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How to recognize stress — and keep it in check

Growing unemployment, shrinking retirement funds and a tougher time paying bills are stressing us out these days.

It's true that some stress is a normal reaction in this economic crunch. However, it's important to know how to recognize chronic stress and take steps to manage it.

Let's take a closer look at stress, and at some tips you can use to help reduce it.

Stress can affect health 

Occasional stress might speed up your heart rate and raise your blood pressure a bit. As long as you get the stress under control, there's no damage.

It's long-term or chronic stress, however, that doctors warn against. Some signs of chronic stress include:

• Trouble sleeping
• Headaches
• Back or neck pain from muscle tension
• Indigestion
• Irritability and feeling down
• Lack of energy
• Poor concentration
• Eating too much or not at all

And ongoing stress can worsen health problems you might already have:

• More intense symptoms of depression or anxiety
• Increased pain from arthritis
• Worsening asthma symptoms
• Difficulty keeping blood pressure in the normal range
• Higher risk of complications in people with heart disease
• Poor blood-sugar control in people with diabetes

10 tips to help reduce stress 

It's challenging to stay calm and positive when your financial security feels threatened.

Try the following tips to help reduce your stress levels:

1. Pay attention to signals. You might be tempted to brush off a low mood or upset stomach. However, unchecked stress can contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. Call your doctor. Or speak to a mental health professional for help.
2. Avoid media hype. It's okay to keep up with the news. But focusing too much on every up and down of the stock market isn't helpful.
3. Take positive action. Find places to cut costs, take steps toward getting out of debt or talk to a credit counselor. But stop worrying about what you can't control, suggests the APA.
4. Look for a silver lining. Some people turn difficult times into an opportunity for personal growth. They might reorder priorities, focus on relationships, or transform their lives in some other positive way. These people tend to cope with stress more successfully.
5. Change how you respond. Often, it's how we see events that causes stress. An approach called "reframing" helps you replace negative or fuzzy thinking with more positive and realistic thoughts. So, for example, if you think of your financial crisis as a personal failure, realize that many others are in the same situation. And know that oftentimes these issues are simply out of our own control.
6. Distance yourself. Do you worry every time you listen to the news? If so, ask yourself if the information really affects you. If not, don't take it on as a personal concern.
7. Reach out. Many of us will live with financial stress for a while. So talk about your worries with someone you trust. This can help give you a better outlook, needed support and even some practical advice.
8. Get organized. Hold a family meeting to discuss how you can cut costs and manage money better. Make a plan and review it in a month. Putting things down on paper and committing to a plan can reduce stress, according to the APA.
9. Take care of YOU. Suzanne Kovan, M.D., internal medicine specialist at Harvard Medical School, notes that trying to calm yourself by overeating, smoking or drinking too much alcohol can make you even more open to physical damage caused by ongoing stress. Exercise, yoga and meditation, a good diet and enough sleep help you stay healthier and avoid tension.
10. Deal with today's problems. Do only what you can do on any given day. Realize that some things may have to — and can — wait until tomorrow!

Feeling stressed? You're not alone!

You have plenty of company if you're stressed by the current economic downturn. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2008 Stress in America survey found that 8 out of 10 Americans say that the economy is a significant cause of their stress.