(upbeat music) - Welcome to At Issue.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm H. Wayne Wilson.

Over the past couple of years, not only have we been dealing with COVID-19, but we've been dealing with some of the issues that surround COVID such as stress.

Stress has become more predominant in our society than prior to COVID-19.

We're gonna be talking about stress, not necessarily exclusively with COVID-19, but what stress can do to your life and how to deal with it.

And that will be our focus for the next half hour as we have a conversation with Bernice Gordon-Young.

Bernice is a psychotherapist and she is also a licensed clinical professional counselor at OSF HealthCare.

Bernice, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you.

- Also with us, Caitlin Scott.

Caitlin is the clinical director at Family Core in Downtown Peoria.

- Correct, yeah.

- [Wayne] Thanks for being with us.

- Of course.

- So before we get into how to cope with stress, we probably ought to define stress.

Caitlin, I know it's a complex issue, but is there at least a starter definition for stress?

- Yeah, I mean, I think stress is a really subjective term.

It's your experience of the situations around you.

It can be situational, it can be long term, but it's really thinking about your response to the different experiences you're having.

It doesn't always have to be negative.

We can have good stress.

So if I'm planning a birthday party, it's stressful, but it's exciting, right?

But stress can be really hard and we have to be really aware of it.

- So stress could be positive in terms of your response to maybe an emergency situation?

- Right.

Stress can give you energy to activate, right?

So I always say like, anxiety is the thing that makes you want to get up and go, right?

That makes you wanna show up for the doctor's appointment, makes you wanna show up for your kids' appointments, and things of that nature.

So it can give you some energy, right?

And stress also has, or anxiety, speaking of, has a cousin that it hangs out with, you know the cousin's name, depression, right?

- [Caitlin] Yeah.

- And so when we talk about stress, I think it is multifaceted.

But there's this up and down balance of how do we keep things at a level playing field to where we can function in a healthy way.

- So episodic stress to deal with that birthday party or the emergency it's temporary.

- Yeah.

- What we need to do is to avoid long term stress and its consequences.

- Sure.

I think really the most important thing is to be really intentional about how you're managing stress because that situational stress, if we don't manage it, if we just kinda push it aside, it can really elongate.

It can start to impact us in different areas of our life and it becomes long term stress and it becomes something that's harder to manage.

It's like a small fire that grows and grows and grows.

And so the big thing we need to be aware of is how do I contain this little fire that I have?

How do I build a nice little block area around it so it stays in this one place?

What kind of coping skills do I have access to to manage it?

Being really intentional about how we treat ourselves and manage our feelings is so important.

- So it sounds like we need to control what we can control.

- Yes, correct.

- And not try to grab the entirety, but to say, "I have control over this aspect of it."

- Yep.

So an example that I sometimes use is thinking about if I'm at the beach and I see this really big wave coming, I can't really control how big that wave is, but what I can control is where I'm standing when the wave hits, right?

So I can move away from it.

I can think about where I'm gonna go to manage the impact of that.

So that's what I can control.

So really focusing on, I can control my response to this.

I can control how I take care of myself.

I can't control everything about it, but what is in my control.

I think that's a really critical piece in managing how we move forward.

- Bernice, you mentioned prolonged stress that you have to step back and say, "Well, gee whiz, this is starting to be a snowball going downhill."

- Right.

- What are some of the effects of prolonged stress?

What can happen?

- Well, physically, we're looking at heart disease, we're looking at high blood pressure, obesity if you're overeating responding in a way that's unhealthy, right?

One of the things I think is important though, if we can just backtrack for just one second, because I thought you brought up a really great point, understanding our own levels of resilience, right?

And so like, I may have 15 things on my plate that you may look at and go, "Wow, you gotta be under a lot of stress."

And for me, that may be just fine because I'm balancing everything.

And I think it's important that we not project onto other people what we consider to be stressful for them because there's an entire demographic of people who this has just become their way of life and it's survival, right?

But to that prolonged piece, how are you surviving though, right?

How are you managing in that?

What you consider to be survival, yes, that's your way of life.

But at the same time, are you doing some things that are unhealthy that could actually shorten your lifespan?

And that would be drinking in excess, substance use, things of that nature, making unhealthy choices across the board.

So definitely some things that we have to definitely take a look at and have a conversation about just to educate and raise awareness.

- And I think one of those things that we have a tendency to do that harms us in the long run is to skip breakfast, and that goes to sleep.

- Sure.

- If you don't get enough sleep that can lead to some stress because you don't eat right or when you do eat, you're eating inappropriate food.

