One of the most beneficial tools of my recovery from depression and anxiety is to keep a mood journal. James Bishop offers a fantastic program called Optimism software if you’re interested in a sophisticated form. I simply keep a notebook on my desk, and every morning before breakfast I jot down how many hours I slept, rate my mood between a 0 (a quiet brain) to 5 (might need to call the hospital). I also jot down possible triggers for a bad mood or good mood, and any medication adjustments or therapy breakthroughs.

Friends to the rescue!

For example, in her chapter, “The Power of Connection,” Dr. Lee writes about the physical and emotional cost of loneliness, why we need intimacy to stay healthy and emotionally resilient. The physical tolls alone are substantial. Says Dr. Lee: “Scientists have shown that lonely people’s blood vessels are less elastic, their hearts are weaker, and their levels of inflammation and stress hormones are higher. Furthermore, loneliness affects the immune system.” But you need not go out and build a massive social support system, because just hanging out with one friend, some simple companionship, does the trick and is just as beneficial as running around with a posse of pals, according to the research of Meliksah Demir, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology at Northern Arizona University.

Spirituality and prayer relieve stress.

Dr. Lee devotes a section of her book to the topic of spirituality and prayer, and their role in relieving stress. She writes:

Research shows that people who are more religious or spiritual use their spirituality to cope with life. They’re better able to cope with stress, they heal faster from illness, and they experience increased benefits to their health and wellbeing. On an intellectual level, spirituality connects you to the world, which in turn enables you to stop trying to control things all by yourself. When you feel part of a greater whole, it’s easy to understand that you aren’t responsible for everything that happens in life.

Among the research she cites is one study of approximately 126,000 people that found that the people who frequently attended services increased their odds of living by 29 percent. Another study conducted by the National Institute for Health Care Research (NIHR) illustrated that the Canadian college students who were connected to their campus ministries visited doctors less often and were less stressed during difficult times than the other students. The students who had strong religious correlations also had higher positive feelings, lower levels of depression, and were better equipped at handling stress.

Dr. Lee points to the research of Harold Koenig, M.D., associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at Duke University, who surveys more than a thousand studies appraising the effects of prayer on health in his book “Handbook of Religion and Health.” Among them:

• Hospitalized people who never attended church have an average stay of three times longer than people who attend regularly.
• Heart patients were fourteen times more likely to die following surgery if they did not practice a religion.
• Elderly people who never or rarely attended church had a stroke rate double that of people who attended regularly.
• People who are more religious tend to become depressed less often. When they do become depressed, they recover more quickly.

Nature can help. 

And finally, Dr. Lee explores the role of nature in becoming stress resilient. I’ve always known that I need to spend a considerable amount of time outside every day or else I become incredibly grumpy. As a “highly sensitive person,” I am so often calmed by water, uplifted by wind, energized by the sun. This harsh winter really tested my threshold of cold climates, as Annapolis got 50 inches of snow in two weeks. For days and days, I felt trapped and suffocated in my house, was starving for the sun. The first day I could each my lunch outside and feel the sun’s rays, there was noticeable improvement in my mood.

Explains Dr. Lee:

Nature is in essence spiritual. Nature lifts the spirits and calms every one of our senses. We respond to the colors of nature on a subconscious level. We know from research that greens and blues have an enormously peaceful effect on us. Nature’s sounds soothe us, too….Nature is bigger than we are. It gives us perspective and lets us know that while we’re sometimes overwhelmed by work deadlines, piles of laundry, or a month’s worth of unopened mail, the hassles of daily living are really quite small compared to the ocean and the sky. No matter what happens to us, the mountains will still be the mountains and the rivers will still run downstream.

What are your antidotes to stress?

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