It is that time of year again, when the sun goes down early (often, before we even leave work!) Many of us suffer from some form of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), experiencing bouts of stress, anxiety, and depression frequently during the winter months. If you find your spirits sinking with the…

I recently came across a very interesting article on Huffington Post titled “Reactions to Stress Could Affect Health 10 Years Later, Study Finds.” Apprently, your health is not affected simply by the stress in your life. Rather, it is your reaction to the stress that determines health in later years. The…

Autumn is my absolutely favorite season. I love the way the air changes, the light changes, and the cripsness in the air. However, the change in season does call for some adjustments. As summer begins to fade into fall, our lives often get busier, whether with work, school, or other activities….

Epictetus was born a slave in AD 55 in Hierapolis, Phrygia (present day Turkey), and he later lived and taught in Greece and Rome. Many of his teachings are just as applicable today as they were 2,00 years ago; they  have been translated and adapted into a book called The Art…

With the start of the fall season and the end of summer, most of us begin getting busier. This busyness can be energizing and exciting, but it can also lead to elevated anxiety levels if certain precautions are not taken. For those of you who struggle with anxiety and want to…

Emotional stress happens when your negative emotions begin coloring everything in your life. Do you feel like you sabotage yourself constantly, not allowing yourself to feel successful or important? There are many destructive thoughts, feelings, and emotions that can cause stress. These are some of the most common and the most…

Your social life (or lack of one) can be a big source of stress. Either too much or too little social stimulation can be stressful: too little and you feel lonely, estranged, and isolated; too much and you get overwhelmed by social demands and the needs of other people.        …

Your body is constantly trying to re-balance itself to maintain homeostasis, or equilibrium. If everything goes correctly and your stress is managed, you will have an ideal environment, with the right chemistry, temperature, and pressure. You will be in a low stress zone.  Stress and Health If you have extremely high…

Do you ever wonder: with all the noises in your head, how can you even think straight, let alone try to listen to yourself? Well, we are going to do just that. You will need 10 minutes to sit down and get comfortable while I help you get inside your head…

One way I know how to deal with stress is reading a good book by my fireplace on a cold evening after work. For me, nothing could be better. But reading in front of the fireplace might not be what you need to relax. What will help you deal with stress? There are…

We have all experienced people in our lives who, every time we see or speak to them, we are left feeling drained, negative, and more stressed. While it is important to encourage, support, and listen to friends when they are going through difficult times, there are instances when people are constantly…

We all know someone who is constantly, persistently negative, about everything. Chronic negativity can be crippling in more ways than one. Have you found yourself being more negative than usual lately? If so, a more optimistic outlook on life is essential to becoming stress resistant and reaching your goals. Optimism is…

A few weeks ago we put together a selection of our favorite stress relief quotes. Since then, we have found a few more that have inspired us as well, all of which can be applied to the theme of “Work Stress.” Enjoy!   1. “If you’re doing your best, you won’t…

In coping with stress and the demands and pressures of life, money can be a powerful resource. But when income is inadequate to meet basic expenses, it can lead to chronic worry about the future. Living beyond your means, impulse buying, unusual obligations, or job loss are just a few of…

We spend so much of our time trying to get somewhere. Part of this comes from necessity. To an extent, we must be goal-directed, leaning into the future. It’s certainly healthy to pursue wholesome aims, like paying the rent on time, raising children well, improving education. But it’s also important to…

As we have discussed previously in this series, a calm yet alert mind is most able to receive input, to make judgments, to relate well with others, and to concentrate on tasks. Most people find it easier to relax the body than to relax the mind. As the body relaxes, the…

Sometimes we just need to hear something encouraging to help put things into perspective. Here are our 15 favorite stress reducing quotes.   1. “Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.”–John De Paola   2. “Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is…

“If you want to get what you’ve always got, do what you’ve always done”. Habits can include patterns of doing, thinking, reacting emotionally, speaking or relating to people. Some habits are useful and keep us from having to decide every time how to do something. Other habits are damaging and…

One of the most frequently endorsed stress items is “Not enough time to get things done”. Time pressures from too many demands are a frequent source of stress. Managing your time effectively can then free you up to enjoy other activities. The three P’s of time management are plan, prioritize and…

Sometimes there are moments when our stress levels get so high, we feel overwhelmed and cannot think straight. In times like these, we need to have effective strategies that we know will calm us down quickly.  Here are 6 steps that can offer immediate stress relief, so that we can go…

