Let's Talk About Stress

We were at a meeting with a leading psychiatrist and health leader when she made a shocking statement. She said it in a matter of fact way; the truth and facts speak for themselves. Of the 550 million working days lost annually in the U.S., approximately half are stress-related.

It seemed obvious once she had said it, but until then the dots had not connected. Have we all come into contact with people who talked about how stressed they were? Of course, it’s the common thread that bonds all work colleagues— without it, after-work drinks would be awkward, silent gatherings. Did we know that stress affects health? Yes. Nearly every branch of medicine has disease processes that are caused or exacerbated by stress.

In fact, stress is such a common term in our everyday vernacular that it has two emojis (happiness, sadness and anger only have one each).

Yet we realized that we had never quite put two and two together to see that the cumulative effect of all this individual stress could translate into a public health crisis.

Maybe it’s because stress is sometimes worn as a badge of honor, par for the course of success. Perhaps it’s because as a society we see stress as something we have to manage alone. Of course, there is an element of truth in this— we each have our own personal triggers and coping mechanisms. However, if we really want to tackle the problem, we have to start openly talking about and understanding it.

When it comes to stress, one of the biggest problems we face is acknowledging and grasping that it can lead to real health problems. Stress has proven links to poor health outcomes:

+ One study found stress-inducing activities such as exams led to impaired immunity due to a reduction in immune-boosting white blood cells.

+ Work-related stress is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. A study of male white-collar workers found work-related stress led to increased blood pressure. Interestingly, this did not just occur during working hours.

+ Another study found work-related stress was related to sleep disorders such as insomnia, sleep deprivation and daytime fatigue.

+ Chronic stress can contribute to obesity through its effect on stress hormones. This results in increased food intake and abdominal fat gain.

At this point, health professionals are often asked a variation of the following question: “This is interesting, but why is understanding the science so important?” It is important because although most of us know that stress is not good, very few of us are aware of the specific physical effects of prolonged stress.

We need to start tackling stress in the way that we have dealt with previous public health issues such as smoking. Education in schools, resources in healthcare and company-wide initiatives can go a long way to help tackle the problem. Investing in activities such as yoga and meditation can reap real financial benefits, as can adjusting work and home environments.

Like all public health initiatives, the biggest challenge will be to open up the conversation and remove stigma. Until we can openly acknowledge that asking for help in dealing with stress is not a sign of weakness, it will continue to cause physical and financial damage.

Farzana Rahman, MD, and Farhana Rahman, MD, are sisters and founders of happywisewell.com. As medically trained doctors, they have over 20 years of healthcare experience. They are passionate about approaching health holistically.