Six Ways to Reduce Stress

According to The American Institute of Stress, research from both the experimental and clinical domains confirm that stress is all about the sense of having little or no control.

It is interesting to find that stress is not all bad. In fact, stress can increase productivity up to a point at which fatigue, exhaustion, and ill health will occur rapidly. The point at which this happens is different for everyone.(1)

Click here for the human function curve that reviews the stages of good stress leading up to the peak where stress will lead to distress.

Body changes during a stress reaction
When a person is stressed, there are internal reactions that happen within their body. Changes in body functions allow the person to undergo what is called the fight or flight reaction. This means the body is getting ready to fight if needed or run quickly and “get out of Dodge”.

The Australian Diabetes Council has outlined the physical changes that happen with the stress or fight or flight response. They are:
The persons heart starts to beat faster
Blood pressure goes up
Breathing becomes quicker, allowing more oxygen to the brain and muscles
Blood glucose level rises to give your body more energy to do whatever needs to be done
Blood moves away from your gut and into the big muscles of your arms and legs so you can act quickly
Blood gets ready to clot quickly should the person start to bleed
The person become very alert so that they can think about how to deal with the threat detected (2)

The American Diabetes Association makes the point that when stress is ongoing, a person with diabetes may not fare well. Insulin may not be available to let the extra glucose (sugar) into cells so blood glucose will stay in the blood. This can cause blood glucose levels that are high for a long time. It is not unusual for this to happen during and after hospitalization and at other stressful times.(3)

Mental and Physical Stress (injury or Illness) and Diabetes
A person’s reaction to stress may depend on the type of diabetes they have and the kind of stress that is affecting them.
Mental stress usually raises the blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes
Mental stress can cause a person with type 1 diabetes blood glucose to go up or down
Physical stress will usually cause higher blood glucose levels in people with either type of diabetes.(3)

It is important to test blood glucose level when stressed to see how stress affects individuals with diabetes. People with diabetes are aware that just the motions of taking care of oneself can cause stress. This can include the stress from the following;
Taking medications according to physicians orders
Monitoring blood glucose levels
Eating according to one’s meal plan
Preforming foot care daily
Exercising as required
When stress is extreme for the person, distress may set in, problems such as headaches, upset stomach, chest pain and problems sleeping can occur in addition to the increase in blood pressure and blood glucose.(4)

Stress levels in many people are high
According to the American Physiological Association, most Americans suffer from stress that is moderate to high. In 2010, forty percent of Americans reported eating unhealthy foods because of stress and more than 40 percent reported they lost sleep due to stress. It has also been reported that although people recognize exercise is important, only 27 percent are happy with their own exercise levels.(5)

7 Ways to reduce stress
As stress increases in our lives, what can we do to avoid it or if not possible to avoid it, help handle it?  Here are 7 ideas to help reduce stress.
Start a stress log. This will help you to identify what is stressing to you and how you are handling it. For each episode of stress fill answer the questions to the left and after a few days, analyze common patterns and stressors.(6)  Review if you can avoid or influence the stressor or is it something that absolutely cannot be avoided. Making this distinction can help you focus