July 27, 2015 at 2:06 p.m.
Want to feel less stressed? Dr. Philip Chard offers keys to resilience
Author and psychotherapist spoke at Nicolet
Want to feel less stressed? Dr. Philip Chard offers keys to resilience
Mick Fiocchi, NAMI president, introduced Chard and told the audience of around 100 about the Northern Lakes branch of NAMI.
NAMI was founded in Madison in 1978, Fiocchi said. The Northern Lakes chapter has been in operation for about four years, and serves Vilas, Oneida and Forest counties.
"(NAMI) was founded to support people with mental illness and their families as well," Fiocchi said, "(We also) try to educate Americans about mental illness because, of course, there is a tremendous need for that. The stigma surrounding mental illness is such a powerful thing."
Stigma results in a lack of openness about mental illness, although mental illnesses are organic diseases like any other, Fiocchi said. In any given year, 20 percent of the population is dealing with a mental illness.
"So NAMI is working very hard to overcome stigma through education," Fiocchi said.
Chard's talk at Nicolet was part of that mission. He spoke about evidence-based approaches to well-being and mental wellness, useful tools for those who are dealing with mental illness as well as those facing other challenges.
A high level of responsibility paired with a low level of control is the equation for stress, Chard said. However, when life throws us a challenge, there is also an opportunity to find resilience within ourselves, he noted. One of those challenges could be a mental illness, but others include being trapped in ego, control madness and free-floating anxiety, which Chard said can be caused by "hurry sickness," which is when people get angry because they are trying to rush all the time.
"The next time you find yourself kind of ticked off, pause for a moment, tune in and see if you are in fact, hurrying when you don't need to," Chard suggested.
"The other thing that's tough for many of us is we get emotionally hijacked," Chard said.
Another challenge is being a "highly sensitive person," which means that a person has a tendency to react very strongly to things going on around them.
"One of the things that drives us when we meet a challenge, either to the negative side or to the positive side, is this thing called locus of control," Chard said. "It basically means do you see yourself as an agent, somebody that can get things done, or do you experience yourself as a victim?"
Sometimes we are victimized by things beyond our control, Chard said. How we respond to the situation is critical.
"Thoughts create feelings that drive actions," Chard said. The way we think about our challenges affects what we do to face them.
People who feel they are an agent rather than a victim react more positively to challenges and aren't as vulnerable to emotional hijacking, Chard said.
We all have different coping styles, Chard said. Two primary styles include relational, which means that people derive strength from other people, and private, where people gain strength from within themselves.
People tend to think, feel or act their way through challenges, Chard said.
Coping techniques are important in facing challenges, Chard said.
One such technique is power posing, where someone can maintain a powerful pose, such as hands on hips, for a number of seconds to regain their sense of equilibrium.
Another coping technique is taking deep breaths, Chard said.
Meditation, even a miniature session, can also help.
Chard also recommends taking a nature break or listening to music to help balance out stress.
A rapid, intense burst of exercise, provided you are physically able, can also help, he added.
All of the negative emotions are physically felt and expressed through the body, Chard said. This is why the physicality of the coping techniques work so well.
Power posing, for example, raises testosterone and lowers cortisol, Chard said. As a result confidence goes up and stress goes down.
"So you suddenly feel more control, and less pressure," he said.
Chard said people would do well to write personal mission statements to align their life purpose with their goals.
People with a higher sense of well-being have their goals aligned with their life purpose, he said.
"We try to motivate people with carrots and sticks," he said. "That will get people off the starting blocks, but it won't keep them going."
The only thing that keeps us going when we are trying to maintain positive behavior changes is when we are connecting our goals with a sense of life purpose, Chard said.
People with higher well-being are what is called realistic optimists, Chard said. They have an understanding of what they are up against in life, but don't let those facts defeat them.
Chard cited a case where explorers had the hull of their boat crushed during a trip to Antarctica. Rather than giving up, they built a new boat in two years and returned home. Each member of their team made it safely. The leader of the trip did not let external circumstances defeat his sense of moral courage, Chard said.
"If you find yourself with a lot of negative thinking ... there are certain things that the research shows will help you short-circuit that," Chard said.
One technique, called the doorway effect, is where a person sitting in a room leaves the room, is effective.
The other thing that works very well is to write down the negative thoughts and destroy the paper, Chard said. "Again, this sounds weird, but the research shows when you do that, the negative thinking begins to fade away."
Going outside, particularly around trees, also helps, Chard said. "We've done this study numerous times, and it works every single time... we have no idea why."
Exercise also keeps negative thinking away, Chard said, as does visualization. Chard cited an exercise study at the Cleveland Clinic where participants who lifted weights improved their strength by 34 percent, while participants who visualized themselves lifting weights increased their strength by 17 percent. "The brain does not distinguish so much between reality and imagination," Chard said. Thus, the brain creates physiological responses to thought as well as activity.
