A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Breaking Yourself Out of a Rut You've eaten the same things for breakfast every day for three years, then taken the same car pool to the same job. Your life is more of the same after work. It's time to break out of your rut. "If you feel like you're stuck in a routine, you probably are," says Kenneth A. Wallston, Ph.D., a psychologist in Nashville, Tenn. A routine isn't necessarily bad; it can be comforting because it adds structure to your life and it isn't stressful. But Dr. Wallston says dissatisfact...

Help Your Children Chill Out Overscheduling. Rushed families. High parental expectations. Goading from peers. Getting into the best college. Whew! Today's kids face enormous stress. Kids must cope with all the issues, such as violence or global warming, that stress out adults. But they must also handle stresses added by their parents and the media, says Kenneth Ginsburg, M.D., F.A.A.P., author of A Parent's Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Your Child Roots and Wings . "Parents ...

5-Minute Stress Solutions How does your day end? Do work worries and problems accompany you home and distract you from your family or peace of mind? Would you like to find a way to let go of the aftereffects of your job so you can better appreciate and enjoy your life beyond 9 to 5? “It’s easy to be caught in the momentum of a busy job, but the costs of this emotional hijacking are high," says Jeffrey Brantley, M.D., founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke Universi...

For Older Adults: Address Your Stress Too much stress can be bad for you, the American Geriatric Society says. Stress can affect your physical health and your ability to go about your daily life. It can put a damper on your mental health, too. Of course, some stress is inevitable, but as you grow older, the key is to minimize stress while maximizing happiness and enjoyment. "There are many steps you can take psychologically, socially, and physically to help reduce stress and stay upbeat," says Gary J. K...

Stop Worrying and Get On With Your Life It's normal to worry about things in life, but some people secretly believe that worrying is an effective way to problem-solve. What's effective, though? Worrying makes a person feel wound up, on edge and filled with self-doubt. “Although they know it’s not the case, many people who worry too much also believe if they worry about something bad, it will make it less likely to happen,” says Holly Hazlett-Stevens, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at the Unive...

Working Mom? Aim for Less Stress When Marie gets home from her full-time job as a Seattle nurse administrator, her workday is only half over. Next up is driving her two boys to band practice, soccer, and art lessons, supervising homework, taking them to the mall for supplies—and sitting up with them all night when they're sick. "I didn't want to miss out on any bonding time," she says, "so despite my husband's availability, I took on the heavy lifting of child care." It's a choice that has a price, Mari...

De-Stressed Is Best According to the American Heart Association, there is growing evidence that stress contributes to heart disease, although exactly how remains unclear. If you already have heart disease, such as heart failure, stress can make the condition worse. So it's important to understand how stress affects your heart and what you can do to avoid it. Stress takes its toll In a short term, when you react to a stressful situation, stress hormones are released into your bloodstream and your heart r...

Learn From Your Mistakes "Whew, I almost got caught. What a close call!" If you're like most people, you try to cover up your mistakes, hoping nobody sees them. Or, if you do get caught, you may blame them on something or someone else. Although this may seem to be an easy way out, in the long run you'll suffer because you won't learn from your mistakes. "When you make a mistake, think of it as the best thing that ever happened," says Danny Cox, president of Acceleration Unlimited in Tustin, Calif., and ...

Managing Work-Related Stress Workplace stress is highly personal. Some people thrive in fast-paced job (think emergency room nurses, police officers and air-traffic controllers) where making a mistake can put people’s lives at stake. But just because the rest of us wouldn’t last a day in such high-pressure environments doesn’t mean our jobs are less stressful. Short deadlines, endless paperwork, the occasional irate customer, and meetings that drag on for hours, putting us even further behind, all can c...

How to Lower Your Financial Stress Money worries are among the most common sources of personal and family stress, according to Consumer Federation of America (CFA). Living with too much of any kind of pressure on a daily basis can take an emotional and physical toll, contributing to sleepless nights, backaches or headaches or, over time, even life-threatening diseases, such as high blood pressure or heart disease. Whether your credit card balances are soaring, or you and your partner are arguing constan...

Less Is More: How to Simplify Your Life Life today is complicated. Most Americans are pulled in multiple directions every day by commitments to their families, workplaces and communities. Many people have responded to the pressures of modern life by seeking ways to consciously simplify their routines and attitudes at home and work. "The goal of living a more simple life isn't to arrive at a static point in your life but to become skilled at balancing your personal relationships, workplace issues, financ...

The Power of Forgiveness Forgiving someone who has hurt you deeply—a parent, sibling, spouse, ex-spouse, employer, or even a stranger—is one of the most difficult challenges you'll face in life. Until you can forgive, you'll find anger, resentment and bitterness will continue to eat away at your heart and mind, causing emotional and even physical damage because of increased stress. "Not forgiving means you carry in your heart the pain the person has caused you," says Kathleen Griffin, author of The Forg...

Women and Anger Anger is an emotion that says something is wrong. It can be expressed to tell others about your personal limits, values, rules and boundaries. Learning how to express anger assertively and constructively can improve your personal interaction and your health. Being angry and expressing it is normal and healthy; yet, from an early age, most women are taught that such expression is unacceptable. The result is many women aren't in touch with their anger or they feel it but don't know how to ...

