Stress Archive

Research we're watching

People with chronic pain may be more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those without chronic pain, according to a study published online May 7, 2020, by the journal Pain Medicine.

From 2001 to 2005, researchers identified 17,614 Taiwanese people who had used pain relievers for at least three months. The most common causes of pain were spinal disorders, arthritis, and headaches; the pain relievers included both over-the-counter drugs and prescription opioids. For the comparison group, researchers used 35,228 people without chronic pain who were matched by age and sex to those in the first group.

If you have experienced a heart attack or undergone a heart procedure, don't neglect your mental health during recovery.

Recovery from a heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty, or heart surgery — what doctors call heart events — can be stressful. Depending on your condition, it may also involve cardiac rehabilitation. This medically supervised program focuses on exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes. While the primary focus is to help you physically, you also need to address your mental and emotional health.

"It's normal to have some anxiety and stress after a heart attack or heart surgery," says Dr. Christopher Celano, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "But how long these feelings linger, and whether they are also associated with symptoms of depression, can affect your rehab recovery success and potentially increase your risk of future problems."

How does exercise reduce stress? Surprising answers to this question and more.

How does exercise reduce stress, and can exercise really be relaxing?

Rest and relaxation. It's such a common expression that it has become a cliche. And although rest really can be relaxing, the pat phrase causes many men to overlook the fact that exercise can also be relaxing. It's true for most forms of physical activity as well as for specific relaxation exercises.

Stressful experiences are hard to avoid and impossible to predict. But taking steps to bolster your resilience may help.

The palpable stress stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has made things once considered stressful — such as deadlines or traffic jams — seem pretty trivial in comparison. But while you may not be able to avoid the stressful situations that come your way, there are ways to mitigate your body's response to those events.

So far, the evidence that stress management strategies can protect your heart is limited but growing. Yet there's no doubt that stress contributes to heart problems. "The link between stress and cardiovascular disease is well established," says cardiologist Dr. Ahmed Tawakol, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In the journals

Need help staying positive during trying times? Live more in the moment, but also focus on how to cope with future stresses. This advice comes from a study published online March 25, 2020, by Personality and Individual Differences.

Researchers explored two factors in how people handle stress: mindfulness and proactive coping. Mindfulness is when people live in the moment rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Proactive coping is when people make efforts to reduce the effect stress has on them.

Stress can raise your risk of developing a substance use disorder. Here's how to get help when you need it.

In recent months, Americans' collective stress level has risen in response to the pandemic and economic fallout. Many people are looking for ways to help themselves feel better. Unfortunately, stress can trigger a number of unhealthy coping strategies — drinking alcohol to excess, bingeing on junk food, engaging in drug use, or other harmful behaviors. If you've ever had a substance use disorder, a bout of significant stress may even put your recovery at risk.

This is likely due to the shift the human brain makes in times of trauma. Instead of focusing on long-term goals, your brain zeroes in on short-term objectives.

Traumatic events, whether global or in a person’s own life, can take a toll on mental health. How can you reduce your stress and regain your emotional composure after going through a difficult time?

Prehabilitation aims to increase your strength and health before, not after, a medical procedure.

Rehabilitation can help get you up on your feet again after surgery or a physical setback. But some surgeons are increasingly turning to an innovative approach called prehabilitation in hopes of easing that recovery in the first place.

Prehabilitation, commonly called prehab, is an individualized medical program designed to help people — often those who are older or frail — better withstand and bounce back from an anticipated physically stressful event, such as surgery, says Dr. Julie K. Silver, an associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School.

Reduce your stress levels and maintain a sense of normalcy during and after traumatic events.

For most Americans, 2020 has already been a rough year — and it's not even half over. A pandemic, natural disasters, economic decline, and, for many, the loss of a job have taken a toll on their mental health.

"Stress is particularly acute when you're experiencing a situation that is outside of your control," says Dr. Kerry Ressler, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "You may feel stuck, frozen, or helpless." After a traumatic period, even when things settle down, it can be difficult to move on and regain a sense of normalcy.