The Attorney's Therapist Blog

Political Areas of your life...

One of the areas that might be out of balance in your life is your contribution to the government.  Now you might be satisfied with your activity in this area; however, if you are not, then ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I as informed about local, state, national and international issues as I want?

 This is the primary question.  If you answer "No," then ask yourself the following questions.

1. Have I done due diligence on the political issues that affect me?
2. Have I said that I want to be more involved, but, I'm not?
3. If I answered "yes" to #3, what stops me from becoming more involved?
4. How would I define "more involved?"  Is this too rigid or all encompassing of a definition?
5. Am I too involved in watching the political scene?  Do I notice my blood pressure rising when I watch the debates?

These questions may help you determine where your dissatisfaction lies.  If you find yourself experiencing symptoms of stress related to this area, then you need to consider your options.  You can change your response -

• breathe deeply,
• exercise more frequently,
• move around to affect the stress hormones in a positive way (fight, flight or freeze syndrome)
• talk to a friend about your reaction 
  

Talking about the cause - politics may only increase the harmful responses to stress. 

You can rethink what is upsetting you about the political scene.  Do you feel like the government is controlling your life in a way that is not helping you.  Are you afraid of your future or your children's future?  Do you get steamed because of all the distortions and untruths that you hear during the presidential campaign season? 

To paraphrase a famous quote, these are the times that try good people.  Let me know what areas are stressing you.

Financial Stress

While I began this blog to help professionals review the areas of their lives to discover any imbalances, I find that revisiting the area of finances might be of interest. 

309.928 Adjustment Disorder with Financial Stress

Symptoms:

• Checks stocks repeatedly
• Watches television for news of collapse
• Talks with others incessantly about the economy
• In spite of a good credit rating, can't get credit
• Problems with sleep or appetite
• Feels tense, wants to argue
• Increased irritability, wants to argue or fight
• Feels dread, wants to run away
• Hopelessness,
• Paralyzed with fear

The only relief is when "The Early Show" with John Stewart is on.  This person might not have all of the symptoms of this mythological disorder; however, he or she feels stressed, depressed or anxious much of the time.

One of our evolutionary reactions to fear, such as a saber tooth tiger (or bears and bulls)  is to fight, flee or freeze.  Adrenalin and cortisol rush throughout our bodies.  Blood is shunted to the major muscles.  Our eyesight becomes narrowed.  We become hypervigilient.  While this is good if we are in physical danger, it can become problematic if we are responding to an intellectual or emotional problems. 

Yes, these are stressful times; however, our job is to control our physiological and emotional responses so that we don't injure ourselves.  Stress literally wears out our bodies.. Our immune systems become compromised.  We get sick.  Emotionally we can do damage to our relationships with others by wanting to fight or flee. 

The world financial market is in crisis.  Thanks to Warren Buffet, some of the major players have been bailed out.  Unfortunately this might not be enough to help our economy.

So, what can you do to control your symptoms?  

1. Turn off the television or radio - limit your viewing or listening to one show.

2. Do not surf the Internet looking for more news about the economy.

3. Do not call your stock broker more than once a day.

4. Breathe deeply from you abdomen several times a day - this breaks the flight, fight or freeze response.Exercise - movement is another way to break the flight, fight or freeze response.

5. Limit alcohol - it is a depressant.

6. Get plenty of sleep.

7. Eat healthy foods -- not American comfort foods.

8. Surround yourself with optimistic and supportive people.

9. If you or someone around you starts to panic, you need to be the one who calms down - stress can be contagious. 

10. If you have a spiritual practice -- do it

11. Look for what you do have control over in a productive way - do it! 

If your stress interferes in your life with your ability to function, seek help from a mental health professional.  You don't have to go it alone.