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Stress. Its biochemical surge tosses us into a fast-paced hyper-alertness that allows us to dodge an oncoming car, sidestep a fist, or save the data on a crashing computer. But that's in the short term. In the long term, the biochemistry of chronic stress can trigger anxiety and send us spinning toward depression.Unfortunately, today's emphasis on a 24/7 workplace, perfect children, a plasma TV in every home, and a size 0 -- size 0! -- waist means that chronic stress is ubiquitous and anxiety a way of life. And since insomnia is a frequent companion of stress and worry, it also means that probably half the women in your town are pacing the floor at 4:00 A.M. Want some sleep? Kill the stress. Muzzle the anxiety. Here's how to do it.
Taking Stress to Bed
Turning over for the forty-seventh time that night, 38-year-old Belinda James tried to figure out how she could stretch this week's paycheck to buy food for herself and her two kids, fill up the gas tank, pay the phone bill, have her tooth filled, and pay the rent. It just wasn't going to happen. She turned over again, punched the pillow a couple of times, and tried to sleep. Instead, a picture of an unfinished report on her desk popped into her mind. If only she'd been able to finish. If only she'd been able to tally that last column of numbers. If only...
Like a lot of women trying to raise a family, hold down a job, and keep life worth living, Belinda James frequently finds herself tossing and turning at 4:00 A.M. as all of her stressors march through her head. There's the ex-husband who expects her to pick up and drop off the kids. The mother who wants her to date. The boss who wants her to increase her output by 20 percent in the next six months. The homeroom teacher who wants to "discuss" her son's behavior. And, of course, the money -- for food, phone, gas, dentist, and rent. The list goes on and on.
Unfortunately, the biochemicals her body generates throughout the day as she tries to deal with these challenges is what keeps her awake at night. "When you're under stress, you get an increase in adrenaline that causes your sympathetic nervous system to go from normal functioning into overdrive," explains Donna Arand, Ph.D., clinical director of the Kettering Hospital Sleep Disorders Center in Dayton, Ohio.
"There's a general overall arousal. Essentially, you're running in fifth gear all the time instead of second."
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