Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - Parrish Medical Center - (Page 31)

Just Like us Her job is extraordinary, but the stress she encounters is something familiar to us all. From air traffic controller to second-grade teacher, one’s job doesn’t necessarily need to be high-profile to be high-anxiety. “I see stress all over the place,” says Rosalind S. Dorlen, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist and public education coordinator with the American Psychological Association. She says that higher-stress jobs include those in the entertainment and political industries, but small-business owners, physicians, people who work on Wall Street and middle managers also tend to be affected by too much stress. “And women with high-stress jobs plus families,” she adds. The cost of ignoring stress can range from fatigue to obesity to heart disease. And the culprit for this high-stress epidemic, Dorlen says, is uncertainty, mainly about the economy and job security. “I’m seeing people who feel anxious, irritable, depressed. People start to feel apathetic about work, and they have sleep disorders,” she says. Are you doing what your body needs to recover from stress? once, and it was in a civil war in Africa and some kids with AK-47s took us out into the countryside in a concrete space and I thought, ‘I’ve done this to my crew.’ ” For moments of distracting anxiety, Valerie Orsoni, founder of LeBootCamp in San Francisco, recommends a quick two minutes of yoga breathing: Sit up with your back straight, close your eyes and relax your shoulders so they’re away from your ears. Put your left hand on your left knee and your right hand on your nose. Inhale through both nostrils. Exhale and use your thumb to press on the outside of the right nostril, exhale through the left side of your nose. Inhale through your left nostril, then switch nostrils and repeat. sLeeP: Let Your Body Recover BReAtHe: Control an Anxious Mind It’s anyone’s guess how Sawyer actually falls asleep at night, especially when she’s in the middle of a war zone or has just seen the graphic aftermath of a major earthquake. Although she admits to rarely being nervous herself, she does worry about bringing others into danger zones. “Something just blocks out everything but why you’re there and the purpose of why you’re there,” Sawyer told The Oprah Show. “I remember being afraid When Capitol File asked Sawyer how many hours of sleep she gets each night, she answered, “Maybe four. Five is a complete luxury.” While four hours is admittedly a short night, Dorlen says you don’t necessarily need to log eight hours to be healthy. “Know yourself. There are some people who are very comfortable with six hours of sleep,” she says. And don’t wear your lack of sleep like a badge of honor. “It’s an interesting culture we live in where good sleepers are considered slackers.” Dorlen calls insomnia “a circular thing.” “Stress can cause insomnia, but when you’re sleep-deprived, you can’t handle stress as well.” Other side effects of not getting enough shut-eye, she says, can be a higher incidence of illness, irritability and difficulty managing emotions. She recommends natural techniques to help you drift off into dreamland. “Develop an evening ritual that allows you to relax. A warm bath, listening to music—not watching television in bed.” Are you doing what your body needs to recover from stress ? Vim & Vigor • WI NTER 2010 31

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - Parrish Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - Parrish Medical Center
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Community Calendar
Much More than a Gift Shop
A Gift of Light, a Gift of Love
May I Help You?
Smart Moves
Miss Information
Stroke Sense
Gut Feelings
The Scoop on Stress
The Faces of Skin Cancer
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
A Natural Dilemma
17 Reasons to Work in Healthcare
Helping You Be Your Best
Special: Chronic Wellness
Reflections of Success
Foundation Focus
Ask the Expert

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2010 - Parrish Medical Center