385: Managing Stress, Anxiety, and Burnout for Well-Being and Sustainability" | Dr. Devika Srivastava

Maya Acosta  00:00

Dr. Devika Srivastava is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Houston and nationwide, she received advanced training at Columbia University and Fordham University, and she has held appointments at Harris health, Baylor College of Medicine and has published numerous publications on mental health. In our session, Dr. Srivastava will discuss common topics that cause stress, burnout in somatic symptoms, and how to cope in a better way to promote well being and sustainability. Let's listen in.

00:31

So welcome again, I wanted to start this, you know, my session off with just a few minutes of relaxation. So I want you to close your eyes or focus drive somewhere in the room. And I want you to just notice what's going on for you what thoughts you're having, maybe also tightness that you're having your body, I want you to notice your body. Just kind of be aware of yourself, are you feeling cold, you feeling tight pain anywhere. And what I want us to do really slowly, and I'm going to ask for us to breathe in and then hold, I'm going to ask for three counts of three counts is too much, just hold as long as you can. I want us to breathe in through your nose for four counts 1234. And let's hold 123 an exhale completely like your bra blowing out through a straw.

01:41

One is to do it one more time. So breathe in for four counts 1234 Hold on, you need to breathe out too, that's fine. See three in breathe out. Now I want you to notice how you're feeling? Is there a difference? Oh, hopefully you're feeling a little bit better, a little bit more relaxed, your body is feeling differently, maybe those thoughts that you're having might have changed a bit. So just wanted to open up with some relaxation. So today, I really want to focus on stress, anxiety, burnout, and how we can reduce it how we can feel better. So stress in general, there's an external trigger, something happened that is causing us stress, it's stress, one of the main key differences between anxiety and stress is that it's short term. So you might have a deadline at work at school, you might have had a fight with a friend, a partner, you might be sick, you know, we're we COVID still around you, that can also have an impact of how stressed we are. It could also be you know, incidences of discrimination, racial gender, you know, also, for a lot of people in this room, we're vegan. So it could also be comments made about our lifestyle or our diet. And you know, the consequences of that is that it affects our physical and our mental health. So it can cause us irritability, fatigue, anger, but also body symptoms like muscle pain, GI issues, sleep problems, and stress can lead to anxiety. Anxiety is something that does not go away in the absence of that external trigger that stressor. And it really is characterized by excessive worry, that's persistent, right, those thoughts that don't go away those things that we keep on returning back to that cause us apprehensiveness it could be real stress. You know, it could be also perceived threats, threats, you know, maybe what's the worst case scenario here, and we're ruminating on it. And that leads us to avoid right it might lead us to avoid people relationships, settings, and it causes physical symptoms. So, you know, I don't know if you've heard the term somatic symptoms, but for a lot of people like we did at the beginning, that body tenseness pain, rigidity, you know, a lot of times afterward people have shoulder pain, neck pain, if you're having relational stress, fight with a partner, maybe, you know, even caregiving, you might have pain in your chest and weight here, or stomach issues. Insomnia, trouble sleeping, but also maybe falling asleep and waking up in the middle of the night. Fatigue, irritability, anger, you know, if you have too much stress your threshold for even more stress gets less, right. So it affects our mood and it affects our, our physical well being. I want to highlight that stress is normal, we do need stress, it's a normal part of life. It's, it goes into our survival mechanism, right? That's what tells us that something is dangerous, we need to get away, you know. So we need stress. But stress can be positive, it can also be negative positive stress. You're standing in front of a crowd, giving a speech, a job interview, maybe even a first date. It could be enjoyable, but it causes some stress. challenging, but usually these stressors are satisfying. When stress is negative, though, and you have a hard time coping a hard time making yourself feel better or thinking about it in a way that's not causing distress is when it can be harmful, and that can be layoff so work. Caregiving when you don't have any breaks burnout. A lot of times that's you know, that for a lot of middle older adults is what happens to us right? When should I keep on doing this job? Am I getting paid enough could also be somebody else's medical crisis or your own. And that stress becomes chronic, it becomes more permanent. And it does impair our biological responses, how much we can handle, handle cope with the situation, but it does impair our physical and mental health. So how do we get through stress and anxiety? First and foremost, becoming aware and reducing the stressors getting things off your plate, if you can, try to eliminate the stress, you know, how we conceptualize stress the our distress around it depends on the intensity of the situation. But it also depends on us, the person experiencing it, how you think about a stressor that really depends on how you respond, right? Sometimes we can change a situation, we can change the circumstance. Sometimes we want to escape it altogether. And sometimes in a healthy way, if you can avoid take something off your plate that can be a good thing and reduce the stress that you're feeling. But you know, more than anything, I also kind of in the beginning of this noticing what you're thinking about it and how realistic it is relaxing your your responsibility around the situation, if you can your expectations, how realistic are there and maybe asking for help and changing your feeling of responsibility if it's not valid?

