OH! Magazine - Australian Version November 2018 | Page 24

( HEALTH )
BUILDING RESILIENCE FOR A
LESS STRESSED LIFE
Dr Ron Ehrlic explains how to decrease your stress levels.
ife is stressful. The Stress and
Wellbeing in Australia survey,
conducted by the Australian Psychological
Society, found five million Australians
reported their current stress levels had an
impact on their physical health. It may be
an underestimation as its seems everybody
is stressed and it is having a significant
impact on people’s health
L
The epidemic of preventable chronic
diseases like heart disease, cancer, over
80 autoimmune diseases, diabetes,
dementia and obesity, not to mention
mental health issues such as depression
and anxiety, are all on the rise; and it’s not
just because the population is ageing –
children are not faring well either. One
third have allergies, one in four have
asthma, one in ten have ADHD, and one in
a hundred are diagnosed as being on the
autism spectrum. To put this in
perspective, in the 1970s that number
was 1 in 5,000. Childhood cancer and
depression has doubled in the last 30
years.
It’s unrealistic to expect a life with no
stress. A more realistic goal is to live a life
less stressed, to build resilience, and
enjoy health and wellness. But there are
many stresses that go unrecognised but
which can significantly challenge your
health.
Life today requires a broader definition of
stress so that it includes any factor that
compromises the immune system and
promotes chronic inflammation, which is
the common denominator among all
chronic disease. Recognising this means
people can make informed decisions to
build the necessary resilience, and
24
OH! MAGAZINE ( NOVEMBER 2018 )
ultimately take control of their own health.
In order to deal with the stresses of
modern life, individuals and organisations
need to understand what these stresses
are. A useful model is to identify five
typical areas of stress: emotional,
environmental, nutritional, postural and
dental. The final stress may surprise you
but it is the story of a hidden epidemic
that’s occurring right under our noses.
The key to dealing with these stress
challenges is to minimise them, and to
then build resilience. Thankfully, despite
today’s world becoming increasingly more
complicated, the solutions are actually
remarkably simple. There are five pillars of
health that serve as a model with which
you can regain control of your health.
These are: sleep, breathe, nourish, move
and think.
Let’s take a look at sleep and breathe as
two of the key pillars. Forty-four per cent
of respondents in the Stress and Wellbeing
in Australia survey recognised that lack of
sleep is a key contributor to stress. Sleep
is an individual’s non-negotiable, built-in,
life-support system and it’s cheap,
accessible and profound. Put simply, use
it or lose it.
A consistently good night’s sleep will boost
your immune system, memory, and ability
to think logically. It will also improve blood
sugar levels (which is an important factor
in diseases), decrease the likelihood of a
heart attack; and positively affect almost
every measure of physical and mental
health and wellbeing, including your sex
life. A consistently good night’s sleep is a
function of quantity (getting enough) and
quality (breathing well). Poor sleep and
breathing habits affect young and old
alike, and the return on investment is well
worth the effort!
If there is one goal in life, it should be to
fulfill your potential – be that your
potential as an individual, a member of a
family, a community or a company –
enjoying good health is central to that
goal. Healthy individuals make for a
healthy society or a healthy company, and
this is necessary in order for people to
want to be involved.
Taking control, recognising the stresses in
your life that break you down, focusing on
the pillars of health to build mental,
physical and emotional resilience to deal
with the modern world, is all a great start
to achieving your true potential.
Dr Ron Ehrlich
Dr Ron Ehrlich, author of A Life Less
Stressed; the 5 pillars of health &
wellness, delivers keynotes and wellness
workshops visit www.drronehrlich.com