Well Stressed : Manage Stress Before It Turns Toxic

by Lupien, Sonia

• ISBN13: 9781118273609
• ISBN10: 1118273605
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-30
• Publisher: WILEY JOHN & SONS LTD

Summary

Learn the science behind stress and start living better Stress can kill. Chronic stress has been linked to depression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Left untreated it can cause serious and long-lasting health problems. Drawing on two decades of clinical research into the effects of stress on the brain and the body, For the Love of Stress is designed to help you learn to control your stress and live a happier, healthier life. Dr. Sonia Lupien is internationally respected as a leading authority on the science of stress, and in this practical, accessible book she provides an essential guide to understanding and managing the stresses we face every day. Identifying the four factors that underlie any stressful situation: Novelty-something new and unfamiliar; Unpredictability-not knowing how something is going to unfold; Threat-to your sense of self; and a poor Sense of self control, Dr. Lupien uses the appropriate acronym "N.U.T.S." to explore how stress makes us feel and how we can learn to cope. Helps the reader understand the science behind stress, how it affects us physically and mentally, and what we can do to keep it in check Explores why men make women's stress hormone levels rise but women cause men's stress hormone levels to drop Provides proven solutions for dealing with stress, including one for helping children to cope with moving schools as well as stress in the workplace Contrary to common belief stress is not simply "time pressure" or "workload" but rather our natural response to these things, characterized by the release of stress hormones Shows readers how a routine blood test can identify if you are at risk from high levels of stress hormones In her practical and accessible book Dr. Lupien shows how stress can and should be controlled, not avoided.

Author Biography

About the Author

Dr. Sonia Lupien is the founder and director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress (www.humanstress.ca). She has a PhD in neuroscience from the Université de Montréal and completed postdoctoral studies at UC–San Diego and Rockefeller University of New York. She is now a full professor in the department of psychiatry in the faculty of medicine at the Université du Québec à Montréal. In 2002, she received Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award, and in 2003 Dr. Lupien was voted one of the Top 10 Canadians Who Make a Difference by Maclean's magazine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Do You Know the Meaning of Stress? 4

Chapter 2 Stress Is Really NUTS 9

Chapter 3 Acute Stress to Help Us Survive 23

Chapter 4 The Long and Winding Road to Chronic Stress 31

Chapter 5 Measuring the Weight of Chronic Stress: The Allostatic Load Battery 43

Chapter 6 When Stress Aff ects Our Memory 49

Chapter 7 Why Are We So Stressed These Days? 65

Chapter 8 Stress to Match Each Personality 72

Chapter 9 Two Sexes, Two Types of Stress? 78

Chapter 10 Your Social Status, Your Stress 89

Chapter 11 Recognizing When You're Stressed 105

Chapter 12 To Kill a Mammoth, You First Have to Know Where to Find It 109

Chapter 13 Addressing NUTS for Adolescents 119

Chapter 14 Addressing NUTS for Adult Workers 126

Chapter 15 Fleeing the Mammoth Can Help Us Control Our Stress 141

Chapter 16 The Power of Others 145

Chapter 17 Your Body Is Your Most Eff ective Ally 153

Appendix 1: History of the Science of Stress 168

Appendix 2: References 192

Notes 203

Index 207