Health & Medicine - County Woman Newspapers

Stress Management for the Busy Woman
Patricia Metoyer, MS, RN, APN-C
It’s no secret that women
today take on more than
ever; in addition to stressful
jobs there are family,
home, health, financial, and
personal responsibilities to
deal with. If not managed
appropriately, stress can take
a toll on your health. But
there are steps you can take
to reduce stress in your life.
First, it’s important to
understand that stress is a
physical response that your
body has when you are
exposed to a stressor. The
response begins in your
nervous system, and is followed
by the release of hormones
and adrenaline. The
results are the symptoms you
feel that are typically associated
with stress: headache;
gritting teeth; muscle aches;
heartburn; panic; or rashes.
Mercer County Woman
Health & Medicine
The signals leading up to this
reaction include: anxiety;
depression; lack of focus; disorganization;
reduced efficiency;
overreaction to small
things; or increased smoking
or drinking.
So how can we manage
stress in our lives? The foundations
of stress management
involve some selfawareness
and personal
reflection. First, pay attention
to the signals and symptoms;
when you notice them
in yourself, try to identify
the cause. Is it a large task
assigned at work? Is your
spouse working late hours? Is
money tighter this week?
While you must recognize
that some stressors in
life are unavoidable, begin to
reduce unnecessary stress in
your life. Eliminate selfdefeating
behaviors; in other
words, avoid perfectionism.
Control your environment;
reduce clutter or institute
some simple organizational
systems in your home or
office. Try to pare down your
to-do list; delegate some
household chores to your
kids or spouse, and, if possible,
some professional
responsibilities to coworkers
or support staff.
Accept things you can’t
change. Don’t engage in
futile, frustrating efforts to
control uncontrollable
things. You may never
change your boss’ habit of
assigning you tasks last
minute, or your child’s habit
of running into the house in
muddy sneakers. Try to see
the positive in situations you
can’t change, and learn to
forgive. You can also remove
some stress from your life by
sharing feelings with a friend
or family member.
Once you begin to identify
stressors, pay attention
to how you deal with them.
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This can help you make a
stress plan; if de-cluttering
your desk helped you feel
calmer at work, take time on
a weekend to do the same in
your garage or basement at
home. Engage your kids in
the kitchen; take dreaded
meal-planning or meal-prep
tasks and make them fun
family activities. Challenge
your kids to plan dinner,
including making the grocery
list. Lastly, prevent
stress by balancing your
schedule, not over-committing,
prioritizing responsibil-
ities, delegating tasks, and
breaking big jobs down into
smaller pieces. All of these
steps can help you better
manage the stress in your life.
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Patricia Metoyer, MS,
RN, APN-C, is a Nurse
Practitioner with Advanced
Heart, Lung and Vascular
Care in Bordentown and
Hainesport, NJ. She runs
AHLVC’s stress management
and smoking cessation
programs. For appointments
or more information,
call 877-AHLVC-MD.
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