Supporting other people also helps us, Chard said. "It's not always about being fixed," he said. "Sometimes it's just about being with each other."
Studies show when we give to other people, we feel grateful.
"It's an interesting paradox, but it works," Chard said.
Another aspect of well-being revolves around habits, Chard said. "Habits are a good thing to a point."
Getting good sleep, exercise and nutrition are three foundational habits, Chard said. Nutrition also plays a crucial role in mental well-being.
The intestinal biome, or gut bacteria, has been shown to be increasingly important to mental health, at least in terms of depression in studies, Chard said.
"There's a direct correlation between an impoverished intestinal biome and a higher incidence of depression," Chard said.
This is because of the high amount of neurons in both the gut and in the heart, Chard said. "Your gut thinks and feels," he said.
So when you have good nutrition, you support good mental health, Chard said.
Good habits also reduce the need for self-control.
"If you don't believe that, next time you're in the shower, try washing first in a different place," Chard said.
Habits relax and reassure us, Chard said. If we want to change positively, we should change our habits.
Sleeping and good sleep hygiene are very important, but are a problem for many Americans in that we are going about sleeping wrong, Chard said.
For centuries, people would sleep four hours, wake for two, and then sleep four more, he said.
These days, most people in our country try to sleep for six to eight hours at a stretch, which is contrary to genetic programming.
"We're pushing against our genetic tendency when we push for one long, uninterrupted stretch of sleep," Chard said. This disrupts our natural sleeping patterns.
Sometimes it can be helpful to break out of our habits, Chard said. If our habits are not taking us where we want to go, then it's time to break those up a bit, he said.
Start small. "Stuff like drive a different way to work," he suggested. "Brush your teeth with your nondominant hand."
Changing these habits is called pattern interruption, Chard said.
There are all these things out there that we have told ourselves that we can't do, won't do or shouldn't do, Chard said. What you do by making a change is create a ripple effect, Chard said. "It's a demonstration to yourself that you are not a slave to your habits," he explained.
If they serve you well, keep doing them, Chard added, if they don't, shake them up.
Foundational habits and behavioral flexibility build resilience, Chard said, as does adversity, if we are able to handle it in a way that is positive in the long run.
Supporting brain health also promotes resilience. Nutrition and learning support brain health, Chard said.
Crossword puzzles and card games are simple learning tools to strengthen the brain, Chard said.
Nutrition is important because, "food is a drug" that affects our brain chemistry, Chard said. The Mediterranean Diet, which is low in processed foods and sugar, is the most useful for promoting mental health, Chard said.
"Choose to find the opportunity in challenges," Chard said, as this is what people with high well-being do. Popping out of the victim mode and moving into the agent mode is one positive that can come from facing a challenge, as well as striving for effort's sake, not simply for the outcome. This helps build resilience, Chard said. Also, this way, if people don't win at whatever outcome they are trying to achieve, it doesn't destroy them.
Another way people can achieve well-being is by being kind and supportive of themselves, Chard said. "So the next time you are beating yourself up, remind yourself that you are not defined by your worst moment. Those do not define us," Chard said. "We should be defined, at least in our own minds, by all of our moments. The whole package."
A lot of times, Chard said, when people try to get their lives together, they practice time management, which people with high well-being do not, because it does not work. "What really works is energy management," Chard said. "The way they build their energy is through positive energy rituals."
One is expression, such as art, knitting or writing.
Spending time in nature or in leisure are also positive energy rituals, Chard said. Laughter and spiritual pursuits also fall under positive energy rituals.
Chard wrapped up the evening by telling the audience about a study done in nursing homes regarding the effects of animals and nature on patients. Patients who had access to pets and gardening used less medication and had better memory, Chard said.
"We know that nature has a demonstrable impact on well-being," Chard said, "We know that if you go outside for five minutes your serotonin levels will increase."
Moments of awe or wonder in nature enliven the spirit and give us hope, Chard explained.
Memory improves after a walk in a natural setting and animals can be the best companions we can have, he added/
Increased biodiversity improves mood, and anger decreases after contact with nature, Chard said. In part, this is because time doesn't exist in the same way out in nature, which means that hurry sickness has no place in the wild.
Most people have an inner sense that time is passing faster than it really is, Chard said. An example is thinking a minute has passed in about 30 to 35 seconds.
In the future, virtual reality will explode, Chard said.
Virtual reality behavioral games are being developed to help people with mental disorders or phobias. This will be especially helpful since the brain does not distinguish between reality and the game, Chard said. This will help with many types of mental challenges, he added.
Chard said in the end, it's not so much what you know, it's what you do, and people with high levels of resilience are doers.
Katie Perttunen may be reached at [email protected].
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