Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person’s level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces numerous physical and mental symptoms which vary according to each individual’s situational factors. These can include a decline in physical health, such as headaches, chest pain, fatigue, and sleep problems,[1] as well as depression. The process of stress management is named as one of the keys to a happy and successful life in modern society. Life often delivers numerous demands that can be difficult to handle, but stress management provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and maintain overall well-being. (Source: Wikipedia)
Research Spotlight
The databases often return hundreds of medical studies for a single wellness approach. This section summarizes a sampling of five studies – providing just a taste of the available research. These Spotlights were not selected because they are the most favorable or the most recent, but to provide you an introduction to the more extensive research you’ll uncover searching the four databases found in the “Research” section of this site.
- Stress Ages the Immune System
A 2022 study from the University of Southern California indicates that stress–whether from traumatic events, work, or discrimination–rapidly speeds up aging in the immune system, which is associated with increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and infection. The researchers measured social stress levels against immune cell counts. People with the highest stress scores had significantly lower percentages of fresh disease fighters and higher percentages of worn-out white blood cells. This unique study may explain disparities in age-related health and the unequal toll of COVID-19.
Access this research on Stress Management - Stress/Psychological Distress Radically Increases Risk of Death
A large, pooled meta-analysis of ten population-based studies by NHS Scotland (2012) aimed to quantify the link between stress levels and cause-specific mortality. Tracking 68,000+ initially cancer-free subjects over 8+ years, the findings were grim: moderate stress increased the risk of death by 40%. Highly symptomatic stress increased it by more than 90%, with deaths largely due to heart disease, cancer and accidents. Cancer death was only associated with higher level stress.
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- Group Mindfulness Therapy on Par with Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Stress and Depression
Because one-on-one cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is in short supply and expensive, researchers at Lund University, Sweden undertook a randomized controlled trial (2015, 215 patients) that compared the impact of eight weeks of regular CBT to mindfulness-based group therapy for patients with anxiety, stress and depression disorders. In both groups, anxiety and depression scores decreased significantly with no significant, statistical differences between the two groups.
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- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Leads to Brain Changes and Symptom Improvement for GAD subjects
The first trial to investigate the neural mechanisms that result from a program of mindfulness based-stress reduction (MBSR), undertaken by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (2013), found that an eight-week course of MBSR not only decreased symptoms for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Through brain imaging, the researchers identified significant changes in the fronto-limbic areas of the brain (the amygdala), crucial for the regulation of emotion and “stress response.” Researchers argued these neural changes corresponded with the reported symptom improvements.
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- Group Program Benefited Those with Extensive Symptoms of Work-Related Stress
An Aarhus University Hospital (Denmark) randomized trial revealed that a three-month group-based stress management program significantly affected perceived stress and positive reframing in people with extensive symptoms of work-related stress.
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- Stress May Be Worse for Your Heart Than Physical Risk Factors
AA 2021 study in JAMA revealed that for people with less-than-healthy hearts, mental stress trumped physical stress as a predictor of fatal and non-fatal heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease. Patients underwent tests to see how their heart reacted to both physical and mental stress, and those who experienced ischemia (reduced blood flow to the heart muscles) as a reaction to mental stress were much more likely to suffer a heart attack or die of cardiovascular disease in the years that followed.
Access this study on stress management - Stress Strongly Linked to Heart Disease, Especially For People Under 50
A large 2019 Swedish study, comparing 136,637 people diagnosed with a stress disorder to 170,000+ unaffected siblings and over 1.3 million in the general population (over 27 years), found that someone with a diagnosed stress disorder is 37% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than the average person and 29% more likely than their unaffected siblings.
Access this study on stress management - Expressive Writing Helps Chronic Worriers Perform Better on Stressful Tasks
A study from Michigan State University (2017) revealed that for chronic worriers, writing about their feelings can help them perform better on an upcoming stressful task. Researchers measured participants’ brain activity, and it represents the first neural evidence for the benefits of expressive writing – which, the researchers said, takes the edge off of brains so that people can perform tasks with a ‘cooler head.’