07:58

Oh, no. Okay. Another thing that can help our anxiety is social support our community, right, get a team and ask for help. Let them deep be there for you and let them show up for you. So you know, a lot of studies, throughout the years have showed this strong social support has been shown to improve resilience to stress, it helps us right, it helps us mentally be able to cope with our stressors, reach out strategically have a plan. There could be family members or friends that you do trust that you can go to that will listen that will sympathize that can help you with the situation. Let them show up for you. And sometimes that's the difficulty for some people asking for help identifying their needs. But that's so important for us. It could be practical help that we need somebody cooking for us maybe a couple of times a week, if we're taking care of mom or dad or you know, we have a big deadline at work. Somebody may be covering an hour of child care. So, engaging with other people. Wedding yourself have a community can increase those positive emotions. It can also decrease negative emotions and help us cope with our stress. You know, the other thing is make sure that you know the friendships that you have are reciprocal. You don't want to always be the one that requires support but you want to show up for each other having a community and you know it's it's interesting a lot of studies throughout the years have shown when there is community support even for serious mental illness that makes a big difference in the outcome. So let your people show up and show up for your people. It's gonna help you cope with that stress and just feel better. Another thing that's really important in the elite variation of stress and anxiety is physical activity, physical activity can improve your sleep. And studies have shown especially for middle aged and older adults doesn't have to be, you know, don't have to run a marathon can just be some brisk movement. And it really has an impact on stress. So, in one study, working adults who participated in moderate physical activity had half the perceived stress as working adults who did not participate that significant physical activity reduces physical and mental effects of stress, and it improves our immune system. And like I mentioned, it doesn't need to be elaborate doesn't need to be a lot of time, even a 10 minute walk, or even a dance session, fun movement. You know, I know tick tock is all about shaking right now, like doing different movements that maybe we don't, but that are associated with fun, or this makes us feel good that can make a difference on our stress and our anxiety levels. Be in nature. Take a moment in nature and be intentional about it if you can. So a lot of research is showing that just being in green space can improve your mood and your well being. You know, there's there's one study that looked at even just watching nature, videos can speed the recovery from stress, compared to videos of urban scenes. So even if you can't get outside, have something associated a picture on your wall, watching a video, whatever have you just taking a moment to notice nature, could be even in the middle could be buffalo by you, right? You see all the buildings are downtown, but you still have the bayou around you that can help refocus and calm your mind ground yourself outside, we need to be in green space, it really does make a difference for you. And if you can't get outside, something associated, even just stepping outside for five minutes can make a big difference. Don't forget the fun. You know, a lot of times in my practice, well, I have to meet these deadlines, I have to do all these tasks, I have to get all these things done. And we sacrifice ourselves, we sacrifice all the pleasurable activities. That's what we cut. That's usually what's cut first, but it's counterproductive when you start limiting time for yourself. That sacrifice is felt in your body is felt in your mind. We're feeling time is tight, you're always racing. And that can be really harmful to our mental health. Look for opportunities in your day that you can take for yourself. Even if it's for just a couple of minutes, three to five minutes even do something for yourself something enjoyable. It could be you know, hey after, after all the deadlines at night before bed I'm gonna read. It could be just singing while you're completing tasks could have something in the background of that's possible. A lot of times people at the end of the day they watch TV, they binge and that's okay if that's all you can get that is passive coping, but can it can also improve your mood if it's something that you enjoy humor and laughter makes such a big difference for our mood or well being overall. Oh, move, move. Move. Another thing is your thoughts. And I said it before how we think about a stressor, how we think about our circumstance, reframe your thinking. This is really the root of anxiety. Anxiety is about our thoughts, right? A lot of times we have cognitive distortions, which basically when we're depressed when we're anxious, it really affects our way of thinking right? It makes us think irrationally and that is really the root of it. So reframe, see how realistically you are thinking about a circumstances situation. And, you know, see if, if your fear is accurate or not, and that can help you manage your emotions and reduce stress and avoid those worst case scenario issues. Or maybe even rumination when you're thinking about the same thoughts over and over again, and maybe stopping some of those thoughts what I tell my my patients and my clients all the time is be present, how can we be present when you go down all the rabbit holes of your stresses, right? How do we stop that? How do we just kind of be in it could be like the breathing that we did before. There's so many different things it could be putting on music, it could be going outside? Just I want you know that's the biggest thing being present when you have a stressful situation makes a big difference and also realistic expectations of yourself. You're not going to be perfect you can't be perfect. We're all human right. So how realistic is Wait you're putting on yourself. And, you know, another thing that is tied with anxiety is really understanding how much you can control of a situation. We can't control everything but what can you control and what can't do and that can also make a difference in how you're thinking about things.

15:22

You know, and if, you know like I mentioned your community if you need more support, get help seek help if you're feeling overwhelmed if you can't do it yourself. Look, for a psychologist look for a therapist. Sometimes we don't know how to cope, right sometimes we we've never coped in a way where we've really actually felt relaxed sometimes. You know, we're modeling things that we've had in our our family, right how to control anger, how to control stress, sometimes we have to relearn learn patterns, relearn things, and it's okay to get somebody that can help us with that, that can also help with your overall stress, your anxiety and your well being and maybe undoing some patterns that are that might be causing constant stress. And also just being aware of your you know, how you approach different things, changing your responses, and like I mentioned before, maybe a plan an action plan on how to cope with different stressors in your life might be helpful. You know, another thing and you know, you know, I practice all over the country therapy is about the fit. Find a therapist, if you can, that, that that can understand your worldview, your cultures, your views, and especially being vegan or plant based, finding somebody that respects and understand that understands your values that that can also be really helpful. Well, I have another relaxation exercise but if you want a relaxation exercise, my contact information is here. If you want to reach out at all don't hesitate I practice in Houston, Texas, I practice all over the country. A lot of my populations are people of color biracial individuals, people that have mood disorders, I deal with children, family and teens adults. But you know, a lot has to do with you know, again, finding that that right fit, so don't be scared to find more support if you need it. And I hope this presentation was helpful for everybody. If you have any more questions, I'll be outside. And I hope you have a great rest of your day, my friends.

Maya Acosta  17:30

Friends, I hope you enjoy this lecture, please share it with a loved one who can also benefit. Thanks again for listening. You've been listening to the healthy lifestyle solutions podcast with your host Maya Acosta. If you've enjoyed this content, please share with one friend who can benefit. You can also leave us a five star review at rate this podcast.com forward slash H L S. This helps us to spread our message. As always, thank you for being a listener.