- Well, we know that the physical response to stress and the emotional response to stress, they don't happen independently of one another, they impact each other, right?

So if I'm sad, I might like a lot more chocolate than if I'm not.

If I'm tired, my routine might start to get off.

And then we see that those things just kinda escalate each other.

So making sure that we're mindful about our emotional response, but also not neglecting the physical pieces.

I still know I need to eat healthy.

I still know I need to get a night's sleep.

And I know I've used this word intentional a lot, but it really does take work to maintain it.

Especially when we're stressed, we may not have as much of a capacity to put in that work.

But if we neglect it, that's when we start to see things go downhill.

That's when we see it turn from situational stress to a long term stress episode, because we've kind of just put it off 'cause it's too hard, but we're not really dealing with.

- You mentioned chocolate.

(panelists laughing) - Because I love chocolate, yes.

- But I can understand that, I'm under stress.

I'll have a piece of chocolate and now, okay, I feel better or I'll step outside and I'll have a cigarette because it relaxes me.

That's not necessarily how we control stress though.

I mean, it may feel good for the moment.

- Yeah.

I think with those aspects, I'll take the chocolate piece, right?

So if I am able to limit it, it's different than if I have 57 pieces of chocolate today, right?

And I think it's looking at the intention of it.

Is my intention that this is what's gonna manage my stress or is this just a little boost that I need to help me manage my stress in a different way?

We have a lot of chocolate available at our office and we know that it is not our best way to manage stress, but sometimes it gives us a little boost to engage in that healthy coping skill that I need.

I need to take a walk, and so I'm gonna walk and I'm gonna give me a piece of chocolate.

So think about your intention behind these behaviors.

That's the same thing with drinking, right?

Is my intention in having this drink that I want to try this new drink, is that my intention or is my intention that, "Man, I had a hard day and I want to forget about everything?"

Because if it's the second, then we need to really think about if that's a healthy coping skill for us and what can we do differently that's maybe a more positive coping skill.

- Well, let's talk about coping skills, and there's a laundry list, I suppose, of ways that you can deal with stress.

But we've defined stress, we've talked about some of the impact it can have, but okay, short term, what can I do?

I'm on a deadline, I'm in my office, is there a simple thing that I can do for a few minutes?

- Yeah.

I think we have to take a second to look at how we perceive stress before we get to the part of what do we do about it?

Like what are you saying to yourself in that moment?

And that's what we call the activating event.

Like what is going on?

So taking a personal inventory of where am I at in my life, right?

Do I have too many things on my plate?

Am I pressed by this deadline?

And sometimes we don't recognize that we are stressed and it can manifest in ways like maybe I'm snippy with you.

- [Caitlin] Sure.

Or I'm rushing everybody else because I've got this emergency.

And so that's one way, like to the act like what's going on.

And then the second piece is the B, these are the ABCs, the B, what's the belief?

What are you telling yourself about this situation?

And then definitely considering the consequence, which is the C, right?

And so if you can take a second in the middle of that, do the inventory.

Okay, I got all this on my plate, right?

All right, what am I telling myself about it?

I can't stand this, like this is horrible, right?

Are you awfulizing the situation and making it worse than it already is?

And based on what you say to yourself in that moment, can you take a second pause and go, "You know what?

Okay, it's me.

It's not everybody in the office that's got a problem, it's me.

I'm the one that's stressed out and maybe I have the bad attitude today.

So I need to take a break, go for a walk, grab some water, take a drink of water."

Water does really well for breathing, number one, but then taking control of yourself.

And again, there's a bunch of things that you can do, but find that thing that works for you.

For me, I like to get in my car and go for a ride, and now gas is expensive.

So I might just go around the corner and come back.

But I really do enjoy like seeing images, like imagery is a big one.

Think picturing like peaceful visions.

So there is a bunch of things, but one is, let's take an inventory of what's really going on.

- The beauty of that, though, is that the more you do this, the more your awareness comes up and so then the easier it is, and it becomes habit, right?

So, here's my word again, if I'm really intentional about taking that inventory of myself, that's something I start to do regularly.

So then I'm really keeping track of my stress.

I'm keeping track of how I'm responding to it.

I'm keeping track of how stress impacts how I interact with others, my relationships with others, and just really raising what you know about yourself.

- And also how I treat myself, right?

- [Caitlin] Yes.

- Because it's not just about our interactions with others.

How am I treating myself when I'm stressed?

Do I take it a second to make sure I'm getting more rest, making sure that I need to adjust how I'm eating, or am I so stressed that I'm not even taking the control over the stress?

And again, speaking of control with stress often relating again to anxiety, anxiety is control disorder where people have a strong need to be in control.

