Why telling people to relax is not helpful

"Ask a person under extreme stress to 'just relax', and you might just have to stand back to avoid the explosion," said Diana Killen, a stress expert, ahead of her address to The Safety Conference.

"Ask a person under extreme stress to 'just relax', and you might just have to stand back to avoid the explosion," said Diana Killen, an Australian stress expert ahead of her address to The Safety Conference.

A stressful day at work is leaving Australians with more than just a headache - the average length of stress leave is more than 16 weeks.

Surprisingly, and perhaps reassuringly, simply taking time out to relax is not the answer.

"In the aftermath of the exclamation, you might hear them screech: 'Who's got time for that?'," she said.

Macquarie Institute's Diana Killen specialises in training people to deal with pressure without stress and is one of almost 100 expert speakers who will address an expected 1000 delegates at the Safety Conference.

Hosted by the Safety Institute of Australia and sponsored by WorkCover NSW, The Safety Conference will run from October 26-28 in Sydney.

Growing research shows relaxation is not sustainable at workplaces filled with the pressure of deadlines, office politics and customers, according to Ms Killen.

Instead, emotional management training was the key to dealing with the pressures of everyday working life.

"Ask a person under extreme stress to 'just relax', and you might have to stand back to avoid the explosion," Ms Killen said.

"You might hear them exclaim, ' Who's got the time for that?'".

Ms Killen says that stone-age biology is at the heart of workplace stress, beginning with the most basic fight-or-flight response triggered by the brain's emotional centre, the amygdala.

"Priming us to flee at the sight of a sabre tooth tiger, this part of the brain works about 80,000 times faster than the cortex, or 'smart' part of the brain," she explained, "so we are reacting faster than we can think".

This ancient fight-or-flight response also dampens higher brain function, affecting the ability to make rational decisions.

In the long term, people could get 'stuck' and, finding themselves unable to see a way out of the situation, choose to do nothing.

"We're not thinking straight, we just don't know what to do and rather than addressing it, we start looking for somewhere to lay the blame," Ms Killen said.

Aside from clouding our thinking, research linked the stress response to serious conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Dealing with stress is not as simple as taking a break either, given the daily doses of stress suffered by many workers.

A USA study showed that the immune system could take up to six hours to return to normal after a five-minute burst of anger.

"Until recently, it was thought that it was okay to put up with 'normal stress' as long as you got some rest when you needed it and took a holiday once in a while," Ms Killen said.

"The problem is, though, when under stress, we don't make good decisions and may not be able to tell we need a break".

"When we do get a break, are we reversing the effects of stress on our health and wellbeing or are we just catching our breath long enough so we can go back and do it to ourselves again? Besides, attempts at relaxation, with the concerns still playing heavily on your mind, could simply shift you from a state of anxiety to boredom, apathy or even depression".

The good news, says Ms Killen, is that we can all learn to deal with the ever-mounting stress of modern life by using emotional management techniques practised in the HeartMath wellness program taught by the Macquarie Institute.

The program comes with an impressive list of studies published in journals from The American Journal of Cardiology through to the Harvard Business Review to back its effectiveness.

Central to the program is the modulation of heart rhythms, which Ms Killen says is deceptively easy to control.

To get started, she recommends the HeartMath Quick Coherence technique, which is described as heart focus, heart breathing, and heart feeling.

"Put your hand over your heart," she said.

"Imagine your breath coming in through your hand, into your heart and back out, from your heart, through your hand".

"Do this slow, deep breathing about three times".

"Remember a good time in your life: a favourite holiday; a special time with a loved one; a perfect run down the slopes".

"Relive it".

"Hold that feeling for a few moments, then notice the emotional, mental and physical shift".

"That's it - three easy steps that can be done any time, any place, and no batteries are required - but it does need practice".

To learn about the science behind these strategies, including solid case study data from Australian and global populations, reserve a place at The Safety Conference, which is sponsored by WorkCover NSW and hosted by The Safety Institute of Australia.

The Safety Conference will run in conjunction with The Safety Show from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 October 2005 at Southee Complex and The Dome, Hall 2, respectively at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park, Australia.

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