Stress management: Controlling what can be controlled in life

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
Positive stress can be healthy and can make someone perform better, such as taking a test or running a race. But when someone has problems dealing with stress, it can be debilitating. That's when they should seek help.

The mental health clinic offers a stress management class to help those who have difficulties coping with stress.

"One of our primary goals is to let the Airmen on base know that we care about them and want to help them make a positive readjustment back into the community," said Glenn Garcia, family advocacy outreach manager. "The directions we want to focus on are a more proactive approach and gear our services more to a strength-based perspective. We want to help build resiliency rather than respond to illnesses or focus on the negative."

He said some of the strengths a person should focus on are how they have responded to tough times before. They should try and remember a past experience and what they did to cope with a previous problem and try to redirect that to the present stressful situation.

Positive focus is one thing Mr. Garcia teaches in his class but he also teaches causes of stress, warning signs, basic coping skills and ways to relieve stress.

Stress can come in many forms whether it's dealing with a move or deployment, financial difficulties, changes in lifestyles, coping with a loss of a loved one or the challenges of being a new parent. There are many things that can add to daily stress.

"Finances, family challenges and parental responsibilities of raising children are some of the life stressors people are dealing with here," Mr. Garcia said. "It is surprising how many people have a second job. Airmen are working 40-hour weeks for the Air Force and then work a second job just to make ends meet, and that adds additional stress to the family."

The causes of stress are important, but knowing signs and symptoms that someone may be overly stressed is something Airmen should also know, Mr. Garcia said.

According to "The Quick Series Guide to Stress Management for Military Personnel," some signs and symptoms that someone may be overly stressed are increased anger, irritability, frustration, forgetfulness, problem solving difficulties, loss of attention, depression, risk taking, increased use of alcohol, withdrawal from friends and activities and difficulties concentrating.

Recognizing the signs of stress can increase awareness, but there are also things to do to minimize or help relieve daily stress.

"Getting plenty of exercise and making sure you are eating right are important," Mr Garcia said. "If you are eating a bunch of junk food you aren't going to have the energy to be able to cope effectively.

"You also want to make sure you are getting plenty of sleep. One of the things we find people do is stay up late to get things done and sacrifice sleep," he added.

Some other things Airmen can avoid are caffeine, nicotine and alcohol because they can all add to the stress.

Caffeine elevates blood pressure, heart rate and the body's need for oxygen which can increase anxiety, sleeplessness and irritability. Alcohol negatively impacts performance, behavior, judgment, physical condition and suppresses rapid-eye-movement sleep that is vital for our ability to process traumatic experiences. Nicotine depletes the body of vitamin C and E, in turn making people more vulnerable to stress-related diseases.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a good way to reduce stress but supervisors can help their Airmen deal with stress as well.

"Express an appreciation of what your Airmen do; we don't get enough validation in our lives," Mr. Garcia said. "It's that small validation and checking on your people, letting them know you care about them that can really go a long way.

"And give them an opportunity to attend some of the classes and programs we have. If you can be flexible with their work schedule, it could encourage a lot of people to get the support and education they need, and you will find they will be more productive and more committed to the work they are doing.

"It's amazing how they will start to work a little harder because they feel valued and appreciated," he added.

Another positive aspect about the class is that it isn't documented in any medical records.

Mr. Garcia said that 90 percent of the time someone is just having minor problems and they just need to talk to someone about it, and most of the time it can be solved in one visit.

"We want the families and the active-duty members to realize that we are here to help them," Mr. Garcia said. "We are trying to be proactive and approach these issues from a prevention perspective and get some support before it turns into a problem that has an impact on the Airmen's career or their families.

"The military is one of the few careers that have this level of support for their people," he added. "The Air Force has a cadre of support and resources, and people have to get into the mindset to use the help that is available because we are there to help them make those adjustments so that they can be mission ready."