Dealing With Deadline Stress You know the feeling—the knot in your stomach caused by the fear of not getting a report, presentation or project done on time. The countdown goes down to the very last minute when you can say, "It's done!" Sometimes no matter how hard and fast you work, you miss your deadline, adding to your physical and emotional stress. This isn't a healthful way to work, and it also can be damaging to your career. "Missing deadlines is a sign of a non-committed employee in the minds of m...

Keeping Your Anger Under Control Anger is a natural, and sometimes healthy, emotion. Unfortunately, if anger is handled the wrong way, it can damage relationships and affect professional and social growth. Learning where your anger comes from and how to deal with it can help lead to a happier, more productive life. Understand your anger's origins. Some people are born with a tendency to be irritable or easily angered. If you have a history of dysfunction or chaos in your family, you are more likely to h...

Learning the Power of Patience You know the price you pay for being impatient—a tightening of the chest, rise in blood pressure and surge of irritation and anger directed at a person or circumstance. But have you considered the benefits that come with being patient? You make better decisions, reduce your stress and anger and increase your peace of mind. "Patience with yourself, with other people and with the big and small circumstances of life is a determining factor in your peace of mind," says M.J. Ry...

Making the Grade on School Tests As schools pass out more standardized tests and push pupils to do well on them, kids and parents can wind up with a case of exam-day jitters. But parents can do a lot to ease test anxiety, both in their children and themselves. Start by focusing on the learning and not the scoring. "The bottom line is not testing, but measuring competence and understanding," says Ruth Peters, Ph.D., a psychologist who contributes to the Today show. "Some kids truly don't know the materia...

Relaxing Ways to De-Stress We live in tense and stressful times. "But you can easily avoid adding to the turbulence," says Mike George, meditation teacher and author of 1,001 Ways to Relax . "In fact, you can become one of those people for whom the world has a great need; those who can stay calm in a crisis, cool in the midst of chaos and focused on the positive when everyone around you is inclined to reinforce the negative. If you can stay relaxed and calm, it helps others do the same." Having spent 20...

Seek Success, But Skip the Stress As if being a single mother of two weren't enough, Krista Kurth was a high-powered consultant at a major accounting firm who was taking night classes toward a degree in organizational development. But when her body shut down with chronic fatigue syndrome, she realized that no motor could keep running without a pit stop. Her two-year quest to recover taught her a lesson. The formula for success, she learned, must include mental and physical rest. Millions of Americans ha...

Don't Swallow Your Emotions Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a bag of chips and wonder how you got there? Does a clash with a coworker mean a knee-jerk trip to the candy dish in reception? Are you so determined to be perfect that each fall from the pedestal sends you straight to the kitchen? The details may differ, but the result is the same: Eating tied to our emotions creates a "feel-bad" pattern that's tough to break, puts on weight, and makes us feel worse. Food is easy to get, it's always...

Head Off Holiday Havoc "Joy to the World" may be the theme, but a lot of us find this time of year brings more stress than bliss. As we try to meet age-old ideals, we feel pressure to cook the perfect meal and buy the perfect gift. It's time for Americans—particularly the women who bear the brunt—to make more realistic holiday plans, psychologists say. "It's always legitimate to say 'no,'" says Dorothy Cantor, Ph.D., former president of the American Psychological Association. "People forget that they ha...

How to Fight Stress-Related Diseases Stress-related health problems can be the basis for many doctor visits. "Research has shown over and over again that stress can exacerbate pre-existing physical conditions, and it can even bring on conditions that have not yet surfaced," says psychologist Michael Heitt, Psy.D., of the faculty and staff assistance program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "These can be anything from dermatological problems like acne or hives, to gastrointestinal problems and c...

Cool Off Hot Tempers You've had a long day, and you're in a hurry to get home. Traffic is crawling, and you have to stop for groceries. After waiting forever in the checkout line, it's your turn—and the cash register goes on the blink. That does it. You're ready to lose it. Millions of us lose our tempers every day. Rude behavior and rage have increased at home and in public. Time constraints, congestion, unrealistic expectations, and people's sense that the world owes them something all fuel anger. It'...

Do You Have a Problem With Perfectionism? Many Americans consider themselves to be perfectionists. But striving for perfection often leads to frustration, procrastination and stress-related symptoms, such as anxiety, anger and depression. And because perfectionists can be hard on others when they fail to measure up, perfectionism can also lead to loneliness. "A perfectionist is someone who demands of himself or herself and others a higher quality of performance than is required by the situation," says S...

Techniques for Taming Your Everyday Worries Contrary to popular belief, worrying isn't necessarily negative—if it's done properly. "Worry is like a mental fire drill. It helps you anticipate danger, identify risks and rehearse a plan before it happens," says Beverly Potter, Ph.D., author of a variety of books on self-improvement and productivity, including The Worrywart's Companion . Worrying becomes a problem, however, when you get fixated on the worry, dwell on the imagined danger and allow this fearf...