And when things are out of control, they lose control, right?

And so huge benefit and just awareness, practicing.

- We talked about sleep, sleep deprivation has so many bad consequences.

- [Caitlin] Yeah.

- When you counsel someone, is that one of the things you talk about, regular sleep?

- Yeah.

- And by the way, I'm not good at that.

- Well, maybe we'll talk.

(panelists laughing) I think sleep is always one of the first questions I ask someone if they come in and we're talking about things that are going on.

"Well, tell me about your sleep.

How has it been?

How has your sleep been throughout your life?

Have you seen changes in your sleep?"

Because it really does represent maybe how stress is impacting you, but it also can tell me how you're responding to stress.

So I can't sleep because I'm stressed, but now I'm stressed because I'm tired.

I think at, at the root of it though, we've talked a little bit about breathing and sleep, really, what we're saying is how can I be kinder to my brain, right?

Because it's kinda controlling all of these functions.

If I'm getting stressed, if I'm anxious, my breathing maybe gets a little shallower, a little shorter breaths, and my brain's not getting what it needs to function.

If I'm not sleeping, my brain's not getting the rest that it needs to be able to do some of these higher level functions.

- And you're not eating right maybe?

- And I'm not eating right, so I'm not getting nutrition.

So making sure that we're really kind to our brain at the most basic level is huge.

And I know sometimes people are like, "Well, I don't wanna do deep breathing."

Well, you need to because this is what's gonna keep your brain able to take care of these complex situations.

It's a quick fix.

- Yup.

- [Caitlin] Yeah.

- And we've laughed a couple of times on the show.

Laughter is a good idea.

- Absolutely.

I love laughter, yes.

It is like the best medicine it really is, and it's free.

It doesn't cost anything, right?

Even with sleep hygiene that you're talking about.

It improves your mood for the next day.

If we're lacking sleep, then you're moody.

Everybody's laughing in the office or around you and you're like, what's funny, right?

But I think it's a great avenue.

- So far we've been talking about recognizing our own stress, anxiety we may have.

But if we have a child, how do we know that that child is under some sort of stress?

and it may be a different kind of stress that we can't relate to?

How do we recognize that, Bernice?

- Well, I think we, first of all, have to look at the age group, right?

Younger children may behave it out, they may act it out.

They may be more tearful or cry more or have temper tantrums and things of that nature.

Some of our older children may, when they would ordinarily be more outgoing, maybe they're more reserved staying to themselves or isolating or they're moody, things of that nature.

Teenagers in particular are more difficult to assess because we will often say, "That's that age group where the hormones are going and those types of things, but recognizing differences.

But most importantly, educating our children and having conversations about feelings, right?

And so if they, for example, are crying, you may identify, "Do you feel sad," right?

Or if they're tantruming, "Are you angry?"

So helping them to identify those words and until they can, we may see some disruptions in their academic performance, we may see some disruptions in their routine in just a manner in which they interact in the family dynamic.

- So when we recognize stress and we've talked about maybe do some deep breathing exercises or go for a walk or aromatherapy, watch your diet, don't drink to excess.

We've talked about all this.

Okay.

I need some help, I need more help.

What are my options?

Where do I go if the deep breathing, et cetera, I'm still feeling this inside anxiety?

- Sure.

I think there's several different routes to achieve this goal.

If you're connected with a primary care physician, I think that's always a great place to start, right?

Find someone you're close to that you trust that's in a medical field and say, "I've got these feelings, I'm having this hard time, can you help me connect," right?

A trend I think we're seeing is doctors' offices that have counselors in them that are housed in their offices.

So can you connect me to that person?

Can you refer me elsewhere?

I think that's one way to start.

The internet is always an option, it's a careful option, right?

I would always suggest people looking into counseling to go to the office's website, right?

Go to the direct source where you can look at that office's specialty.

You can look at what do they specialize and that might connect with what I'm feeling right now.

Those are some of the ways to start it.

I don't know if you have extra ones.

- Yeah.

SilverCloud, I think that's a major one.

That's an app.

We're all on our smart devices now.

It will connect you with someone, but this is anonymous.

And so three o'clock in the morning, if there's someone you wanna reach out to, you can get some feedback and some suggestions.

I also think that like the coping skills go along with the counseling, like one doesn't replace the other, right?

And so if you put those things together, then you create this treatment plan for yourself, this toolkit, if you will.

But there's unity point.

Every hospital here has resources.

There's a plethora of resources, the challenge is the amount of mental health counselors who are available.

