Stress-Containment Strategies
I’m posting this from an airport terminal in Little Rock, where our flight to Orlando has been canceled because we’re fogged in. I can’t access the post I had prepared for today, so I thought I’d pop in and just ask for some feedback.
One of the challenges of keeping things on an even keel for us is STRESS MANAGEMENT. So, events like this can really put us into a tailspin. Alex does great during the crisis, but sometimes, after the fact, when the immediate distress is over, it kind of catches up to him and bowls him over, and we get what we just refer to as a “crash.” So right now, I’m hoping to avoid that. He’s already been pushed into what I’d consider a pre-hypomanic state by all the frenetic activity of the last 24 hours, and these new complications are just prolonging that, which is not good. The number one thing that is difficult for us but so important is the ability to remain FLEXIBLE. And my husband is a planner, so while he absolutely “takes care of business,” rolling with the punches when things get shaken up takes a lot out of him.
So, what are some stress management techniques that y’all have found to be successful, particularly as relates to managing a mental illness and preventing potentially stressful situations from throwing you all off-kilter?
December 8th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Belinda,
I know that after-stress crash! There are two things that help to mitigate it:
#1. Easy exercise. While stuck at the airport, walk the gates. Once every half-hour or so. Look at the people waiting. If you’re there for a long time, notice which ones are still stuck, make up stories about their lives. But walk.
#2. Keep hydrated. Drink water. About 8 oz./hour. YES it does help.
#3. Eat something with protein and fat (nuts? Trail mix? Milk if you can do it.) Keeping the blood sugar even helps to combat the adreline surges and post-crises crashes.
#4. When on the plane, try to rest. It’s confined space, and the perfect time to gently come down without a hard crash.
December 8th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
If I am in a place like the airport and very stressed out due to a delayed or canceled flight (which happened so often when i traveled for business), I either walk around the airport or head for the bar. In general, I am hit or miss with stress. Sometimes I do well by removing myself for a moment (taking drives really helps) but other times I blow up and then take a Xanax.
December 8th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I’ve had a lot of luck with carrying an ipod (or some other mp3 player) that I’ve downloaded with some of my favorite music – some boppy, some very mellow – a variety to suit what i need at the time, also including some meditation excercises, or something funny. basically whatever works best for you. this has really helped me deal with stress and the coming down. i highly recommended it. good luck (;
December 10th, 2007 at 12:19 am
I have a *terrible* time on travel/transition days. Well, days on which I travel with my husband. If I travel alone, or with the kids, I’m fine. I’m usually waiting for him, and my anxiety skyrockets. I have definitely not worked out prevention yet. On the rare occasion that I am still getting ready while he is as well, I find that my mind is preoccupied with my own suitcase, instead of waiting on him. So one thing I could try is being busy with something until he’s ready to leave. Another is to consider taking a xanax on travel days- before I start getting worked up.
I think part of the trouble in waiting for my husband is that I want to be in control; waiting for him to be finally ready to leave makes me feel terribly out of control.
Short of traveling separately from my husband, I am not sure there is tons I can do about this form of stress. I do try to have reasonable expectations: we will not leave when he says we will. I think when traveling, esp by air, we’ve got to have the attitude of “if it can happen I ought to expect it.” And then perhaps you and Alex just need to be aware that he’ll need time to decompress/chill after the stressful traveling.
It has taken me a day to write this, so hopefully you are already in Orlando and enjoying our great Dec weather.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Something that’s really helped me was an anecdote from Natalie Goldberg’s Long Quiet Highway. She was speaking about the Buddhist monk she studied with waiting to picked up to be taken to the airport. His ride was very late, but as he stood on the sidewalk, he wasn’t fretting, or even waiting patiently, he was simply being in the moment taking in the sky, the sidewalk, etc. because the arrival of his ride was not part of his now, not yet.
I am nowhere near this patient, but I think of it sometimes when I get stressed out. Hopefully, this isn’t too trite, but as a bipolar person who either organizes everything or nothing, this is a medium I strive for: control what I can and then let the rest happen.