Stress

CoronaVirus Updates

Covid stress: Police in Hyderabad open counselling centre

Hyderabad, May 10 (IANS) In a move to prevent suicides and keep people away from depression and anxiety during Covid pandemic times, Rachakonda police on Monday launched psycho-social counselling services for citizens of Telangana.Those coping with stress during Covid pandemic can contact the psycho-social counselling centre at 040-48214800. The centre will function from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat virtually launched the centre which is aimed at giving confidence to those in distress due to Covid-related health and social-economic problems."Coping with stress during the Covid-19 pandemic? We are with you, don't panic. Nothing is permanent in this world, not even our troubles," says the centre launched by Rachakonda police in association with the Rachakonda Security Council. Its services will be available for all citizens of Telangana."You don't have to struggle in silence. You can be Un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition as long as you open up to somebody about it," it says.The services provided by the centre include assessment, counselling by professionals, and referral services. There is no cost to the individual and no paper work is required. The information will be kept confidential.It will focus on everyday life problems relating to stress, marriage, family & kids, alcohol, trauma, depression, profession and Covid.Bhagwat said that the centre is need of the day. "Last year, the Covid situation was different. There was a complete lockdown. There were issues related to domestic violence, migrant workers, anxiety etc. This year, the fear of uncertainty is hanging on everyone's head," he said."Once a person is going to hospital, there is a fear whether he will come back or not. People in hospitals with negative thoughts are worried about families and families are worried about them. Entire family is in the same wave length of negative thoughts or depression kind of thing," he said.The Commissioner calling for focusing on mental health as a health issue and addressing it.Rachakonda is one of the three police commissionerates covering Greater Hyderabad. Areas on the city outskirts fall under its jurisdiction.--IANSms/vd
CoronaVirus Updates

Covid spiked stress, sleep loss among mothers with preschoolers

New York, May 5 (IANS) Stress levels of mothers with preschoolers soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, with twice as many of the mothers reporting loss of sleep during the virus outbreak than before it, finds a study.The study, published in the scientific journal 'Women's Health', supports the necessity of providing mothers with reliable, affordable childcare options and a clear path to maintain a healthy work-life balance."Moms of young children are already less likely to get the recommended amount of sleep and physical activity than women who don't have children. These shortfalls could raise the risk for obesity and poor health, and the lockdown worsened the situation by increasing the levels of stress and household chaos," said Chelsea Kracht, post-doctoral researcher in the Pediatric Obesity and Health Behaviour Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in the US.Mothers who worked remotely during the Covid-19 shutdown reported more household chaos than those who were not teleworking. This is likely because the first group of mothers had to supervise their children's remote schooling and telework at the same time.Having fathers or other family members take on some of the childcare and housework would help the mothers balance the demands of their careers and personal lives, Kracht said."There are a number of ways moms can reduce stress, such as taking a break from the news and spending a few minutes unwinding before they go to sleep. But what moms really need is more support, from their family, workplaces and communities. They need systemic change," said Amanda Staiano, Associate Professor and Director at the Laboratory.The study looked at the relationship between household chaos -- disorder, noise, crowding stress, physical activity -- and sleep for moms. Researchers surveyed more than 1,700 mothers of 3-to-5-year olds during May 2020.--IANSrvt/arm
CoronaVirus Updates

Indians suffer from mental stress

<br>The uncertainty about their present and future, coupled with government mandates to stay at home, is all exacerbating mental illness. The feeling of being cooped up at home, distant from their loved ones, devoid of social support and fear about new variants is increasing mental illness, according to mental health experts."The current situations are affecting the mental well-being on account of the uncertainty of the present and the future, the impact on the physical health of the self and loved ones, impact on work and productivity, and as a result, an effect on the relations that surround them," Dr Samir Parikh, Director, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Fortis Healthcare, told IANS.While the current scenario is affecting all individuals, regardless of their age, gender or other demographics, more adolescents and adults have reached out seeking help for mental health issues."Since the beginning of April, there has been a rise in tele-psychiatric consultations by at least 20 per cent. While the face to face consultations have plateaued, teleconsultations requests for seeking help have steadily increased," Dr Satish Kumar, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru, told IANS.The most prominent problem reported by people is anxiety and depression. Teens are more stressed out about their future plans, resulting in an existential crisis while the adults are overwhelmed by the fear of survival, financial insecurity and job security.These fears are coupled by "Covid anxiety/pandemic anxiety. People fear that they are going to die, increasing their death anxiety issues", Kumar said."People are also worried about being spreaders and causing harm to their loved ones. Even those people who never had mental health issues, even in their family history, are now reaching out for medical support as they are facing a lot of emotional stress," Kumar."Many experience guilt around not being able to adequately support those around them. These experiences can impact people's sense of self, their confidence and belief in the worldviews they hold as well as their positivity, optimism and resilience to cope with situations," Parikh said."Anyone else feeling survivors guilt? I certainly am. Each death I hear of is like a hard blow," Bollywood actress Pooja Bhatt shared in a tweet last week.To cope with the current situation, Parikh suggested that one must: focus on the here and now; try and look at the things that you can control; attempt to maintain a routine and follow a balanced schedule; integrate relaxing and recreational activities to help unwind and relax; not engage in excessive information overload to not feel overwhelmed; focus on the small good things that will allow you to maintain positivity in your thoughts; speak to people around and maintain social connectedness; and ensure to follow all safety protocols and maintain Covid appropriate behaviour.While the general public has the luxury to take a break from the situation, frontline workers including policemen, healthcare workers and journalists suffer from what is called occupational hazard.The frontline workers are more likely to get demotivated when they are taking the effort and yet people do not follow appropriate Covid behaviour."The only way to cope with the situation is by having an optimistic outlook and repeating the mantra, 'this too shall pass'. Policemen, doctors, nurses and journalists should practice positive self-talk every day, and also engage in de-stressing activities, at least 10 mins a day by watching comedy or by talking to their loved ones or by indulging in their favourite activity. A positive end to the day is the only way to cope with the situation," Kumar noted.The lockdown-related stress, in 2020, reportedly caused over 300 cases of suicides from March 19 till May 2. As a result, in September 2020, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment introduced a 24X7 toll-free mental rehabilitation helpline 'KIRAN' (1800-599-0019) in 13 languages.Several others have announced a Covid emotional support helpline number, where people can reach out. This includes PeakMind (08047092334), Narayan Seva Sansthan (NSS) and NGO, Parivartan (07676602602).India on Tuesday recorded 3,23,144 coronavirus cases and 2,771 deaths.(Rachel V Thomas can be contacted at [email protected])--IANS<br>rvt/vd
Research