Access this study on stress management - Chronic Stress Associated with Higher Levels of Obesity
A study from University College London (2017) compared stress levels and body weight (for 2,527 men and women, over a 4-year period), and found that higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol were associated with significantly higher levels of obesity/being overweight. The study was notable for testing cortisol levels in the hair (not in the blood, saliva or urine, which vary situationally and during times of day), so better captured the impact of long-term stress levels on weight and BMI.
Access this study on stress management - One Week at Wellness Retreat Results in Diverse Health Improvements
Wellness retreats use many complementary therapies in an immersive residential environment, yet there have been no published studies on the health outcomes of guests. A small, observational study (2016) from Australia’s RMIT University represents the first: measuring multiple health/wellbeing dimensions of guests at arrival, on departure, and six weeks later. Key findings: a one-week wellness retreat (including many educational, therapeutic and leisure activities, and an organic, mostly plant-based diet) resulted in substantial improvements in everything from weight to blood pressure to psychological health – and sustained at six weeks.
Access this study on stress management - Stress May Counteract Benefits of a Healthy Diet
A double-blinded randomized trial from Ohio State University (2016) measured the impact of meals with high and low levels of saturated fats. Key finding: for women with low levels of stress, markers of inflammation were higher after eating a meal with high levels of saturated fats, vs. a low saturated fat meal. But for women with high stress levels, those differences disappeared: they had high inflammation levels even after the low-saturated-fat meal. Stress seemed to make the meal with healthy fats look like the one with saturated fats, and has a surprising impact on metabolism.
Access this stress management study - Stress May Impact Brain and Make Healthy Food Choices Harder
A small University of Zurich study indicated that stress can have a negative impact on self-control when it comes to healthy eating. Participants underwent a moderately stressful situation, and researchers then tested their cortisol levels, and placed them in an fMRI machine to measure brain activity. They then asked participants at intervals to choose between healthy and unhealthy foods – and those who underwent the stressful experience were 24% more likely to opt for unhealthy snacks. And the brain scans may illustrate why stress is the enemy of healthy eating: for the stressed subjects, the neurological connectivity between areas of the brain that are associated with value judgments, long-term planning and tastiness were affected.
Access this stress management study - Health-Related Vacation Outcomes Depend on What Kind of Vacation is Taken
A Medical University of Vienna study of 191 employees (2005) on the impact of vacations on health and recovery from exhaustion identified which vacation characteristics have the biggest effect on health outcomes. The findings: free time for one’s self; warmer, sunnier locations; exercise and good sleep during vacation; and making new acquaintances had the most significant impact on recuperation and stress-reduction. The researchers’ conclusion: health-related vacation outcomes depend on what kind of vacation is taken.
Access this research on Stress Management - Group Mindfulness Therapy on Par with Individual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Stress and Depression
Because one-on-one cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is in short supply and expensive, researchers at Lund University, Sweden undertook a randomized controlled trial (2015, 215 patients) that compared the impact of eight weeks of regular CBT to mindfulness-based group therapy for patients with anxiety, stress and depression disorders. In both groups, anxiety and depression scores decreased significantly with no significant, statistical differences between the two groups.
Access this research on Stress Management - Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Leads to Brain Changes and Symptom Improvement for GAD subjects
The first trial to investigate the neural mechanisms that result from a program of mindfulness based-stress reduction (MBSR), undertaken by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (2013), found that an eight-week course of MBSR not only decreased symptoms for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Through brain imaging, the researchers identified significant changes in the fronto-limbic areas of the brain (the amygdala), crucial for the regulation of emotion and “stress response.” Researchers argued these neural changes corresponded with the reported symptom improvements.
Access this research on Stress Management - Group Program Benefited Those with Extensive Symptoms of Work-Related Stress
An Aarhus University Hospital (Denmark) randomized trial revealed that a three-month group-based stress management program significantly affected perceived stress and positive reframing in people with extensive symptoms of work-related stress.
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