Whether you're worried about an illness, the stock market, or losing your home, it's hard to avoid stress. Dr. Michael C. Miller, editor in chief of The Harvard Mental Health Letter and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has some valuable suggestions for managing stress in our day-to-day lives.

Stress is an automatic physical response to anything that requires you to adjust to change. Each real or perceived threat to your body triggers a cascade of stress hormones that produce physiological changes -- your heart pounds, muscles tense, breathing quickens, and beads of sweat appear. 

Our rapid response system developed in a time when we needed it to survive, but the dangers of today are often psychological, rather than physical -- it's not the bear in the woods; it's the bear in the stock market that scares us. Your body still automatically goes into this hyper-drive state, but now the response is not so helpful. And if you don't get on top of it, that stress response can get stuck in the "on" position.

Tips to Manage Stress
Don't do everything. Only do the next thing.
If you have a long to-do list, or competing demands from several important people in your life, take a step back, take a pause, and pick one thing to do. Then pick the next thing. And so on. Don't spend too much time worrying about what the absolutely most important thing might be.

Use meditative techniques.
You can do something as simple as taking deep breaths. The key here is to find a way to be in the moment. Relax into a sensation, an image, an idea -- make it something that you find soothing. This can be a great way to counteract the physiological stress response.

Find a creative outlet.
Getting engaged in creative projects is a great way to add meaning to your life and may be one of the best ways to reduce stress and anxiety. A recent study showed that when jazz pianists improvised, the parts of the brain that register anxiety quieted down, while the parts most associated with our sense of self and our aspirations became quite active.

Engage in social activities.
People who stay engaged with friends, family, and community activities are at lower risk for stress-related problems, including depression and heart disease.

Develop a routine for handling stress.
All of the good things you do will do more for you if you do them regularly. Better to introduce little bits at a time that you can do daily or several times per week. Consistency pays off, and it's easier to be consistent if you've built something into your schedule.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder can develop after exposure to any terrifying experience. Most people will initially have a hard time getting it out of their head, but some people continue to have frightening thoughts -- they feel numb, or they're easily startled. And memories of the event can put them right back into the terror they felt. This can make it difficult to sleep or function. 

Fortunately, relatively few people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic event. Almost everyone deals with some trauma at some time, but the reality is that most people develop no psychiatric illness at all. In fact, they may grow as a result of the experience or find meaning in it. If you have a traumatic experience, talk to people you trust (such as a rabbi, teacher, or priest), and if you have symptoms that persist for more than a few months, talk to a professional.

Resources
Special thanks to Dr. Michael C. Miller for sharing this information. Special thanks to Harvard Health Publications for giving copies of the Stress Management Guide to our studio audience. For more information on these publications, visit health.harvard.edu.