As a psychiatrist, I realize that comparing is a natural tendency we all have. It can be absolutely neutral, as when you merely evaluate similarities and differences. Such comparison is essential for astute reasoning. It’s also productive if you’re inspired to emulate another’s impressive traits. However, it becomes dysfunctional when it…

We have described several different ways to become aware of and regulate the direction of your thoughts. Some thoughts, however, are persistent, habitual, and return over and over to upset us.  Often these include vague fears, images of catastrophe, the critical voice of a parent or teacher, or bad memories. These…

As I was meditating this morning, our cat hopped up in my lap. It felt sweet to sit there with him. And yet – even though I was feeling fine and had plenty of time, there was this internal pressure to start zipping along with emails and calls and all the…

A calm yet alert mind is most able to receive input, to make sound judgments, to relate well with others, and to concentrate on tasks. However, most people find it easier to relax the body than to relax the mind.  I am going to share several powerful strategies for calming the mind…

Your Tension Tachometer Use the following technique to increase your awareness of your body’s reaction to stress. The technique helps you quantify your level of activity – mental, physical, or biological. Think back over the last few days. Remember times when you felt relaxed and calm, and times when you felt…

Situational Depression In some instances, depression is situational. Loss of a loved one, illness or job loss creates circumstances that are painful. Working through the loss is more healing than medicating the pain. It is essential to address the underlying causes and not simply suppress the symptoms. The difficulty is that…

As a psychiatrist I know that there is more to overeating and obesity than meets the eye. Genetics play a role, as do hormonal and psychological triggers. However, one big reason that many diets fail is that traditional weight-loss programs don’t factor in how we process energy. Sensitive people, whom I…

Is Our Society Manufacturing Depressed People? A dominant theme in our society is that you should be happy, and if you’re not, there’s something wrong with you. Life can be difficult at times. It is in the labeling of people as depressed that the greatest injustice is done. I’m not suggesting…

Sometimes when we are extremely stressed, the last thing we want to hear is “just relax.” If it were that simple, we would all be able to handle our stress effectively. Unfortunately, many of us reach a point where we just get too overwhelmed to think clearly. For moments like that,…

In the beginning, your job seems perfect: it is the solution to all your problems, you have high hopes and expectations, and you would rather work than do anything else. If this describes you, be wary. You’re a candidate for the most insidious and tragic kind of job stress: burnout, a…

In middle school, I thought it would be cool to play a musical instrument, and picked the clarinet. My wise parents rented one rather than buying it, and I started practicing. (In the garage because it sounded pretty screechy.) After a week or two of doing scales, I got bored and…

1. Watch your diet. Notice what foods feel good, which do not. Your body will tell you what it requires. Usually, denser foods-meat, chicken, fish–have more of a grounding effect than grains, vegetables, or fruit. I’m not a big meat eater but if my body announces, “I need a hamburger,” I…

In all of my years working with stressed patients, one of the things I have noticed is that when my patients start getting their stress under control, they look much better. Here are a few ways that stress can negatively affect your appearance:   1. Hair. One of the big…

Last week we talked about retraining the brain to avoid irrational thoughts and   counterproductive behavior patterns. This week we will talk about the importance of experiencing joy and living in the present moment, and how this is crucial for preventing stress and fear from ruling your life.   1. Celebrate. The…

Most people know their less than wonderful qualities, such as too much ambition  (or too little), a weakness for wine or cookies, something of a temper, or an annoying tendency to rattle on about pet interests. We usually know when we make mistakes, get the facts wrong, could be more…

Last week we talked about two key ways to quickly de stress when we begin to feel overwhelmed, overburdened, or that things are spinning out of control. This week, we will talk about re-training our brain’s thought patterns to avoid irrational choices and self-destructing behaviors. Key Principle: Leaning and re-learning are…

Training Your Brain: Two Key Ways To Cope with Anxiety What are confusion and fear stress storms? You know you’re in a stress storm when you can’t rationally talk yourself through a situation that you know is irrational. For example, you know (in reality) that your family will be perfectly fine…

Our world is in the midst of an emotional meltdown. As a psychiatrist, I’ve seen that many people are addicted to the adrenaline rush of anxiety, known as the “fight or flight” response, and they don’t know how to defuse it. An example of this is obsessively watching the news about…