By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Between navigating work or school, balancing extracurricular activities and keeping up with the whiplash news cycle of current events, we’re all bound to feel stressed at some point. Some people can take it in stride, with a bad day at work or a car breakdown barely making a ripple in their attitude. But for others, especially those with mental illness, stress can be harder to handle.
Lacey Roy and Sherie Ramsgard, who serve on the board of directors for the Syracuse chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), are hosting a stress management workshop at 2 p.m. this Sunday at the Liverpool Public Library. Ramsgard is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and owner of Whole Mental Wellness in Syracuse.
“The goal of stress management is protecting mental health. It doesn’t matter if one is diagnosed, undiagnosed,” said Roy, who has bipolar disorder. “It affects all of us.”
Stress can affect a person both mentally and physically. According to the American Psychological Association, stress in the short term can cause stomach aches, headaches or just plain feeling cranky. But without healthy stress management, the long-term health effects can be devastating.
“Stress that is left unchecked or poorly managed is known to contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and suicide,” reads the APA’s website.
While chronic stress can severely affect a person’s health, Roy said that not all stress is bad. The flop sweat that comes with stage fright, the queasiness that precedes a presentation at work — they’re not exactly pleasant feelings, but they are signs that your body is prepared to get through the next challenge by releasing hormones and sharpening your senses.
“Stress in a positive sense — where it’s not severe or negatively intense — can make us more productive and can give us motivation,” she said. “It can take us the next step up.”
For the most part, a person can handle the acute stress of everyday life. But chronic stress can lead to catching colds more frequently, feeling fatigued, overeating or smoking and worsening of cardiovascular and mental health issues.
“When it goes sideways … that’s when it starts causing negative effects in my experience,” Roy said.
People with mental illness, like Roy, can have a harder time bouncing back from stress.
“We have something going on that’s already altering our brain chemicals. Then we have the impact of negative stress,” she said. “It’s a really fine line between controlling triggers when we can, and my brain chemicals might malfunction even if I do everything perfectly.”
Roy and Ramsgard will go into further detail on how to deal with stress in their presentation, but in the meantime, here are a few stress management tips from the Mayo Clinic:
- • Identify your triggers. Once you figure out the source of your stress — relationship troubles, a heavy workload at your job or even positive life events like planning a wedding or having a baby — you can start to brainstorm strategies to deal with that stress.
- • Exercise and eat well. Physical activity is beneficial for your cardiovascular health, and eating healthy foods boosts your energy. Activities such as tai chi and yoga are helpful not only as exercise, but as relaxation techniques, too.
- • Improve your sleep. Reduce the amount of time you spend on your phone or watching TV, as the blue light from these electronics disrupt your body’s sleep cycle and melatonin production. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
- • Relax. Make time for the things you enjoy — whether it’s a mani-pedi or a marathon, these acts of self-care recharge your body and mind. Use relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing and mindfulness to calm your mind.
- • Seek help. You don’t have to bear the burden of stress alone. Reach out to friends and family when you’re feeling overwhelmed. If stress is interfering with your daily life, your health and your mood, talk to your healthcare provider about the possibility of depression or anxiety. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or are dealing with a personal crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The New York State Office of Mental Health has partnered with Crisis Text Line to provide free, 24-hour text-based support. Text “GOT5” to 741-741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
“It’s not your mother’s stress techniques,” Roy said. “We’re excited to be there and bring a new aspect to an age-old topic.”
As May is Mental Health Awareness Month, NAMI Syracuse is also partnering with LPL to display a photo exhibit called “Nothing to Hide: Mental Illness in the Family.” The exhibit runs through the end of the month.
To learn more about NAMI Syracuse, local support groups and mental health resources, visit namisyracuse.org.
