Healthy Living in a Stressful World: April 16 Event Will Address Stress

For anyone who has experienced the harmful effects of stress in their life and who may be interested in learning the best strategies for coping and thriving, the Mood Disorders Center of the University of Cincinnati is offering a free seminar April 16 open to the public, held at the Daniel Drake Center for Acute Care, 151 W. Galbraith Rd. While the program has a focus on people with mood disorders, many of the day's presenters, faculty-researchers from the UC College of Medicine, say that anyone who is interested in understanding and managing stress can and should attend.

The half-day program will discuss how stress develops and the effects of chronic stress on general health, focus on anxiety and panic disorder as consequences of chronic stress, and on understanding the relationship between stress and addiction. A full agenda is available here.

Finding the Key to Stress-Free Living

 "Stress is a very important part of our lives. We are exposed to stressful situations all the time," says James Herman, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, and director of the Laboratory of Stress Neurobiology at UC, "and, in most cases, our responses are completely normal, and need to be there. We are at risk when we don't respond to stress correctly, either by under-reacting or over-reacting." 

The problem that arises, says Herman, is when your stress response is too large or too small for the context that you're in.  This can occur in mood disorders, particularly stress-related disorders, like depression or anxiety.

"Depression is associated with elevated stress hormone secretion and altered activation of stress control pathways in the brain. In the case of depression, activation of the stress response occurs when it should not," Herman says.

 "The opposite appears to be the case in posttraumatic stress disorder, where there is not enough activation of the stress response. As a consequence, they are not in a position to optimally process fearful information, putting them at risk to over-react in the context or trauma reminders."

Herman says that addressing these types of diseases will require a very personalized approach, both medicinally and therapeutically, but that anyone can benefit from gaining understanding of the body's stress responses are controlled. 

Understanding the Relationship Between Stress and Addiction 

Chris Tuell, EdD, clinical director of addiction services at the Lindner Center of HOPE, and a UC faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, has worked in the field of mental health and addictions for 32 years. Tuell's presentation will address the relationship between mental health (stress, anxiety, etc.) and substance use, especially addiction. Tuell says most people with substance issues (around 80 percent) have a co-occurring, mental health issue.

"We are all impacted by mental health and substance use issues in our society.  Each person is impacted personally. Each of us know a family member, friend, co-worker, classmate or relative, who has a mental and/or substance issue," says Tuell. His approach involves a unique model called CUBIS—which outlines the connections to addiction and mental health issues—that he believes will resonate with attendees.

When Stress Becomes Frightening- Understanding and Managing Panic Disorder

Scott Ries, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at UC, will talk about anxiety generally and panic disorder specifically. "My talk will address what panic is, how people trigger panic by misinterpreting symptoms and discussing ways to address it, with or without treatment."

Ries' presentation will focus on very practical ways of addressing anxiety and panic that anyone can start using that day.

Anyone interested in attending can learn more and register for the event online.