slowly. Inhale as you roll your head to the left until it is hanging backward with your jaw loose. Exhale as you slowly roll toward your right shoulder, then back to the starting position. Repeat, rolling from the right to the left slowly.

8
. Open your eyes and stretch like a cat waking up. Stand up slowly. Align yourself as if there is a string pulling you straight up from the ground.

You might feel a little groggy or “spacey” right after you complete this stress first aid, which is completely normal. Walk slowly with good posture and continue to breathe slowly and evenly. You will feel refreshed and alert again in a short time.

Early in my nursing career, I worked in the intensive care unit at a small community hospital. Along with the standard duties we performed for patients in the unit, we were also responsible for responding when a patient “crashed”—their breathing or heart stopped, or they had a sudden loss of consciousness. Instead of hollering for help, someone picked up the phone and alerted the hospital operator.
She got on the PA system and called for help. So the entire hospital wasn't alarmed by, “Patient trying to die on us in Room 301,” a certain code was used instead: “Dr. Heart to Room 301.” I'd sprint to the room to take over the resuscitation until a physician arrived. Hospitals and medical centers today still have dedicated crash teams whose sole purpose is to save those patients who are in the most immediate danger.

The symptoms of depression are important but the following are urgent symptoms that you're “crashing” and in immediate danger. According to the
DSM-IV
, professional help should be sought
immediately
if you have one or more of these symptoms:

Persistent thoughts of suicide or dying

Attempts to commit suicide

Panic attacks

Trouble swallowing or catching breath; fainting

Feeling of imminent death

New or worse anxiety or depression

Acting on dangerous impulses

Unusual changes in behavior or mood

Although no single cause of depression has been identified, it appears that interaction among genetic, biochemical, environmental, and psychosocial factors may play a role. The fact is, depression is not a personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away, but it can be successfully treated.

An estimated 33 to 35 million U.S. adults are likely to experience depression at some point during their lifetime. The disease affects men and women of all ages, races, and economic levels. However, women are at a significantly greater risk than men to develop major depression. Studies
show that episodes of depression occur twice as frequently in women as in men. Although anyone can develop depression, some types of depression, including major depression, seem to run in families. Whether or not depression is genetic, the disorder is believed to be associated with changes to levels of chemicals in the brain, such as seratonin and norephinephrine.

Many people cite financial concerns to explain why they don't seek help for their mental health. Today mental health professionals usually practice cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT has been shown to help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety more quickly than five-day-a-week analysis and is widely accepted as a cost-effective way to treat psychopathology. Check your company's HR or employee assistance program for low-cost (or free) counseling services. You can call your local public health department or hospital for referral ideas or use a psychiatric nurse-practitioner. And don't forget that your church or synagogue may offer counseling with a sliding-scale payment schedule.

So now you know how stress from your busyness is affecting you. Its consequences range from making you slightly uncomfortable or irritable to miserable, overwhelmed, or severely debilitated. Continuing unchecked, it will cause physical problems threatening your life—high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma attacks, headaches, and increased susceptibility to viruses and colds. In the extreme, even death!

A recently coined word in Japan,
karoshi
, translates to “death from stress of overwork”! The Japanese don't have the market cornered on life-threatening stress, though. It's just as pervasive in America. The American Institute of
Stress and the National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc., recently reported the following:

As many as 90 percent of visits to primary care physicians are about stress.