Stress linked to coronary heart disease in women

New York (IANS) - Psychosocial stress -- typically resulting from difficulty coping with challenging environments -- may work synergistically to put women at higher risk of developing coronary heart disease, a new study suggests. The findings indicate that the effects of job strain and social strain -- the negative aspect of social relationships -- on women is a powerful one-two punch. Together they are associated with a 21 per cent higher risk of developing coronary heart disease. "The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted ongoing stresses for women in balancing paid work and social stressors," said researchers Yvonne Michael, Associate Professor at Drexel University in the US. "My hope is that these findings are a call for better methods of monitoring stress in the workplace and remind us of the dual-burden working women face as a result of their unpaid work as caregivers at home," Michael added. The study also found that high-stress life events, such as a spouse's death, divorce/separation or physical or verbal abuse, as well as social strain, were each independently linked with a 12 per cent and 9 per cent higher risk of coronary heart disease, respectively. For the study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the team used data from a nationally representative sample of 80,825 postmenopausal women. In the current follow-up study, the researchers evaluated the effect of psychosocial stress from job strain, stressful life events and social strain (through a survey), and associations among these forms of stress, on coronary heart disease. Nearly 5 per cent of the women developed coronary heart disease during the 14-year, seven-month study. Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US, occurs with the heart's arteries become narrow and cannot bring sufficient oxygenated blood to the heart.  
Research

How chronic stress leads to hair loss

New York, April 3 (IANS) Researchers have identified the biological mechanism by which chronic stress impairs hair follicle stem cells, confirming long-standing observations that stress might lead to hair loss. In a mouse study, published in the journal Nature, the researchers found that a major stress hormone puts hair follicle stem cells into an extended resting phase, without regenerating the follicle or the hair.A The researchers identified the specific cell type and molecule responsible for relaying the stress signal to the stem cells and showed that this pathway can be potentially targeted to restore hair growth. "The skin offers a tractable and accessible system to study this important problem in depth, and in this work, we found that stress does actually delay stem-cell activation and fundamentally changes how frequently hair follicle stem cells regenerate tissues," said researcher Ya-Chieh Hsu from Harvard University. The hair follicle naturally cycles between growth and rest, a process fuelled by hair follicle stem cells. During the growth phase, hair follicle stem cells become activated to regenerate the follicle and hair, and hairs grow longer each day. During the resting phase, the stem cells are quiescent and hairs shed more easily. Hair loss can occur if the hairs shed and the stem cells remain quiescent without regenerating new tissue. The researchers studied a mouse model of chronic stress and found that hair follicle stem cells stayed in a resting phase for a very long time without regenerating tissues.A A major stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, corticosterone, was upregulated by chronic stress; giving mice corticosterone reproduced the stress effect on the stem cells.A The equivalent hormone in humans is cortisol, which is often referred to as the "stress hormone." Under normal conditions, hair follicle regeneration slows over time -- the resting phase becomes longer as the animals age. But when the researchers removed the stress hormones, the stem cells' resting phase became extremely short and the mice constantly entered the growth phase to regenerate hair follicles throughout their life, even when they were old.
Research

Pandemic stress, boredom linked to

New York - A US-based survey has revealed that stress, increased free time and feelings of boredom may have contributed to an increase in the number of cigarettes smoked per day during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, indicated that smokers who increased the number of cigarettes they smoked per day could be at greater risk of dependence and have a more difficult time quitting. "Knowing the reasons for increased tobacco use and the motivations of those who successfully quit smoking can help us identify how to better address cessation efforts during the pandemic," said researcher Jessica Yingst, Assistant Professor at the Pennsylvania State University in the US. For the study, the research team asked 291 smokers in Pennsylvania about their tobacco use patterns before and during the early months of the pandemic including how frequently they used tobacco products, reasons why their use patterns changed and whether they attempted to quit. Nearly a third of smokers reporting increased use due to stress, increased free time and boredom. One participant stated, "Working at home allows me to smoke at will rather than being in a smoke-free environment for 8 hours per day." In contrast, 10 per cent of participants decreased their tobacco use and attributed that to schedule changes, being around non-smokers such as children and health reasons. Nearly a quarter of participants reported attempting to quit smoking during the pandemic. A third of those who attempted to quit conveyed that they did so to reduce their risk of poor outcomes should they become infected with Covid-19. One participant stated, "I quit as soon as I came down with a fever and cough. Clearly, I am aware of how detrimental smoking is to my health; however, I did not consider how it could make me more vulnerable to Covid-19 and its effects. I was terrified and quit immediately." Ultimately, seven people were successful in quitting all tobacco use. (Agency)