There are warning signs that stress may be taking a toll on your physical or emotional health. Doctors are increasingly recommending stress-reduction programs not only for anxiety but also for cancer, heart disease, insomnia, and pain.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction focuses on nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. “If someone feels anxious, we ask them to get in touch with their emotions, sensations, and thoughts,” explains Melissa Blacker, senior teacher at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, where the program started. “Many of our anxious thoughts are about the future. By stopping and identifying them for what they are, just thoughts, we begin to see that they might not be true,” she says.
More than 250 stress-reduction programs based on that model are now available nationwide. The curriculum includes training in meditation and yoga, and focuses on an awareness of breathing and body sensations. The course consists of eight weekly meetings and a one-day weekend retreat. It costs about $200 to $650; insurance reimbursement varies widely, so check with your insurance company. Some programs have sliding-fee scales or offer scholarships.
Another program available in some areas was developed by researchers at the University of Miami for people with cancer and other chronic diseases. The Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management program is a 10-week course that focuses on “matching” appropriate mental strategies to various stressful situations.
“We teach people to divide the stress in their lives into the controllable and the uncontrollable,” explains Michael Antoni, Ph.D., director of the program.
For example, “If you feel you don’t have enough information about something, that’s controllable: You can educate yourself,” Antoni says. But if a relative has said something insensitive, that’s uncontrollable. “In that case, we recommend a relaxation technique,” he says. Each weekly session includes relaxation exercises, assertiveness training, and anger management. Studies have shown that the course improves mood, coping skills, and certain immune-system parameters, among other benefits.
Shorter-term programs that combine vacations with stress reduction are also available. For example, the nonprofit Omega Institute runs workshops and retreats that offer mindfulness sessions, yoga, meditation, massage, and other peaceful practices.
Colleges, adult-education centers, and your employer may offer similar classes. Workplace programs can be particularly effective. In a 2007 Italian study, office workers with mental and physical stress during a period of downsizing enrolled in one of two company programs: weekly cognitive therapy and relaxation training, or a course in which they merely received monthly articles about stress. After a year, the active-treatment group felt significantly less stressed and had lower blood pressure. The other group remained unchanged.
