Stress – One More Thing to Get Stressed About?
It’s Stress Awareness Month, and I, for one, think there is an abundance of stress in the world. The world is beginning to doubt their doctors, not trusting the news outlets, losing faith in science and big institutions. The stress of work, families, finances, and health seem to increase each day, no wonder we really do need a month to be aware of the stress in our lives and hopefully have some suggestions on how we can better cope with this stress.
Now I know that many younger people think that those of us who are retired, or mostly retired, have nothing to be stressed about. They look at us and see that we’re usually not raising a family, we’re not burdened with seeking a work/family balance, that we’re financially secure, that we have all the time in the world. While some of these perceptions are certainly true, they may not see that some of them are not true and that there are other things in our lives that cause stress that they may not see.
Our declining health causes us stress every day and the complicated requirements of obtaining adequate care is confusing. For many, more than people think, finances are a constant worry. Just when we think we’ve got enough to get by, we get hit by inflation and watch our fixed incomes shrink in value. We continually find the operation of our TVs, our phones, even our cars, are becoming more complicated and harder to operate. The pandemic seemed like it would have a huge impact on our lives. Older Americans were the most vulnerable, while those over 65 only made-up 17 percent of the population, they accounted for 76 percent of the COVID deaths. We couldn’t see our families, the very thing that gives most of us the greatest joy. It was harder, and even perceived as being dangerous, to see our doctors. So, how does stress affect older Americans and are there things we can do to deal with stress?
First, the good news, when you’re old, no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you gain experience. This experience helps you as you face the challenges of growing old. At the height of the pandemic an AARP poll found that while 38 percent of those in their 40s reported being “highly stressed,” older respondents seemed to have more resiliency. 33 percent of those in their 50s, 18 percent of people in their 60s and just 13 percent of adults 70 and older said they had high stress levels. Susan Charles, a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine, said that the older people are the better they are at keeping their stress level low because of three assets: life experience, self-knowledge, and time perspective. So, we’ve got nothing to worry about, we can handle anything that’s thrown at us, right? Not so fast! While we are better at handling stress, we are still affected by the things I pointed out above and it really bothers us because we perceive that we have no control over some of these things and our trust in historically trustworthy institutions has been challenged. Luckily, there are some things we can do.
Daniel Kirsch, president of the American Institute of Stress outlined seven things we can do to help us manage our stress.
Ask for help. If you are experiencing stress around your finances, for example, ask a professional or someone you trust to sit down with you and work out a budget.
Take stress breaks. Look for opportunities to stop multitasking. When you sit down to eat breakfast, just concentrate on enjoying breakfast. Don’t plan the day.
Use the quieting reflex. Smile — inwardly — to signal to your body that all is well. Then take one deep breath. Visualize hot air coming up through the bottom of your feet, through your body, and filling your lungs. Then exhale as you follow this sequence in reverse.
Walk. Movement is an easy stress releaser. You don’t have to go outside, walking around your living room for a few minutes can help break you out of any stress cycle you may be locked into.
Seek out rabbit holes. Take a moment to look up information on something completely different from what is stressing you out. Can you say YouTube?
Volunteer. Taking time out to help others is a uniquely powerful stress buster. I’ve found getting outside myself by helping others changes my perspective.
Make your bed. The first thing you should do each day is make your bed. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and control, right from the start.
Hopefully, some of these things will help you deal with your stress. Even though we are older and wiser we continue to worry and get stressed. It seems like the number of people we stress about is ever expanding, children, grandchildren, even great grandchildren. Controlling our stress will help us enjoy our lives as we grow older.
Best, Thair