- And I wanna talk about that now, but first, just for the audience's benefit, SilverCloud.

- Yeah, SilverCloud is an app that was designed by OSF and it's for 18 years and older.

And you can just log in, you download SilverCloud and you can log in, you don't have to give your name or anything and you can just text or type in what the challenge is.

I'm feeling scared, I'm feeling nervous, I'm feeling depressed or whatever those symptoms are.

And you'll get feedback as well as resources.

- Let's go to that.

I'm at wits end, I call up Family Core or OSF.

Yeah, we can get you in July 15th, three months from now.

I need help right now.

We have a shortage of mental health professionals.

- We do, and I think the shortage combines with increased demand.

So it's not just one or the other, right.

I think a few years ago, the amount of clinicians we have in our office were fine to meet the demand.

Now we're seeing that that no longer meets the need because we have this increased demand.

A lot of this comes out of COVID, it just keeps growing.

So that is really a challenge.

I think if we're thinking about, what is an opportunity to meet my need now?

Other suggestions might be check with your employer to see if you have an employee assistance program.

That's something that can connect you to a counselor and we've found that those are pretty quick referrals and they'll connect you pretty quickly.

So going through your employer, looking proactively before you're at wits end, what are the community resources that are available to me?

SilverCloud is one, I think looking at other agencies in the area to connect with them ahead of time is always a good idea.

Know your resources, don't just react to stress, but understand that it will come and be prepared for it if it does.

- And you mentioned SilverCloud, but what about something like with technology, I don't need to see you in person necessarily, at least not immediately, is there some telehealth?

- Yeah, there are numerous telehealth companies now where you can speak to a licensed mental health professional on the phone where you never see each other.

You can do video, you can even do texting just to get some support and feedback.

So there are people around the world who are receiving services, particularly in rural areas.

Often, we forget about the rural areas where there's even less access to mental health care.

- How do I find the right counselor?

When it's time and I do need a counselor, how do I know I'm getting the right kind of counselor?

- That's a tricky question, because I think sometimes it might take some trial and error and I think that's really hard for people, right?

I am not the best fit for everyone that comes in my door.

And as clinicians we know that, right?

I know that I can't be the best fit for everyone, but I think sometimes our clients think, "I found this one, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna commit to it."

But you don't have to, right?

If it doesn't feel right, if it's not the support that you need, it's okay to say, "I don't know if this works for me.

I kind of wanna work with someone else."

Do it, find what works best for you.

- I wanna mention one other thing real quickly, causes of stress can be your personal situation that we've talked about.

But causes of stress could be outside.

It could be watching too much news, it could be being on social media way too much and the long term impact.

- Yeah, I mean, I think especially with teenagers in social media, we're seeing that impact rates of depression.

I think we see this in everyday conversation amongst people.

Did you see that thing on the news?

Wow, that's so hard.

Really limit your consumption of those things.

It's become something similar in ways to alcohol consumption, anything, right?

We don't wanna do it too much, we've gotta really limit and going back to the awareness and the inventory.

Take inventory of how I feel after I get off of Facebook.

If it's not good, I gotta scale it back a little.

- We've been talking about personal issues.

There's societal issues too.

- Absolutely.

- And one of those is with inmates.

Whenever I talk to a sheriff, one of their concerns is the high percentage of inmates who have some sort of a stress situation.

It could be mental health, it could be something else, but they're in all of a sudden, "I'm in jail."

You deal with Peoria County Jail, don't you?

- Yes.

- How important is it for us to address that situation so that when they do have the opportunity to leave the jail, they have been, is treated the right word?

- Yeah, assessed, treated, provided resources, supported, I think is critical.

It's critical of mental health as it relates to the increased potential for violence is important.

I also think across the board with mental health, we have to have mental health professionals who are culturally competent.

That people who, of course, we're all trained to not be judgemental, right?

But it's important to be able to judge a situation and see and understand the space in which people come from, right?

And so with that piece, sometimes there are generations of untreated trauma, generations of untreated or undiagnosed mental health status and sometimes it's not until the person is detained or incarcerated where there's time to really take a look at that or they're willing to take a look at that.

And that's when we could begin, in some instances, to stop some cycles.

- And with that, our half hour is up.

We thank you.

Thank you to Bernice Gordon-Young, who is with OSF HealthCare as a psychotherapist, and the clinical director at Family Core, Caitlin Scott, thank you both for being with us on At Issue.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- And please you at home, take care of your mental health now.

Next time, if you're looking for maybe solar panels on the top of your house or trying to figure out how to control that electric bill, we're gonna be talking about solar energy on the next At Issue.

Please join us then.

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