ON THE FRONT LINES, 1.09

Stressing out over stress
A new generation picks up the anxiety adults bring home from work

They have been dubbed the "stress generation" - young people who are catching the trickle down anxiety of parents dealing with changes in the economy. RapidChange faculty member Rick Bell, right, sees an increase in stressors on these young people - more choices, heightened expectations from parents and peer pressure.

Rick, a psychologist who has been coaching executives at 3M Corp. for 11 years, is seeing the toll of this stress on families and how many of the RapidChange tools taught in the Fundamentals course are being used at home.

Just like with adults, he sees children reaching their stress threshold. Hostile acting out, shutting down and distracting behaviors are all mechanisms of the Reptilian Brain flooded with too much cortisol.  Rick remembers when his son Peter was four years old and couldn’t stop the thoughts from racing in his head when he was trying to go to sleep at night.  You can't talk someone out of the feelings they didn't reason themselves into. So Rick simply taught him how to imagine breathing into tiny holes in the soles of his feet - strange, yes, but for a four-year-old with a great imagination, it worked!

Rick says that “slowing down to speed up” is the key to stress management for all family members.  Our instinct when we’re stressed and busy is to drop the routines that keep us healthy and connected to others.  Pausing, taking deep breaths from the diaphragm, listening (instead of interrupting), exercising, sharing meals, reassuring others of our care for them and spending time connecting with others all contribute to reducing the negative effects of stress.

Rick also points out that stress is cumulative. We are being bombarded with so much “bad news” over which we have no control.  A helpful strategy is to focus on those things over which you do have some control, no matter how small.  Staying in action, no matter how small the action, is helpful in building momentum and staying on track in these challenging times.