American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [52]
Get Help
If you feel that you can no longer cope, get help. Talk to your doctor, contact your hospital social services department, or go to a community mental health agency for a referral to a mental health professional. You also may benefit from joining a support group for people who have similar problems. Your doctor may recommend counseling to help you learn more positive ways to deal with stress or may prescribe medication such as an antidepressant. Medication can sometimes be effective for treating stress, but it is most effective when used in conjunction with one-on-one counseling or therapy.
The Relaxation Response
Developed by Herbert Benson, MD, at Harvard Medical School in the early 1970s, the relaxation response is a simple technique that draws on the meditative practices of Eastern philosophies. The relaxation response has been shown to reverse the effects of stress on the body. It is a simple technique that you can complete in about 20 minutes.
If you are experiencing stress, try to do this exercise twice a day (but wait until at least 2 hours after your last meal):
1. Sit quietly in a relaxed position.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Starting at your feet, consciously relax your muscles. Work your way up your body, relaxing your legs, pelvic region, back, chest, arms, neck, and face.
4. Breathe naturally with your mouth closed. Be conscious of your breathing. Say the word “one” silently to yourself every time you exhale.
5. If distracting thoughts enter your mind, ignore them and concentrate on your breathing. Let the thoughts pass.
6. Stay relaxed and concentrate on your breathing. Keep repeating “one” to yourself for 10 to 20 minutes.
7. When you are finished, don’t get up right away. Stay seated for a few minutes, first with your eyes closed and then with your eyes open, to gradually refocus on your surroundings.
8. Don’t worry about whether you have done the exercise correctly. Just allow the relaxation to occur at its own pace.
If you don’t have time to do the relaxation response exercise twice a day, or if you find yourself in an especially stressful situation, try to do the following exercise. This shorter exercise is especially helpful when you feel overwhelmed by events in your life and need a quick calming fix. You can do it anywhere—waiting in line, stopped at a red light, or on hold on the telephone.
1. Relax and focus on your breathing. Count slowly to yourself backward from 10 to zero, one number per breath.
2. When you reach zero, pause for a moment before resuming your activities.
3. If you don’t feel relaxed, repeat the exercise.
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Staying Safe
Where you live, what you do for a living, and how you spend your leisure time are some of the factors that affect your health and safety. You can take a number of practical steps to help ensure that you and your family are safe at home and on the road. Many of these measures are simple—such as using seat belts each and every time you drive. Others—such as developing a home fire evacuation plan—require preparation and vigilance over time. If you use a commonsense approach to safety and supervise your young children, you can be assured that your family will remain relatively safe.
Keeping Your Children Safe
Young children rely on adults to protect them from accidents and injury because they lack the judgment and experience to protect themselves. A child’s natural curiosity and exuberance make him or her more prone to potential danger. Supervise your young child at all times while, at the same time, teaching him or her safe behavior—for example, by explaining why something, such as touching an electrical outlet, is dangerous. You can reduce your child’s chances of serious injury by making his or her environment as safe as possible. In addition, make sure that your child knows his or her address and telephone number by age 3 or 4 and how to dial 911 in an emergency.
Preventing Choking and Suffocation
A child can choke on any