Health for Life

You would be hard pressed to find someone who is not experiencing some level of stress and anxiety because of the current world financial situation.

A number of support groups have begun which exist especially to help people with this particular type of stress.

Economic anxiety may emerge as feelings of despair, anxiety, and being overwhelmed. These feelings may affect your relationships or your job performance.

You may also find you have difficulty sleeping. Your appetite may have changed: you may find yourself less hungry than usual, or you find yourself making frequent, unhealthy choices.

You may have difficulty recognizing these symptoms in yourself; sometimes a talk with a trusted spouse or friend can help you recognize potential problems.

A number of support groups allow you to attend in anonymity. Most are available at no charge to you. It can be very helpful to be in a group setting as you attempt to address your feelings: it helps to know that others are experiencing the same concerns.

There are also a number of support groups established to help with specific needs that are related to the economy. For example, there are support groups for people who are out of work and looking for a job.

If you are attending a support group but your symptoms are not improving, or are worsening, consider one-on-one counseling.

I was pleased to be a featured speaker at the International Conference on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury held last week in Vancouver, Canada.  The MTBI 2009 assembled experts from a multiplicity of specialties working with brain injury, welcomed a diverse group of experts to collaborate in synthesizing new knowledge.  The conference brought together delegates from around the world, working in areas ranging from the medical and legal implications of MTBI to those working mental health/addiction issues as well as representatives from programs that provide acute, chronic rehabilitation and recovery services.

I spoke on the topic of mild traumatic brain injury and the courtroom.  Also speaking on the program were such internationally renowned experts as Gregory O’Shanick, medical director of BIAA who spoke on the topic “What is so mild about MTBI?”  Also speaking was Erin Bigler, Ph.D., who spoke on neuroimaging and persistent post concussion syndrome; Thomas Kay, Ph.D., who spoke on using the neuropsychological evaluation to understand the person with mild traumatic brain injury; as well as Grant Iverson, Ph.D., who spoke on clinical and methodological challenges associated with identifying residual cognitive deficits.

The conference was organized by Raymond Ancill, M.A. and Stephen Holliday, Ph.D. both of Vancouver, Canada. 

Stress is closely related to anger, and where there is one, the other will follow immediately behind.

It is imperative to one’s health and well being that one learns to control one’s stress and the anger caused by the stress, so that one is able to develop the much coveted ability to let go of everything and relax and thereby become more productive members of society.

Anger may cause all or several of these symptoms: change in appetite, either an increase or a decrease, fatigue, breathlessness, nightmares, muscle pain, stress and the related symptoms of feelings of helplessness and vulnerability, feelings of rejection, and feeling that one is not being appreciated, general irritability and temper, being late for work regularly, neglecting one’s appearance, taking drugs of all kinds to counteract these feelings.

Experts recommend that anger and stress can be managed relatively easily if one were to talk and share these feelings with someone, either a close friend or relative, or a counselor who would help him see the way through the tension and achieve happy results at the end.

In addition, certain diets allow one to achieve some form of control over anger, and since this is a good way to start managing one’s anger, it would help to read these tips:

• Avoid eating fatty foods, and instead, opt for high fiber foods that provide you with the required amount of energy to work and perform efficiently during the day. Evidence has proved that when an individual is on a high fat diet, and undergoes a lot of stress, then he may be inadvertently paving the way towards developing arteriosclerosis.
• Eat healthy and balanced nutritious meals at least three times a day. If possible, try to include more complex carbohydrates in your diet, and remember, never skip a meal, especially never skip breakfast, which is in fact that most important meal of the day.
• Eat plenty of fresh fruits. They will provide you with enough sweet and energy to last you through the day.
• Eat lots of fresh green and leafy vegetables in whatever forms you prefer everyday.
• Avoid eating too much of sugar in whatever form you prefer it, and instead, drink fruit juices.
• Avoid consuming too much caffeine.
• Drink plenty of water through the day. This will keep you fresh and hydrated at all times, and when you feel fresh, you will find it difficult to let anger control you. You will, instead, learn to control and manage your anger so that you are able to function efficiently in your workplace and at home.

Excerpt: "Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) in the U.S. have surpassed HMO plans in covered employees, according to preliminary results released by United Benefit Advisors (UBA) from its 2009 UBA Health Plan Survey, a plan benchmarking poll with 17,655 plans from 12,316 employers reporting. According to a press release, CDHPs grew at a rate of 33.9% this past year and now cover more employees (15.4%) than HMO plans (13.6%)." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)

11 pages. Excerpt: "Specialty prescription drugs are typically used to treat chronic or life-threatening conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and cancer, for which few other treatment options exist. . . . Costs for specialty prescription drugs are usually high, typically ranging from $1,200 to $40,000 for a 30-day supply. . . . To manage the high and rising costs of these drugs, some health plans have begun to require enrollees to contribute a greater share of their costs, such as by increasing the use of coinsurance. You asked us to examine the costs that FEHBP enrollees may incur for specialty prescription drugs." (U.S . Government Accountability Office)