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A Message from 'ask BEE'...
While America is preoccupied with fighting
terrorism, thousands of us are doing battle with an equally
daunting opponent: our own fear. The attacks snapped the country
out of a peacful, prosperous slumber, and we all awoke to a
changed world. The Federal Government continues to issue
"security alert"----stark, if vague, warnings that
there is still much to fear. Meanwhile, millions of workers
watched in dismay as their retirement portfolios shrank. Enron
and Kmart declared bankruptcy, only two major companines out of
several.
Amid all this though, some people have forged ahead, seemingly
unfazed. Others havent been so lucky. In the weeks following the
attacks, nearly half of Americans were feeling seriously stressed
out. A month later one study suggesting that many people are
numbing their fears with booze and drugs: Admissions to addiction
treatment centers shot up 10-12 percent nationwide. Pharmacists
observed a spike in prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications,
antidepressants and sleep aids. Many Americans responded to the
new threat by arming themselves three times the normal number of
application requests for conceled handgun permits.
FACT: True fearlessness is a myth. Without fear, you die.
In a purely biological sense, fear begins with the bodys system
for reacting to things that can harm us--the so-called
fight-or-flight response. "An animal that cant detect danger
cant stay alive". This fear mechanism is critical to the
survival of all animals, but no one can say for sure whether
beasts other than humans KNOW theyre afraid. We not only feel
fear when our physical well-being is under immediate threat, but
out big, complex brains cause us to fret over more abstract
stuff. Life our mortality, and whether the stock market wil
bounce back so we can spend our retirement years playing golf
instead of working at Safeway, asking shoppers, "Paper or
Plastic?"
Humans have the ability to conjure images of bad things that
happened in the past and to anticipate future events. Combine
these higher thought processes with our hard-wired
danger-detection systems, and you get a near-universal human
phenomenon: worry.
Thats not necessarliy a bad thing. When used properly, worry is
an incredible device. After all, a little healthy worrying is ok
if it leads to constructive action, like having a doctor look at
that weird spot on your back. Theres a right way to worry. Never
do it alone, get the facts and then make a plan. Indeed, in
fearful times, emotion can cloud reason. For example: By
Canceling a flight and driving long distances, people put
themselves at greater risk for danger. Three times more Americans
die in car wrecks each year than have perished in plane crashes
throughout the entire history of commercial aviation. When we
become more fearful than is occasioned by the actual danger,
often whats going on is that we are displacing another conern.
For much of the past generation, American parents have panicked
over isolated incidents involving alleged pedophilic day care
workers, homicidal au pairs, and heavily armed outcast teens.
Wheres the panic over problems such as crumbling schools, kids
are getting fatter, and as a nation we have done a lousy job of
providing for children who lack adequate housing or health care.
Of course, the trepidation following Sept 11 has led to more than
canceled vacations and a few bucks wasted on gas masks. Disturbed
sleep is a classic symptom of chronic stresss, and a taxing one
at that. In as little as one week, a person getting 25% less
sleep than normal may begin to have elevated blood sugar at
night, which can lead to a rise in insulin levels. Over an
extended period, this homonal chaos could in turn contribute to a
laundry list of health problems, including weight gain, heart
disease, and even osteroporosis. And---would you believe brain
impairment? A steady barrage of stresss hormones suppresses
production of nerve cells in some parts of the brain; it can also
stifle the growth of connections between nerve cells. These
changes can cause subtle but annoying cognitive problems, such as
forgetting where you put your car keys. Its the old adage: Stress
makes you stupid.
A bigger question is why some people who survive terrifying
experiences come away seemingly unscarred, while others are
plagued for years. Scientists arent really sure but genes seem to
play a role. Life experience matters too. If you are the sort of
person who sees adversity as a challenge, you are more likely to
do fine when faced with a threat to your well being: if you are
the type who is easily overwhelmed, a terrifying experience may
leave you traumatized. However, reasearch suggests most humans
are resilient in the face of fear. One survey found that half of
all Americans have experienced a traumatic event, such as rape,
or molestation, a life threatening accident or fire, or being
held at gunpoint. Yet fewer than one in ten Americans develop the
symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. Americans need to
accept the notion that life in this country will never be the
same. But, life will go on, most people will get through this.
Doing volunteer work can help ease fear induced depression by
motivating yourself to help others.
Friends and allies provide emotional support and information
during uncertain times; if things get really hairy, you may also
turn to them for shelter or protection.
Still, if America truely has entered a "new normal" the
very tool our enemies are using to terrorize us could also unite
us as a people. It could turn out that living with a little fear
isnt such a bad thing after all.
Just how stressed are you? Take the test and find out.. go to http://www.rd.com/stresstest
Sincerely,
Bee
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BEE"
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